Getting lots of steps in + ruining my metabolism???

Options
2»

Replies

  • bekahlou75
    bekahlou75 Posts: 304 Member
    Options
    Open your diary. Inches of cucumbers don't really matter. How much did it weigh? How much of a potato did you eat? How much bread did you eat? Do you also measure your liquids? You are eating more than you are expending. Period.
  • nickelpickle
    nickelpickle Posts: 55
    Options
    Yes you should be losing - if you're eating at a deficit. But since you have not bothered to answer the question about how you determine your portion sizes or how many calories you're eating, it seems you have pretty clear evidence of WHY you're not losing. You're bound to have increased your burn with the extra activity but you could have easily offset that by eating more without meaning to.

    What you're doing isn't working. A) Blame the Universe, concludeyou're a scientific oddity or B) try something different such as use a scale to accurately weigh & log your food.

    Good luck.

    It's not that I "have not bothered" to answer the question about how I determine portion sizes - I said that I use the barcode scanner. I eyeball and do not weigh everything but I do measure rice, cereal, etc. in cups.

    Sorry for the delay, I was trying to open my diary to public as so many people have asked. (although, like I said, I just started tracking again last week so I'm not sure what will be helpful in there)

    My diary is open (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/nickelpickle) - but like I said, I just started tracking last week.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
    Options
    Yes you should be losing - if you're eating at a deficit. But since you have not bothered to answer the question about how you determine your portion sizes or how many calories you're eating, it seems you have pretty clear evidence of WHY you're not losing. You're bound to have increased your burn with the extra activity but you could have easily offset that by eating more without meaning to.

    What you're doing isn't working. A) Blame the Universe, concludeyou're a scientific oddity or B) try something different such as use a scale to accurately weigh & log your food.

    Good luck.

    It's not that I "have not bothered" to answer the question about how I determine portion sizes - I said that I use the barcode scanner. I eyeball and do not weigh everything but I do measure rice, cereal, etc. in cups.

    Sorry for the delay, I was trying to open my diary to public as so many people have asked. (although, like I said, I just started tracking again last week so I'm not sure what will be helpful in there)

    My diary is open (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/nickelpickle) - but like I said, I just started tracking last week.

    Using the barcode scanner is fine, but using measuring cups for solids can lead to serious underestimation of how much you're eating (yes, even though the label says "1 cup," go by the weight listed rather than the volume). Liquids should be measured by volume. That's the best you can do.

    Not trying to jam this down your throat, but it really is worth the read (plus a watch of the YouTube video linked within): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • ErinMcMom
    ErinMcMom Posts: 228 Member
    Options
    If you are using a fitbit, I don't understand why you are following the calorie burn readout from your treadmill.
    Sync your fitbit to MFP eat back 50-75% of your calories and you're golden. My guess is that you aren't burning as much as you think, and are eating more than you suspect. I don't burn 1000 calories if I run for an hour, walking on a treadmill at a desk is not burning 1000 calories in 2 hours.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
    Options
    Another thought: you've got 20 lbs left to lose, which is self-created - for all we know you may already be at a healthy weight. Even though that sounds like a lot to lose, it's not in the grand scheme, so you should aim for a 0.5-1 lb loss/week. If you're already at a healthy weight but want to look tight and "toned," try heavy lifting. You won't get bulky, I promise! You might even gain weight but will look awesome:

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    I just looked at your diary. Since you are allowing fibit to adjust your calories, you have to be underestimating calories in by not weighing food and also making general estimates on restaurant food. Also make sure you are choosing correct entries.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Options
    The treadmill calorie readout is bogus. They almost always are. (Mine does not even have the option to change weight, gender, etc.) Even the machines that allow you to edit your profile give high #s. If you're eating back 1000 exercise calories but only burning an extra 200-300 (over what you'd have burned if you were sitting for those hours) then the problem is: no deficit.

    This!^

    Steps (slow or moderate paced ones ) = an increase in activity level. Count your steps....a pedometer helps. Find your new activity level....it's more likely 200-300 calories above sedentary

    If you are walking briskly, swinging your arms, and a are slightly winded....then it's a cardio workout.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Options
    You should at least weigh the calorie-dense foods, like avocado and guacamole. Are you using the recipe builder tool for homemade food? If not, that's another source of inaccuracy. Finally, make sure you're choosing the most accurate entries possible. I'm not nit-picking, just using this as an example, but there's no way a restaurant burrito has 0g of sodium. When you see obvious inaccuracies like that, I wouldn't trust the entry as a whole.
  • nickelpickle
    nickelpickle Posts: 55
    Options
    Thank you all so, so much for all of your help. I love MFP for so many reasons - and the incredibly helpful community of people is one of them!!!
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Options
    You didn't ruin your metabolism. How many miles do you walk in the time you're on it? 1000 calories implies >10 miles, which would take longer than you mentioned, assuming you're walking slowly and not running.

    My HRM said 974 calories with an hour of walking yesterday. I did about 2 1/2-3 miles. I am very overweight and out of shape.

    Even at 3.5mph and 240 lbs., average burn would be 469 for an hour. See very last cell in chart in link below. Unless you're much, much heavier than 240, I'd be skeptical of that HRM value.

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/exercise/art-20050999
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    You didn't ruin your metabolism. How many miles do you walk in the time you're on it? 1000 calories implies >10 miles, which would take longer than you mentioned, assuming you're walking slowly and not running.

    My HRM said 974 calories with an hour of walking yesterday. I did about 2 1/2-3 miles. I am very overweight and out of shape.

    Even at 3.5mph and 240 lbs., average burn would be 469 for an hour. See very last cell in chart in link below. Unless you're much, much heavier than 240, I'd be skeptical of that HRM value.

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/exercise/art-20050999
    I'm skeptical of the chart because it does not take into account a person's fitness level, heart beat, oxygen level, gender. In other words, it's very general in all respects.

    ETA:ah, I see her values for her heart rate monitor are high. Perhaps it is not calibrated correctly,
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    Options
    You didn't ruin your metabolism. How many miles do you walk in the time you're on it? 1000 calories implies >10 miles, which would take longer than you mentioned, assuming you're walking slowly and not running.

    My HRM said 974 calories with an hour of walking yesterday. I did about 2 1/2-3 miles. I am very overweight and out of shape.
    doubtful
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Options
    After searching around a bit, I read about how large amounts of low intensity cardio can ruin your metabolism...

    That is complete and utter bull****, your problem lies elsewhere.

    Starting with your burn estimates - at your weight, to burn 1000 extra calories you'd have to walk 20 miles - so scale accordingly.

    And surely somewhere in all that searching you must have come across an explanation as to why HRMs are completely inappropriate for estimating calorie burns for walking exercise....there are literally hundreds of posts on that subject right here at MFP alone....

Categories