I think I killed my metabolism somehow

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Replies

  • Coolhandkid
    Coolhandkid Posts: 84 Member
    Here's another thing that puzzles me. I'm doing about an hour of hot Bikram yoga per day for about 5 days a week. According to my calorie burn monitor that I've worn a few times to class, I burn about 900-1000 calories in a 1 hour class. And that doesn't even include my evening runs with my dog, which is usually about 2 miles, and the 2 other short walks that I take him earlier in the day. So either I'm really bad at math, or I have the appetite of a sumo wrestler (or both).

    My pace slowed considerably when I became more active in large part because I was eating back the calories and everything I was using was overstating the calories I was burning. I would be SHOCKED if at 200lbs you are burning anywhere NEAR that figure doing yoga. If the monitor is calculating your heartrate and you are escalating it in heat thats simply an improper measurement of your caloric burn. You would KNOW IT if you burn half your daily caloric intake in an hour of exercise. That would necessitate a really intense hour. Yoga? Not a chance. Not cracking on yoga, you just aren't getting that level of burn.

    I would bet this calculation is behind a great deal of your frustration.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    The caloric burn for running 2 miles with your dog is most likely going to be higher than the Bikram, and the run is probably in the 250-350 calorie range depending on intensity. That HRM isn't doing you favors in a heated room like that.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    You're not burning 900-1000 calories/hour in a Bikram class (and Bikram is 90 minutes so you must be doing a knock-off). The heat makes the heart rate monitor readings useless. Your HR increases due solely to the heat but the HRM thinks it's increased due to exertion.

    :wink:

    My thoughts exactly! Imagine if you were very scared and your heart was racing, your HRM would think you were running tons of calories

    OP, just plug your numbers into MFP. What I saw was about 2400 calories required to maintain your weight - if your lifestyle is sedentary. For your TDEE to be 3000, you'd likely need to be doing some daily (intentional) exercise or be much more active at your job and other daily tasks to the tune of 600 calories per day. Then you can start losing 2 lbs a week while eating 2000 calories, which won't necessarily get you to the emaciated sub-Saharan African kid point in the time frame you think because as you become smaller, your TDEE reduces

    And +1 to the post on running / walking calories. This formula floats around on the internet. It's not an exact science but if you're getting numbers double or triple this, I'd question them:

    NET calories burned running > 4mph: .63 X body weight (lbs) X distance (miles)

    For walking replace .63 with .3
  • Yoshirio
    Yoshirio Posts: 242 Member
    Why does it have to be outside?

    Then, it's diet and exercise. Eat less, move more (and outside, if you can.). Trial and error. Find what works.

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I probably expend over 1200 cals in 85 minutes of intense swimming! But I log it in as about 600. That's just the way it is!

    I am maintaining now but I have a feeling I have to work alot harder exercisewise than plenty of folk to maintain, especially as I'm not as strict on myself foodwise when maintaining!

    Something is a bit off with this analogy. I would say if you log about 600 calories for swimming and you are maintaining your weight, then the 600 is probably correct and you are not really burning the 1200 calories you think you are.:smile:
  • AquaticQuests
    AquaticQuests Posts: 947 Member
    I do.burn at least 1200.
    I'm maintaining because I'm not as strict on the food side as I was when I was in the loss phase! So my food calories are up!
    I just under log the exercise calories to discourage me from eating even more!

    When I cannot exercise I cut down food intake accordingly!
    :-)
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Here's another thing that puzzles me. I'm doing about an hour of hot Bikram yoga per day for about 5 days a week. According to my calorie burn monitor that I've worn a few times to class, I burn about 900-1000 calories in a 1 hour class.

    **** me.

    SMH.

    Etc.

    For the 8th billion time on MFP, "calorie burn monitors" don't work AT ALL for that kind of exercise. You are overestimating your exercise burn by at least a factor of 4.
  • supersupercoolio
    supersupercoolio Posts: 6
    Okay so although I have no idea what that tdee thingy is I do know that you should have a pretty fast metabolism with your stats. Just like everyone else has said, check your numbers.
  • jkfit2589
    jkfit2589 Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks for all of your inputs. I'm going to see my doctor this week to get my blood drawn so hopefully I can get some more concrete answers regarding my metabolism. And btw, an hour of hot yoga burns WAY more calories than a 2 mile jog or even an intense weight lifting session at the gym. When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182. The only thing that was different was that I was pretty much starving myself and eating nothing but those lean cuisine frozen meals (about 2 per day) and drinking slim fast milkshakes. I felt like sh** all the time and couldn't sustain myself on that kind of diet, so hopefully I can find some kind of happy medium between my current sumo wrestler diet and last summer's Olson Twins' anorexic diet.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
    Thanks for all of your inputs. I'm going to see my doctor this week to get my blood drawn so hopefully I can get some more concrete answers regarding my metabolism. And btw, an hour of hot yoga burns WAY more calories than a 2 mile jog or even an intense weight lifting session at the gym. When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182. The only thing that was different was that I was pretty much starving myself and eating nothing but those lean cuisine frozen meals (about 2 per day) and drinking slim fast milkshakes. I felt like sh** all the time and couldn't sustain myself on that kind of diet, so hopefully I can find some kind of happy medium between my current sumo wrestler diet and last summer's Olson Twins' anorexic diet.

    if the only thing different was that you werent eating, that is a lot of difference.

    i dont care how hot it is, 1000 calories doing yoga is not believable... i would not bank on that. especially if you are not losing weight.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Thanks for all of your inputs. I'm going to see my doctor this week to get my blood drawn so hopefully I can get some more concrete answers regarding my metabolism. And btw, an hour of hot yoga burns WAY more calories than a 2 mile jog or even an intense weight lifting session at the gym. When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182. The only thing that was different was that I was pretty much starving myself and eating nothing but those lean cuisine frozen meals (about 2 per day) and drinking slim fast milkshakes. I felt like sh** all the time and couldn't sustain myself on that kind of diet, so hopefully I can find some kind of happy medium between my current sumo wrestler diet and last summer's Olson Twins' anorexic diet.

    I nominate this member to rename ALL THE DIETS I've ever heard of on MFP.


    Also I think the "happy medium" diet you are looking for is currently called "IIFYM" using scooby or fitnessfrog or any other TDEE calculator. But I'd LOVE TO hear what name YOU GIVE IT! :flowerforyou: :laugh: :smooched:
  • _IronDan_
    _IronDan_ Posts: 14 Member
    Read this, it might have the answer to your problem

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
    When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182.

    Wow.. hang on have you recalculated your stats based upon your lower weight? .. You've lost a Stone so your energy requirements are different now.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Thanks for all of your inputs. I'm going to see my doctor this week to get my blood drawn so hopefully I can get some more concrete answers regarding my metabolism. And btw, an hour of hot yoga burns WAY more calories than a 2 mile jog or even an intense weight lifting session at the gym. When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182. The only thing that was different was that I was pretty much starving myself and eating nothing but those lean cuisine frozen meals (about 2 per day) and drinking slim fast milkshakes. I felt like sh** all the time and couldn't sustain myself on that kind of diet, so hopefully I can find some kind of happy medium between my current sumo wrestler diet and last summer's Olson Twins' anorexic diet.

    I am a little confused by this post. So last year, you were eating very little and doing hot yoga and losing a pile of weight. This year you are eating way more food, and doing hot yoga, and not losing weight. This proves that the yoga is effective at burning a lot of calories.

    Honestly OP, you have gotten a lot of great advice. From what I am reading of your posts, I would guess that you are over eating and overestimating your calorie burn by quite a bit. Perhaps come back and reread the advice given here after a day or two to think on it. At the end of the day, what you are doing is not working, so perhaps try something different.
  • oonga
    oonga Posts: 336 Member
    Read this, it might have the answer to your problem

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    *two thumbs up*
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Thanks for all of your inputs. I'm going to see my doctor this week to get my blood drawn so hopefully I can get some more concrete answers regarding my metabolism. And btw, an hour of hot yoga burns WAY more calories than a 2 mile jog or even an intense weight lifting session at the gym. When I started doing it last summer, I dropped about 15 pounds in less than 2 months, going from 197 to 182. The only thing that was different was that I was pretty much starving myself and eating nothing but those lean cuisine frozen meals (about 2 per day) and drinking slim fast milkshakes. I felt like sh** all the time and couldn't sustain myself on that kind of diet, so hopefully I can find some kind of happy medium between my current sumo wrestler diet and last summer's Olson Twins' anorexic diet.

    Do you even log?

    Once you take out the heat factor, what's really the difference between hot and regular yoga? If not a whole lot, maybe you should use your HRM during regular yoga and see what those numbers are for comparison purposes

    Calories IN calories out. You lost weight like crazy because you weren't eating. Now you are, and your rate of loss is a bit more sensible. Honestly, you're being a bit dense here, buddy
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I wouldn't call 15lbs. in a little less than 2 months an anorexic diet. That's a healthy 2 lbs/week loss.

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