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Please don't yell at me...
momof3babes
Posts: 103
Okay, I have read and read and read about how you are supposed to eat all or most of your workout calories back. But I'm wondering, are there people out there that feel they really have more success NOT eating back those calories. I'm asking because in I just started in January and lost 5 lbs in the first 15 days or so, by NOT eating my exercise calories. I only burn about 250-300 calories a day (usually 30 Day Shred). I went from 161 to about 155 in the first 2 1/2 weeks. AFTER I started eating back those workout calories I stopped losing and even gained 1/2 a pound and started becoming a little frustrated. I never go below my 1200-1300 and wouldn't. Just wondering if maybe it's just different for some people and not eating them back will show success. Sorry, I know this question brings strong feelings and I really, really do appreciate the help!! 0
Replies
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will you lose weight by not eating them? yes. Will you plateau doing this bringing your weightloss to a screeching halt? yes.
I lost 35lbs by NOT eating them back. However, once i hit a certain point ... it came to a halt, and started fluctuating up and down. You NEED to have atleast 1200 NET calories a day, otherwise, you're essentially starving your body and destroying your metabolism.0 -
will you lose weight by not eating them? yes. Will you plateau doing this bringing your weightloss to a screeching halt? yes.
I lost 35lbs by NOT eating them back. However, once i hit a certain point ... it came to a halt, and started fluctuating up and down. You NEED to have atleast 1200 NET calories a day, otherwise, you're essentially starving your body and destroying your metabolism.
Amen sister! To sum it all up : After a certain point, your body revolts and REFUSES to lose any more weight! Then, you're screwed! lol.0 -
i personally don't eat back all my exercise calories... normally i don't eat back any of them.... but everyone has a different opinion about this. i am sure you will hear a bunch of different opinions.0
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I don't eat them either. I don't feel like I burned those calories. Like not sure whether they are accurate!
=\
Should I be eating them?!0 -
I try not to eat my extra workout calories BUT that is because i feel like i'm saving them so if i want to go for a pizza with my friend or have some beers (im a student so £1 a beer occasionally is a weakness!) then i have some left over.
Plus i think it's awesome to know you reached your calorie limit but then burned some off so you can eat more!
hee hee 0 -
Typically your weightloss slows down after the first couple of weeks anyway. I would eat at least half of them back0
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That is how I have had success too....don't hate me either! I never eat back my exercise calories because i think the calories burned on here are just rough estimates. Here's what I suggest, and what I am doing later today:
Get a heart rate monitor that tells you how many calories you are burning. There are some out there for $50 and only have a 10% margin of error. Once you really get an idea of how accurate your calorie burn is THEN act accordingly. I plan on playing around with how many calories I can eat back once I know accurate numbers. But I haven't eaten more than 100 back a day so far and I've lost 7 pounds in two weeks on this. It works for now, so I'm gonna keep doing it. --- But once we plateau then it's time to play around and eat some or all back, etc.0 -
so your burning about 250-300 cals a day on 30ds?...im not sure how to log it.... Okay, I have read and read and read about how you are supposed to eat all or most of your workout calories back. But I'm wondering, are there people out there that feel they really have more success NOT eating back those calories. I'm asking because in I just started in January and lost 5 lbs in the first 15 days or so, by NOT eating my exercise calories. I only burn about 250-300 calories a day (usually 30 Day Shred). I went from 161 to about 155 in the first 2 1/2 weeks. AFTER I started eating back those workout calories I stopped losing and even gained 1/2 a pound and started becoming a little frustrated. I never go below my 1200-1300 and wouldn't. Just wondering if maybe it's just different for some people and not eating them back will show success. Sorry, I know this question brings strong feelings and I really, really do appreciate the help!!0 -
I only eat back some of the calories because I think some of the calories burned estimates in MFP are too high ...use your judgement based on how you feel and how your weight loss is going but also remember that some weeks you just dont lose.0
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I normaly don't eat what I burn. Simply because I do want to lose. I did just fine the first time I lost over 50lbs (after having baby..this weight is post baby also) by sticking to a cal diet and NOT eating back the cal that I lost. I didn't plato unless I didn't stick w/my diet to a T. Also..if you eat different calories everyday, it'll help you from platoing. Because you body won't know what to get set at...so sometimes I eat right at 1200 and others I'm about 1,000...just depending on the day..and I usually have 1 cheat day a week...sometimes 2 depending on the week and what is going on. Everybody is different...so just do what is feels good to you. You can't go by what everybody else does..because your body and metabolism is different than everybody else's.0
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Everybody loses differently so you may have to test it out and see what works best for you. I would suggest varying your calorie intake each day to keep your body from getting used to the same amount of calories each day. Maybe eat your activity calories a few days a week but not every day? You may have to try it each way for a couple weeks and see what works best for you. The MFP guidelines are only suggestions and are not an exact science for everyone. You will find out what works for you! Good luck!0
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Let me come back and clear this up....
You don't have to eat ALL of them.
You just need to eat at very least 1200 calories NET per day.
Hope that clears things up.
For instance...
Say your daily allotment is 1400 calories.
You work out and burn 250
That means you have now NETTED 1150 calories eaten...
You only need to eat at MINIMUM 50 calories back....
Does this make sense?
Anything UNDER 1200 makes your body slow your metabolism.
Also, about the quicker loss in the beginning, that is true. Your first couple weeks will be greater losses than the following weeks. There's something about water weight, etc, etc.....
Don't get discouraged. Listen to your body.0 -
will you lose weight by not eating them? yes. Will you plateau doing this bringing your weightloss to a screeching halt? yes.
I lost 35lbs by NOT eating them back. However, once i hit a certain point ... it came to a halt, and started fluctuating up and down. You NEED to have atleast 1200 NET calories a day, otherwise, you're essentially starving your body and destroying your metabolism.
Okay..........^^^THIS....is still a little confusing to me. The rest I understand, I've read a lot of the forum discussions about EVERYTHING...
I've hit a plateau after typically eating 1250-1350 no matter how much I burn...it's lasted for 2 months now. After hearing what so many people have said, I changed my workout routine (now doing P90X) AND increased my calorie intake, aiming for about 1500 every day. My food choices & water intake are not an issue.
However, I just recently realized and heard about this 1200 NET calories, so I started tracking that the last few days....but....when I do aim for that #, I noticed the note on my diary that reads: 'if every day were like today, you'd weigh'..... actually goes UP as opposed to when I keep that NET # lower.
Anyone have thoughts on this??0 -
You don't have to eat them! I wouldn't if you're eating at least 1200 calories per day. (I personally eat a bit less than that but its only because I'm super short and small framed)
You can just do the math. 1 lb equals 3500 calories. So to lose 1 lb per week, you need to create a deficit of 3500 calories that week - for example, you might choose to cut 500 calories per day. Use the tools to figure out your BMR (basal metabolic rate) to determine how many calories you burn just by existing in a day. For example - say that it says your BMR is 1600. By eating 1200 calories a day, you are already creating a deficit of 400. You would need to add 100 calories' worth of exercise each day to get a total deficit of 500 calories per day, or a 1 lb per week weight loss. So you would NOT want to eat those exercise calories. But say you go to the gym and burn an extra 100 calories one day - feel free to eat those! Or you could choose not to and just be a tiny smidge ahead in your weight loss plan.
That's all it is! Just math. (Or at least it's supposed to be.
) 0 -
will you lose weight by not eating them? yes. Will you plateau doing this bringing your weightloss to a screeching halt? yes.
I lost 35lbs by NOT eating them back. However, once i hit a certain point ... it came to a halt, and started fluctuating up and down. You NEED to have atleast 1200 NET calories a day, otherwise, you're essentially starving your body and destroying your metabolism.
Okay..........^^^THIS....is still a little confusing to me. The rest I understand, I've read a lot of the forum discussions about EVERYTHING...
I've hit a plateau after typically eating 1250-1350 no matter how much I burn...it's lasted for 2 months now. After hearing what so many people have said, I changed my workout routine (now doing P90X) AND increased my calorie intake, aiming for about 1500 every day. My food choices & water intake are not an issue.
However, I just recently realized and heard about this 1200 NET calories, so I started tracking that the last few days....but....when I do aim for that #, I noticed the note on my diary that reads: 'if every day were like today, you'd weigh'..... actually goes UP as opposed to when I keep that NET # lower.
Anyone have thoughts on this??
That calculation is based solely on numbers. It doesn't take into account metabolism, "starvation mode", or anything else besides cold numbers. Does that make sense?0 -
So far my weight loss has been very slow eatting back my calories but i use a HRM when i work out and i'm set on sedetary at 1200 Net and i usually burn an average of 439 cals a day0
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it is better to lose a smaller amount weekly in the long run though, much healthier0
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Okay, I have read and read and read about how you are supposed to eat all or most of your workout calories back. But I'm wondering, are there people out there that feel they really have more success NOT eating back those calories. I'm asking because in I just started in January and lost 5 lbs in the first 15 days or so, by NOT eating my exercise calories. I only burn about 250-300 calories a day (usually 30 Day Shred). I went from 161 to about 155 in the first 2 1/2 weeks. AFTER I started eating back those workout calories I stopped losing and even gained 1/2 a pound and started becoming a little frustrated. I never go below my 1200-1300 and wouldn't. Just wondering if maybe it's just different for some people and not eating them back will show success. Sorry, I know this question brings strong feelings and I really, really do appreciate the help!!
I'm not yelling, I promise!
Most people, especially women, lose a large amount (5-10 lbs) in the first couple of weeks and then slow down. The reason being that the large weight loss in the beginning is usually mostly water weight. It is NORMAL to drastically slow down weight loss after the first couple of weeks. And quite often, as you begin an exercise program, after a couple weeks you will begin adding more muscle which can mean a slight gain. GIVE IT TIME to work.
I firmly believe in eating at least SOME of your exercise cals. That said, it is largely dependent on how much fat you have to lose to begin with. Someone with a large amount to lose (over 100 lbs, say) can withstand a much larger daily deficit and may be able to safely leave 1500+ cals on the table. Someone with much less to lose (under 50 lbs) cannot afford to have that large of a deficit, as they will more readily break down muscle. Someone with less fat to lose CANNOT expect the same rate of weight loss as someone with a large amount to lose. The body just doesn't work that way. Thus, why I get a tad annoyed when people come running in, screaming about how someone 400+ lbs on Biggest Loser loses 20 lbs every week, yet this person, with only 40 lbs to lose wants to lose at the same rate. It won't happen.
Here are some more threads that are well-researched info, in case you haven't seen them.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo0 -
I do if I'm hungry and I dont if I'm not :bigsmile: It doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference either way for me.0
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Im in this battle right now. Im supposed to eat 1630 total. My weight loss will not move If I dont eat a net total calories of at least 1300-1500
Im not saying you have to eat all of them back but you definitely need to eat some of them back. Trust me!
Ive lost 90lbs. I lost consistently down to about 65 and the rest I have struggled with because of my stubborness. Everytime I eat what Im supposed to I start to lose. Just eat them 0 -
I have eaten most or all of mine back since I started day one although I am maintaining now, so I am thinking that will be different. I never had any trouble losing any weight even with eating them back. I think that would be because I increased my metabolism. Not sure just though I would share my experience 0
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Thanks everyone so much for your responses and for not getting crabby with me. LOL. I know it's a learning process and does take patience! I just don't want to feel like I'm doing the wrong thing. I enter my 30 DS workout as Circuit Training. I know I need to get a HRM and then have a better idea of what my calorie burn is exactly.0
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Let me come back and clear this up....
You don't have to eat ALL of them.
You just need to eat at very least 1200 calories NET per day.
Hope that clears things up.
For instance...
Say your daily allotment is 1400 calories.
You work out and burn 250
That means you have now NETTED 1150 calories eaten...
You only need to eat at MINIMUM 50 calories back....
Does this make sense?
Anything UNDER 1200 makes your body slow your metabolism.
Also, about the quicker loss in the beginning, that is true. Your first couple weeks will be greater losses than the following weeks. There's something about water weight, etc, etc.....
Don't get discouraged. Listen to your body.
I'm even more confused now could you inbox me how mine would work at 1200 net and about 400 cal burn a day please ?0
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