Exercise, or hitting calorie goal?

fatcity66
fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
edited November 7 in Health and Weight Loss
I seem to have a problem doing both.
On days I don't exercise, I have no problem staying within my 1600 cal limit.
But when I workout, I usually end up eating back all my exercise calories, and then some.
What the heck am I doing wrong? Should I just give up working out in order to keep my calories in check?
Am I going to be skinny fat if I do that?

Replies

  • Yami351
    Yami351 Posts: 5 Member
    I looked briefly at your food diary and noticed that you consistently go over the recommended amount of fat and are under on protein. In my own experience, especially on days when I exercise, if I do not eat enough protein or have too much fat in my diet I get really really hungry and crave more of the high calorie/high fat foods.

    Maybe try increasing the amount of protein that you eat on workout days (and non-workout days) and maybe eat a little bit before you work out (like a protein bar or something - I find that Quest Bars are a great source of high protein and not so high calories as some other protein bars). Another thing that I find when I workout is at I do not drink enough water and mix up thirst for hunger (which is apparently common), so if I drink a bunch of water after my workout before I let myself eat all the food that I am craving then the hunger tends to either go away or lessen considerably.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    I looked briefly at your food diary and noticed that you consistently go over the recommended amount of fat and are under on protein. In my own experience, especially on days when I exercise, if I do not eat enough protein or have too much fat in my diet I get really really hungry and crave more of the high calorie/high fat foods.

    Maybe try increasing the amount of protein that you eat on workout days (and non-workout days) and maybe eat a little bit before you work out (like a protein bar or something - I find that Quest Bars are a great source of high protein and not so high calories as some other protein bars). Another thing that I find when I workout is at I do not drink enough water and mix up thirst for hunger (which is apparently common), so if I drink a bunch of water after my workout before I let myself eat all the food that I am craving then the hunger tends to either go away or lessen considerably.

    I definitely have trouble hitting my protein goals most days. It's frustrating because I eat a lot of high protein foods...eggs, meat, cheese, milk, and nuts. I also don't have time to cook much, so I have to grab something out or order dinner while at work, and salads with chicken get old fast. I often work 4 or more 12 hour shifts overnight in a row before I get a break, and while I can often take time to make some eggs for breakfast when I get home, when I get up I just barely have enough time to get ready for work and hopefully get in 30 min on the elliptical. I value my sleep more than anything, honestly.
  • Yami351
    Yami351 Posts: 5 Member
    I looked briefly at your food diary and noticed that you consistently go over the recommended amount of fat and are under on protein. In my own experience, especially on days when I exercise, if I do not eat enough protein or have too much fat in my diet I get really really hungry and crave more of the high calorie/high fat foods.

    Maybe try increasing the amount of protein that you eat on workout days (and non-workout days) and maybe eat a little bit before you work out (like a protein bar or something - I find that Quest Bars are a great source of high protein and not so high calories as some other protein bars). Another thing that I find when I workout is at I do not drink enough water and mix up thirst for hunger (which is apparently common), so if I drink a bunch of water after my workout before I let myself eat all the food that I am craving then the hunger tends to either go away or lessen considerably.

    I definitely have trouble hitting my protein goals most days. It's frustrating because I eat a lot of high protein foods...eggs, meat, cheese, milk, and nuts. I also don't have time to cook much, so I have to grab something out or order dinner while at work, and salads with chicken get old fast. I often work 4 or more 12 hour shifts overnight in a row before I get a break, and while I can often take time to make some eggs for breakfast when I get home, when I get up I just barely have enough time to get ready for work and hopefully get in 30 min on the elliptical. I value my sleep more than anything, honestly.

    I definitely understand the trouble with not having time to cook, that is why I suggested Quest Bars since they (for me) are a good source of protein and still fit within my calorie goals (and the higher amount of protein tends to make me feel less hungry over all, especially in days when I have worked out a lot).
  • LunaStar2008
    LunaStar2008 Posts: 155 Member
    Fatcity66; I am in the same situation and work nights (from leaving the house until I get back it is often 14-16hours). I value my sleep as well, since weight gain and unsufficient sleep are related. As you said; constatnly salads gets old and fad, but joghurts, cheese, nuts and such as well. That's why I often use protein shakes-its done in 2 minutes, fills you up and I can sleep 30 mins longer vs getting up make a meal.....:grumble:
    SInce I exercise 3-5 times a week and my work requires some physical activities I spare some of the exercised calories, meaning that I still have a deficit of 300-750 claories.

    But I undestand your frustration, since it slows down weight loss. After loosing about 12-15 lbs it seems the scale is not even moving anymore.

    I am as well interested what others recommend.

    PS: I use a body media to estimate my overall calories output (activities) and use my FP log (they interchange data) as calorie intake. That helps me to visualize where I am at.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    Fatcity66; I am in the same situation and work nights (from leaving the house until I get back it is often 14-16hours). I value my sleep as well, since weight gain and unsufficient sleep are related. As you said; constatnly salads gets old and fad, but joghurts, cheese, nuts and such as well. That's why I often use protein shakes-its done in 2 minutes, fills you up and I can sleep 30 mins longer vs getting up make a meal.....:grumble:
    SInce I exercise 3-5 times a week and my work requires some physical activities I spare some of the exercised calories, meaning that I still have a deficit of 300-750 claories.

    But I undestand your frustration, since it slows down weight loss. After loosing about 12-15 lbs it seems the scale is not even moving anymore.

    I am as well interested what others recommend.

    PS: I use a body media to estimate my overall calories output (activities) and use my FP log (they interchange data) as calorie intake. That helps me to visualize where I am at.

    I have stalled just short of 20 lbs lost, and have probably gained back a few, but my waist size went down over an inch, and I have less than an inch to lose before it's in the "healthy range." I'd really like to lose 10 more lbs by Halloween.

    I will try harder to get more lower fat sources of protein. I really love my full fat cheeses, but I also like lower fat yogurt and cottage cheese. I'm find with eating chicken, lean beef, and seafood, and I love salmon with all the good Omega 3s. I just have to buckle down and find the time to cook it more often. I also often do protein smoothies, but I have to add fruit and milk, or peanut butter, otherwise I don't like the taste. I'm not a fan of chalky protein bars either, but I see a lot people like the Quest bars, so I will try them.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    Well, I just squeezed in a workout on my lunch break, and now I'm hungry!
    No amount of ice water is helping, either.
    :(
  • LunaStar2008
    LunaStar2008 Posts: 155 Member
    I eat full fat cheese vs the low fat, because low fat cheeses' have added sugar in it. So I'd rather have a "healthy" digestible fat then additional carbs theough sugar in my food. The sugar will spike your blood sugar and may create hunger earlier then enegry from a fat source (unless I had already an abunace and obverload of fat-then it will be stored and cling to the hip :laugh: :sad: :frown: ).

    I discovered that some "light, diet, low fat" items substitute fat with sugar-gotta find out what is the lesser evil for you. I'd rather have less sugar (I number I almost never make-always over) then fat.

    Congrats on your workout! I will go running in the morning, after work.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    If you use net method (which is default MFP method) then you're supposed to eat back exercise calories. This is why you log exercise.

    |You're also under-eating much of the time, and not eating enough protein. All of these reasons are likely why you've eaten above your goal at least once and why you wind up wanting to eat all or most of your exercise calories. Stop being inconsistent with your goals so regularly.

    Also.. you're constantly eating out. Meaning high-carb foods. Not enough protein for the amount of carbs you're eating easily leads to excess hunger. I really doubt you don't have ANY time to cook meals. It literally takes maybe an hour overall to cook a bunch of stuff in bulk - make a big pot of noodles or rice to last all week, bake a few lbs of chicken, make some burgers, have a bunch of veggies on hand, hardboil some eggs and buy some smoked breakfast meats so you can heat those up easily, etc. Will be much easier to have an actual idea of how many cals you're eating while controlling your protein and carb intake.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member

    I definitely understand the trouble with not having time to cook, that is why I suggested Quest Bars since they (for me) are a good source of protein and still fit within my calorie goals (and the higher amount of protein tends to make me feel less hungry over all, especially in days when I have worked out a lot).
    This
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    Thanks for the input. I haven't tried the Quest Bars yet, but I bought some other protein bars. I did lose an appropriate amount of weight last week. I have been pretty strict about my eating, and try to overestimate instead of underestimate how many calories I am eating. I also started a new BC, which strangely, seems to be helping.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
    Add beans to your salads! Or make a bean salad by tossing kidneys, garbanzos, or other beans with oil/vinegar/herbs and something crunchy like peppers, celery, carrots, etc. I like to spoon that over a bed of lettuce and tomatoes in place of chicken and salad dressing.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    "fatcity66 wrote: »
    I will try harder to get more lower fat sources of protein. I really love my full fat cheeses, but I also like lower fat yogurt and cottage cheese. I'm find with eating chicken, lean beef, and seafood, and I love salmon with all the good Omega 3s. I just have to buckle down and find the time to cook it more often. I also often do protein smoothies, but I have to add fruit and milk, or peanut butter, otherwise I don't like the taste. I'm not a fan of chalky protein bars either, but I see a lot people like the Quest bars, so I will try them.

    I wouldn't mess with your cheese, but I'm someone who likes full fat dairy but also enjoys lots of low fat dairy and finds it extremely helpful to meeting protein goals within my calories. You might want to try eating a low fat or 0% greek yogurt right after a workout to see if that helps satiate you.

    Also, I think a lot of hunger is habit/what you are used to, so I tend to be pretty rigid about when I eat (it might not work for everyone, but it does for me). I have basically set breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe a post workout snack if I think I'll want one (my current go-to for that is the Quest bar too, which I've come to find delicious--this may not last, as I tend to go through phases). Anyway, because of the relatively set schedule I don't tend to accidently eat too much (unless I go out to dinner or some such) and if I'm extra hungry I can plan in more food that's not high calorie, like extra veggies or a larger serving of meat if I'm having something on the lean side, or some low fat dairy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You do realize that MfP is designed for you to eat back those exercise calories right? I mean...that's the way this tool works and all...why are you stressing about using a tool as it is designed to be used?

    I would say though that you should have some kind of allowance for estimation error built in...calorie burns are just estimates and most people also have a great deal of difficulty being accurate in their intake as well.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    "fatcity66 wrote: »
    I will try harder to get more lower fat sources of protein. I really love my full fat cheeses, but I also like lower fat yogurt and cottage cheese. I'm find with eating chicken, lean beef, and seafood, and I love salmon with all the good Omega 3s. I just have to buckle down and find the time to cook it more often. I also often do protein smoothies, but I have to add fruit and milk, or peanut butter, otherwise I don't like the taste. I'm not a fan of chalky protein bars either, but I see a lot people like the Quest bars, so I will try them.

    I wouldn't mess with your cheese, but I'm someone who likes full fat dairy but also enjoys lots of low fat dairy and finds it extremely helpful to meeting protein goals within my calories. You might want to try eating a low fat or 0% greek yogurt right after a workout to see if that helps satiate you.

    Also, I think a lot of hunger is habit/what you are used to, so I tend to be pretty rigid about when I eat (it might not work for everyone, but it does for me). I have basically set breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe a post workout snack if I think I'll want one (my current go-to for that is the Quest bar too, which I've come to find delicious--this may not last, as I tend to go through phases). Anyway, because of the relatively set schedule I don't tend to accidently eat too much (unless I go out to dinner or some such) and if I'm extra hungry I can plan in more food that's not high calorie, like extra veggies or a larger serving of meat if I'm having something on the lean side, or some low fat dairy.

    I do like reduced fat yogurt and cottage cheese, but I prefer real full-fat cheese, unless it's Laughing Cow or something. I drink 1-2% milk, and use half and half/creamer in my coffee. As long as I weigh my portions, I can make it fit. Lately, I have just been stricter with my calorie counting/weighing, and I have started losing again. Hunger hasn't been an issue either, but if I do exercise, I eat most of those calories back. I haven't been working out as much, actually. I am happy to have lost over 2 lbs in these last two weeks. I know I went over my calories 1-2 days, so this seems like a good amount.
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