30 Day Challenge

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  • kylakesgal
    kylakesgal Posts: 952 Member
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    Great job Scarlette on the weight loss and wtg Singer on the sneaky exercise lol. After I posted the challenge, I realized I wanted to add to it. Here again is tomorrows challenge and some changes I made at bottom so everyone could participate.

    ********Wednesdays Challenge**********

    Find out what your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is if you don't know already. This is how many calories a day your body burns if you were to just lay around and do nothing. This is also how many calories it takes your body to survive, digest food, keep your heart beating, etc. in a day. I found this so interesting! When we are exercising, of course, we need to try and eat back some of our exercise calories. If you haven't found out yours yet, go to tools, then click BMR and fill in the info. This is why it's so important to not be going way below our calorie count for the day because our body really does need these calories.

    Also, tomorrow I would love to hear everyone's opinion on eating back calories. Do you eat the entire amount back that you burned in calories? just part or none? I'm curious to know how this works for everyone because every person is different. I'd like to know what works for YOU. Looking forward to this discussion:) Goodnight everyone.

    Let's continue to drink our water and exercise every chance we get:)
  • Bellser
    Bellser Posts: 5 Member
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    Ah yes - to eat or not to eat those 'earned' (and they are) calories... I've done a comparison between my last 3 weeks in this respect - i've only been a member that long.... Week 1 - I ate below or just on the 1200cals allowance per day and didn't eat into my excersise at all... Week 2 - I ate below or just on the 1200cals allowance per day and allowed myself to eat into about 1third to a half of my earned calories...Week 3 - I ate below or just on the 1200cals per day and went way into my earned calories (but never over them) but i had friends visiting and there were meals out etc - so in order to 'keep up' with their eating regime i had to earn about 1000cals per day - and that has me exhausted this week - anyway my findings to this little comparison is that week 1 i lost 0.5kg Week 2 I lost 0.8kg and last week i lost 0.5kg - therefor for me i think eating into up to a half of earned calories through the day is the way to go - just checked my BMR and it turns out to be 1,590 - which now that i've written all of the above makes sence - by eating into a third to a half of my 'earnings' means by the end of each day i'm eating my BMR requirement....

    Thanks for asking the question and making me think about this - as this has given me a eureka moment and has added a spark of even more directiuon to my getting to the desired goal :-)

    Keep up the good work - all the best from Ireland....
  • hoosteen84
    hoosteen84 Posts: 14 Member
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    43 minutes/2.4 miles/3.3mph--went 3 blocks farther before I turned around. I finally found a good route that is reasonably level, has a safe shoulder to walk on, and that I can easily figure my distance with Google Maps. Best of all, the sun came out again while I was walking, and it SNOWED on me!

    My hope is that, with the length of time it will take me to meet my weight goal, my healthy eating will have become a habit, so I'll be able to maintain my desired weight.

    One thing about eating non-processed foods is that keeping sodium below 1500mg is not hard at all.

    We'll see if the GERD, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance go away as the weight comes off.

    If you have an iPhone/iPod download runkeeper pro, it maps out where you walk and tells you your pace for each mile and overall pace. :)
  • swtchrypie
    swtchrypie Posts: 79
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    I did level 1 of 30 day shred,

    Olivia~ I keep hearing about 30 day shred all over this site. Is it the only program youve tried? DO you like it so far? I am debating trying it but i dont know yet, is it just a DVD or do you need like weights and stuff?

    I did really good with yesterdays challenge and ever walked on my treadmill last night while watching NCIS. Today is my clean freak day so I am going to pump the jams while cleaning the casa. I hope everyone has a great wednesday!
  • oliviawink
    oliviawink Posts: 753 Member
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    I did level 1 of 30 day shred,

    Olivia~ I keep hearing about 30 day shred all over this site. Is it the only program youve tried? DO you like it so far? I am debating trying it but i dont know yet, is it just a DVD or do you need like weights and stuff?

    I did really good with yesterdays challenge and ever walked on my treadmill last night while watching NCIS. Today is my clean freak day so I am going to pump the jams while cleaning the casa. I hope everyone has a great wednesday!

    I bought 30 day shed back in December based on recommendation from my SIL. I did it for a little bit, but like Jess, I find it hard to do that and that alone because I like variety in my workouts. Shred is intense but it's only 20 minutes, so I tell myself I can do anything for 20 minutes. And it has something most other workout vids don't, which are progressively harder levels, so it's like having 3 workouts on 1 DVD (provided you can get to level 3, I haven't gotten there yet, but I will) It's only $10ish, so it's worth trying to find.

    Here's a little know, but amesome secret, if you have Netflix, there are a bunch of good workout videos on the instant, most from Crunch or 10 minute solution. Right now I'm working more Shred into my workouts, but I use a lot of the netflix videos. I also took up jogging (the term jogging is a stretch right now, but I'll have my old legs back before long
  • oliviawink
    oliviawink Posts: 753 Member
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    today's challenge is a great learning experience for me. My BMR is almost 1500 cals. MFP has my cals/day set @ 1200, which explains why I feel like I will starve-to-death if I eat only that much. I've been using exercise to build my cals up to at least 1400. I eat close to all my cals daily and if i don't, like monday, then I'm ravenous the entire next day (yest).

    So it seems that's why deit AND exercise is the ultimate combo!
  • nikki8marie
    nikki8marie Posts: 107 Member
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    I love sneaking in exercise. I play music while I'm cleaning and start dancing or like yesterday I was walking around while on the phone instead of sitting in the chair.

    I understand that there is a certain amount of calories that people need a day for there bodies to work properly. Eating back the earned calories seems counter productive to me. Don't you want the earned calories to come from fat storage?
  • aab1
    aab1 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    BMR = 1,805 That seems like a lot.

    I have my MFP setup for 1,300/day; with exercising I've been averaging 1400-1500/day. I can't see eating 1805/day at this point; although I have had a few days where I've been REALLY hungry and I'll eat more those days but overall I'm OK with where I'm at.

    (But ask me again when my weight starts to plateau). :wink:
  • swtchrypie
    swtchrypie Posts: 79
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    THANKS Olivia! I think i might try it since its only 10 bucks.
  • sheilabennett
    sheilabennett Posts: 210
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    My BMR is 1624.

    I usually don't eat my exercise calories, but its not usually a conscious decision not to, I just find that I am not hungry. I have no problem eating 1200 cal a day, and the only time I find that I get hungry is when I am bored. And thats not real hunger. I do see the benefits of partially eating some of the exercise cals, so sometimes I will force myself.

    On a side note - I totally failed on yesterdays challenge. I got home from work, layed on the couch and ate junk all night. Not my finest moment... I feel better today though, so I am gonna try and get back in the game!
  • jackswife1207
    jackswife1207 Posts: 59 Member
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    BMR=1469

    It depends on the day whether or not I eat the extra earned calories. Just depends on how hungry I am, where I eat that day, etc.

    I plan to go to the YMCA later with the family to work out.

    Thanks for the recipes and for the netflix tip! I didn't know they had workout videos on there!
  • jessicamarie81
    jessicamarie81 Posts: 441 Member
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    I need to figure out my BMR, I was so confused about eating back exercise calories...like yesterday, look at all I ate and I was sooo full off of around 1200 calories. I just don't want to do anything that's going to slow my weight loss. Let me go figure this out....

    A great motivator for today is I put on this t-shirt that was extremely tight in December and it fits wonderfully today! I love the little things like that! I snuck in exercise a few times yesterday, it's amazing the small changes, like I would have never taken the time out to actually exercise and move around while Jordan is taking a bath or while he's entertaining himself, usually I would be on the couch on the laptop or doing school work. I'm really liking my determination these days!
  • ceejay000
    ceejay000 Posts: 402 Member
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    My BMR is 1392 which is almost exactly the number of calories MFP says I should net in a day. Looking back, it looks like on the days I stick to my plan, I eat 1300-1500 calories (usually about 1400), which covers my BMR. However, I'm a little confused about all of this. Is it important to eat enough to cover your BMR, or do you need to eat enough to cover your BMR plus any calories you subtract through exercise? If I subtract out the exercise calories, my "net" calories are below my BMR, so any advice/explanation is welcome.
  • Melissaol
    Melissaol Posts: 952 Member
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    Im in.. I need to get going on this ...

    I feb. 14th i weighted 179 lbs. My goal is to lose 9lbs...

    I had to order a new bowling shirt yesterday and im usually a size large and i went down a size.. ..

    February 23rd
  • kylakesgal
    kylakesgal Posts: 952 Member
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    My BMR is 1382 and I hardly ever eat this many calories even with exercise. It is very confusing to me also. I eat 3 healthy meals a day and my 2 snacks and I'm satisfied. On one hand you don't want to starve yourself but your body will let you know when it's hungry. I think you have to find what works for you. I lost 4 lbs last week and don't feel like I"m starving myself. I know so many people say you should eat back your exercise calories but I feel as long as I'm eating healthy, staying within my limits and I'm not starving, I'm doing good. Personally I eat about 1000 calories a day. Curious to know what everyone else is doing and what your thoughts are on this.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 560 Member
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    My current BMR is1528 at 5'6", 205.2 lbs.. I recently adjusted my weight loss goal to 2 lbs. per week, and MFP set my base calories at the minimum 1200, with a projected loss of 1.4-1.5 lbs per week. Before I reset, I wasn't eating back all my exercise calories (and wasn't doing all that much exercise), but now I NEED those exercise calories to allow me to eat enough to be satisfied. This past week, I've been earning about 200-275 exercise calories per day, and keeping my net calories right around 1200. I'm also doing a Primal diet, so I've adjusted my carb intake to 75-100 g per day and upped the protein and fats. I've lost between 3-4 lbs.over the last week, so it's working for me.

    Melissa, you made me think of something--one goal is to get back into a size medium lab coat before I retire next year.
  • swtchrypie
    swtchrypie Posts: 79
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    my bmr is 1388, i eat those plus most of my exercise calories back.
  • tatiana_13
    tatiana_13 Posts: 325
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    My BMR is 1117. Which is why it makes total sense for me to eat 1200ish calories for weight loss. I have never been able to figure out how larger women survive on 1200 calories a day, particularly when they're doing an hour or more of exercise a day. When I was 65 pounds heavier, I easily ate 1500-1600 calories a day while I was dieting---and even though I was larger, I was still 4'11"...I wasn't counting calories then, and I remember once that I tried to count my calories for a day, and I was so horrified by how much I was eating, that I promptly stopped! Maybe I didn't "need" those calories--because I guess the body adapts to whatever you give it--but I sometimes wonder how something that's suppose to be so "scientific" (calories in, calories out...) seems to vary so wildly from person to person...

    I don't tend to eat my exercise calories, and here's why. I think if you are an athletic person...as in, you "train," I think you should eat them. If that's you, you know who you are. But I know that's not me. I figure I have an office job. I sit all day. I sit in the car. I sit on public transit. So yeah, I exercise, but when I'm not exercising, I'm probably at my BMR. So I probably don't need to eat them. But I'm not an incredibly active person.
  • kylakesgal
    kylakesgal Posts: 952 Member
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    Tatiana, that makes perfect sense to me. I'm the same way, very inactive desk job but I'm working on that but all in all I"m not an active person either. So just eating my BMR calories works for me. Now if I was really working out hard, I could see me needing the extra calories. I'm just getting started on dieting again but right now I'm going to continue to do what I"m doing until I see that not working.
  • ceejay000
    ceejay000 Posts: 402 Member
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    I tried to look into the "eating your exercise calories" thing today, and found this post on the topic:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    That post (and really everyone on here) seems to advocate eating your exercise calories. The theory is that the number of calories calculated for you is already a smaller number than the number of calories you would need to eat to maintain your current weight. This is all based on keeping you in the range of healthy weight loss instead of pushing you into starvation mode. (The linked post goes into much more detail.)

    Here's another post that discusses healthy weight loss targets per week based on BMI:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    After reading those, I think I will try to eat back most of my exercise calories... I probably won't eat all of them, but only because I kind of like seeing "ceejay000 completed her food and exercise diary for 02/23/2011 and was under her calorie goal." I know that's silly, but it helps keep me motivated.

    Anyway, I hope that helps with the question of exercise calories!

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