I can't eat back my exercise calories

I need to know the answer to this too.

I need to know to...

I would not count whatever you are doing as far as practicing as exercise. Yes, it's physical (I have a degree in music, so I trust me I know!), but I would just consider that part of your everyday routine - and when you go into your settings to set up your calories for MFP, check the box that says you are "moderately active." Right now I have a desk job, but before this job, I was working in childcare. I didn't count all the running around I did after kids as exercise though - that was just part of my job.

DO count your walking to class and whatever purposeful workouts you do at the gym, outside, etc.

Not a expect , but if you do violin practice alot, change your activity to heay, or don't count them at all. Does it burn that many, do you wear a HRM?

Your net calories need to be the 1200 you have. I usually try to get there but some days I can't. Try to add things--cheese, condiments etc. to your food. Instead of having chicken with veggies have garlic bread instead or something. Obviously don't eat something terrible for you to make those up, but just add things onto your usual meals to make up for some of that. Or drinks. Like milk or something.

Have you been doing this voilin practice before starting this program?....It maybe that you to mark yourself in the setting as being an active person.

I started eating (most of) my exercise calories back and stopped losing weight. I hear this happens and I should just press on. It will eventually improve, or so they say. I haven't seen evidence of this yet. I'm starting to wonder if it's alll just a cruel joke. But I'm impatient and it's only been a week.

I am going to say that if you are used to doing 5 hours of violin practice everyday... it likely isn't exercise anymore. It's something you would be doing anyways. I wouldn't worry about consuming calories for this. Is it work... Absolutely. But because it is something you do daily and not muscle building or cardio... I wouldn't count it.

I would however count the brisk walk that you do as that likely leads to an elevated heart rate.

so, I agree with Newfiedan that you should make every attempt to spread your calories out throughout the day, if you know you are doing the extra calorie burn, plan for that. 2000 calories isn't that much to eat in a day if you plan out right.

And no don't raise your deficit, not where you are, in fact I would lean more towards lowering your deficit (I.E. raising the amount of calories you eat) as 1 lb a week for someone at a healthy BMI is generally difficult to accomplish and even harder to maintain for any length of time. Assuming, that is, that you don't have an inordinate amount of muscle mass or some other reason that your BMI would be off.

I wouldn't even count the calories you burn from the violin practice because your body is already accustomed to that type of exercise on a regular basis. It's like if you have a job where you are on your feet all day; you wouldn't count that time on your feet as exercise, you would just count it as a high exertion job when you enter it into MFP. The only time I would reccomend to add it is if you practice longer than you do in a normal day, or if you are playing a concert or something.

Hope this helps.

I saw this yesterday some one posted it on their visit to a nutritionist. I agree with everyone that you shouldn't be counting the violin practice, I am a nurse and don't count any of the walking I do while at work.

1) POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

after any workout, whether cardio or strength training, it is important to refuel our body with the right nutrients. this way, we can recover more effectively, replace our muscles with glycogen, build muscle mass and burn more body fat, and see results faster.

he recommended:
- something that's easy to digest (NO fat or animal meats, and ideally liquid)
- carbs are most important - a food with a high-glycemic index (GI) is best, so it can be absorbed quickly
- easy-digesting protein - he recommended whey

examples are:
- a 20-oz orange/fruit punch gatorade with one scoop of whey powder (whey protein is most easily digested) - supposedly, it will taste like a creamsicle
- milk/yogurt (e.g., chocolate milk)
- fruit

his top pick was a mixture of gatorade/whey protein - which is absorbed most quickly. after exercise, you want a spike in insulin from simple sugars, because it will cause the body to revert to an anabolic state and help you gain muscle. in contrast, you do NOT want a high GI food during other parts of the day, because the spike in insulin will make cells more sensitive to fat absorption. so if you do eat a fruit during the day, be sure to accompany it with a handful of nuts, an ounce of cheese, etc. to avoid the insulin spike

the TIMING of post-workout nutrition is also critical. he said the "window of opportunity" is 45 minutes (reference is a study by Drs. John Ivy and Robert Portman), and ideally it should be taken within 15-30 minutes post-workout. beyond the 45-min window, your muscles become less sensitive and efficient at replenishing glycogen stores. ryan also recommended a full meal within 60-90 minutes post-workout.

i know the topic of EATING BACK EXERCISE CALORIES is hugely debated on MFP! , but he agrees it is very important, and suggested that i eat 75% back right during post-recovery nutrition so that it can be used directly for muscle building. the TIMING of eating back exercise calories is also important. he said many people might think they can eat a huge bowl of cereal much later in the day, given they burned a lot of calories.. but if you eat them back during other parts of the day and it is a large number of calories, the excess calories will be converted into fat. so eating them back during the post-workout window is ideal.

Eat them back, don't eat them back...there are arguments to both sides and some people actually will eat part of them back as a way to compromise. It's a personal choice. This website seems to find value in eating them back and since I'm *not* a nutrition and exercise guru I'm making no argument either way.

That being said, if you want to up your calories easily while still being healthy I'd look into getting some peanut butter. Have you seen how many calories are in a couple tbsp? Surely you can eat a few out of the jar without problem and chase it with some milk.

Lots of protein there. Also I had a friend who was underweight that actually had to see a legitimate nutritionist. She recommended it as a healthy addition of calories.

I am really concerned about your estimates of calorie burn. I thinkthey are WAY high. That may be your problem

I am just using the MFP calculator and I have checked a lot of sources on violin practice. I think people would be surprised how physically hard it is. If you watch a soloist on any instrument at a high level you will generally see sweat running down their face pretty quickly!

Do you play those types of demanding pieces often? And is it consistent? Your heart rate needs to be elevated consistently for the duration of your time playing to burn that many calories. Now, if you are at that high level of energy for 15-30 seconds and then slow down for the next minute before you're back at it again you could probably assume that your heart rate didn't have enough time to lower too much. But if you are working the violin hard for five consecutive minutes but then don't play again for another ten minutes - that's PLENTY of time for your heart rate to drop. Make sense? :-/

I didnt know that we were supposed to eat back the exercise calories.......

wow, PLEASE read the link at the bottom of my signature