Too Many Calories?

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agataarchangel
agataarchangel Posts: 292 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just wanted to see if anyone else feels like this, and to get your thoughts/opinions about this.

Considering I don't know how accurate the readouts/calories burned are from gym machines, I usually round down to a nice round number for my total calories burned at the gym. Usually, during the week, I burn about 950 calories this way daily (about 80 minutes of cardio).

This number considered, my daily food intake is anywhere from 1450- 1700 calories daily. Sometimes, the amount of food I eat seems like a lot- I feel like I'm eating too much. My goal is to maintain my weight, and I"m not really interested in losing at this point...but I feel if I start to actually take in a 'net' amount of 1200, following this type of workout schedule, I might start gaining instead...it just seems like it's really a lot of food to take in....does anyone else feel this way? What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
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    Based on readings from my heart rate monitor, the machines register about 100 calories higher for EVERY 30 minutes of exercise. That can really throw your numbers off. I found the estimates on this website to be closer to the numbers on my heart rate monitor. Much better to underestimate by 30 or 40 calories!
  • sarahmay25
    sarahmay25 Posts: 27 Member
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    I'm in the same predicament. I try to take in my 'net' calories but it seems like too much when I workout all week. Plus, I'm trying to lose a bit of weight and I haven't gone anywhere since last week...
  • Dianamgoss
    Dianamgoss Posts: 2
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    My's Friend's nutritionist says NOT to eat back the calories you burn when working out. Now, she is trying to lose weight, so it may be different if you are trying to maintain. I would check with your doctor.
  • agulledge32
    agulledge32 Posts: 17
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    I do not think it is too much. I started in January doing the P90X workout program and diet. The workouts are very intense but only last about 55 minutes for 6 days a week. The diet program has you figure out how many calories to take in...what I weighted when I started equaled to almost 2400 calories per day, now that's a LOT of calories. I was stuffing my face with tons of protein and veggies to get it all in. I decided to drop down the calories myself to about 1800 and I was still able to make it through the workouts without crashing. I did only eat 1100 calories one day and early the next morning I crashed during my workout! I thought I was going to pass out. So I just recently dropped my calories down to 1500 and I am still losing.
  • gtm124
    gtm124 Posts: 179
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    I use the readings from my HRM for my burned calories as I to have found the fitness center treadmills over estimate. MFP estimates are closer but still high in my opinion. Since my bike riding includes hilly terrain and head winds I depend upon my HRM for that also.
  • WifeMomDVM
    WifeMomDVM Posts: 1,025 Member
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    Why don't you just try it for one month and then weigh yourself? If you gain, you can eat less or make an adjustment. If you maintain, sounds like you've found the perfect plan!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    Just wanted to see if anyone else feels like this, and to get your thoughts/opinions about this.

    Considering I don't know how accurate the readouts/calories burned are from gym machines, I usually round down to a nice round number for my total calories burned at the gym. Usually, during the week, I burn about 950 calories this way daily (about 80 minutes of cardio).

    This number considered, my daily food intake is anywhere from 1450- 1700 calories daily. Sometimes, the amount of food I eat seems like a lot- I feel like I'm eating too much. My goal is to maintain my weight, and I"m not really interested in losing at this point...but I feel if I start to actually take in a 'net' amount of 1200, following this type of workout schedule, I might start gaining instead...it just seems like it's really a lot of food to take in....does anyone else feel this way? What are your thoughts?

    If you goal is to maintain your weight it is very likely that you are eating too few calories at 1200 NET. That would be a minimum for a female, so unless you are really small, you likely need more than that to maintain weight. I would suggest you switch your goals on MFP to maintain and see what number of calories it suggests and slowly work up to that.

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