opinions on protein and cardiovascular exercise

hungry25monster
hungry25monster Posts: 5
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Does protein make you gain or lose weight? I just notice that I consume more protein in my diet than what I'm suppose to. And What is the best cardiovascular exercise? Stairmaster Vs. Running?

And when you burn calories on the exercises, why does the calorie intake increases? I don't get it.. so you burn it and put it back on? please explain.. I am really confuse.

Thanks so much!

Replies

  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    Here is a list of must read links

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
  • manenuff21
    manenuff21 Posts: 63
    An excess amount of protein does help you put on muscle weight which then burns fat. Muscle burns fat, that's why exercise is a key part of losing weight along with dieting.

    Stairmaster and running are both great ways to burn calories so I'd say find a healthy combination of the two or choose the one that works best for you.

    Your caloric intake goes up when you exercise because you burn off the calories that you've eaten throughout the day, it's like erasing food. Yes you need to put it back because your body need the food in order to create the energy needed to burn the fat and to exercise the next day. If you don't use all your calories you will be at risk of slowing down your metabolism and storing food as fat in starvation mode.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Protein is a source of energy. A gram of protein has the same calories as a gram of carbs - 4. (Fat has 9 cal/gram). So if you're over a bit, don't sweat it as long as you're okay on your total calories.

    Cardiovascular exercise is anything that gets your heart rate up; most people call it aerobic exercise. So stair master would probably count as much as running. The other major "family" of exercise is resistance, aka weight training. You really want a mix for the best body (resistance also includes yoga, pilates, resistance bands, etc).

    They increase the calorie intake when you exercise because exercising burns calories. Which mean that you can eat that many more calories and still be taking in less than you burn. Say on a typical day you use about 1400 calories; they'll probably put you around 1200 for what you can have (I'm kind of guessing here). Then you exercise, burning another 300 calories. You don't want to drop your intake too much below what you burn, so you want to replace some of those calories with a bit extra food. One of the many benefits to exercise!

    Hope that clears things up a bit for you :)
  • CassieLEO
    CassieLEO Posts: 757 Member
    It increases because you have a already built in calorie deficit, so you need to make up some of those calories for your body to have fuel to get through the day.
    I never believed this up until a couple of weeks ago when I was at a complete standstill for a while. So, I figured I would try to eat back most my calories and what do you know, I lost two pounds. I exercise 7 days a week, a lot of cardio and take Zumba 5 days a week. I burn a hell of a lot of calories. So, now I try not to worry and have faith that someone knows what they are talking about, and it is working for me.
    Protein doesnt make you gain weight if you are still within your calorie limits. It helps you build lean muscle mass which will in turn burn more calories. If you hurt a lot after a workout, this will help the pain go away a bit. Running is better because you are using way more muscles in your body and you are exercising your heart more in Cardio..
  • DKBelle
    DKBelle Posts: 585
    Does protein make you gain or lose weight? I just notice that I consume more protein in my diet than what I'm suppose to. And What is the best cardiovascular exercise? Stairmaster Vs. Running?

    And when you burn calories on the exercises, why does the calorie intake increases? I don't get it.. so you burn it and put it back on? please explain.. I am really confuse.

    Thanks so much!



    After each workout you have to eat back your calories so your muscle could repair it self. You have to eat mainly protein I usually eat yogurt and fruits as I workout quite late.
    Check this site:
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    This site explain a lot of thing. I hope it is useful for you. I do zig-zag diet because my metabolism is not so fast.
  • Fiedems
    Fiedems Posts: 52 Member
    I don't think protein in itself makes you gain or loose weight. I know that most americans eat more protein than they need too.

    The best cardio exercise is the one that you do. Cardio is supposed to keep your heart rate up.

    The calorie goals on MFP are set so that you loose a certain amount of weight already. If you exercise you are burning some of the calories that you ate already. That means for a total for the day, you may not have enough calories to maintain your body metobolic rate and therefore put yourself into "survival mode" where your body decides that to survive it must retain all available calories. You gain instead of loose, even eating right and exercising.

    There is a big debate on how much of exercise calories you need to eat back in, and not being an expert I really have no idea. Personally I know that I can still loose if I eat some or most of my exercise calories. It all depends on how much I work out.
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
    To maximize fat loss and muscle growth you have to consume lean proteins together with complex carbs.

    By combining the two:
    You will make sure that your body does not break down muscle to get the aminos that are required; Protein / Amino's are not produced by the body -- you have to eat them :)

    You will blunt the insulin spike from carbs / prevent your body from storing fats.

    Protein does have a thermogenic effect --your base metabolic rate is increased as protein requires more work to digest.

    ---
    You should make Casein your pre-bed time snack as it is a very slow digesting protein that takes about 8 hours to digest.
    Good sources are low fat cottage cheese.
  • trayjay
    trayjay Posts: 5
    I agree with the posts above... would just like to add, that by eating protein with a carb, it reduces cravings. But you still only need a certain number of grams per day for nutritional needs so don't overdo it.

    Cardio is great for burning fat, but weight training & resistance is great for muscle build. Increased muscle means increased metabolism.... so a combination is great. 3 cardio workout days per week & 3 resistance training workouts. What I've learned from exercising is that you have to change up the routine as muscles have memory.

    If you find a stairmaster or treadmill boring.... and you've got a competitive edge, consider playing a fun sport. Lots of the highschools have drop in sports in the evenings ... such as volleyball, floor hockey, soccer, etc. I'm 51 & still play in a competitive soccer league with woman ranging from 18 - 51. I'm not a super athlete but find this is a great way to reduce the boredom & it's great comraderie, not to mention a lot of laughs.
  • hungry25monster
    hungry25monster Posts: 5
    WOW! You guys are so helpful! Thank you! And CassieLEO, your thoughts on running are the same with mine, it actually works the major body musculature, but I went back on the stairmaster because I got tired of running, so hopefully as soon as i start shedding the weight i can run again! :) Fiedems, I like the way you put the BMR in perspective for me.. thank you! so its all about the survival mode.. maybe that's why I am feeling weak right now because I don't have enough nutrients in me. dia82kiss, aside from yogurt do u drink any protein shakes? if so, what would u recommend?
  • hungry25monster
    hungry25monster Posts: 5
    Trayjay, you do not look 51! that is amazing! Grunt1, casein protein? i'm not too adventurous yet when it comes to supplements.. so far i just drink light protein shake after workout and some other diet pills on a cycle.
  • DKBelle
    DKBelle Posts: 585
    WOW! You guys are so helpful! Thank you! And CassieLEO, your thoughts on running are the same with mine, it actually works the major body musculature, but I went back on the stairmaster because I got tired of running, so hopefully as soon as i start shedding the weight i can run again! :) Fiedems, I like the way you put the BMR in perspective for me.. thank you! so its all about the survival mode.. maybe that's why I am feeling weak right now because I don't have enough nutrients in me. dia82kiss, aside from yogurt do u drink any protein shakes? if so, what would u recommend?

    I don't drink any shake like what you would buy in the shop, BUT I make sometimes banana with milk shake that I make at home. You can check what fruit and food has protein and you can pretty much make out of anything shakes on your own. I usually eat and drink a lot of fruit shake :)))) but you can also make some out of veggies. Buddy me so you can check out my food diary :)
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