Should I Eat Back the Calories?
Panda_Poptarts
Posts: 971 Member
Hi Guys,
So this is becoming quite the learning journey. I've discovered through MFP message boards that I have no idea what I'm doing. :-) Help a girl out?
At this point, I am shooting for around 1200 calories a day (and probably eating way more than that, who knows? I'm buying a food scale shortly). I log my exercise, but don't eat back any calories. So, if I am actually eating 1200 calories (for the sake of mathematics, let's say I am), and then I burn 250, my net is at 950 for the day.
Could this be a part of why I'm not losing ANYTHING? I lost 10 pounds, then I hit a standstill. It kind of sucks, considering the mass amount of weight I have left to lose...
Insight, advice, tips, and what-the-heck-should-I-be-eating is appreciated!
So this is becoming quite the learning journey. I've discovered through MFP message boards that I have no idea what I'm doing. :-) Help a girl out?
At this point, I am shooting for around 1200 calories a day (and probably eating way more than that, who knows? I'm buying a food scale shortly). I log my exercise, but don't eat back any calories. So, if I am actually eating 1200 calories (for the sake of mathematics, let's say I am), and then I burn 250, my net is at 950 for the day.
Could this be a part of why I'm not losing ANYTHING? I lost 10 pounds, then I hit a standstill. It kind of sucks, considering the mass amount of weight I have left to lose...
Insight, advice, tips, and what-the-heck-should-I-be-eating is appreciated!
0
Replies
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You may have hit a stall because you are eating more than you think you are. The food scale will really help.
Side note- if you are unsure of how many calories to eat back after exercise, some people (myself included) find it easy to use the TDEE-20% method of calorie counting that already has adjustments for exercise calories built in.0 -
Ok.. the quick answers (sorry, I'm at work.. not much time).
Stalls are normal, and are sometimes followed by a weight-loss "whoosh".
The scale lies - at least in the short-term.
Not eating back calories will not prevent you from losing weight.
If your stall is less than 8 weeks... exercise patience, and keep going!
If more, then re-evaluate your eating/logging (that food scale will definitely help).
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Eat them back. At 1200 calories you can lose weight without even exercising. It is important that you eat back those calories so that you NET 1200 calories. When I was really overweight I lost over 50lbs on a 1350 calorie diet and I was eating to a net of 1350.0
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You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget. 0
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Ok.. the quick answers (sorry, I'm at work.. not much time).
Stalls are normal, and are sometimes followed by a weight-loss "whoosh".
The scale lies - at least in the short-term.
Not eating back calories will not prevent you from losing weight.
If your stall is less than 8 weeks... exercise patience, and keep going!
If more, then re-evaluate your eating/logging (that food scale will definitely help).
We're at about 2 weeks.
I just want results, darnit! Slow and steady, eh?0 -
You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.0 -
It all depends on how you set things up. If you set your activity as per the MFP descriptors to only include your day to day hum drum then yes...because any exercise would be unaccounted for activity.
That said, people tend to underestimate their food intake...they guestimate on servings and just log whatever is clever so they really don't have a true idea of their intake. If you're not measuring and weighing then I can pretty much guarantee you're eating more than you think you are. To boot, most people overestimate burn as well...
The MFP method...and really calorie counting in general requires quite a bit of precision. It's all estimates, but you want to be as precise with those estimates as possible...little things here and there can easily wipe out what you thought was a deficit....it's really not that hard to eat 500 + calories more than you think you are.
Also, when you say you hit a standstill...how long are we talking here? One of the other issues people have is a complete lack of patience and completely unrealistic expectations in RE to how much weight they should be losing and how fast. This isn't the Biggest Loser...this isn't some phony *kitten* t.v. show. Your weight loss isn't going to be a linear function and it's going to be slow...there's really no getting around that.0 -
Unless it's medical, and I'm not a doctor no one here is going to be able to answer that. These tools, MFP, food scales, activity trackers, heart rate monitors etc. are just that tools. And they are only as good as the person entering the data, they are not magic. You have to be completely, 100%, accurate with how much is going in and how much is going out, you do that and live in the deficit consistently, you will succeed. If you live in this weight lose world with approximations, your results will be very inconstant at best. Garbage in, garbage out, and I don't mean the type of food you're eating.0
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jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.
It's easy enough to do, just takes dedication and time. I choose to set my calorie goal a little higher and not eat back my workout calories. That way it doesn't matter how accurate my burned calorie estimates are, I will still lose weight without killing my metabolism. At your height, depending on how much you're truly ingesting, you need more than 1200 calories baseline.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »It all depends on how you set things up. If you set your activity as per the MFP descriptors to only include your day to day hum drum then yes...because any exercise would be unaccounted for activity.
That said, people tend to underestimate their food intake...they guestimate on servings and just log whatever is clever so they really don't have a true idea of their intake. If you're not measuring and weighing then I can pretty much guarantee you're eating more than you think you are. To boot, most people overestimate burn as well...
The MFP method...and really calorie counting in general requires quite a bit of precision. It's all estimates, but you want to be as precise with those estimates as possible...little things here and there can easily wipe out what you thought was a deficit....it's really not that hard to eat 500 + calories more than you think you are.
Also, when you say you hit a standstill...how long are we talking here? One of the other issues people have is a complete lack of patience and completely unrealistic expectations in RE to how much weight they should be losing and how fast. This isn't the Biggest Loser...this isn't some phony *kitten* t.v. show. Your weight loss isn't going to be a linear function and it's going to be slow...there's really no getting around that.
Where to start? Haha.
1. Standstill is about 2 weeks-- not a ton, but enough that I'm being pretty darned hard on myself.
2. I have 100 pounds to do, and would like to do it in a year (2 being tops). I think that's fairly realistic?
3. I am buying a food scale. I realized yesterday that I logged 2 portions of pita chips, and when I actually counted, it was likely way more than that. Eek.
4. I'm not so much going for linear function. I'm just... pushing my body as much as it wants to be pushed when it comes to exercise, and trying to not starve whilst making major changes. I've cut out soda, excess sugar, lots of processed crap. I'm on the right track. I just think this is... harder than I thought it was going to be. (who knew? Lol)0 -
My advice, ditch the 1200 calorie thing unless you are around 120 lbs. Go to this site: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and enter in your stats. Take that number and multiply by 0.85 and eat that amount. Make sure you choose the correct activity level. If you have a significant amount to lose like you are in the morbidly obese category don't worry about eating back exercise calories for regular workouts. If you are doing very long and/or hard strenuous workouts like hiking all day, long sessions of P90x you want to eat back some.
This is how I calculate what to eat back for me. My TDEE is 2200. So I normally burn around 80 calories an hour without exercise. I did a 2 hour hike yesterday, my burn for it was 870. I subtract 160 from that total (2 hours @ 80 calories). That gives me 710 calories burned from exercise. I will eat back 1/2 to a 3rd of that. I will eat that back with high protein and nutritionally dense food. I don't think of it as "yay I am gonna stuff on some chocolate cake and McD's". Also as you lose weight you will need to recalculate your calorie amounts. Do it every 15-20 lbs. Hop this helps.0 -
I base whether I eat the calories back or not on how many calories we are talking about. If I go for a thirty minute run, I probably won't eat the calories back, but if I"m doing something very active the entire day, like a snowboarding trip or something, I'll eat a portion of those calories back. I don't have a set number. I sort of go off of whether or not I thought today's activity level was exceptional in some way.0
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I recommend you start here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
It is very educational and will help you understand the answers to your questions. There are additional links in that article that will point you to further knowledge. Keep reading. You'll be glad you did.0 -
jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.
Have you seen a doctor at all? Many people in your weight situation have other things going on medically that jack with your hormones and your metabolism. At 300 Lbs you should be able to lose weight easily eating way more than 1200 calories per day.
I'm not sure of your age but I just generically put in your stats into the scooby workshop calculator with no exercise whatsoever and it is saying you should be able to lose about 1 Lb per week eating 2000ish calories which means you should be able to eat around 1500 calories to lose 2 Lbs per week (which at your size is perfectly acceptable). Mind you, that's without any exercise at all. Given your size, those seem very reasonable figures to me.
I will tell you this as well...the whole "starvation mode" stuff as it gets thrown around her is BS...but when you severely under-eat and restrict calories, it is a major stress on the body...this can really jack around with your hormones and it can slow your metabolism to some extent...and it most definitely can cause you to retain a *kitten* ton of water that can certainly mask short term scale losses.
At any-rate, I would make sure to net 1200...at your size you can afford to be more aggressive than many...just be careful not to overestimate your burns...and definitely get that food scale...it's a game changer for many.0 -
If all you're burning in exercise is 250, no, I wouldn't eat them back. But if you think you're eating 1200 and you aren't losing weight, then you're probably eating more than you realize.0
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If you are 5'11" 300 lbs 1200 calories a day is just not going to be enough, especially if you are working out on a regular basis. Are you using the MFP food calculator to determine your estimated daily nutritional intake? I am 5'10 and 278. I work out 4 days a week using a combination of strength training and cardio. My daily caloric intake is set at about 1600 a day. I have lost 11 lbs in 3 weeks so far. I have my goal set for 1.5 to 2 lbs a week.jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.
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i am new to this, can someone please help me understand, everyone keeps saying that we have to eat the calorie goal say (1200), and eat back what ever is burned correct? so how will i create a deficit if i eat 1200 + the calorie burned?0
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Yes MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories. Most stalls come from miscalculating consumption. Can you open your diary?0
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Because the 1200 already includes at deficit. The number MFP gives you already takes out whatever you should be in deficit (500 calories for 1 lb per week, 750 for 1.5, 1000 for 2.)0
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jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »Hi Guys,
So this is becoming quite the learning journey. I've discovered through MFP message boards that I have no idea what I'm doing. :-) Help a girl out?
At this point, I am shooting for around 1200 calories a day (and probably eating way more than that, who knows? I'm buying a food scale shortly). I log my exercise, but don't eat back any calories. So, if I am actually eating 1200 calories (for the sake of mathematics, let's say I am), and then I burn 250, my net is at 950 for the day.
Could this be a part of why I'm not losing ANYTHING? I lost 10 pounds, then I hit a standstill. It kind of sucks, considering the mass amount of weight I have left to lose...
Insight, advice, tips, and what-the-heck-should-I-be-eating is appreciated!
Hey! I like eating light for breakfast Slimfast, Lunch small sandwich and fruit, carrots.
At dinner I have 700-800 calories left. On a 1380 calories diet! No snacks. Losing a pound a week!0 -
Jessica, more than likely you are not burning a lot of calories during your exercise. You will probably not exceed 500 calories. They shouldn't be a need to consume additional calories.
First, you need to determine how much fat you want to loose weekly. From that you will determine you caloric intake. One to one and half pound is reasonable per week this is slow process.
Now you determine your macro (carbs, fat and protein) intake. Your protein is very important because that will maintain your existing muscle and will be used to repair your muscle to build strength from when you exercise. So, I am saying that you are going to put protein first then the other two macros you will use to fill in the remaining calories. MFP tends to skew towards consuming more carbs than protein.
Fats vs carbohydrates.
Fats are essential for body functions. You want to intake quality fats. An example of quality fats will be almonds or avocados. You will not need a large quantity
Carbohydrates are you body go to fuel for energy therefore, restricting your carbs will aid in fat loss. Keeping your carbs around 100 grams per day normally works well. Body builders will go below 50 grams per day to get ready for competition. Since you are not a body builder don't go there.
In summary:
1-- determine how much you want loose per week and keep it realistic 1 to 11/2 lbs per week.
2--Determine you calories to accomplish this
3--Determine you protein level to maintain you muscles and try to near that number. Protein should be the core of your meals
4--The body needs fats for essential functions so consume quality fats
5-- Carbs are the go fuel your body like to burn. Therefore limit them and it will go to its next preferred source which is fat
Please feel free to ask anymore questions. By sending an email.0 -
i am new to this, can someone please help me understand, everyone keeps saying that we have to eat the calorie goal say (1200), and eat back what ever is burned correct? so how will i create a deficit if i eat 1200 + the calorie burned?
Because 1200 calories is you deficit...no way in hell is 1200 a maintenance level of calories for anyone who isn't 4' nothing and 90 years old. To boot, 1200 is an aggressive weight loss goal for a sedentary individual...if you workout you are no longer sedentary.
Let's do some math...let's say your maintenance is around 2000 calories WITHOUT exercise....1200 calories per day would be in the neighborhood of 1.5 Lbs per week loss (1200 is as low as MFP will go). Now let's say you exercise and burn off...400 calories and your new calorie GOAL jumps to 1600 calories...it's ok...because you still maintain that same 800 calorie deficit because your previous maintenance number of 2000 is now 2400 calories and 2400 - 1600 = 800 calorie deficit still.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.
Have you seen a doctor at all? Many people in your weight situation have other things going on medically that jack with your hormones and your metabolism. At 300 Lbs you should be able to lose weight easily eating way more than 1200 calories per day.
I'm not sure of your age but I just generically put in your stats into the scooby workshop calculator with no exercise whatsoever and it is saying you should be able to lose about 1 Lb per week eating 2000ish calories which means you should be able to eat around 1500 calories to lose 2 Lbs per week (which at your size is perfectly acceptable). Mind you, that's without any exercise at all. Given your size, those seem very reasonable figures to me.
I will tell you this as well...the whole "starvation mode" stuff as it gets thrown around her is BS...but when you severely under-eat and restrict calories, it is a major stress on the body...this can really jack around with your hormones and it can slow your metabolism to some extent...and it most definitely can cause you to retain a *kitten* ton of water that can certainly mask short term scale losses.
At any-rate, I would make sure to net 1200...at your size you can afford to be more aggressive than many...just be careful not to overestimate your burns...and definitely get that food scale...it's a game changer for many.
Hormones are a part of it, but I don't want it to be my "excuse". I have PCOS, along with other issues. I recently started a birth control pill to regulate some things. It made me gain 5 pounds (probably bloat), which is really not okay.
I think I will always struggle with my weight, and that's okay. I just need to get to where I can manage it. I don't understand why at 1200 calories, or even 1500, I would not be losing SOMETHING without exercise. Factoring in exercise, I should definitely be losing.
The only logical conclusion is that I am eating way more than I think I am.
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Lissa_Kaye wrote: »My advice, ditch the 1200 calorie thing unless you are around 120 lbs. Go to this site: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and enter in your stats. Take that number and multiply by 0.85 and eat that amount. Make sure you choose the correct activity level. If you have a significant amount to lose like you are in the morbidly obese category don't worry about eating back exercise calories for regular workouts. If you are doing very long and/or hard strenuous workouts like hiking all day, long sessions of P90x you want to eat back some.
This is how I calculate what to eat back for me. My TDEE is 2200. So I normally burn around 80 calories an hour without exercise. I did a 2 hour hike yesterday, my burn for it was 870. I subtract 160 from that total (2 hours @ 80 calories). That gives me 710 calories burned from exercise. I will eat back 1/2 to a 3rd of that. I will eat that back with high protein and nutritionally dense food. I don't think of it as "yay I am gonna stuff on some chocolate cake and McD's". Also as you lose weight you will need to recalculate your calorie amounts. Do it every 15-20 lbs. Hop this helps.
I came out to just under 2600. That's way too many calories in a day, no?0 -
jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »You're not eating enough... unless you're a midget.
If 5'11 and 300 pounds is a midget, count me into the fun-sized club.
Lol.
So, what exactly is a healthy caloric intake? I have no idea. 1200 just seems to be a number that is pretty common for weight loss, and I really, really, need to lose 100 pounds.
Have you seen a doctor at all? Many people in your weight situation have other things going on medically that jack with your hormones and your metabolism. At 300 Lbs you should be able to lose weight easily eating way more than 1200 calories per day.
I'm not sure of your age but I just generically put in your stats into the scooby workshop calculator with no exercise whatsoever and it is saying you should be able to lose about 1 Lb per week eating 2000ish calories which means you should be able to eat around 1500 calories to lose 2 Lbs per week (which at your size is perfectly acceptable). Mind you, that's without any exercise at all. Given your size, those seem very reasonable figures to me.
I will tell you this as well...the whole "starvation mode" stuff as it gets thrown around her is BS...but when you severely under-eat and restrict calories, it is a major stress on the body...this can really jack around with your hormones and it can slow your metabolism to some extent...and it most definitely can cause you to retain a *kitten* ton of water that can certainly mask short term scale losses.
At any-rate, I would make sure to net 1200...at your size you can afford to be more aggressive than many...just be careful not to overestimate your burns...and definitely get that food scale...it's a game changer for many.
Hormones are a part of it, but I don't want it to be my "excuse". I have PCOS, along with other issues. I recently started a birth control pill to regulate some things. It made me gain 5 pounds (probably bloat), which is really not okay.
I think I will always struggle with my weight, and that's okay. I just need to get to where I can manage it. I don't understand why at 1200 calories, or even 1500, I would not be losing SOMETHING without exercise. Factoring in exercise, I should definitely be losing.
The only logical conclusion is that I am eating way more than I think I am.
possibly...but you also mentioned it had only been a 2 week stall...they will happen throughout the weight loss process. That's what I meant when i said it wasn't a linear process. You will have weeks with no loss...weeks with big losses...weeks with small losses...weeks with small gains due to the kind of things you mentioned above. Add to that, you are female...so you pretty much have a hormonal wrecking ball bring havoc monthly...if you talk to more women around her you will find that it's very typical to have stalls during that time and even gains with bloat and water retention.
You just have to keep plugging away...focus on the process and realize that ultimately this journey is a long one. You have to get into the mindset of the long haul.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
possibly...but you also mentioned it had only been a 2 week stall...they will happen throughout the weight loss process. That's what I meant when i said it wasn't a linear process. You will have weeks with no loss...weeks with big losses...weeks with small losses...weeks with small gains due to the kind of things you mentioned above. Add to that, you are female...so you pretty much have a hormonal wrecking ball bring havoc monthly...if you talk to more women around her you will find that it's very typical to have stalls during that time and even gains with bloat and water retention.
You just have to keep plugging away...focus on the process and realize that ultimately this journey is a long one. You have to get into the mindset of the long haul.
It is the unhealthy response that I want it gone NOW. Or rather, tiny drops now so that in a year, I will be at my goal. It is the unhealthy response that I hate my belly, and I feel like if I don't keep moving, keep pushing, I'm going to have this roll of fat hanging off of me for the rest of my life. I'm not okay with that.
I am, however, okay with continuing to plug away, hopefully in a healthier manner. I get paid in an hour, and Amazon is my first stop for a food scale. I have joined a fitness challenge... we'll see where next month gets me I suppose.
And you're right-- I'm about a week away from the wrecking ball making its presence very known, and my ovaries/uterus has been killing me for about a week. There's likely a lot to do with adjusting to meds and adjusting to a normal cycle, and also preparing for an upcoming cycle. I just don't want to make EXCUSES. I am, finally, ready to hold myself 100% accountable and say "I'm not doing this right".
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jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »Hi Guys,
So this is becoming quite the learning journey. I've discovered through MFP message boards that I have no idea what I'm doing. :-) Help a girl out?
At this point, I am shooting for around 1200 calories a day (and probably eating way more than that, who knows? I'm buying a food scale shortly). I log my exercise, but don't eat back any calories. So, if I am actually eating 1200 calories (for the sake of mathematics, let's say I am), and then I burn 250, my net is at 950 for the day.
Could this be a part of why I'm not losing ANYTHING? I lost 10 pounds, then I hit a standstill. It kind of sucks, considering the mass amount of weight I have left to lose...
Insight, advice, tips, and what-the-heck-should-I-be-eating is appreciated!
0 -
jessicaesqueda0409 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »
possibly...but you also mentioned it had only been a 2 week stall...they will happen throughout the weight loss process. That's what I meant when i said it wasn't a linear process. You will have weeks with no loss...weeks with big losses...weeks with small losses...weeks with small gains due to the kind of things you mentioned above. Add to that, you are female...so you pretty much have a hormonal wrecking ball bring havoc monthly...if you talk to more women around her you will find that it's very typical to have stalls during that time and even gains with bloat and water retention.
You just have to keep plugging away...focus on the process and realize that ultimately this journey is a long one. You have to get into the mindset of the long haul.
It is the unhealthy response that I want it gone NOW. Or rather, tiny drops now so that in a year, I will be at my goal. It is the unhealthy response that I hate my belly, and I feel like if I don't keep moving, keep pushing, I'm going to have this roll of fat hanging off of me for the rest of my life. I'm not okay with that.
I am, however, okay with continuing to plug away, hopefully in a healthier manner. I get paid in an hour, and Amazon is my first stop for a food scale. I have joined a fitness challenge... we'll see where next month gets me I suppose.
And you're right-- I'm about a week away from the wrecking ball making its presence very known, and my ovaries/uterus has been killing me for about a week. There's likely a lot to do with adjusting to meds and adjusting to a normal cycle, and also preparing for an upcoming cycle. I just don't want to make EXCUSES. I am, finally, ready to hold myself 100% accountable and say "I'm not doing this right".
Those things aren't always excuses...they can be, but there are real physiological things that take place that are outside of your control. Heck, even without all that, natural weight fluctuations can be anywhere from 1- 5 Lbs day to day for the average person. For example, I'm a pretty healthy and fit guy...my nutritional profile is pretty much outstanding and I exercise regularly...this morning I was a good 4 Lbs heavier on the scale than I was yesterday...this isn't because of something I did wrong...this is because of something happening physiologically in my body. I'm not worried about it because after 2.5 years I'm pretty familiar with my own cycles and fluctuations.
The best thing you can do is to look at the trend rather than the weigh to weigh numbers. You keep plugging away and the trend will continue down...you get frustrated and discouraged and bounce around with your goals, and all you're going to do is...well, bounce around. Just keep plugging and be consistent and watch the trends.0
This discussion has been closed.
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