Eating exercise calories

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RolandPHX
RolandPHX Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,
I am in the process of cutting. In the last 45 days I am down from 232 lbs to 216lbs. I feel stronger and lift more weight during my resistance training.

My typical work out is 30 minutes HIIT before resistance training. Then about 30 minutes of resistance training by a muscle group broken though the week, followed by 15 to 20 min steady state cardio. I generally burn about 800 calories during these sessions, and I exercise 6 or 7 days a week. I know there is controversy about pre vs post resistance cardio, and HIIT vs steady state cardio. That is not my question.

My question is that without exercise I am restricted to 1,500 calories per day, and most days I am okay with that. I feel that I should not eat the calories that I earn by exercising, which would put me at about 2,300 calories.

My goal is lean out. I hope to be at 180-190 pounds, with 10-14% body fat. I am 5 ft 8 inches tall (or short).

I would appreciate your thoughts/advice.
Thanks

Replies

  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    edited March 2015
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    My thoughts...... Wow! I don't think I have any advise but suspect you could teach me a thing or two. Good luck, it sounds like you are doing as great job already!
    Edited - I've just re read your post. 1500 seems really low. I'm on 1460 and I'm a 5'6 42yr old woman. I say eat!
  • orlandodenise
    orlandodenise Posts: 54 Member
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    I do similar - around 1000 - 1200 exercise calories a day ( apparently according to MFP) 6 times a week but I rarely eat any back. I just stick with my calorie allowance - its working for me - ive never felt better :)
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    yeah 1500 sounds low, but i dont know much about how men 'should' do it?

    im 5'2, 37 years old and am (for the moment) consistently losing 2+ pounds a week on 1500 calories. i work out 6 days a week on average and sometimes eat exercise calories back and sometimes dont. that said, we weigh about the same (sadly LOL!) so maybe it is close.

  • RolandPHX
    RolandPHX Posts: 13 Member
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    Karen_libert, I know that 1500 is low. Another controversial statement, and I do not use this as a crutch, but I think I am an endomorth. If I eat higher than that, I gain weight (fat) very easily.
  • enoughisenough9
    enoughisenough9 Posts: 42 Member
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    orlandodenise wrote: »
    I do similar - around 1000 - 1200 exercise calories a day ( apparently according to MFP) 6 times a week but I rarely eat any back. I just stick with my calorie allowance - its working for me - ive never felt better :)

    Me too, I do 2 - 3 hours of cardio a day and I've never felt inclined to "eat back" any of the calories I've burned off. If I feel hungry, I might have a banana or something.


    Roland9765 - if it works for you, then go for it. Don't "eat back" the calories just for the sake of it.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    roland9765 wrote: »
    I think I am an endomorth.

    I consider myself a reasonably intelligent, college educated person and I had to go look that up! LOL! Congrats! Not many people toss a word out that I have to look up! LOLOL!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    If your exercise and calorie estimates are accurate then how long to you think you can keep this up before you burn out?
    This sounds ambitious: "I hope to be at 180-190 pounds, with 10-14% body fat. I am 5 ft 8 inches tall".
    You would be better advised to concentrate on retaining your lean mass as you are going to need it to make those numbers.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    If your exercise and calorie estimates are accurate then how long to you think you can keep this up before you burn out?
    This sounds ambitious: "I hope to be at 180-190 pounds, with 10-14% body fat. I am 5 ft 8 inches tall".
    You would be better advised to concentrate on retaining your lean mass as you are going to need it to make those numbers.

    I was waiting for someone else to come in on this.

    Also, you do HIIT before resistance training? Is your resistance training heavy lifting or body weight stuff or what?
  • RolandPHX
    RolandPHX Posts: 13 Member
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    Arditarose I do heavy lifting. I break it down into muscle groups (chest, arms, back, shoulders, and legs...and mix in core a couple times a week). When I lift I do two sets to fail, and third set I take it past fail with drop-down weights. I keep rest times to 30 seconds or less.
  • RolandPHX
    RolandPHX Posts: 13 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    If your exercise and calorie estimates are accurate then how long to you think you can keep this up before you burn out?
    This sounds ambitious: "I hope to be at 180-190 pounds, with 10-14% body fat. I am 5 ft 8 inches tall".
    You would be better advised to concentrate on retaining your lean mass as you are going to need it to make those numbers.

    Do you have specific recommendations?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Slow down - if you are serious about your ultimate goal you have a long road to travel.
    I'm much older but for comparison I'm 164lbs and 5'9" so retaining muscle should be a priority for you to hit your goal. Much easier to retain muscle as opposed to losing it and having to build it back up. Which means a modest calorie deficit. With your exercise routine you simply must take your exercise into account. Whether that is the MFP eating back method or TDEE method is up to you.

    You have set a very low daily goal and then are making the deficit even more excessive by not eating back exercise calories.

    A word of caution though neither interval training or resistance training are easy to measure the burns (HRMs won't be at all accurate) so watch your actual weight loss results over time.

    Well worth reading.....

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    roland9765 wrote: »
    I think I am an endomorth.

    I consider myself a reasonably intelligent, college educated person and I had to go look that up! LOL! Congrats! Not many people toss a word out that I have to look up! LOLOL!

    I had to look it up too! who do we complain to? I think I'm in the wrong group. I paid to be a mesomorph!
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    edited March 2015
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    roland9765 wrote: »
    Karen_libert, I know that 1500 is low. Another controversial statement, and I do not use this as a crutch, but I think I am an endomorth. If I eat higher than that, I gain weight (fat) very easily.

    I just wonder if its not more to do with macros that calories? I am certainly no expert and I'm figuring this out as I go along but from what I understand: calories are about 'weight' loss. Where that weight comes from depends on your macros. If you gain fat easily and want to gain muscle (and are training efficiently) then would lowering your fat% and upping your carb and protein % in the macros section help? Then you could get more calories but no more fat.

    I'm just thinking out loud (and I never hit my macros!) but perhaps someone with more knowledge could comment?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Karen_libert wrote: »
    roland9765 wrote: »
    Karen_libert, I know that 1500 is low. Another controversial statement, and I do not use this as a crutch, but I think I am an endomorth. If I eat higher than that, I gain weight (fat) very easily.

    I just wonder if its not more to do with macros that calories? I am certainly no expert and I'm figuring this out as I go along but from what I understand: calories are about 'weight' loss. Where that weight comes from depends on your macros. If you gain fat easily and want to gain muscle (and are training efficiently) then would lowering your fat% and upping your carb and protein % in the macros section help? Then you could get more calories but no more fat.

    I'm just thinking out loud (and I never hit my macros!) but perhaps someone with more knowledge could comment?
    Adequate protein is crucial when cutting for preservation of lean mass, especially with a heavy exercise regime.
    Fat is an essential macronutrient but don't link dietary fat intake and body fat (i.e. eating fat doesn't make you fat)
    Carbs for energy and training performance.

    You can't purely look at macros without considering calories as well.
    There are limits on how much body fat you can oxidise in a deficit - which is the reason very fat/overweight people can "safely" lose weight quicker and they are advised to taper off the rate of loss as they get closer to goal.
  • RolandPHX
    RolandPHX Posts: 13 Member
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    Thank you guys for your insight.

    I try to keep carbs bellow 30% (75g), protein at 45% (about 170 grams), and fat at 35% (58g). I have a hard time consuming 170 grams of protein, but come close at 140-150 gram a day.

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