Exercise Calories - Yay or nay?
leah4590
Posts: 27 Member
I would really love some help. I'm currently on a 1200 calorie diet and since I started it during March, I've had a fairly decent amount of weight loss between 1-2 kilos a week, but I actually started going to the gym two weeks ago and since then my weight loss has slowed down to .5 kilos per week.
Am I doing something wrong? I'm still eating my 1200 calories a day, there or there abouts, and my basic metabolic rate is 1680 so surely that 400 x 7 deficit plus any exercise I do (which is about 10 mins cardio 3 x week; various weights 3 x week and a spin class 1 x week) should mean I should burn more than required to lose a decent amount of weight?
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the weight to fly off, but .5 is honestly disheartening. Considering I've got 25 kilos to lose.
Am I supposed to eat my exercise calories? For example, MyFitnessPal still says I have almost 1000 calories to eat, but surely if I eat all those calories I won't lose weight at all, and may even put it back on?
Any advice is more than welcome!
I do know that a .5 loss is still a loss, and that's great, but I want to make sure I'm doing the weight loss thing correctly.
Am I doing something wrong? I'm still eating my 1200 calories a day, there or there abouts, and my basic metabolic rate is 1680 so surely that 400 x 7 deficit plus any exercise I do (which is about 10 mins cardio 3 x week; various weights 3 x week and a spin class 1 x week) should mean I should burn more than required to lose a decent amount of weight?
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the weight to fly off, but .5 is honestly disheartening. Considering I've got 25 kilos to lose.
Am I supposed to eat my exercise calories? For example, MyFitnessPal still says I have almost 1000 calories to eat, but surely if I eat all those calories I won't lose weight at all, and may even put it back on?
Any advice is more than welcome!
I do know that a .5 loss is still a loss, and that's great, but I want to make sure I'm doing the weight loss thing correctly. 0
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Ah! That post cannot be found!
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Basically as i have learned through mfp , your mfp calorie is already less your 500 a week needed for weight loss , so if you exercise as well you are burning extra calories, so for a steady 1lb a week loss posters recommend eating at least 50% of those exercise calories to keep your body functioning properly and well nourished 0
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Your weight loss has probably slowed down due to the new exercise causing water retention for muscle repair. Be patient while your body makes the adjustments and read the link provided above.0
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Few things:
1) When you start doing exercise, especially if it's more intense than what you've been doing, you'll retain water. This can take time to go back down.
2) If you're using MFP to log calories burnt, DON'T eat them all back. Start with 25%-50%, do that for 4-6 weeks, and see what happens. You may find that the calorie estimates aren't right for you and that's why your weight loss has slowed down.
Also, weight loss will slow down as you get closer to goal so that may come in to play also.
~Lyssa0 -
Thanks so much guys!
Will give it time as I've just started the gym and if I feel hungry I'll eat back 25-50% of my exercise calories! 0 -
1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »90% of the people here are probably not exercising or training hard enough to warrant eating your calories. Just don't eat the calories burnt. Problem = solved.
Dumb answer.0 -
Eating back your calories depends on which method you are using. If you told MFP that you plan to do X minutes of exercise for Y days (The TDEE system), you should not be eating back your calories unless you racked up more than what is in your calculated MFP numbers. Those exercise calories are already factored in your deficit and the calories MFP allots you daily.
If you told MFP that you will do Zero exercise (The NEAT system), then any calories you gain from exercising is fair game to eat.
I can't remember who posted the notes in bold, but it is a good description of how this all works. Remember that MFP already calculated the deficit in each case. Good luck.
With some over simplification, you burn calories: 1) staying alive (keeping your heart beating, lungs respirating,etc;) 2) routine life activities (doing laundry, working, etc); 3) digesting food; and 4) exercising.
BMR = 1, NEAT = 1,2 and 3, TDEE = all 4. BMR is an unimportant #. Either eat TDEE minus a calorie deficit or NEAT minus a calorie deficit plus exercise.
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Okay, here is today's MFP stats:
1200 goal | 1244 eaten | 1638 exercise | 1594 left to eat
I had in the goals bit that I do exercise 3 x times per week for 30 mins (but actually it takes me like 60-75 mins to do my gym circuit and I do the treadmill on my days off etc). So I wouldn't eat back those exercise calories, because I've already put into MFP that I exercise 3 x week for 30 mins?
I've actually just upped my activity level to active - I go to the gym three times a week, I work at a supermarket so I'm always hitting my 10,000 steps a day goal etc. And now MFP wants me to eat 1470.
It's all a leetle bit confusing for me. I thought it was a case of eat 1200 calories a day, do more exercise, and the weight will drop off. But when I joined the gym, Debbie (who owns the gym) told me I won't be able to eat just 1200 cals per day and go to the gym. But I still need to lose weight. Yes, I need to turn my 30% fat to muscle, but I also need to lose 25 kilos.
I'm 25, 5'5 and I weigh 87 kilos and need to weight between 55-60 (according to the Internet). If that helps haha. My head's reeling.
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I had in the goals bit that I do exercise 3 x times per week for 30 mins (but actually it takes me like 60-75 mins to do my gym circuit and I do the treadmill on my days off etc). So I wouldn't eat back those exercise calories, because I've already put into MFP that I exercise 3 x week for 30 mins?
No that's not how exercise goals work - that's just a goal you are stating, no allowance is made for that at all.
You could say zero times a week or twenty and it wouldn't affect your calorie allowance.
You only get credited for exercise when you actually do it.0 -
yeah your goals mean nothing. what you DO is how you EARN the calories.
when i was at 1200 cal/ day i ate back all my exercise calories cause i was a mean hungry hateful wench.
i changed to 1500 and am much happier now. LOL. now, if im hungry i eat them back, if im not, i dont.0 -
Okay, here is today's MFP stats:
1200 goal | 1244 eaten | 1638 exercise | 1594 left to eat
I had in the goals bit that I do exercise 3 x times per week for 30 mins (but actually it takes me like 60-75 mins to do my gym circuit and I do the treadmill on my days off etc). So I wouldn't eat back those exercise calories, because I've already put into MFP that I exercise 3 x week for 30 mins?
I've actually just upped my activity level to active - I go to the gym three times a week, I work at a supermarket so I'm always hitting my 10,000 steps a day goal etc. And now MFP wants me to eat 1470.
It's all a leetle bit confusing for me. I thought it was a case of eat 1200 calories a day, do more exercise, and the weight will drop off. But when I joined the gym, Debbie (who owns the gym) told me I won't be able to eat just 1200 cals per day and go to the gym. But I still need to lose weight. Yes, I need to turn my 30% fat to muscle, but I also need to lose 25 kilos.
I'm 25, 5'5 and I weigh 87 kilos and need to weight between 55-60 (according to the Internet). If that helps haha. My head's reeling.
Am I reading this right, you've eaten 1244 calories, and logged 1638 calories of exercise today? What did you do, and for how long?
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Okay, here is today's MFP stats:
1200 goal | 1244 eaten | 1638 exercise | 1594 left to eat
I had in the goals bit that I do exercise 3 x times per week for 30 mins (but actually it takes me like 60-75 mins to do my gym circuit and I do the treadmill on my days off etc). So I wouldn't eat back those exercise calories, because I've already put into MFP that I exercise 3 x week for 30 mins?
I've actually just upped my activity level to active - I go to the gym three times a week, I work at a supermarket so I'm always hitting my 10,000 steps a day goal etc. And now MFP wants me to eat 1470.
It's all a leetle bit confusing for me. I thought it was a case of eat 1200 calories a day, do more exercise, and the weight will drop off. But when I joined the gym, Debbie (who owns the gym) told me I won't be able to eat just 1200 cals per day and go to the gym. But I still need to lose weight. Yes, I need to turn my 30% fat to muscle, but I also need to lose 25 kilos.
I'm 25, 5'5 and I weigh 87 kilos and need to weight between 55-60 (according to the Internet). If that helps haha. My head's reeling.
It would be really helpful if you opened up your food/exercise diary. Something sounds really off with your exercise calories. Are you manually logging your exercise calories? Where are you getting the 1638 from?
As far as only eating 1200 calories and not eating exercise calories back, it might come back to bite you if you aren't careful. It may cause some health issues in the long run (increased muscle loss, hair loss, irregular periods, brittle nails, and fatigue just to name a few things). Just make sure to get your exercise burns figured out first.
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Eating back your calories depends on which method you are using. If you told MFP that you plan to do X minutes of exercise for Y days (The TDEE system), you should not be eating back your calories unless you racked up more than what is in your calculated MFP numbers. Those exercise calories are already factored in your deficit and the calories MFP allots you daily.
If you told MFP that you will do Zero exercise (The NEAT system), then any calories you gain from exercising is fair game to eat.
I can't remember who posted the notes in bold, but it is a good description of how this all works. Remember that MFP already calculated the deficit in each case. Good luck.
With some over simplification, you burn calories: 1) staying alive (keeping your heart beating, lungs respirating,etc;) 2) routine life activities (doing laundry, working, etc); 3) digesting food; and 4) exercising.
BMR = 1, NEAT = 1,2 and 3, TDEE = all 4. BMR is an unimportant #. Either eat TDEE minus a calorie deficit or NEAT minus a calorie deficit plus exercise.
Holy crap, I did not know the fact MFP calc'd in your exercise goals for the week!
This explains why I had to manually adjust my calorie intake down to 1300 from 1500 in order to maintain progress. I just thought my body was whack lol I tracked everything in runkeeper, and set it to auto-adjust with MFP.0 -
coreyreichle wrote: »Eating back your calories depends on which method you are using. If you told MFP that you plan to do X minutes of exercise for Y days (The TDEE system), you should not be eating back your calories unless you racked up more than what is in your calculated MFP numbers. Those exercise calories are already factored in your deficit and the calories MFP allots you daily.
If you told MFP that you will do Zero exercise (The NEAT system), then any calories you gain from exercising is fair game to eat.
I can't remember who posted the notes in bold, but it is a good description of how this all works. Remember that MFP already calculated the deficit in each case. Good luck.
With some over simplification, you burn calories: 1) staying alive (keeping your heart beating, lungs respirating,etc;) 2) routine life activities (doing laundry, working, etc); 3) digesting food; and 4) exercising.
BMR = 1, NEAT = 1,2 and 3, TDEE = all 4. BMR is an unimportant #. Either eat TDEE minus a calorie deficit or NEAT minus a calorie deficit plus exercise.
Holy crap, I did not know the fact MFP calc'd in your exercise goals for the week!
This explains why I had to manually adjust my calorie intake down to 1300 from 1500 in order to maintain progress. I just thought my body was whack lol I tracked everything in runkeeper, and set it to auto-adjust with MFP.
MFP does not actually include your estimated daily / weekly exercise calorie goal into your calorie allotment for the day, that's why you log your exercise.0 -
This is an ongoing debate. Partially because the effect of the correct answer is sometimes confounded because of separate issues.
MFP is designed to work as advertised with you eating back 100% of your true, net, exercise calories.
Assumptions re exercise calories:
-you are accurate as to the net exercise time and intensity level/speed that you're recording
-your expenditures matches the estimates (we are not all the same)
-your muscles have not yet adapted to the particular exercise which can lead to a potentially reduced caloric burn (as much as 30%)
Assumptions re confounding issues
-your food logging is correct and accurate
-your daily activity level matches what you're set up at in MFP
-your BMR matches MFPs estimate (some adaptive thermogenesis may take place potentially reducing your BMR by up to 15%)
So, whatever it is that you decide to do, you have to go back and review things once or twice a month and see whether your actual weight changes match your purported deficits- and adjust!
Rules of thumb for eat back:
50% strength training
75% HIIT or circuit training
100% steady state cardio
There seems to be this fear of potentially going over your calories on a few days.
If you do, yes, you will slow down your weight loss, and you will have to adjust.
My own bias is that I view persistently excessive (fast hare) deficits as having a greater potential for negative consequences as opposed to the occasionaly smaller (slow turtle) deficit.0 -
My exercise calories are high because of my FitBit, I think. I do at least 10,000 steps a day most days (at least 5 days a week), and my exercise calories are always massive, hence my question. I didn't want to eat back all those calories and then end up putting on.
The only actual exercise I do cardio-wise is 10 mins on the cross-trainer 3 times a week and a 45 min spin class once a week, 20 mins on the treadmill a couple times a week.
When I enter my strength training on MFP, there are no calories extra allowed (I assume because it's muscle building?)0 -
You have to account for exercise activity somewhere right?My exercise calories are high because of my FitBit, I think. I do at least 10,000 steps a day most days (at least 5 days a week), and my exercise calories are always massive, hence my question. I didn't want to eat back all those calories and then end up putting on.
The only actual exercise I do cardio-wise is 10 mins on the cross-trainer 3 times a week and a 45 min spin class once a week, 20 mins on the treadmill a couple times a week.
When I enter my strength training on MFP, there are no calories extra allowed (I assume because it's muscle building?)
What is your activity level set to? If you're walking that much I would just account for that in your activity level rather than tracking it as deliberate exercise...so if you're set to sedentary, you obviously aren't.
I would log the spin class separately and eat back some of those calories, but I wouldn't worry about the rest if you have your activity level set appropriately for your steps.
Part of what you need to understand is that exercise, while really good for you, is also hard on the body. You have to fuel moderate to vigorous activity appropriately for recovery as well as performance. Once people get past the whole working out to lose weight mentality and realize that the purpose of exercise is fitness, this all becomes much more clear.
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PS: I have opened up my diary 0
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I've set my activity level to active, which I think is right? It was lightly active but I'm actually pretty active when I think about it.
I don't log my walking, that pairs with my FitBit automatically, and I do log all other exercise separate.
I've upped my calories a day to 1460, to see how that feels, even if it means I lose a little less each week, at least I can build muscle.
It's such a hard thing to navigate. I want to be skinny, stat, but I also don't want to be "skinny fat". I never knew dieting and exercise was this complex, I must confess!0 -
I've set my activity level to active, which I think is right? It was lightly active but I'm actually pretty active when I think about it.
I don't log my walking, that pairs with my FitBit automatically, and I do log all other exercise separate.
I've upped my calories a day to 1460, to see how that feels, even if it means I lose a little less each week, at least I can build muscle.
It's such a hard thing to navigate. I want to be skinny, stat, but I also don't want to be "skinny fat". I never knew dieting and exercise was this complex, I must confess!
Your activity level is what you do in a day other than intentional exercise. So you do not include your workouts in this. Most people are sedentary, a few are lightly active, and fewer yet are higher than that.
What do you do all day when you're not working out? Use a computer? Work a desk job? Lift 50 lb bags in a warehouse?0 -
Walking as measured by an Activity Tracker is a more "interesting" type of exercise because MFP's basic SEDENTARY level already includes a level of activity equivalent to moving around 3 to 5,000 steps a day.
So, if your current walking for exercise (together with the rest of your daily activities) does NOT exceed 5-6,000 steps, I would suggest that you should NOT eat back any of your walking exercise calories.
However, if your walking/daily activities are such that you consistently exceed 5,000 steps a day, I would suggest you should eat back the calories you spend on any steps above 6,000.
**Alternatively**
--if your walking/activity is consistently > 6,000 steps, I would change MFP to LIGHTLY ACTIVE & also eat back steps above 8,000.
--if your walking/activity is consistently >10,000 steps, I would change MFP to ACTIVE & also eat back steps above 12,000.
--if your walking/activity is consistently > 15,750 steps, I would change MFP to VERY ACTIVE & also eat back most steps above that; or save them for a special occasion :-)0 -
Thanks guys!
On the days I work (and trying for days off, too) I walk between 10,000 to 15,000 steps so will eat back any steps above 12,000. That sounds like a nice compromise!0
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