Need advice!!!!

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milkyudders
milkyudders Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Need MFP help... Here's my scenario:

I am currently unemployed. I go to school and will be graduating in May, so working is on hold because I will be doing an internship once I'm done. Anywayyyyyyy, I recently got back on the MFP wagon... I previously lost 99.5 pounds using the app and decided I needed to get back to it after gaining 25-30 pounds back. Recently my bf and I joined a gym. We go 4-5 days a week. We do 30 minutes cardio (where my heart rate is in the cardio range listed on the treadmill for my age) and then we do 1 and a 1/2 to 2 hours of weight lifting (my bf's into body building, so I just shadow him and do all the same workouts, just at less weight because he's a beast). The last few days I have been soooooooooooo hungry. I currently have my activity level at lightly active and it gives me 1360 calories for the day... I'm struggling bad and find myself either suffering with a growling stomach and pains by the end of the night OR picking at little things, ultimately putting myself over the calorie limit (like last night when I had a few spoons of ice cream because I couldn't take the urge anymore).

My question is about the activity level... Since it dictates how much food you eat, I'm curious what everyone thinks. If I up the level to active, it gives me 1600 calories... Still not very much compared to how I've been feeling lately, and I wonder about the 2-3 days a week I don't get to the gym... What should I do? I want to lose 2 pounds a week, but I've never really exercised much before, so I'm not sure how this physical fitness stuff affects a person and their weight loss, especially with the major weight lifting I'm doing.

I'm not sure why I'm so incredibly hungry lately, but I'm afraid that I may start cheating more and more if I stay at the 1360 calories, which will negatively affect my weight loss.

Any help, info, or feedback would be appreciated.
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Replies

  • Nickers5405
    Nickers5405 Posts: 32 Member
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    2.5 hours in the gym 5 days a week would be considered highly active I think. It also depends how many calories you're burning while you're there? You could easily be burning over 500-600 calories during each workout.

    You're probably so hungry since your body wants fuel after those super long workouts. You can up your daily calories as long as you're still hitting your goals. If you stop losing weight then you've upped your calories too much.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    MFP's activity level does not account for exercise. That's why you log it separately. I would set yourself to sedentary and a pound a week (if 25-30 pounds is all you have to lose, you goal now is too aggressive), then log your exercise and eat half of those calories back.
  • Bluwaves1
    Bluwaves1 Posts: 191 Member
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    2.5 hours working out is really 'in the zone' awesome! I think if you add in your workout calories and eat back half you will be fine and in a few months in really good shape. Your endurance and strength will increase for sure. do some cardio on your days at home. Good luck!
  • pucenavel
    pucenavel Posts: 972 Member
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    I set mine for "sedentary" (or whatever is the equivalent), then I calculate the calories I burn from exercise (which can be very subjective since the machine is usually WAAAAY over estimating it based on my experience. I use a rough approximation of around 600-700 calories per hour of exercise if my heart rate is 160+ - like from running or cycling, and 400-500 for more moderate workouts like a stationary bike or swimming laps, where heart rate is more like 130-150. For weight lifting, I count it at around 200-250 per hour.

    I use those numbers to figure out how much fuel I need to consume to burn that energy.

    So if MFP tells me I need 1500 calories and I ran for an hour, I need to eat 1500+600 = 2100.

    When I'm being meticulous about it, it seems to work pretty accurately for me in terms of predicting a weight loss average per week.

    I also find that I need to adjust the suggested intake levels based on what quality of food I'm eating. If I'm eating a lot of crap, I can bump the calories up. If I'm eating mostly lean protein, fresh vegetables and fruit, I need to drop them a bit - that's just based on experience. I suppose my body absorbs more energy/nutrients from healthy foods than from pop tarts and doritos.
  • Karihappy
    Karihappy Posts: 116 Member
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    Are you eating back your calories?
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,434 Member
    edited February 2016
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    milkyudders wrote: »
    We do 30 minutes cardio (where my heart rate is in the cardio range listed on the treadmill for my age)

    Why? You don't lose more weight, and you don't know your own maximum heart rate. Those numbers given there are based on statistical averages. They don't work for 90% of all people and can be off by 20% easily. Simply put: the faster you go, the more calories you burn if you workout for the same duration.

    Just as an example: My maximum heart rate should be at around 178. I'm a bit extreme on that as it's above 210. If I work out at the number given on the machine then I only need to walk from the dressing room to the machine to get my heart rate up to that number. This given range is completely useless for me. And it is for most people. Plus, as pointed out above you are likely burning less calories if you go too slow.

    The other way around is of course also possible. A friend of mine simply cannot get higher than a maximum heart rate of 150. If a machine told him to train at 130 his workout would be very short as it's too tiresome for him keep it up for a longer time.

    Thus chose a workout speed that is tiresome for you but just about doable for your workout duration. Ignore the hearrate readings unless you have a known heart issue. Shake things up a bit: do days where you're a bit faster and do a shorter workout, and days where you're a bit slower and go on longer. And try to improve. Improvement in fitness only happens if you give your body something to work on. You don't get better at pushing a shopping trolley if you do it at exactly the same speed with the same goods in it.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    edited February 2016
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    As stated, MFP's activity level does not account for exercise. It doesn't sound like you're eating your exercise calories. You need to log that exercise and eat at least some of those back (you can try eating 100% to see if the numbers are accurate for you, but many people start around 50-75%). You're feeling so hungry because your body needs fuel for that exercise. Some people find they are hungrier the day after exercising, and will eat those calories that day, instead of the day of the exercise.

    That's a lot of time exercising, especially for someone who has never really exercised before. If you don't fuel that, you're going to burn out.

    Edit: also, as someone else mentioned, you really should set your goal to 1lb/wk with the amount you have to lose. That will also give you a higher calories goal. Just make sure you're logging accurately.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Do 45 mins weights, followed by 20 mins cardio. :)
  • milkyudders
    milkyudders Posts: 24 Member
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    Thanks to all who commented... Let me get a few things straight...

    I gained back 25-30 pounds after losing 99.5 pubs within a10 month span using MFP. I did not however, reach my original goal and was still 25-30 pounds away from it. Therefore, I now have 50-60 pounds to lose.

    I do not eat any exercise calories because I was not logging my exercise. I was told it's probably not accurate (either it accounts for too much or too little depending on the person), so I haven't bothered.

    And lastly, @yirara I use the recommended heart rate as a guide to where I should be. I work out hard, and if I go over my max I get dizzy and migraines. So the levels set have worked for me. I have noticed however, this past week my heart rate did not rise quite as much doing some of the same cardio, so I feel confident that I'm getting stronger. Also, I push myself. I'm not only in competition with my bf, I'm also in competition with myself. When I go, I go hard... So there's no worries there.

    :)
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    I'm not sure you heard what everyone was telling you.

    You aren't eating enough. That's why you feel like you're starving. You have two options

    (1) Stay set as lightly active, and start logging your exercise and eating back calories.
    (2) Set your activity as very active and eat what MFP tells you.

    Option (1) gives you more control because of not every day being the same.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Sooo . . . I can't tell from your post whether you're taking in the advice that's been given.

    Yes, exercise calorie burns are often off for many people. BMR, TDEE, and NEAT are estimations. If you're eyeballing or using measuring cups for your food rather than weighing it and not checking accuracy of the food in the database, there's quite a bit of room for error. Basically, at the end of the day the numbers are all estimates. They are going to be more accurate for some than others. Some of those numbers you have more control over than others.

    However, each person needs to be consistent with what they are doing and then, after a sufficient period of time (generally, 4-6 weeks is a good time frame), tweak if necessary. Just because exercise calorie estimations are not exact doesn't mean a person shouldn't log exercise. You just need to account for potential errors and gather enough data to inform your decision making moving forward.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, you're hungry because you are hardly eating enough calories to fuel your body at rest, and certainly not enough to fuel all that exercise.

    Set your goal to 1 lb per week. Set your activity level based on your daily activities, not including your scheduled exercise. Log your exercise and eat back half the calories. Give it a couple of weeks and see how you feel. A 2 lb goal is probably too aggressive, but if you feel better after a couple of weeks you could try increasing it to 1.5 at that point.
  • milkyudders
    milkyudders Posts: 24 Member
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    Thank you all...

    I weighed in Wednesday and lost only .8 of a pound. Hardly what I deserved after killing myself for 2+ hours at the gym almost every day, but I did change up my eating in the middle to calculating my workout calories like a few people suggested. I eat back some of those calories on the days I work out, but put my activity level back to lightly active. I'm so incredibly sore every single day, so I'm sure my muscles are retaining water and my body has released so much cortisol, I may potentially not lose weight for a while. I'll try and be patient, but it's tough because I'm working so damn hard.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    milkyudders wrote: »
    Thank you all...

    I weighed in Wednesday and lost only .8 of a pound. Hardly what I deserved after killing myself for 2+ hours at the gym almost every day, but I did change up my eating in the middle to calculating my workout calories like a few people suggested. I eat back some of those calories on the days I work out, but put my activity level back to lightly active. I'm so incredibly sore every single day, so I'm sure my muscles are retaining water and my body has released so much cortisol, I may potentially not lose weight for a while. I'll try and be patient, but it's tough because I'm working so damn hard.

    But remember: you lose weight by a calorie deficit. Not by hardcore exercise. It assists with earning more calories, but the deficit is king for weight loss.


  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    MFP's activity level does not account for exercise. That's why you log it separately. I would set yourself to sedentary and a pound a week (if 25-30 pounds is all you have to lose, you goal now is too aggressive), then log your exercise and eat half of those calories back.

    This
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Just FYI... stop holding the treadmill bar at the gym... you burn 20% less calories when you do that (assuming you do, because otherwise you wouldn't know that you're in the 'cardio range').

    Otherwise, yeah, eat more, although I can't even imagine doing 90 minutes of weights 5x a week... It seems really excessive.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    milkyudders wrote: »
    Thank you all...

    I weighed in Wednesday and lost only .8 of a pound. Hardly what I deserved after killing myself for 2+ hours at the gym almost every day, but I did change up my eating in the middle to calculating my workout calories like a few people suggested. I eat back some of those calories on the days I work out, but put my activity level back to lightly active. I'm so incredibly sore every single day, so I'm sure my muscles are retaining water and my body has released so much cortisol, I may potentially not lose weight for a while. I'll try and be patient, but it's tough because I'm working so damn hard.

    Don't even worry about answering this here, but just something to think about - do you see yourself working out 2 hours, to the point of being "incredibly sore" for the long term? If not, you might be better off dialing back the exercise and focusing on getting your calorie intake inline. Because ultimately, you need to learn how to eat for the rest of your life to keep the weight off. And it's a lot easier to eat 200 calories less, than it is to maintain an exercise schedule like that to burn 200 calories.

    Just my two cents, ultimately you need to find what works for you. Good luck!
  • milkyudders
    milkyudders Posts: 24 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Just FYI... stop holding the treadmill bar at the gym... you burn 20% less calories when you do that (assuming you do, because otherwise you wouldn't know that you're in the 'cardio range.'

    I DO NOT hold on to the treadmill bar when I work out... Maybe 2 or 3 times during my 35-45 minute session I grab it to see where I'm at, then let go.
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Lifting weights always makes my scale go up, short term, the muscles hold onto more water and lifting always makes me more hungry.
    I make sure I'm eating a lot of protein.

    I would make sure you are eating protein after your workouts... Nuts, yogurt, protein shake, boiled egg, cottage cheese, turkey, chicken, etc.

    But if you feel like you are hungry with your stomach growling then you need to eat something. Listen to your body, if you are starving don't deprive yourself of food.
  • elsinora
    elsinora Posts: 398 Member
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    milkyudders wrote: »
    Thank you all...

    I weighed in Wednesday and lost only .8 of a pound. Hardly what I deserved after killing myself for 2+ hours at the gym almost every day, but I did change up my eating in the middle to calculating my workout calories like a few people suggested. I eat back some of those calories on the days I work out, but put my activity level back to lightly active. I'm so incredibly sore every single day, so I'm sure my muscles are retaining water and my body has released so much cortisol, I may potentially not lose weight for a while. I'll try and be patient, but it's tough because I'm working so damn hard.

    I know this isn't for everyone but I only weigh myself once a month. I honestly don't really care anymore about what the scale says - I go on inches and fitness. I do scales just to keep a check. For example, I work out a hell of a lot. I powerlift, I'm in a professional sports team and I'm a wrestler.

    I also do cardio for endurance. But I can lose inches and the scale barely moves. Considering how much you work out, is it worth just measuring your progress for at least a month by measurement rather than scales as I know personally I used to get massively disheartened when I'd work so damn hard too and the scale didn't move!

    For example, the weight I'm at the moment, I am still 3 dress sizes smaller than I was when I was this weight when I wasn't working out ... Bizarre I know but true.

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