"It's too hard to eat exercise calories back"

24

Replies

  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.
  • True dat.

    I've had days where I'm just not hungry, but most of the time I have to hold myself back from eating my young. I don't think they are in the database anyways.

    lmao! That was just funny. And... so you know... there is not a listing for "young". I looked yesterday when I was on a MAJOR eat-a-thon. =)
  • musica814
    musica814 Posts: 301 Member
    Kind of ironic that you had just posted a topic in another thread asking for advice on how everyone else eats back their exercise calories on high calorie burn days...

    On another note, I didn't "get fat" by overeating. I was inactive, and I didn't eat healthy. At all. I would starve myself all day and then have 2 or 3 slices of pizza for dinner. Or I'd simply eat unhealthy foods in moderate portions for all three meals. That's hardly overeating. It's a poor college students diet. I never gorged myself. Now that I'm eating healthier, I occasionally have days where it is hard to eat 1260 calories. That's my business, it's really nobody else's. And if you have a problem with it...well, that's why my food diary is private :tongue:
  • sunrise84
    sunrise84 Posts: 18
    Honestly, I wasn't aware I would be able to eat more when I walk. I mean, it seems like a "duh" moment since I've been doing this for a month, but at the beginning it was like WHAT? Eat MORE?

    If I'm not hungry after exercising, I'm not going to eat. It kinda makes me feel like I'm cheating by associating exercise with more calories, and then eating, even though I know I have to have at least 1,200. As long as I get there, I'm alright.
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
    Hmmm. Maybe their stomachs have shrank? That DOES tend to happen with weight loss.

    Or maybe they have a hard time eating more HEALTHY calories.

    Sure, it's easy to eat back your 300 calorie burn by grabbing a twix, but some people have learned to care about the nutritional value of their food.

    Don't judge what you don't know.

    i'm not judging. I just find it annoying that's all =] !
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

    michael phelp's body can handle 12,000 a day, so i think you will be alright =]
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
    Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.
    That's totally different though to the people who are finding it hard to eat 1200 calories total (not net). It's when I see that I think... "huh?"
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

    michael phelp's body can handle 12,000 a day, so i think you will be alright =]

    You're comparing me to a MALE olympic athlete. I'm honored, really, I am... but there is no comparison.
  • musica814
    musica814 Posts: 301 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

    michael phelp's body can handle 12,000 a day, so i think you will be alright =]

    You're comparing me to a MALE olympic athlete. I'm honored, really, I am... but there is no comparison.

    Hahahaha....wow.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

    michael phelp's body can handle 12,000 a day, so i think you will be alright =]

    *facepalm*
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    I honestly don't want to eat enough peanut butter to take care of a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. I try to make them up best I can, I do. But after awhile, eating more really just makes me feel sick. Sometimes, I can make great headway. Other times, no.

    And, for the record, I have never been overweight, nor underweight in my adult years. My body seems to get along just fine.

    The small deficits, 300-500 calories, I have no problem eating. It's just my long run,

    My metabolism is fast, so my maintenance calories are 1720. On a short workout, I'm eating 2000 calories. On a long workout day, I can burn 1000-1500. I'm 5'2" and about 112. Seriously, my body is not ready yet to efficiently process over 3000 calories for one day. It's just not.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

    michael phelp's body can handle 12,000 a day, so i think you will be alright =]

    That story has long since been disproved, actually.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Hmmm. Maybe their stomachs have shrank? That DOES tend to happen with weight loss.

    Or maybe they have a hard time eating more HEALTHY calories.

    Sure, it's easy to eat back your 300 calorie burn by grabbing a twix, but some people have learned to care about the nutritional value of their food.

    Don't judge what you don't know.

    i'm not judging. I just find it annoying that's all =] !


    I find recurring threads criticizing other people's decisions with THEIR bodies annoying. That's all. [:
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Hmmm. Maybe their stomachs have shrank? That DOES tend to happen with weight loss.

    Or maybe they have a hard time eating more HEALTHY calories.

    Sure, it's easy to eat back your 300 calorie burn by grabbing a twix, but some people have learned to care about the nutritional value of their food.

    Don't judge what you don't know.

    i'm not judging. I just find it annoying that's all =] !


    I find recurring threads criticizing other people's decisions with THEIR bodies annoying. That's all. [:

    Food fight!!!!!
  • reneepugh
    reneepugh Posts: 522 Member
    I also wanted to add that we all are overweight or wanting to get in shape for different reasons. Some people are over eaters, some people are inactive, some people are under eaters and inactive, some people don't have any problems just want to get in shape, some people eat the wrong types of food, some people are losing pregnancy weight, some people have health problems that keep them from being as active as they want to be. Nothing is just black and white. So when it comes to losing weight or getting into shape, we all struggle with something and the point of this website is to encourage and support each other.
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
    I see your point most definitely. Over eating (and drinking) definitely wasn't a challenge for me and it's still something I have to watch out for. Just like most people (and I'm only assuming) I love food! I love to COOK yummy food! And I didn't believe it could be true that you could genuinely lose your appetite or just not feel like eating remaining calories (whether you still needed carbs, protein, or fat or a ratio of all of them) after a day of legitimately clean eating and a healthy amount of exercise. I mean, I love food, but I know that to lose weight and be healthy, I can't fill a calorie deficit with food that has no or very little nutritional value like sweets, butter, alcohol, etc. I mean, in all honesty, if I tried to fill a 200 calorie deficit in my daily intake with something like celery... I would be hard pressed to finish all that celery! That's just a proportionally large volume of food for the few calories they provide per gram. So, no, I don't believe those individuals (although there may be some...) that make the claims of uneatable leftover calories of which you speak aren't facing a legitimate problem that sometimes occurs when you're trying to put only healthy and nutrient rich foods into your body. :)
  • alslau02
    alslau02 Posts: 64
    I think there's enough resources out there that every single person on here knows what they need to do to lose weight. eat less, exercise, etc....if they won't do it, telling him how wrong they are won't change a thing.I was under the impression the point of this community was for support when needed, motivation when down, and suggestions when asked for. If there are people that are not losing weight, and are making excuses for themselves, or are trying to "pretend" it's not their fault (ie, I only eat blah blah why am I not losing weight?!) etc.... just smile and nod. seems like nearly every post I've seen in the last few hours has been started by someone generalizing, stereo typing, and going on about why they are right and a large lump of the users are wrong. we all have pet peeves and things that irritate us....I guess this is mine =)

    Well said. The "please eat" post really bothered me. I'm having a really hard time getting enough calories with no exercise and eating high calorie foods due to a medication. We all have individual challenges.
  • CommandaPanda
    CommandaPanda Posts: 451 Member
    In my defense, as I say this in my head but never aloud, it's difficult for me to eat my calories back without going way over everything else (check out my diary today and see).

    I get pretty disgusted with myself when I go over sodium
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
    wow, this is one snarky thread. why do you care so much? I nearly never make it to my 1200 calorie goal and that is without eating back exercise calories. When I am in "the zone" doing good on my diet and exercise and eating lots of protein I am just not that hungry and I don't eat when I am not hungry. Today I have PMS and am actually over 1200 calories but still under it for net calories.
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
    I see your point most definitely. Over eating (and drinking) definitely wasn't a challenge for me and it's still something I have to watch out for. Just like most people (and I'm only assuming) I love food! I love to COOK yummy food! And I didn't believe it could be true that you could genuinely lose your appetite or just not feel like eating remaining calories (whether you still needed carbs, protein, or fat or a ratio of all of them) after a day of legitimately clean eating and a healthy amount of exercise. I mean, I love food, but I know that to lose weight and be healthy, I can't fill a calorie deficit with food that has no or very little nutritional value like sweets, butter, alcohol, etc. I mean, in all honesty, if I tried to fill a 200 calorie deficit in my daily intake with something like celery... I would be hard pressed to finish all that celery! That's just a proportionally large volume of food for the few calories they provide per gram. So, no, I don't believe those individuals (although there may be some...) that make the claims of uneatable leftover calories of which you speak aren't facing a legitimate problem that sometimes occurs when you're trying to put only healthy and nutrient rich foods into your body. :)
    If you a specific number of the micronutrients and a specific number of the macronutrients and your diet is taking you over on calories while failing to provide all micronutrients you need to eat more micronutrient dense food and less calorie dense food.

    If you have the opposite problem of consuming so much micronutrient dense food, going well over the amount required by the body, that you have no room for calories from macronutrients, you need to include some more calorie dense foods in your diet.

    Health isn't just about maximising vitamins and minimising calories, it's about getting enough of everything you need, including calories.
  • Debkam
    Debkam Posts: 80
    Well, some people might be like me who ate too LITTLE before. I was constantly under eating and that's why I gained weight, because my body was holding onto everything that went into my mouth! So for people like me, it was hard adjusting to eating 1200 or more calories per day. I literally had to stretch my stomach out a bit.

    And you actually lost weight by eating more than you did before? I find that so hard to understand... I mean, thermodynamics and that, if you don't get enough energy, your body HAS to use your fat stores. How can you get fat by undereating?

    agreed...

    There are quite a few members who have gained weight this way. I'm one of these people. I typically ate once a day, not all days, but most (like 95% of the time). I started MFP just a few weeks ago. At first it was difficult getting in 1200 calories. I was not use to eating throughout the day nor that much. I would eat then feel full for hours. That lasted only a few days though. Once my body and brain got use to eating normally, then hunger kicked in. Now, I've balanced out and am not hungry all the time. And yes, I'm losing weight now. If you really want to understand how this can happen you can read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition
  • maroon58
    maroon58 Posts: 289 Member
    i know, lol! i will never have a hard time not eating.

    i can understand where people are coming from. when you first start mfp you want to succeed and try really hard so you follow all the rules and you do kind of have to think about why you need to eat your extra exercise calories or try to.

    i'm glad we have a community where we can ask questions and learn so much. i love mfp!
  • Frappuzzino
    Frappuzzino Posts: 342 Member
    I never ate alot, but when I did eat I ate bad food. It wasn't like I was stuffing my face and devouring everything in sight. Plus, I have an endocrine disease that caused me to gain 40lbs as well. You can't assume that people who are trying to lose weight stuffed their faces and gained the weight they're trying to now lose. I always have found it hard to net 1200 calories. Everybody is different so we can't assume. I never eat my exercise calories because I just can't, and I haven't had a problem at all. However, someone else may have to eat their exercise calories to lose weight. Everyone is here for different reasons, and I don't think it's ever right to assume regarding someone elses nutrition.
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
    Well, some people might be like me who ate too LITTLE before. I was constantly under eating and that's why I gained weight, because my body was holding onto everything that went into my mouth! So for people like me, it was hard adjusting to eating 1200 or more calories per day. I literally had to stretch my stomach out a bit.

    And you actually lost weight by eating more than you did before? I find that so hard to understand... I mean, thermodynamics and that, if you don't get enough energy, your body HAS to use your fat stores. How can you get fat by undereating?

    I found the whole "you have to EAT to lose weight" thing a bit confusing when I first started out, but I had a really smart friend who studies biochemistry (and likewise nutrition and how the body uses it) explain it to me and it started to make sense. I found this analogy helpful: Take a wood chipper for example. Now I'm no expert on how those things work, but let's assume for the sake of argument (and the analogy) that I do. A wood chipper's job is to take huge logs and process them by shredding them into mulch or even saw dust. Little tiny particles that apparently (let's assume) have some greater purpose as a smaller particle of their original whole. Now, put lots of wood at one time into that wood chipper i.e. over eating. It gets backlogged and fails to chip any wood. The wood remains as a log and doesn't get processed for a better purpose. Put one log in at a time, and the machine works very efficiently. Put no logs in at ALL (not eating what your body needs just to sustain life) and the machine grinds for forever looking for a log to chew up and eventually burns up and won't chip wood anymore. If the wood chipper doesn't receive logs and only one log at a time, it shuts down and doesn't process those logs anymore.

    Your metabolism (and I use that term loosely--the body's process of taking the food you eat and processing it into a smaller form so all of the cells and organs in your body can utilize it) works exactly like the wood chipper. If you put more food into it than it needs at a time (one day, for example) than it can process, it can't process everything and ends up storing most of it. That's how we can weight. We take in more calories than our body actually needs. When we exercise, we burn calories and if we don't replace them, we do the exact opposite of over eating that causes similar results. Our body will produce what I call a negative feedback and STOP processing food and burning calories. It does this because the body is now in starvation mode and is trying to conserve what little energy it has left to survive and that means only burning enough to run bodily functions essential to life while storing the rest as fat (think of fat as energy reserves in your cells). If you keep your body in starvation mode long enough, it will eventually begin to start burning your reserves and you will initially lose weight, but your body will do what it needs to to survive, which means shutting down your metabolism altogether (we're talking getting to the point of absolute starvation, not just a few days without eating enough). Occasionally not eating back 100-200 exercise calories because you legitimately have no appetite is one thing. If that happens regularly, then something needs to change such as eating more and probably working out a little less.

    So it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to NEVER put your body even remotely into starvation mode when you are trying to lose weight. The calorie deficit that we strive for daily i.e. only eating 1200 or 1400 calories, depending on your basal metabolic rate and your regular daily activity aside from deliberate exercise, is basically striking a balance between feeding your body what it needs to maintain your current weight and depriving it just enough to force it to adapt to a lower caloric intake. A smaller body needs fewer calories, hence losing weight.

    Sorry for going into a long speech about that, and I don't mean to brow beat anyone. I'm absolutely no expert, but after doing my homework and being taken to school by someone who knows what they're talking about, I know that knowledge of how our body uses the fuels we put into it and how to choose the fuels that provide the most nutritional value per gram is the key to success that we are all looking for here.
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    I agree... sometimes. I find it very annoying that people complain about not being able to eat ~1200 calories a day, but only when I've already eaten all my calories, and I'm still starving! Lol. I just wish they could share their uneaten calories!

    Other times, I know how they feel. I don't have really big calorie burning days often, but when I do, it's actually tough to eat. Really intense exercise suppresses my appetite like crazy. Good thing I'm not really a "clean" eater (nor do I care about sugars, sodium, carbs, or anything else but calories), so I can fill in the cracks with pancakes or something. :D Mm.
  • amsparky
    amsparky Posts: 825 Member
    I'm one of those who NEVER eats back their exercise cals. I want my weight loss to be quicker. When I am ready to maintain, I will then make this adjustment. I aim for 1100, since I am sure I underestimate something over the day, this gets me to my 1200. I don't eat after 5 or 6pm ever and I rarely have cheat days or days off of the gym.
  • withchaco
    withchaco Posts: 1,026 Member
    It can be harder to eat when you start eating completely different kinds of food. For instance, whenever I visit my friend's place (their family is middle eastern, and I eat middle eastern cuisine only when I visit them, pretty much), I find myself getting full pretty quickly. It's not that I'm not enjoying their food... I like the taste, but I just can't eat as much of it.

    So if you were eating junk food before, and now you're eating veggies and whole grains and whatnot... I can see how some people feel fuller with less food.

    I just wish they could share their uneaten calories!
    Now that would be awesome! :laugh:
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
    I see your point most definitely. Over eating (and drinking) definitely wasn't a challenge for me and it's still something I have to watch out for. Just like most people (and I'm only assuming) I love food! I love to COOK yummy food! And I didn't believe it could be true that you could genuinely lose your appetite or just not feel like eating remaining calories (whether you still needed carbs, protein, or fat or a ratio of all of them) after a day of legitimately clean eating and a healthy amount of exercise. I mean, I love food, but I know that to lose weight and be healthy, I can't fill a calorie deficit with food that has no or very little nutritional value like sweets, butter, alcohol, etc. I mean, in all honesty, if I tried to fill a 200 calorie deficit in my daily intake with something like celery... I would be hard pressed to finish all that celery! That's just a proportionally large volume of food for the few calories they provide per gram. So, no, I don't believe those individuals (although there may be some...) that make the claims of uneatable leftover calories of which you speak aren't facing a legitimate problem that sometimes occurs when you're trying to put only healthy and nutrient rich foods into your body. :)
    If you a specific number of the micronutrients and a specific number of the macronutrients and your diet is taking you over on calories while failing to provide all micronutrients you need to eat more micronutrient dense food and less calorie dense food.

    If you have the opposite problem of consuming so much micronutrient dense food, going well over the amount required by the body, that you have no room for calories from macronutrients, you need to include some more calorie dense foods in your diet.

    Health isn't just about maximising vitamins and minimising calories, it's about getting enough of everything you need, including calories.

    I think my post may have been misleading. When I talked about "nutrients" I was kinda simultaneously referring to both carbs/fats/proteins as well as vitamins and minerals. In fact, even with really healthy eating, it's still a good idea to take a daily vitamin supplement just in case you aren't getting all the nutrients your body needs from food alone.
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    Okay, I am sick of seeing these stupid generalizations. :/ I got fat because of severe depression, inactivity and WHAT I ate. Not so much the volume of what I ate. SO, now that I'm eating healthy foods and not just giving up and getting takeout or whatever, I am full every meal with the same amount of food, but not taking in a bunch of empty calories!
    I can completely see where people would have trouble eating exercise calories back if they were already full from healthy foods. Yeah, you could just chow down on a candy bar or something or slather stuff with butter, but some of us on here are trying to not just lose weight but also eat healthier in general. So, just because you have the exercise calories for that ice cream or candy bar or sugar-filled soda doesn't mean that's what you should be using those calories on. Don't get me wrong, I love sweets and buttery food, but cutting way back and getting rid of those cravings is part of what I'm trying to do. Not to mention sometimes it's late at night and you've been saving calories all day for dinner or something, then you end up eating less than you expected at dinner and need to chow down before you sleep so you don't net under 1200.

    Simply put, people and situations are different, so stop making assumptions!!!
  • rgutie1
    rgutie1 Posts: 84 Member
    While there are certainly days when I am in a mood where I can decimate my calorie goal in a single sitting there is definitely a change that happens over time. Things that I would have easily eaten even 3 months ago often make me feel unwell or fill me up before I finish or both.

    I am not complaining about this...I am actually comforted by it. Today I decided at 630 pm to ride my bike what ended up being 25 miles. There is no way I am making up those 1000 cals completely after 930. Most days I can make them up but that doesn't make it easy even for a fatty like me.
  • IvoryChopSticks
    IvoryChopSticks Posts: 5 Member
    ...
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