Question regarding calorie deficit

13

Replies

  • Catsinsocks
    Catsinsocks Posts: 28 Member
    If you're netting 900/day you must be losing pretty quickly.
  • ZephieC
    ZephieC Posts: 162 Member
    @alid8333
    You are going to get lots of opinions. You are under the care of a doctor so they are the one I would be listening to. If your doctor wants you to be active, do it. Your health will only improve. I don't get a lot of exercise as I am out of shape and starting slowly. I don't necessarily eat back those calories. I go by how I feel. I eat 1200 calories a day and I am full and satisfied. At the end of the day you should aim to eat a well balanced diet and don't worry about eating if you aren't hungry. Each person is different. My diary is public is you would like to see what I eat. I will friend you (if you want)
    Good luck to you!
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    If you're netting 900/day you must be losing pretty quickly.

    Little to quick that's why I was asking about eating the calories back. I don't always net 900 that was just a day I wasn't hungry as my stomach was upset (I have Crohns as well). I typically try to shoot for netting 1200 and not eating my exercise calories back but have still been losing very quickly.

    But then all the people saying I'm not burning that much. Which is fine. I know my body. I've lost weight in the past and never had an issue. But I didn't use this app. I used lose it. But everyone says this app is better.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.

    I know but I need to get this weight off for my health. But if I'm taking a risk to only in the end burn what people are saying then there's no point. I just think it's crazy I can hop on my elliptical and keep my heart rate exactly how it is when I walk on the treadmill around 70 to 75% with an incline and I burn the same on either one. But yet if I was to have posted and said I burn 400
    Calories a day doing 60 min on the elliptical no one would of said anything because that's a elliptical and I'm just walking so it's impossible.

    So needless to say I'm feeling pretty discouraged at this point.

    Since you posted this after my reply, I just wanted to add... Are you cleared to exercise? Your cardiologist should have told you whether you should exercise or not. You keep saying it's a "risk" so that just concerned me. You want to lose the weight in a healthy manner, or you are just going to exchange one health problem for another. Eat enough to fuel your body, and exercise in whatever way you can.

    I can't imagine being discouraged by burning 200 cals an hour, I doubt I've ever burned more than that ever LOL. Please take care of yourself, best of luck.

    Yes I'm cleared by my doctor. But just because I'm cleared doesn't mean a cardiac event won't happen. I have a at home ecg machine that I'm suppose to wear when exercising or when my heart is acting funny. So far everything's been good. If it continues to go well then he will clear me for more things.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    As others point out, 400 for an hour sounds pretty high. But, if you're confident, eat them all back. If then you do not lose at the rate you want/expect, drop the cals a little.

    The thing to remember is that all the figures are, at best, an estimation - BMR, TDEE, Calories in, exercise burns, all bring with them some errors.

    So, set a target, implement it and tweak your outputs or inputs if you don;t get the planned results.

    So walking at 3mph on a incline with a heart rate of 135 to 140 for a total of an hour isn't sufficient enough to burn 400 calories? I'm using a polar chest strap that's Blue toothed to my
    Apple Watch. I'm not going by what the treadmill says or what MyFitnessPal estimates.

    The way to tell whether the balance of your calories in and calories burned is working is by your results.

    What is your weight doing?

    Are you losing at your desired rate?

    Actually losing a little to quickly. That's why I was going to start eating some of my calories back and had the question about the deficit lol. But then everyone focused on what I burn. I know no device is 100% accurate. But every person is different as well.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    OP - You're under the care of a heart specialist. Maybe your cardiac issue (couldn't see info in thread about what that is) is the reason your fitbit is giving you a high cal burn - because it relies on heart rate?

    Anyway, all that is of little consequence, with respect to exercise and calorific intake, your cardiologist's opinion is much, much more important that that all the posters on this thread. Mine included, and I would recommend that you follow the professional advice to the letter and if you are unclear about anything relating to exercise and diet you check back with the cardiologist.

    I only use my Apple Watch that is connected to my
    Polar chest strap when working out. I used the Fitbit yesterday to see if it lined up with what my Apple Watch was saying or if my Apple Watch was way off. My Apple Watch said I burned 225 calories where the Fitbit said 295.



  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    I normally try to eat up to 1200 but I wasn't including my exercise calories. When I realized I'm losing a little to quickly I bumped up my calorie intake and was going to eat back about 50% of my exercise calories and see how that goes. But some days I just don't have an appetite thanks to my Crohns. That's the reason I gained weight in the first place. Being on restrictions by my heart doc and a new Crohns medication. The Crohns meds themselves are known to cause weight gain.

    I want to get the weight off safely. I also want it to be permanent. My diet has always been fairly good since I was diagnosed with Crohns 3 years back. I can't eat fast food and a lot of other things. But my diet is pretty basic and that's what works for me and my stomach. But unfortunately I still have days I can't each much because my stomach hurts.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    edited January 2017
    alid8333 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    I normally try to eat up to 1200 but I wasn't including my exercise calories. When I realized I'm losing a little to quickly I bumped up my calorie intake and was going to eat back about 50% of my exercise calories and see how that goes. But some days I just don't have an appetite thanks to my Crohns. That's the reason I gained weight in the first place. Being on restrictions by my heart doc and a new Crohns medication. The Crohns meds themselves are known to cause weight gain.

    I want to get the weight off safely. I also want it to be permanent. My diet has always been fairly good since I was diagnosed with Crohns 3 years back. I can't eat fast food and a lot of other things. But my diet is pretty basic and that's what works for me and my stomach. But unfortunately I still have days I can't each much because my stomach hurts.

    Since you have days where you don't feel like eating much, maybe try looking at your calories from a weekly point of view? Try to eat up to your goal each day, but on days where you have an appetite try to eat all your exercise calories and maybe a little more. Review your actuals weekly and adjust depending on whether you're still losing too fast or stalling (give it a few weeks either way). Hope everything works out for you :)
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    I normally try to eat up to 1200 but I wasn't including my exercise calories. When I realized I'm losing a little to quickly I bumped up my calorie intake and was going to eat back about 50% of my exercise calories and see how that goes. But some days I just don't have an appetite thanks to my Crohns. That's the reason I gained weight in the first place. Being on restrictions by my heart doc and a new Crohns medication. The Crohns meds themselves are known to cause weight gain.

    I want to get the weight off safely. I also want it to be permanent. My diet has always been fairly good since I was diagnosed with Crohns 3 years back. I can't eat fast food and a lot of other things. But my diet is pretty basic and that's what works for me and my stomach. But unfortunately I still have days I can't each much because my stomach hurts.

    Since you have days where you don't feel like eating much, maybe try looking at your calories from a weekly point of view? Try to eat up to your goal each day, but on days where you have an appetite try to eat all your exercise calories and maybe a little more. Review your actuals weekly and adjust depending on whether you're still losing too fast or stalling (give it a few weeks either way). Hope everything works out for you :)

    I thought about that or on the days my stomach isn't feeling well maybe just not exercise or at least not as long? I usually tend to have only 1 maybe 2 days my stomach hurts a week.

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    I normally try to eat up to 1200 but I wasn't including my exercise calories. When I realized I'm losing a little to quickly I bumped up my calorie intake and was going to eat back about 50% of my exercise calories and see how that goes. But some days I just don't have an appetite thanks to my Crohns. That's the reason I gained weight in the first place. Being on restrictions by my heart doc and a new Crohns medication. The Crohns meds themselves are known to cause weight gain.

    I want to get the weight off safely. I also want it to be permanent. My diet has always been fairly good since I was diagnosed with Crohns 3 years back. I can't eat fast food and a lot of other things. But my diet is pretty basic and that's what works for me and my stomach. But unfortunately I still have days I can't each much because my stomach hurts.

    Since you have days where you don't feel like eating much, maybe try looking at your calories from a weekly point of view? Try to eat up to your goal each day, but on days where you have an appetite try to eat all your exercise calories and maybe a little more. Review your actuals weekly and adjust depending on whether you're still losing too fast or stalling (give it a few weeks either way). Hope everything works out for you :)

    I thought about that or on the days my stomach isn't feeling well maybe just not exercise or at least not as long? I usually tend to have only 1 maybe 2 days my stomach hurts a week.

    It sounds to me like that would be a good plan to try. I really would try not to stress so much over the daily calorie goals and look at it weekly. Your body will tell you over time what adjustments need to be made. And keep in mind that when the Dr. gives you the go for more activity you'll want to up your calories in accordance.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    If this is true, and this is very close to what your doctor recommended as well, why have you only been eating 1200?

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    You said you had MFP set up for 1.5 lb loss/week, but your doctors numbers (the 500 calorie deficit) are for 1 lb. Also, with MFP, you do eat calories back. Worrying about the specific number doesn't matter much -- I'd estimate a daily number like deficit of 1 lb from MFP + 300/day for exercise -- it would probably be something like 1600 or 1700 gross, no need to worry about exercise calories (assuming you keep doing exercise). Then go by results which I think is what your doctor is saying about finding the number that works for you.

    If you are losing too fast, eating more is a good idea, and you seem to be eating quite low which can be stressful.

    Mine is currently set at 1.5 loss a week at sedentary and it gives me 1390 calories a day.

    If this is true, and this is very close to what your doctor recommended as well, why have you only been eating 1200?

    That was before I asked my doctor. Since talking to him I adjusted my goals.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.

    Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.

    You sound frustrated and confused. Maybe you should be discussing this with your heart doctor. That way you can get information specific to you and your condition.

    I know you've been cleared for walking, but does your doctor also want you to walk?

    Regardless, you shouldn't be netting 900 calories, so do eat more and do eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I realize some days your Chron's prevents you from this, so make it average out over the course of a week.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.

    Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.

    You sound frustrated and confused. Maybe you should be discussing this with your heart doctor. That way you can get information specific to you and your condition.

    I know you've been cleared for walking, but does your doctor also want you to walk?

    Regardless, you shouldn't be netting 900 calories, so do eat more and do eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I realize some days your Chron's prevents you from this, so make it average out over the course of a week.

    I am frustrated to a certain extent. More so frustrated I can't do anything but a moderate/brisk walk (which is killing my knee's lol).

    Before the heart issues I would run, I could do an elliptical and strength training. I would burn quite a bit. But now I'm limited. Yes I know 200 calories burned is better than nothing and the benefits of walking are extremely beneficial for cardiovascular health. But in the end it's frustrating.

    I basically have to get off 20 pounds with no issues with my heart before he will determine it's ok for me to start running again and incorporate strength training.

    Just stinks having limitations.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.

    Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.

    You sound frustrated and confused. Maybe you should be discussing this with your heart doctor. That way you can get information specific to you and your condition.

    I know you've been cleared for walking, but does your doctor also want you to walk?

    Regardless, you shouldn't be netting 900 calories, so do eat more and do eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I realize some days your Chron's prevents you from this, so make it average out over the course of a week.

    I am frustrated to a certain extent. More so frustrated I can't do anything but a moderate/brisk walk (which is killing my knee's lol).

    Before the heart issues I would run, I could do an elliptical and strength training. I would burn quite a bit. But now I'm limited. Yes I know 200 calories burned is better than nothing and the benefits of walking are extremely beneficial for cardiovascular health. But in the end it's frustrating.

    I basically have to get off 20 pounds with no issues with my heart before he will determine it's ok for me to start running again and incorporate strength training.

    Just stinks having limitations.

    Aww I hear you! I'm still recovering from an elbow injury on my bike that happened in Oct. I haven't been able to ride since then, and I'm just cleared to start strength-training with light weights. I do like to walk, but I love riding so much more and when I do longer rides I can easily burn 800-900 calories at a time, which in my case goes toward a little faster weight loss. (I'm short and old, so at 1200 calories I can lose up to .3 lbs a week without exercise). I think you are very self-aware and sensible to recognize the weight may be coming off too fast, especially when you're less active and are risking greater than necessary muscle loss. You've done great so far - hang in there :)
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.

    Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.

    You sound frustrated and confused. Maybe you should be discussing this with your heart doctor. That way you can get information specific to you and your condition.

    I know you've been cleared for walking, but does your doctor also want you to walk?

    Regardless, you shouldn't be netting 900 calories, so do eat more and do eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I realize some days your Chron's prevents you from this, so make it average out over the course of a week.

    Just stinks having limitations.

    It does, but remember... there is always someone else with more limitations than we have. We just have to be grateful & do what we can.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.

    Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.

    You sound frustrated and confused. Maybe you should be discussing this with your heart doctor. That way you can get information specific to you and your condition.

    I know you've been cleared for walking, but does your doctor also want you to walk?

    Regardless, you shouldn't be netting 900 calories, so do eat more and do eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I realize some days your Chron's prevents you from this, so make it average out over the course of a week.

    I am frustrated to a certain extent. More so frustrated I can't do anything but a moderate/brisk walk (which is killing my knee's lol).

    Before the heart issues I would run, I could do an elliptical and strength training. I would burn quite a bit. But now I'm limited. Yes I know 200 calories burned is better than nothing and the benefits of walking are extremely beneficial for cardiovascular health. But in the end it's frustrating.

    I basically have to get off 20 pounds with no issues with my heart before he will determine it's ok for me to start running again and incorporate strength training.

    Just stinks having limitations.

    Aww I hear you! I'm still recovering from an elbow injury on my bike that happened in Oct. I haven't been able to ride since then, and I'm just cleared to start strength-training with light weights. I do like to walk, but I love riding so much more and when I do longer rides I can easily burn 800-900 calories at a time, which in my case goes toward a little faster weight loss. (I'm short and old, so at 1200 calories I can lose up to .3 lbs a week without exercise). I think you are very self-aware and sensible to recognize the weight may be coming off too fast, especially when you're less active and are risking greater than necessary muscle loss. You've done great so far - hang in there :)

    I'm sorry to hear about your elbow! Yeah I'm in no hurry to lose the weight. It took a year to put it on, so I figure a year to get it off. I just want to do it the correct way. I guess I don't feel like I'm getting a sufficient enough workout by walking. I'm use to pushing myself and doing interval training and strength training. I just don't like limitations lol. But I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore :D

    Hopefully you can get back to your riding soon.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,263 Member
    edited January 2017
    Just a couple of things to bring up based on a general feel from what you're saying...

    You are somewhat equating your ability to lose weight with the ability to exercise.

    Please consider viewing the two separately.

    There are many reasons you may want to exercise and exercise does not have to always be at a super high exertion rate nor does it have to push your heart in order to be beneficial!

    3mph at an incline is ABOVE what is necessary to achieve a moderate level of exercise.

    Digging up some of the info I looked at when I was starting out and unable to do much more than walk relatively slowly due to knee pain and obesity:

    WHO Exercise Recommendations (these are for healthy adults. As someone said above: you are CLEARED to exercise... but are you being encouraged to do so, and to what degree would your doctor like to see you exercise?):

    http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241599979_eng.pdf?ua=1
    1. Adults aged 18–64 should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
    2. Aerobic activity should be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes duration.
    3. For additional health benefits, adults should increase their moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes per week, or engage in 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
    4. Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.

    3000 steps in 30 minutes is considered moderate exercise:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19362695

    For 22yo healthy Chinese Adults, 3150 steps or 2km at a rate of 105 steps a minute is moderate exercise. @130 steps a minute it is vigorous.
    http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e001801.full.pdf

    So, to achieve a basic level of exercise for HEALTH you do not need to even push as much as you are pushing today. 3 x 10 minute bouts of 1000 steps meets the most basic of requirements. (though again your heart doctor may have a much more involved and specific to you recommendation as opposed to going with a generic discussion for healthy adults!)

    So, of course if you can and want to do more and you feel and believe it benefits you, and your doctor concurs... that's a different story. I am just reacting to the note of concern you've brought up about your exercise.

    Now, as to your food, your doctor suggesting a 500 Cal deficit is an eminently sensible person :smile: This would be a deficit of ~20% off of your TDEE which generally is something most people seem to be able to achieve, sustain, and see results over time with.

    It would be targeting a loss rate of ~1lb a week.

    If you are losing faster than that and your goal is to be achieving that... then eat some of your calories back.

    As a rule of thumb assume that 3500 Cal = 1lb. That should give you an indication of how many extra calories you could have had during the past few weeks.

    Scale weight fluctuates continuously and it does so quickly for every reason under the sun except for the changes to your underlying fat level! Your underlying fat level changes in a comparatively slow manner... you know... a lb or so a week!

    Because of that a lot of people find that a trending weight website or app better helps them see the underlying fat change as opposed to concentrating on the faster water weight changes.

    If this sounds interesting consider using trendweight.com, weightgrapher.com, happy scale (iphone), or libra (android) to better see how your weight changes over time and to evaluate your deficit and eat back.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Wow I guess working out for a hour total with my heart rate around 70 to 75% of my maximum heart rate isn't "sufficient" enough to burn. Since it's only
    walking at 3mph at a incline 6.

    I haven't been eating back any of my exercise calories since I started. So guess I'll just continue not to.

    You said you did 3 mph and incline 6 degrees for an hour.

    I weighed 186.8 this morning. This afternoon I input my weight to my treadmill as 186 lb, and did 20 minutes at 4 mph with a 5 degree incline. I did not have my heart rate monitor strap in place. I 'feel' that my heart rate was about what it had been when on other occasions it was measured in the high 140's.

    The treadmill calculated that I burned 206 calories.

    Your 3 mph and 6 degrees would, I believe, indeed burn 400 calories in an hour.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    i think you need is a great heart rate monitor to keep track how many kal your burning in a 24hr time frame.
    once you have that number then sub track 500 kcal from that.

    Then use the use the heart rate monitor to monitor how many kcal you burn during the walk.
    Don't eat your kcal back unless your doctors say to.


  • siraphine
    siraphine Posts: 185 Member
    Don't trust MFPs exercise calculations, they vastly overestimate. Tried to tell me I burned 1000 calories cleaning for 3 hours. Bull..
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.

    I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.

    MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.

    So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.

    For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?

    I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).

    i think you need is a great heart rate monitor to keep track how many kal your burning in a 24hr time frame.
    once you have that number then sub track 500 kcal from that.

    Then use the use the heart rate monitor to monitor how many kcal you burn during the walk.
    Don't eat your kcal back unless your doctors say to.


    I have a heart rate monitor, Apple Watch and a Fitbit

  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    I think the burn is reasonable. I used to burn that much while losing even when I was close to goal, and I always ate back every calorie and lost right on schedule.

    But it really doesn't matter, OP. Do it one way for a month. If you've lost as much as expected then great! Keep going. If you haven't lost as much as expected, eat back less calories for awhile and see if that's better. Adjust as needed, but not too often. You have to give something a chance to work before you switch.

    Yeah i never planned on eating back all my calories just maybe 50%. That way it does give room for error. I know their not 100%. I wore a Fitbit today as well and my Apple Watch that was connected to my polar chest strap said I burned 225 calories during my 38 min workout and the Fitbit said I burned 295. lol.



    Just FYI, the Fitbit burn also includes your basal rate, not just the additional calories burned performing exercise
  • amygarcia0212
    amygarcia0212 Posts: 9 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    My Apple Watch separates my active calories from my total calories during each workout. Still not 100% sure why lol. It also doesn't monitor my heart rate at all times either. It takes it I think every 10 min.

    I did a test of my own today during my workout. I wore my Apple Watch with the HRM connected to it AND I wore my old Fitbit HR. My Apple Watch said I burned 225 calories during a 38 min walk at 3mph at a incline of 4 with my heart rate at 135 which is around 70% of my maximum heart rate. The Fitbit said I burned 295 calories. Fitbit said my heart rate was 130 yet I burned more calories. Steps wise they were both right around each other. pxlbz4a9y6g5.png

    Just wanted to point out that your Fitbit and Apple Watch are giving you the same calories burned number. The Apple Watch breaks it down into 'active calories' which are burned in addition to what you would burn just sitting around (RMR) and total which is active+RMR. Fitbit just gives you total.
    Apple Watch total = Fitbit = 295
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    My Apple Watch separates my active calories from my total calories during each workout. Still not 100% sure why lol. It also doesn't monitor my heart rate at all times either. It takes it I think every 10 min.

    I did a test of my own today during my workout. I wore my Apple Watch with the HRM connected to it AND I wore my old Fitbit HR. My Apple Watch said I burned 225 calories during a 38 min walk at 3mph at a incline of 4 with my heart rate at 135 which is around 70% of my maximum heart rate. The Fitbit said I burned 295 calories. Fitbit said my heart rate was 130 yet I burned more calories. Steps wise they were both right around each other. pxlbz4a9y6g5.png

    Just wanted to point out that your Fitbit and Apple Watch are giving you the same calories burned number. The Apple Watch breaks it down into 'active calories' which are burned in addition to what you would burn just sitting around (RMR) and total which is active+RMR. Fitbit just gives you total.
    Apple Watch total = Fitbit = 295

    Makes sense. So I guess my Apple Watch is pretty spot on with a Fitbit. So if I'm getting two devices that are giving me roughly the same calories burned while working out would you say that my burn isn't to far off from what their saying?

  • MrsKila
    MrsKila Posts: 320 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    Wow I guess working out for a hour total with my heart rate around 70 to 75% of my maximum heart rate isn't "sufficient" enough to burn. Since it's only
    walking at 3mph at a incline 6.

    I haven't been eating back any of my exercise calories since I started. So guess I'll just continue not to.

    I don't think you're understanding...all people are saying is that devices and machines and data bases, etc are all just estimations...nobody is saying that you're not burning calories...they're just telling you to be conservative as energy expenditure is difficult to estimate and often these devices over estimate. And like I said up thread, it's going to include your basal burn...so at minimum you would want to deduct that.

    All people are telling you is that it's an estimate, not gospel. That's it...there should always be an allowance for estimation error...I always just knocked off my basal calories which if I recall was about 20% or so.

    I understand what you're saying. What got me was people saying it wasn't possible because they only burned such amount of calories doing something else and it wasn't possible because I'm "just walking". 3mph is a brisk walk for me since I'm only 5'3 and I incline it to 6. Sometimes I walk at 3.5. I technically do a total time of around 74 to 75 min. But I just said 60 min because that 74 min includes 5 min of warm up and cool down and I don't really count that. I can get on my elliptical and do 5mph and my heart rate be at 70 to 75% for a hour and burn just as much as I did walking at 3mph at a incline of 6.

    But again I know it's all an estimate and that's mainly why I haven't been eating any of my exercise calories back for that simple fact.

    I just don't think it's right for someone to be like well I do a hour on this machine and I only burn this amount so it's not possible your burning that because your "Just walking". Everyone's body is different and people do workout at different levels.

    It's possible!
  • omakase619
    omakase619 Posts: 226 Member
    Op I hope you make a speedy recover without the need of intrusive medical procedures. Good luck on your journey and keep us updated on your status . I an gonna root for you!
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