Need help

ShortChef
ShortChef Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I swapped walking in a morning for exercise bike in a morning and I seem to have put weight on, I feel really disappointed cause I've put in a lot of hard work in and it feels all for nothing, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm starting to wonder maybe I'm not eating right, maybe I should start walking again, maybe I should eat less, maybe I should join a gym instead....I just don't know what to do anymore

Replies

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    Weight loss is due to food, not so much exercise.

    How much weight did you put on? Water weight can fluctuate between a few pounds at least, or more. When you do any kind of new exercise it's common for some water weight initially. Also TOM can mess with weight with additional water weight.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    OHo7UHA.jpg

  • ShortChef
    ShortChef Posts: 18 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    OHo7UHA.jpg

    May I ask where you got this from
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    ShortChef wrote: »

    May I ask where you got this from

    It was made by a member here. 'Why aren't I losing weight?' is a pretty common question here, and the chart covers many of the questions that need to be asked in order to answer the ultimate question.

    My question to you is, are you burning as many calories on the bike as you were walking? I know when I was cycling a fair bit last year, my calorie burn, according to my Fitbit, was nowhere near what I got for the same duration walk.
  • timtam163
    timtam163 Posts: 500 Member
    The calorie counts on the bikes can be quite off, I heard somewhere as much as 30% (or maybe even more). If you're going by that, your estimates will be way off. Try increasing the resistance or your cadence, or going for longer.
  • luce_de_luce
    luce_de_luce Posts: 41 Member
    Exercise bikes burn very few calories compared to walking, in my experience.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    You also need to give it more than 1 or 2 days.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    OP, if I remember correctly from one of your other threads, we are just talking about a few days here. You need to be patient. Your weight can go up and down by several lbs due to water weight fluctuations from salt, alcohol, hormones, exercise changes, diet changes, etc. When you make any kind of change, you need to give it at least 2-3 weeks to settle out.

    How many calories you are eating will have far more effect on your weight loss than your exercise. I haven't seen you answer in any of your threads - How many calories are you eating, are you using a food scale, and are you eating back your exercise calories?
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    mae_bud wrote: »
    Exercise bikes burn very few calories compared to walking, in my experience.

    Individual thing. It depends on the effort exerted. I burn around 570 per hour on a stationary bike which is quite a bit more than walking. I use a chest strap based heart rate monitor rather than the machine for that count. Some will burn less than walking I suppose if they are really not putting in any effort or pushing themselves but it would really have to be a very low effort workout for that imo.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited September 2017
    If you are burning less calories cycling for the same duration as walking you must be coasting down a very big hill or putting in next to no effort on an exercise bike.

    I suspect people are using some very inappropriate methods for estimating calories.

    My max (net) calories for an hour of cycling is 720 cals. I can cycle all day at a rate of 500 cals an hour.

    Walk for an hour at 4mph and I'm burning 202 cals (net).
  • ShortChef
    ShortChef Posts: 18 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    OP, if I remember correctly from one of your other threads, we are just talking about a few days here. You need to be patient. Your weight can go up and down by several lbs due to water weight fluctuations from salt, alcohol, hormones, exercise changes, diet changes, etc. When you make any kind of change, you need to give it at least 2-3 weeks to settle out.

    How many calories you are eating will have far more effect on your weight loss than your exercise. I haven't seen you answer in any of your threads - How many calories are you eating, are you using a food scale, and are you eating back your exercise calories?
    I've cut my calories to 1300-1400 and it says on the bike that I'm burning about 680 calories
  • ShortChef
    ShortChef Posts: 18 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you are burning less calories cycling for the same duration as walking you must be coasting down a very big hill or putting in next to no effort on an exercise bike.

    I suspect people are using some very inappropriate methods for estimating calories.

    My max (net) calories for an hour of cycling is 720 cals. I can cycle all day at a rate of 500 cals an hour.

    Walk for an hour at 4mph and I'm burning 202 cals (net).

    My max speed on the bike is 13-15 mph and burn 680 calories
    But when I walk it's says I'm going 3.5mph and 320 calories that's for 80mins
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    If it has only been a few days and your only looking at a lb or 2, you may just be seeing a temporary weight gain (muscles retain water while they are adjusting to new exercises or changes in routine). Give it a couple weeks and see how your body is reacting over time.

    If there has been a steady increase ovr a couple weeks then its a good indication you arent burning as much as the machine thinks, so I would start by not eating all those calories back. Generally, exerise machines overestimate burns, you will often see people only eat 50-75% of what it says they earned.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    ShortChef wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you are burning less calories cycling for the same duration as walking you must be coasting down a very big hill or putting in next to no effort on an exercise bike.

    I suspect people are using some very inappropriate methods for estimating calories.

    My max (net) calories for an hour of cycling is 720 cals. I can cycle all day at a rate of 500 cals an hour.

    Walk for an hour at 4mph and I'm burning 202 cals (net).

    My max speed on the bike is 13-15 mph and burn 680 calories
    But when I walk it's says I'm going 3.5mph and 320 calories that's for 80mins

    Take your body weight, multiply by 0.3 and then multiply by the number of miles walked - that's going to be a good net calorie estimate for normal speed walking on level ground.

    If your bike ride is also 80 minutes that could be a "reasonable" estimate depending on type of bike and terrain etc.

    If your muscles feel sore after switching exercise routines then you could well have some extra water weight from the inflammation. You need to give your body time to adjust to new routines and think much longer term.

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