Exercise Calories??

Options
laughingdani
laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am pretty new to this. So, I have a question for all of you. Please help me! I am allowed 1200 cal a day which I have been really good at. I eat no more than that on days that I don't exercise but on days that I do exercise I am burning at least 400-500 cal. Should I be eating those cal or just the 1200 on workout days?? What has been working for everyone else?

Replies

  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    Options
    I am pretty new to this. So, I have a question for all of you. Please help me! I am allowed 1200 cal a day which I have been really good at. I eat no more than that on days that I don't exercise but on days that I do exercise I am burning at least 400-500 cal. Should I be eating those cal or just the 1200 on workout days?? What has been working for everyone else?
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    Options
    The MFP recommendation is to eat back whatever exercise calories you work off- so yes, eat them.
  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    Options
    The MFP recommendation is to eat back whatever exercise calories you work off- so yes, eat them.
    Thanks so much.
  • aprilvet
    aprilvet Posts: 724 Member
    Options
    I try to eat back most of them. This also keeps me from over-indulging when the whim hits- I have a few extra calories for that morsel of dark chocolate!:smile::heart:
  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    Options
    I try to eat back most of them. This also keeps me from over-indulging when the whim hits- I have a few extra calories for that morsel of dark chocolate!:smile::heart:
    Thank you...I usually do eat more than the 1200 on workout days, but didn't know if I would still lose if I ate them all.
  • kristinlough
    kristinlough Posts: 828 Member
    Options
    To me it's just a little more inspiration on the treadmill! If I keep going for my 45 minutes, I can have [whatever I'm craving] without having to scrimp and pinch for it. I love it!
  • Redbug
    Redbug Posts: 41
    Options
    I try to eat at least half of my exercise calories and leave a little just in case I have under estimated either my intake and/or my calorie burn. Since I have started eating back a portion of my exercise calories I have lost more weight than when I wasn't. Good luck and welcome!

    118724.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • MOMOFTWO29
    MOMOFTWO29 Posts: 8,276 Member
    Options
    I try to eat all of them but sometimes I leave a little bit maybe just like 70 or 90 because I am just not hungry.
  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    Options
    Thanks so much to all of you. That helped a lot!!:flowerforyou:
  • bathedinshadow
    bathedinshadow Posts: 117 Member
    Options
    Hi all....

    Where does it say you should be eating all of these calories back? I can easily burn 900 calories in a workout and to say that I am going to eat 2100 calories a day seems crazy. I would gain weight for sure. Right now I have eaten almost 1400 and I'm stuffed to the brim. I have been doing a lot of reading on many sites trying to find what majority says and it seems that in order to safely lose weight that you can be in a 500-1000 deficit. If my BMR is 1307 and I'm on 1200 and I don't work out, that is a 100 deficit. If I do work out and burn 600 calories, I'm now at a 700 calorie deficit. Still within the deficit range, though I personally would crave another 200 calories likely. Putting me at a 500 calorie deficit. In order to lose weight, you have to burn more than you consume. So if I'm burning 1300 (BMR) and 600 (workout), that's 1900 calories. What would be the point in eating all of that back? Wouldn't that be what you would want to do if you were trying to maintain?
  • notoprod
    notoprod Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    Hi... I think BMR means the calories your body needs if you do absolutely NOTHING, except breathing ( and all the organs functioning). So, if your BMR is 1300, and you eat only 1300, you will lose weight, without even doing any exercise. Because I don't think you will be just lying in bed the whole day without doing anything (not even to lift your finger). That means if your BMR is 1300, and you eat only 1200, the deficit will be more than 100, it might be in the area of 600. So, if you exercise, and use up another 500, your body will have 1100 calories deficit. This will make your body goes into starvation mode. That is why you have to eat your exercise calories, because MFP already calculate your BMR to lose weight without doing any exercise
  • tazzy
    tazzy Posts: 197
    Options
    your deficit is worked off your AMR not BMR amr = active metabolic rate - your 500 - 1000 deficit = weight loss dont take your deficit from your BMR that is not safe.

    Be careful when eating your exercise cals because it could be overestimating your cal burn plus when you do the same exercise for frequently for a long period of time your body becomes efficient and no longer burns as many calories doing it which is why I dont count walking the dog anymore because I have done it with the same intensity for 4 years it used to work with weight loss but not anymore. plus the best way to workout is to work at 85 % of your maximum heart rate.

    I also plan for the week workout what I will be doing avergae of 500 cals burnt through exercise a day (2 days a week are rest days so when I workout it is usually mor ethan 500 cals) then I workout my cals and split them up uneven like this week Mon = 1600 Tues = 1400 Wed 1300 thurs 1500 fri 1700 sat 1800 sun 1300.
    The lower cal days are wed and sun they are rest days this is supposed to help prevent your weight loss getting stuck I will keep all updated on how this works. But the equation still equals the same 7000 calorie deficit per week = 2lb weight loss.
  • bathedinshadow
    bathedinshadow Posts: 117 Member
    Options
    Yes I understand that BMR is when you are laying down, but considering the information MFP takes... it seems like they are factoring in some activity. How do I calculate how many calories I burn during an average day without exercise?

    I use a monitor during exercise and I do pretty hard workouts, approaching 90% of my max heart rate most of the time.

    I'm basically aiming for the last ten pounds here. It is so frustrating because I read SO many different things about how to achieve this. 10 years ago I would have (and did) just ate when I was hungry and worked out 1-2 hours a day. Granted this gave me the look I wanted, but I definitely wasn't eating well. I want to feel well and maintain once I achieve this.

    I understand eating back calories if you are exceeding the 1000 deficit... that makes sense to me. What I'm not sure is how I'm supposed to determine how many calories I'm burning in a day apart from exercise. Does anybody know how to (as accurately as possible) obtain this number?

    Thanks for the replies!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Options
    OK, well, first, welcome. We are glad to have you. This site and the people on it are all wonderful.

    2nd, Basil Metabolic Rate is the rate your body burns calories if you were in a coma, your minimum needed to survive in a lowered state, so don't worry about BMR right now, it shouldn't be part of the equation.

    3rd, You can get your maintenance calories by putting in a goal of zero and going through the goals again. Or you can use another one like this one:
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598

    4th, with only 10 lbs to lose, do you have your goal set right? If you set a goal of 2 lbs per week, that probably won't happen. See this post
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-<span class=

    5th, When the goals are calculated for you on this site, they build in the deficit you want. Exercise doesn't factor in at all. So when you exercise, if you don't eat those calories, you are essentially expanding the goal, and for most people (especially those close to goal), your body doesn't have the extra fat to compensate, and you end up slowing your metabolism down, becoming frustrated, and stopping. Better to make the goal really small (like 1/2 lb per week) AND eat the exercise calories.

    Best luck to you, don't hesitate if you have more questions.
    -Banks
  • bathedinshadow
    bathedinshadow Posts: 117 Member
    Options
    I just found a site that supposedly calculates AMR. It says that with my BMR and AMR combined that if I were to just sit around the house all day watching TV that I would burn 2638 calories. That seems WAY high. That means that I could eat a 2000 calorie diet and STILL lose a pound a week. Just thought I'd add this to my previous post to see if anybody could shine some light on it.

    Thanks again.
  • bathedinshadow
    bathedinshadow Posts: 117 Member
    Options
    OK, well, first, welcome. We are glad to have you. This site and the people on it are all wonderful.

    2nd, Basil Metabolic Rate is the rate your body burns calories if you were in a coma, your minimum needed to survive in a lowered state, so don't worry about BMR right now, it shouldn't be part of the equation.

    3rd, You can get your maintenance calories by putting in a goal of zero and going through the goals again. Or you can use another one like this one:
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598

    4th, with only 10 lbs to lose, do you have your goal set right? If you set a goal of 2 lbs per week, that probably won't happen. See this post
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-<span class=

    5th, When the goals are calculated for you on this site, they build in the deficit you want. Exercise doesn't factor in at all. So when you exercise, if you don't eat those calories, you are essentially expanding the goal, and for most people (especially those close to goal), your body doesn't have the extra fat to compensate, and you end up slowing your metabolism down, becoming frustrated, and stopping. Better to make the goal really small (like 1/2 lb per week) AND eat the exercise calories.

    Best luck to you, don't hesitate if you have more questions.
    -Banks

    Banks -
    Thanks for your reply. No I didn't set my goal as 2 lbs a week. I actually didn't set a time to achieve this goal. I think perhaps I should add a little more information about myself here. I haven't been on a long journey like a lot of people here. These are my last and first 10 lbs. And really, I don't know that 10 lbs is even realistic as I tend to put on muscle quickly. I naturally have a lot of muscle, particularly in my legs and arms. I don't tend to vary much in my weight, maybe 3 lbs either way... and I'm typically not overly concerned with what I eat. I've just gotten onto trying to eat right and I really want to tone up my mid-section. I'd like to see my abs without flexing kind of thing. I think if i were to eat the exercise calories, I would for sure gain weight.

    If I take into account a normal week for me (in the summer when I'm more naturally active), I would probably burn 700 calories a day about 4 days a week. Every day I was probably eating....1800 calories. This allowed me to maintain my same weight for an entire summer. Though I wasn't actually aiming for anything at the time. If now I am burning about 600 calories 4 days a week and I eat the recommended 1800 calories, I would gain weight wouldn't I? I mean I was maintaining before, wouldn't I be eating too much?

    I don't mean to come across argumentative, I'm just looking for the right way to do this and some of it just doesn't add up.

    I went to the mayo clinic site and it says that my daily needs are 2000 calories. This is obviously very rough estimate, but even so, I could still eat 1200 calories and be within the 1000 calorie deficit. Not that I am, I would definitely want more than that on the exercise days... more like 1400. I'd just like to get on a routine that I feel good about.

    Good luck to everybody else.... as well!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Options
    OK, well, first, welcome. We are glad to have you. This site and the people on it are all wonderful.

    2nd, Basil Metabolic Rate is the rate your body burns calories if you were in a coma, your minimum needed to survive in a lowered state, so don't worry about BMR right now, it shouldn't be part of the equation.

    3rd, You can get your maintenance calories by putting in a goal of zero and going through the goals again. Or you can use another one like this one:
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598

    4th, with only 10 lbs to lose, do you have your goal set right? If you set a goal of 2 lbs per week, that probably won't happen. See this post
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-<span class=

    5th, When the goals are calculated for you on this site, they build in the deficit you want. Exercise doesn't factor in at all. So when you exercise, if you don't eat those calories, you are essentially expanding the goal, and for most people (especially those close to goal), your body doesn't have the extra fat to compensate, and you end up slowing your metabolism down, becoming frustrated, and stopping. Better to make the goal really small (like 1/2 lb per week) AND eat the exercise calories.

    Best luck to you, don't hesitate if you have more questions.
    -Banks

    Banks -
    Thanks for your reply. No I didn't set my goal as 2 lbs a week. I actually didn't set a time to achieve this goal. I think perhaps I should add a little more information about myself here. I haven't been on a long journey like a lot of people here. These are my last and first 10 lbs. And really, I don't know that 10 lbs is even realistic as I tend to put on muscle quickly. I naturally have a lot of muscle, particularly in my legs and arms. I don't tend to vary much in my weight, maybe 3 lbs either way... and I'm typically not overly concerned with what I eat. I've just gotten onto trying to eat right and I really want to tone up my mid-section. I'd like to see my abs without flexing kind of thing. I think if i were to eat the exercise calories, I would for sure gain weight.

    If I take into account a normal week for me (in the summer when I'm more naturally active), I would probably burn 700 calories a day about 4 days a week. Every day I was probably eating....1800 calories. This allowed me to maintain my same weight for an entire summer. Though I wasn't actually aiming for anything at the time. If now I am burning about 600 calories 4 days a week and I eat the recommended 1800 calories, I would gain weight wouldn't I? I mean I was maintaining before, wouldn't I be eating too much?

    I don't mean to come across argumentative, I'm just looking for the right way to do this and some of it just doesn't add up.

    I went to the mayo clinic site and it says that my daily needs are 2000 calories. This is obviously very rough estimate, but even so, I could still eat 1200 calories and be within the 1000 calorie deficit. Not that I am, I would definitely want more than that on the exercise days... more like 1400. I'd just like to get on a routine that I feel good about.

    Good luck to everybody else.... as well!

    I submit this (without knowing all your numbers), 1000 calorie deficits is for people that are obese and morbidly obese, for someone on their "last ten" or a bmi around 25 or lower, 250 calorie deficit should be the goal. If your maintenance is around 2000 you should be eating around 1750 PLUS exercise. You talked about 1800 a day. I submit that because you had days where your deficit was probably about 900 or so your body was running at a reduced metabolic rate, and that's why you weren't gaining weight. You were canabalizing and some of your organs were slowed or partially shut down.
    One note on this, if you DO raise your calories, do it slowly, and don't be surprised if you gain a couple before you start to lose again. The body takes weeks and sometimes months to adjust. This is normal, and healthy.
    The general rule is this. If you are at or close to maintenance, the body finds it difficult to find fat to burn in caloric deficit. When that is the case it will canabalize lean tissue, that means you're burning muscle. We always burn a little muscle, but the idea is to reduce that amount to minuscule levels. With 10 lbs to lose and burning calories at a 800 or 900 calorie deficit clip, I can say, with extreme confidence, that you are burning a decent percentage of muscle and your organs are working slowly.
  • tazzy
    tazzy Posts: 197
    Options
    Do 30 day shred or follow making the cut by Jillian michaels its a program designed just for those last 10 lbs it is tough but you probably want to lean out not build muscle (this can only be done by having a calorie surplus impossible with a deficit) She describes the last 10 as vanity pounds your body is comfortable with a little bit of reserve in the tanks so it will fit fight you to lose the weight she actually discussed this on her radio show this sunday download it and listen to her respons. I think weights is the way to go and keep your cals quite high 1600 -1800.

    Banks is right on the money I think J advises increasing your cals 100 a day for a week and then 100 a day again for the other week working to more of a maintainance mode and weights as that will shred out your muscles and so on.
  • fjtcjt
    fjtcjt Posts: 199
    Options
    In addition to counting calories, especially with the last few pounds of fat, you need to pay attention to what makes up those calories. If you watch your sugar intake, and sodium intake this almost forces you to consume good quality calories. Meaning good proteins, whole grains, low sugar, and a low dairy diet. This will certainly help lean your mid section up. So I am saying, don't focus so much on the caloric deficit, but on the quality of the calories you are consuming. This may include eliminating diet sodas, salty peanuts...anyway, I have no idea what your diet looks like, but this is something else for you to think about.

Categories