Balancing exercise and calories

DaveyMN
DaveyMN Posts: 1 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi all :)

At the gym, I tend to follow the following routine (depending on day - 40m/20m/10m split)

Day 1 - chest, abs, cardio
Day 2 - legs, abs, cardio
Day 3 - back, abs, cardio
Day 4 - shoulders, abs, cardio

Since getting Fitbit and installing MFP, the number of calories remaining always tends to be positive:

- Friday (did back, abs and cardio)
- 2,530 (goal) - 2,699 (food) + 999 (exercise) = 830 remaining

- Sunday (did chest, abs and cardio)
- 2,530 (goal) - 2,239 (food) + 1,240 (exercise) = 1,531 remaining

For context, I weigh just under 11 stone and just under 6 feet tall (M / 26). I have lost a few pounds over the past six months, but nothing dramatic. What I don't know is whether the Fitbit data is transferring correctly to MFP, I think it is, although if the numbers for 'exercise' look abnormally high, please shout!

My main gym intention is for general exercise and to stay fit, but also get good abs / mid-section. I'm thinking that, given my weight, I should probably cut out / reduce the cardio to help things.

I do need to add food calories somewhat - how I do that is a different question!

Any advice appreciated. :)

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    How is your Fitbit estimating calories for strength training? (If it's using heart beats then it's likely badly exaggerated.)

    "Cardio" means what exactly? Again what metric are you or your Fitbit using to estimate calories?

    If I'm reading it correctly you are doing 40 minutes of cardio a week but are thinking of reducing it but want to stay fit - seems like a contradiction to me as that's pretty minimal.

    Why do you think doing less cardio will help your good abs goal?

    Assuming you are trying to maintain weight (as you have posted in the maintaining weight forum) then if you are slowly losing weight you need to eat a little more.

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