Struggling with too much exercise?
jmath0303
Posts: 71 Member
Hey guys,
So I have lost 150 lbs over three years. I'm looking to just maintain my weight at this point but I'm struggling to give up the exercise. I walk about 15-20 miles a day and also will run on some days. I have just been maintaining for the past few months on about 2000 calories a day. I want to stop exercising so much because it is very tiring but I'm worried that I will just put on weight. I am about 5'9 and 155 pounds. If I quit doing so much exercise will I put on weight? MFP recommends that I should eat around 3500 calories a day but I'm not losing any weight. I'm just worried that cutting back on the exercise will lead to weight gain
So I have lost 150 lbs over three years. I'm looking to just maintain my weight at this point but I'm struggling to give up the exercise. I walk about 15-20 miles a day and also will run on some days. I have just been maintaining for the past few months on about 2000 calories a day. I want to stop exercising so much because it is very tiring but I'm worried that I will just put on weight. I am about 5'9 and 155 pounds. If I quit doing so much exercise will I put on weight? MFP recommends that I should eat around 3500 calories a day but I'm not losing any weight. I'm just worried that cutting back on the exercise will lead to weight gain
6
Replies
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If you cut back on exercise, you will need to cut back your calories eaten. If not, then yes, you will gain weight. That's how the equation works.
Are you using a food scale and checking that the entries you are choosing in the database have accurate calorie info? If not, you're probably eating more calories than you think. The number doesn't really matter if you're maintaining when you want to, but that plus an overly generous calorie burn number could explain a lot of the difference between your number and MFP's number.15 -
Yes I measure everything and pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Im a 25 year old male but am usually hungry on 2000 calories. It feels like I'm grinding my joints down and am gonna have joint problems in 10 years if I keep this up5
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Could you replace the walking and running with swimming, which would be easier on your joints and also typically burns more calories in the same amount of time as walking? Biking might be another possibility.
I agree with Kimny that you're likely burning more calories than you think. A male in his mid 20s at your weight anneed more than d activity level would normally need more than 2000 kcals to maintain. When you say you measure everything, does that mean measuring volume or weight? Weight typically is more accurate, as there's no to smush a little extra of something tasty into 100 g, the way you can into 100 ml.3 -
That's a half marathon or more each day so I bet your joints are feeling it. On shapesense walking calorie calculator it shows you're burning about 1100 extra calories by walking 15 miles in 500 minutes. Assuming everything is right, you can eat 900 calories per day to maintain. MFP would go no lower than 1500, leaving 600.
Begin an experiment for a few weeks. Eat 900 as a base and 75 per mile of exercise. Cut back on exercise. After 2-3 weeks if your weight has changed, tweak the calories but keep the exercises at a level you want to maintain.
These numbers imply you've got a very low metabolism. That would be extra unusual for someone doing daily half marathons. If calories are precise, you ought to double-check the distance. Maybe it is reporting kilometers instead of miles.31 -
First congrats on the weightloss. Bet you never thought the maintenance portion would be a challenge. Allow me to recommend you switch up the type of activity. You don't have to lift if you find it "boring;" you can do a variety of routines like body weights circuits (I always recommend using some type of external resistance). You can also dance for the time equivalent to your targeted caloric goal, or you can do what I do and go the intense route for less time (example: kickboxing & boxing). I bet I can adjust a few exercises in your routine and spice it up for you. Tell me, what's your first half of your lifting regimim consist of exercise(s), rep and load (resistance/weight) wise?2
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That's a half marathon or more each day so I bet your joints are feeling it. On shapesense walking calorie calculator it shows you're burning about 1100 extra calories by walking 15 miles in 500 minutes. Assuming everything is right, you can eat 900 calories per day to maintain. MFP would go no lower than 1500, leaving 600.
Begin an experiment for a few weeks. Eat 900 as a base and 75 per mile of exercise. Cut back on exercise. After 2-3 weeks if your weight has changed, tweak the calories but keep the exercises at a level you want to maintain.
These numbers imply you've got a very low metabolism. That would be extra unusual for someone doing daily half marathons. If calories are precise, you ought to double-check the distance. Maybe it is reporting kilometers instead of miles.
Wait, what? He thinks he is maintaining on 2000 calories without exercise and 3500 with.
No adult male (or female) maintains on 900 calories per day.18 -
Hey guys,
So I have lost 150 lbs over three years. I'm looking to just maintain my weight at this point but I'm struggling to give up the exercise. I walk about 15-20 miles a day and also will run on some days. I have just been maintaining for the past few months on about 2000 calories a day. I want to stop exercising so much because it is very tiring but I'm worried that I will just put on weight. I am about 5'9 and 155 pounds. If I quit doing so much exercise will I put on weight? MFP recommends that I should eat around 3500 calories a day but I'm not losing any weight. I'm just worried that cutting back on the exercise will lead to weight gain
You have to be eating more than 2000 calories a day. To put it in perspective, I am a 46 year old female, 4"11, weigh around 95 pounds, walk around 9 miles a day and I maintain on over 2000 calories. As a male who is much younger, exercises more and weighs considerably more you have to be eating considerably more than I do.13 -
There is no way I can only eat 900 calories a day. That would be starving myself12
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First congrats on the weightloss. Bet you never thought the maintenance portion would be a challenge. Allow me to recommend you switch up the type of activity. You don't have to lift if you find it "boring;" you can do a variety of routines like body weights circuits (I always recommend using some type of external resistance). You can also dance for the time equivalent to your targeted caloric goal, or you can do what I do and go the intense route for less time (example: kickboxing & boxing). I bet I can adjust a few exercises in your routine and spice it up for you. Tell me, what's your first half of your lifting regimim consist of exercise(s), rep and load (resistance/weight) wise?
I just started lifting Wednesday. I am very weak. I lost so much muscle with all the weight I lost0 -
I lost 200 lbs. towards the end, like the last 6 months I quit working out. I adjusted my calories making them slightly lower and I started losing weight much faster. I think our bodies get used to all the exercise and adapt. Just be sure you lower your calories if you stop working out for a while.1
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Think of it as a simple math equation. If calories eaten=calories burned, then you will maintain your weight.
Also, congrats on your weight loss! That's really terrific!0 -
Yes I measure everything and pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Im a 25 year old male but am usually hungry on 2000 calories. It feels like I'm grinding my joints down and am gonna have joint problems in 10 years if I keep this up
Cycle rather than walk. You'll burn more calories, it is more fun, and won't do so much damage to your joints.
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Congrats on the weight loss! Listen to your body- if you are tired, it’s ok to take a little break to rest and revitalize. Just be mindful of the calories. I took a little break the last few weeks as I had so much going on - I feel better and I’m ready to jump back in! Hope you feel a recharge as well!1
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Something isn't right, math-wise. I'm a female more than 10 years older than you, I don't run (I'll RUM, but not RUN) or anything that has nearly the crazy-high calorie burn as you're saying you do DAILY...and I barely maintain on 2000 cal/day. Nah. Somewhere along the way your numbers are off.9
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This is what a typical week is like for me
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Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings3
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Are you sure that is all correct? It seems WAY off and extremely unhealthy.1
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Weight is more about what you eat than how much you run or lift, and for many, it's genetics too.
At some point, we get injured and for others, life gets in the way. We get pregnant, we get job promotions, we have many demands on our time. However, we still have to eat, even though our exercise may have to change. We can't all be bad-@sses forever.
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At this point, I highly suspect, if your calorie counting is correct, that you have issues with adaptive thermogenesis and cortisol.
I walk a lot pretty much every day to help my arthritis and my depression and anxiety, but still fall shy of where you're at. Saying that, I do take breaks where I sprinkle in lower activity days here and there and higher calorie days to give my hormones a break.
Please read the first post of this thread and consider pulling back on your steps to at least half of what you're doing now and incrementally upping your calories. The scale might go up due to increasing glycogen stores and more food in transit in your system, but that should even out over time. Give things a good six weeks. EAT WHAT YOUR FITBIT GIVES YOU as total calories burned, less about 4% or so (Fitbit tends to overestimate burns a bit once you get into the realm of higher step counts). Use a weight trending app to track your weight and smooth out fluctuations and don't worry about anything until 6 weeks or so of data has been collected.
After six weeks, you can re-evalate until you find maintenance level with healthier habits.4 -
Yes I measure everything and pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Im a 25 year old male but am usually hungry on 2000 calories. It feels like I'm grinding my joints down and am gonna have joint problems in 10 years if I keep this up
Of course you are hungry on 2000 calories wallking 20 miles a day! I am a lot smaller and female and burn a LOT less I maintain on 2350 average per week. No way you maintain on 2000 walking 20 miles a day......4 -
Go4health9 wrote: »Are you sure that is all correct? It seems WAY off and extremely unhealthy.
Yes it should be very close to being correct. I've had a Fitbit for almost two years and just upgraded to the versa black Friday0 -
Go4health9 wrote: »Are you sure that is all correct? It seems WAY off and extremely unhealthy.
Yes it should be very close to being correct. I've had a Fitbit for almost two years and just upgraded to the versa black Friday
I’m sorry but there is absolutely no way you can maintain with consuming 2000 per day and burn roughly 4000+ a day.
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Go4health9 wrote: »Go4health9 wrote: »Are you sure that is all correct? It seems WAY off and extremely unhealthy.
Yes it should be very close to being correct. I've had a Fitbit for almost two years and just upgraded to the versa black Friday
I’m sorry but there is absolutely no way you can maintain with consuming 2000 per day and burn roughly 4000+ a day.
Yeah, I agree, something doesn't make sense here. No way a guy bigger than me who does more exercise maintains on less than me and I've been maintaining years...2 -
So what do you guys recommend? Do you agree with GottaburnEmAll b and cut down on everything?0
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Cut down on the training. Instead of running everyday do it few times a week. Instead of 15-20 miles just do 5-10 miles. Adjust your diet by a bit. More in due course if needed.
Everyone body reacts differently. This is where trial and error kicks in. Do that for a a week or two. If it needs tweeking, adjust your calories. On odd good days you can run extra.
No one can jus tell you do this exactly. You need to record your weight and compare from your previous weigh in.0 -
I'm your height and your weight... I find if I don't exercise I start gaining.
I will say when I lost my weight, I didn't exercise until the end. I find exercise for me, helps me maintain.. and I lose faster when I do NOT exercise. For me, exercise is the body getting fit...it is different from it shedding fat.7 -
Do you walk 15-20m as part of your job?
Honestly 5’3”; 158 and I maintain on close to 2800 - so something is up with your logging/counting - I don’t know how you have any energy to function with that much walking and only 2000 cal1 -
So what do you guys recommend? Do you agree with GottaburnEmAll b and cut down on everything?
You haven't answered the question as to your logging accuracy.
Are you using a food scale? Are you verifying data base entries? Are you recording everything you eat? Do you ever binge? If you binge, do you log them?
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So what do you guys recommend? Do you agree with GottaburnEmAll b and cut down on everything?
Something is wrong. Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings4 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »So what do you guys recommend? Do you agree with GottaburnEmAll b and cut down on everything?
You haven't answered the question as to your logging accuracy.
Are you using a food scale? Are you verifying data base entries? Are you recording everything you eat? Do you ever binge? If you binge, do you log them?
Yes I log everything and use a did scale. After a few days of eating everything that mfp tells me to eat I've gained about 7 pounds. Thinking about cutting back0
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