Advice needed

bamaguy76 · February 2019

Ok...I am a 42 year old male 5'9 and currently 270lbs (started at 320). I have lost 50lbs in the last 2 years mainly just trying to eat better. I started doing weights and cardio 7 days a week a month ago (which took me from 285 to 270). MFP set my calorie goal for 2lbs a week weight loss at 1970. I set it to "lightly active" as my job has me walking and moving a lot (teacher). My goal is to lose weight, build muscle and get healthy. I am tracking everything best I can, even weighing things when I meal prep.

I do 35-45 mins on the treadmill/elliptical every morning and rotate through the various weight machines over the course of the week. I use an Apple Watch to track everything. My cardio workouts usually burn about 500 calories according to the activity app.

My goal weight is 200-210 lbs. I KNOW that that will still have me overweight but it is a goal I think I can realistically get to and maintain. If I can get there and go lower later I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

My question to you guys is should I be adding back in my exercise calories and what ratio of carbs/fat/protein do you recommend? I do not mind losing weight in a slow, sustainable manner. I am learning how to eat right. I have lots of friends dropping weight fast on keto diets but that doesn't interest me (to each their own).

I appreciate any suggestions you guys have.

Thanks!

lx1x · February 2019

Try get back some of the cal you burn during excercises...
I didn't bother with macro... I just left it as is sincey goal right now is loosing weight. Ymmv

cmriverside · February 2019

Well this website is set up for you to eat more on exercise days. I don't know about you but exercise makes me hungrier so I needed those extra calories. Obviously you have quite a lot of weight to lose and you do need to experiment a little bit with exercise calories since they are hard to pin down, but if you're exercising for 45-60 minutes at a moderately difficult pace, I'd say eat a few hundred more calories ( like 300-500 ) more. 500 calories for 35 minutes seems a bit inflated, but you can try it and see how it goes. That's really the only way to know. What you don't want to do is eat too little, though. There's no reason to try to eat as little as possible, it will backfire.

Here's a good thread to read for sort of a general overview:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

..and a video from Sidesteel about exercise calories:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

Here's the Macro thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

Larzp · February 2019

I can only speak to my own experience, but my story is a lot like yours. I'm 63, and I started about 295, and am down to 245 over about 9 months. I'm also looking to get down to 210 or 220. I lost most of my weight by combining WW and MFP; I eat a very low amount of grain-based carbs, starches, and fats. I stay away from added sugar and artificial sweeteners. But I'm pretty liberal with all kinds of fruit, vegetables, eggs, chicken breast, turkey breast, and fish. Not keto at all, but the carbs I eat are natural fruits and vegetables. For me, I have also decided that exercise is a good thing, and I need it, but I don't use it as a weight loss tool.

Keep it going - you are doing great!

bamaguy76 · February 2019

cmriverside wrote: »

Well this website is set up for you to eat more on exercise days. I don't know about you but exercise makes me hungrier so I needed those extra calories. Obviously you have quite a lot of weight to lose and you do need to experiment a little bit with exercise calories since they are hard to pin down, but if you're exercising for 45-60 minutes at a moderately difficult pace, I'd say eat a few hundred more calories ( like 300-500 ) more. 500 calories for 35 minutes seems a bit inflated, but you can try it and see how it goes. That's really the only way to know. What you don't want to do is eat too little, though. There's no reason to try to eat as little as possible, it will backfire.

Here's a good thread to read for sort of a general overview:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

..and a video from Sidesteel about exercise calories:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

Here's the Macro thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

Thank you! This was very insightful!!

Advice needed

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