Intense workouts to outrun the fork

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  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    To offset 2000cals I need to make 60000 (60k) steps. Not likely.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Don't really understand why people conflate a big diet with a bad diet.....

    It's the same line of thinking as that obese people got that way purely due to a diet of fast food and "junk".

    Agree.
    Always seems an odd assumption to me as there's many routes to getting to be overweight, mine was eating almost all high quality home cooked food. The only thing wrong with my diet was that it was far too many calories for a temporarilly drastically reduced activity level.

    I certainly wasn't malnourished - just over-nourished!! ;)
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    I burned just over 2,000 calories one day. I did walk around 75,000 steps and 50ish kms to do this though. There is no way I would do that on a regular basis! Banking calories over the week for a bit more flexibility is a much easier way of going about it.
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Don't really understand why people conflate a big diet with a bad diet.....

    It's the same line of thinking as that obese people got that way purely due to a diet of fast food and "junk".

    Agree.
    Always seems an odd assumption to me as there's many routes to getting to be overweight, mine was eating almost all high quality home cooked food. The only thing wrong with my diet was that it was far too many calories for a temporarilly drastically reduced activity level.

    I certainly wasn't malnourished - just over-nourished!! ;)

    Yup. I saw a government advert about diabetes and catching it early, and one of the comments said that the healthy looking young woman was misleading, and they should have shown someone obese sitting on the couch eating chips and drinking soda instead. Said all it needs to how society perceives obese people and how they got that way, really.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,948 Member
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    In my experience the best thing I did was to figure out my actual calorie needs based on my daily life activity AND my personal exercise tolerance/frequency.

    I did that by logging food and exercise over TIME. I have an Excel sheet with eight columns of data and formulas. I have a food scale and a body weight scale. I learned to log food. I learned to guess at my calorie expenditure during my purposeful exercise. Then I studied my numbers.

    I do have at least one big blow-out day per week. This past week it was 2200 calories OVER my projected calories. I also had one other day where I was over by 850 calories. I know it works out because I've done this for years.

    Keep good records. It's a matter of knowing limits, and stepping on that body weight scale regularly. I adjust my eating if/when I get to the top of my five pound weight range.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    I suppose it is all in how you view things. I look at my deficit at a daily, weekly and monthly view. This means I have some days where I am under the calorie goal in mfp, other days I am over, but I track a consistent weekly/monthly deficit to lose the weight. Overall, I think I am losing more slowly than I could if I didn't do it this way, but my mind and my body don't seem to rebel against my efforts as much as when I don't schedule in the days where I can eat more and relax more.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Outside of elite athletes, it is close to impossible for the average person to "outrun the fork" completely, as it's a lot easier to eat 1000s of calories over maintenance than it is to burn that much regularly from exercise.

    That being said, exercise can certainly help with weight loss, and heavy exercise allows for a lot more eating in your diet. I eat at about what would be maintenance if I didn't exercise, but I workout hard 5-6 times a week and lose about a pound a week. That allows me about 500 calories more a day, which means more pizza, burgers, and other things that would be harder to fit in if I didn't workout at all.

    So there still needs to be some sort of intake control, but heavy exercise can certainly allow you to eat more.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    In the short term, sure. In my experience I'd end up with an over-use injury of some kind before too long.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
    edited May 2019
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Easy peasy. Thru-hike the PCT. I guarantee you'll lose more than 20 pounds no matter what or how much you eat. You'll be walking about 30 tough miles a day, and you'll have the opportunity to buy food every week or so. Having to carry everything you'll eat cuts down on your weight in a big way.

    Not necessarily. My husband and I did several thruhikes - AT, PCT, CDT. My husband lost significant weight on each hike (40-50 pounds). I was lucky if I lost 5. We ate the same, exercised the same, but he lost weight much faster because he had more weight to lose. I was better at finding a CICO balance. We would stuff ourselves in town, and that was enough for me.

    To answer the OP - I maintain my weight largely with my running and walking. I walk 2-3 miles a day, run 5 miles a day on average (35 mpw). That gives me enough extra calories I can eat what I want, within reason.
  • zeejane4
    zeejane4 Posts: 230 Member
    edited May 2019
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    jackalita wrote: »
    I have heard forever you “can’t outrun the fork”

    However... I know there are a few people that DO!

    So those that either have maintained or some how lost weight- while still splurging on weekends- can you tell me your general caloric intake and what you did to offset weekend splurges?

    I’m talking like a night out with pizza and 1-2 beers. 1-2 x a week or even at home but like a home made pot pie with dessert lol.

    I don’t want to hear from those that say it’s not possible. I know it’s RARE but I am curious how MUCH exercise is needed. And if any people do intense workouts that don’t include actual running too....

    I've been maintaining a large weight loss for 6 years now. Exercise has never been a factor in my weight management plan, I control my weight 100% by how many calories I eat.

    I ate out 4 times this weekend, on top of eating at a family members house. I stayed completely on plan because I pre-planned what I was going to eat and I fit everything it into my goals. Exercise wise-I took a walk on Friday and Saturday, nothing on Sunday. MapMyWalk estimated that my two walks burned around 275 calories, so a pretty minimal impact on my calorie allowance.

    My maintenance calorie range is around 1,600 and my net carb target is 50g-75g (these are the only two things I pay attention to). Current stats-female/4o yrs old/BMI 21.0

  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
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    This is a bit trickier than it looks at first glance. A number of years ago I was cycling and running a lot and could eat whatever I wanted - and did. I lost weight and became quite fit. I didn't eat trash, I just ate as much as I wanted - that's what I would say was "outrunning the fork".

    But then I stopped exercising and I didn't know how to eat at a reduced level and I gained 80 pounds over a few years...

    Now I'm back to my former levels of exercise. Saturday I had a long ride that burned an extra 2800 calories above my NEAT, so my allowance was around 4600 calories. On days when I don't exercise maintenance is around 2100 calories. Now I try to eat according to my activity. Some days I "borrow" against others, but here's the point - it's still about calorie balance - and unless you log both activity and meals you're guessing. That works for some but it doesn't work for me.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited May 2019
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    If you want to lose weight all you need is a calorie deficit. If you want to exercise more to eat more, go for it. All you need is ACCURATE logging of calorie intake, and burn, making sure you are at a total calorie deficit. How you get to a calorie deficit is your choice.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    pierinifitness wrote: »
    I remember when I tore my ACL in a sports injury almost 15 years ago. I was top fit and weigh-appropriate at the time, training hard and eating big.

    My first feeling and thought was the excruciating pain. I knew I had a serious injury. My second thought was that I was going to have down time, surgery and rehab so my training was going to be reduced and I had better immediately start eating less.

    Funny how about 3 years ago I wasn’t observant enough to catch my reduced activity and start eating less. Consequently, 8 months ago I had to “report” to a self-exiled boot camp, with me as my drill sergeant, to get my fat boy self back where I belong.

    Never again!
    An ACL injury in college was the first time in my life I became overweight, for similar reasons. The downside with using exercise to maintain a calorie balance is that you can’t always exercise!
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,181 Member
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    I think to answer your question, you would have to know what you are eating.
    two slices of pizza is 500 calories, 2 beers are 300 Calories
    That's a total of 800 calories.
    For the week after or the week before eat 100 calories less and work out 100 calories more
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Of course it is possible. This is why those involved in active sports generally maintain their weight, but also why so many gain weight after leaving sports. The issue comes from sustainability. You have to think long term and develop habits on when you will be unable to work out at this level.

    Using the financial analogy it isn't about how much you make, but how much you spend. If you outspend your income then it doesn't matter how much you make. Just as in weight management if you burn 1000 calories through exercise/activity on top of your BMR of ~2000, but eat 4000 calories you are still in a state of surplus.

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