When you can’t exercise...

If you are using mfp to get your calorie goal then you should eat back at least a portion if not all of your exercise calories. It doesn't matter if you are over 50 or not. You will burn some calories if you exercise. You may not burn as much as you did when you were younger, but you definitely burn some. I don't know how Weight Watchers figures your calorie goal, but if you are using mfp for your goal then you should eat back some exercise calories. If Weight watchers uses TDEE instead of NEAT for your goal then the exercise calories are already included.

Totally agree with @cmriverside, and my experience is very similar.

I lost weight at 54, ate back all my exercise cals, first MFP derived, then personal data, and thrived.
I burn ~200 cals per hr, I’m quite petite so less cals burnt.

Not eating them would have left me with less energy for everyday life, and I would have probably underperformed in the gym.

I also liked that when I took a break, choice or illness I knew just how many cals to eat.

Absolutely no truth in the over 50 assertion.

I will also add that both cmriverside and I are long term maintainers.

The MFP method of eating exercise cals back works well for loss and maintenance and teaches you a valuable lesson moving forward-
More movement needs more fuel.

If you are using an alternate method, TDEE, or however WW accounts for cals, make sure you know how to manage your variables like illness, exercise down time, and vacations or holidays wherevyou may want to eat at maintenance.

Cheers, h.

montyeva1114 wrote: »

I’m currently doing MFP calorie counting. I’m trying to eat 1500 calories per and not eat extra for exercise. Even doing that I have lost very slowly. I dropped 4.1 pounds in 5 weeks. I honestly don’t think I would have lost any weight if I ate extra calories.. too scared to try. I don’t want to gain weight!

Eating back exercise calories to account for that activity is how MFP is designed to work...however, there are things to consider...

- Accuracy of logging your food...most people are not good and being very accurate when it comes to food logging, even professionals.
- Accuracy of estimated calorie burns from exercise.
- Aggressiveness of your calorie deficit...having a large calorie deficit with your diet and compounding that with a bunch of exercise isn't a particularly good idea...you see this a lot with females eating 1200 calories per day and then going to workout for a couple hours everyday...essentially exercise bulimia.
- What you are doing exercise wise. Some exercise is going to result in fairly nominal calorie burns that aren't going to be detrimental if they go un-fueled. My mom was still doing sprint and Olympic triathlons in her late 50s...not accounting for her training activity with additional calories would have been detrimental to her health as well as her physical performance...that's quite a bit different than say jumping on the elliptical for 30 minutes.

montyeva1114 wrote: »

According to weight Watchers you really shouldn’t eat extra if you exercise after 50. You just don’t burn enough as you get older. Just curious what others think about that.

I think that's one of the most stupid and downright sad generalisations I've ever had the misfortune to hear recounted!

I'm 59 and just my sporting cycling burns 165,000 - 180,000 calories per annum. Then I've got gym work and social cycling to add on top. My exercise volume is far, far higher in my 50's than my 30's and 40's as I simply have more time to do the things I enjoy. Not fuelling my exercise would not only result in losing a load of weight I don't want to but would also hamper my exercise performance.

I'm just one of a large group of older people out on the roads and in the gym not just exercising but actually training seriously. I also see loads of riders in their 70's and 80's on the long distance (100km - 200km) events I ride in. Thankfully there's a lot of older people not buying into WW's depressing attitude to aging..


PS - for a low volume exerciser not getting the expected weight loss results over a significant amount of time by far the highest probability is that there is a problem in estimating food intake. An open diary helps enormously in spotting common mistakes.

I think you will get the most benefit from this site by learning to use the FOOD page and Exercise estimates as consistently and accurately as you can.

That means doing the work of logging over TIME and adjusting if needed. It's not as simple as just, "Here's the numbers, now off you go."

Read through these logging threads, to start. The database is notoriously inaccurate so choose carefully.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10621050/how-to-use-the-usda-food-database-mfp-food-database-for-accurate-logging/p1

I'm the same my knee , hip and back play up from time to time it's a pest but sticking to the food logging and trying to find alternative exercises where possible.