The dumbest question ever...PLEASE HELP ME

mmackie
mmackie Posts: 93
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
I know, I know. I have read about this whole eating your calores thing a million times. But I'm still confused:ohwell: . I am an intelligent person, well educated, 2 college degrees-SO WHAT THE HECK???

First: I understand that you have to burn more calories than you consume

Second: I know that my body goes into starvation mode if I dont feed it enough

Third: this is were I get confused...It seems backwards to me to want to consume the calories that I just burned at the gym! I dont get how there is then a deficit (according to my profile it should be 663) whatever that means:grumble:

Please explain in terms that a special education teacher from San Diego can understand...:smokin:

I'm so frustrated- I have been working out 5-6 times per week and eating really healthy for almost 2 months and I haven't lost 1 pound :mad:

I can't help but feel like I'm doing something wrong.

PLEASE HELP!

Replies

  • mmackie
    mmackie Posts: 93
    I know, I know. I have read about this whole eating your calores thing a million times. But I'm still confused:ohwell: . I am an intelligent person, well educated, 2 college degrees-SO WHAT THE HECK???

    First: I understand that you have to burn more calories than you consume

    Second: I know that my body goes into starvation mode if I dont feed it enough

    Third: this is were I get confused...It seems backwards to me to want to consume the calories that I just burned at the gym! I dont get how there is then a deficit (according to my profile it should be 663) whatever that means:grumble:

    Please explain in terms that a special education teacher from San Diego can understand...:smokin:

    I'm so frustrated- I have been working out 5-6 times per week and eating really healthy for almost 2 months and I haven't lost 1 pound :mad:

    I can't help but feel like I'm doing something wrong.

    PLEASE HELP!
  • stillkristi
    stillkristi Posts: 1,135 Member
    It is confusing, isn't it:huh: The theory behind eating your exercise calories is this: Your weight loss goal is based on achieving and maintaining a certain calorie deficit, which will result in you losing your goal of 1, 1.5 or 2 lbs a week. If you don't eat the exercise calories, you run the risk of eating two few calories and slowing your metabolism down. Slow metabolism = less or no weight loss. In extreme cases, it results in the starvation mode we talk about, when the metabolism slows down so much that it becomes impossible to lose weight, even on a very restrictive diet. This state may continue until you restart the metabolism. There are a lot of ways to do this. The best is to build lean muscle through strength training. Lean muscle burns fat. Maybe you have been just reshaping your body through building lean muscle. How do your clothes fit?
  • MissResa
    MissResa Posts: 1,147 Member
    There is always a heated discussion about eating or not eating your exercise calories, so I'm going to try to stay out of it. But I will tell you that it's worth it to invest in a good Heart Rate Monitor that tells you how many calories you really are burning when you exercise. Sometimes the equipment that you use at the gym is way off, or even MFP can miscalculate. It can really help you gauge how many calories you are really in deficit or over... And maybe that'll help you figure out how many you really need to consume.
  • bathedinshadow
    bathedinshadow Posts: 117 Member
    It's not a dumb question and I am still not convinced entirely....

    But what I can say is that MFP already factors in your deficit. So if you go to "my home" and then to "goals," you'll see calories consumed from regular activity. Then below it, you'll see a smaller number which is the amount of calories you should be eating if you weren't to do any exercise. What MFP does is adds the calories you burn (from exercise) to the second number so that you are replenishing your body from all the energy it just expelled. So the deficit needed for weight loss is already factored in. Any exercise you do is like a "bonus" sort of.

    On a more personal note, I'm not sure I completely agree with eating back all exercise calories, and I would imagine that it differs for different people. For me to do that, I would be constantly eating when I'm not hungry. But I say if you haven't been eating back your exercise calories and you've been working out as you say... without losing any weight.... then perhaps give it a try. It clearly works for a lot of people on this site and maybe you're one of them. What I am learning is that all this is, is a guideline and each of us need to tweak it to fit our body. Trial and error. I still haven't found my perfect exercise/calorie dynamic.

    Good luck!
  • chellebelle315
    chellebelle315 Posts: 298
    i'm *really* new here, and so I'm just figuring out the site myself. i find the fact that it adds in all your exercise calories very odd. If I ate that much every day I would never lose weight. I'm by no means an expert, but I've read a lot, and had a long conversation with my trainer about this, and here's the plan he and I came up with: If I'm working out i try to stay around 1500-1600 calories, and if I'm skipping the gym I my guideline is 1300-1400 calories.

    Most websites and stuff will tell you that an adult woman should not eat less than 1200 calories a day.

    Healthy weight loss for most people is 1-2 pounds a week. If you find you're losing more than that on a regular basis, you're probably not getting enough calories, and you're more likely losing more muscle mass than you are fat.

    There's my two cents. Please don't take my word for it though, do some online research, or talk to a nutritionist or physician....This is just the plan that I'm currently working on, and when I stick to it I lose weight.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
    Hi all...yep its a hot topic however lol I dont eat my excercise calories and have done really well losing between 2-7 pounds per week with no plateaus. I do work out 60min-120minutes per day..I eat 1200-1400 calories ....this works for me but there are others who eat the excercise calories and have no trouble at all......I have read the link I understand the concept but I just feel its slightly flawed and doesnt do my system any good as far as progress...I say experiment with it if you were eating them and your not losing then stop eating them..and see how it goes..also you must always challenge yourself ..sometimes we plateau because we are doing minimal excercise.:drinker:
  • saskia
    saskia Posts: 31
    Here's my two cents.

    To loose one pound a week, MFP has calculated my calorie intake to be 1380. If exercise on a day burns, say, 480 calories, I would leave my body 900 calories to do its thing. For my body (5ft7in tall, 11.5 stone), that is just not enough and it would go straight into starvation mode. So I eat my exercise calories mostly, and would generally not leave a deficit of more than 150 cals.

    Key thing: know your body. If you don't loose with what you are doing know, try other exercise mixes, other calorie levels, or other food types. You'll discover soon enough what works best!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    So here is the simplest terms I can put it in for you

    so you have the amount of calories you need to consume to stay the exact same weight and body fat % you are right now, we call that maintenance calories.

    So you have the goal that MFP gives you, which takes your maintenance and subtracts a certain amount based on what you want to loose per week. I.E. 1 pound per week is 500 calories a day
    (1lb = 3500 calories. divide that by 7 days and you get 500 calories a day)

    so your daily goal is calculated like this:

    maintenance calories - 500 per day = the calories MFP asks you to eat.

    So now you should see, just by eating what MFP asks you too, (in theory) you should loose 1 lb per week.

    BUT

    If you exercise for XXX number of calories, that means you need that much more calories on TOP of your maintenance calories

    So say you exercise for 400 calories today

    if your deficit is already 500 and you add 400 to that deficit, now you are at a 900 calorie deficit. If you do this for an extended period (maybe 4 or 5 days), unless you are obese and your body can afford to have that much difference, the body will start slowing down the metabolism and in extreme cases (usually when the deficit starts going over 2 lbs a week or so), start shutting down organs.

    WHY it does this is a whole different question, and has been proven out by many many studies and research trials. The empirical evidence completely overwhelming.

    I don't know if this clears it up for you, but that's my best attempt.
  • watch48win
    watch48win Posts: 1,668 Member
    All I can say is this.....I have NEVER been able to lose weight anyother way. ( and trust me-- I have tried every other "diet" out there) I found this site in Jan 08, and It has worked for me, and I eat back my exercise calories. Weird? yes, works (for me) yes!!!!


    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    See that number? 60! ( I have about 10 more to go)
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    All I can say is this.....I have NEVER been able to lose weight anyother way. ( and trust me-- I have tried every other "diet" out there) I found this site in Jan 08, and It has worked for me, and I eat back my exercise calories. Weird? yes, works (for me) yes!!!!


    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    See that number? 60! ( I have about 10 more to go)

    and you are just 10 pounds away from your goal!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:drinker:
  • tomyhealth
    tomyhealth Posts: 181
    I agree it is odd that you add in calories when you workout but I am trying it for the next three months to see if it works for me. It sounds like it has worked for so many that I have high hopes for me.....:smile:
  • chrisja
    chrisja Posts: 380 Member
    So here is the simplest terms I can put it in for you

    so you have the amount of calories you need to consume to stay the exact same weight and body fat % you are right now, we call that maintenance calories.

    So you have the goal that MFP gives you, which takes your maintenance and subtracts a certain amount based on what you want to loose per week. I.E. 1 pound per week is 500 calories a day
    (1lb = 3500 calories. divide that by 7 days and you get 500 calories a day)

    so your daily goal is calculated like this:

    maintenance calories - 500 per day = the calories MFP asks you to eat.

    So now you should see, just by eating what MFP asks you too, (in theory) you should loose 1 lb per week.

    BUT

    If you exercise for XXX number of calories, that means you need that much more calories on TOP of your maintenance calories

    So say you exercise for 400 calories today

    if your deficit is already 500 and you add 400 to that deficit, now you are at a 900 calorie deficit. If you do this for an extended period (maybe 4 or 5 days), unless you are obese and your body can afford to have that much difference, the body will start slowing down the metabolism and in extreme cases (usually when the deficit starts going over 2 lbs a week or so), start shutting down organs.

    WHY it does this is a whole different question, and has been proven out by many many studies and research trials. The empirical evidence completely overwhelming.

    I don't know if this clears it up for you, but that's my best attempt.

    Makes perfect sense to me....now if I could only motivate myself to do this for an extended period....I am one of those who have been screwed up in the head (and body) with the whole yo-yo dieting thing. So its still so hard to make the necessary (and proven to work) changes. I am working on it though thanks to MFP and you guys here.
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
    Since I love to eat I like the fact that today I ran 13 miles this morning which means that I have to figure out how to eat an extra 2400 calories!!! Thats more than my normal daily total of 2100 I need to eat to loose a pound a week. So I think I will just keep running longer and longer so I can enjoy eating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:laugh:

    I'm running a marathon in May so I cant wait to see how many calories I get to eat that day, 1-2 whole pizzas at least.
  • tomyhealth
    tomyhealth Posts: 181
    I love to eat too!!!! But sometimes after a good workout I have to force myself to eat or look for food that has more calories so I can make it up to my calories. That kind of food I try to keep out of my house.



    Good Luck on the Marathon!!!!!!!!
  • mmackie
    mmackie Posts: 93
    Thanks everyone...it does help. I am just so confused by it all. I lost some weiget about a year ago, and easn't eating my exercise calories. However, when I stopped counting cals and just started living, I gained it all back and then some (I wasn't working out though). So I'm wondering if I should just go back to that...

    I'm going to try because I haven't lost anyweight and I've been eating my exercise cals for two months...I'm going to try and not eat them...
  • cquick
    cquick Posts: 220
    read the post by banks "For those confused or questioning"

    he has all the info you need to convince you to consume your exercise calories...

    i just started working out again while following a strict yet wellbalanced diet this past wednesday (3 days ago) after quite a hiatus...i've been consuming all of my exercise calories and i've lost over 3 pounds already...

    so, if i don't have to say it already: DON'T QUESTION, JUST EAT!:laugh:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Thanks everyone...it does help. I am just so confused by it all. I lost some weiget about a year ago, and easn't eating my exercise calories. However, when I stopped counting cals and just started living, I gained it all back and then some (I wasn't working out though). So I'm wondering if I should just go back to that...

    I'm going to try because I haven't lost anyweight and I've been eating my exercise cals for two months...I'm going to try and not eat them...

    Yeah mgrogg, that's what happens to a lot of people. they "diet". see what we are trying to accomplish here is a permanent lifestyle and nutrition change. And the best way to do that, is to slowly ease yourself into it, by eating at a relatively small deficit, and getting your body working right again.

    The whole point is to start off with a nice, wide deficit (for people with a lot to lose), but still be healthy, and as you approach a normal BMI, that deficit shrinks slowly, so that by the time you don't need to lose any more, you really don't need to change anything as far as eating, and you can continue on for the rest of your life like that. It's sustainable at that point, which (I believe) is what we all want.

    there are 3 main things to remember.
    1 you need to be happy and motivated to continue (having a huge deficit can screw up your body chemistry, making you feel weak, or slow, or tired, or down right depressed, especially when you are close to your goal and your body can no longer yank the energy from a large fat store)
    And 2 you need to understand how your body works, so that when you do hit a bump or a snag (as we all have and all do), you know what it takes to break out of it without jumping to extremes. Small nudges is usually all it takes, and patience.
    and finally 3 you need to realize that the body changes slowly, expecting big losses in a couple of months is unreasonable and very stressful on your body, stress leads to cortisol build up, cortisol build up leads to adipose body fat... etc. vicious cycle.
  • dhutch33
    dhutch33 Posts: 25
    Sometimes you need to go by how you feel and look and not by the number...Keep positive thoughts and you will find success. I have found that since just cutting out junk food and eating healthier foods, I havent really lost anything, and I work out everyday, BUT i feel good!!!:smile: and i know that soon enough the weight will work itself off.

    Best of luck to you!
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