when to count?!

Fight2bFiT
Fight2bFiT Posts: 48 Member
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
ok, so this question is a little complex, but please jus bare with me.....ok so lifting weights tears muscles and we need to refuel our bodies to REBUILD those muscles so we need to eat more (all exercise calories.)...but when it comes to cardio, the simple cardio like running, biking, eliptical, walking, dancing, etc, why count? why eat those back when it really isnt "tearing"....you are burning calories, thats it. with strength training, you are burning calories, yes, but also burning fat for 48 hours. ok, so question: should i NOT eat my cardio calories? i just dont feel right eating 1800 calories when all i did was run. but i know i deserve those 1400-1500 calories when i am hitting it hard at the gym. but the cardio like insanity, or p90x, or ANYTHING that causes you to use body weight to do "cardio conditioning" then i also feel like i should eat those too....... following?

i have been lifting and doing cardio for bout 3 weeks and havent really lost. i eat MOST if not all of my exercise calories. but i feel like like "running", or "walking" my child to school or even BORING elipitical, YES, i sweat. YES i burn calories. but i feel like they shouldnt be something that i eat back. i burned 500 calories on the SPOT right then and there with a machine. thats it.. when i lift, i AM BURNING for 48 hours baby! <
my BODY needs the fuel, needs the extra fuel (only protein and CLEAN fuel).........what do you say? am i crazy? lol.....trying to see what works for my body and what doesnt. i want that darn scale to move.

Replies

  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    You still want to replenish your glycogen stores and you want to minimize muscle loss. That said, you can probably get away with leaving a slightly bigger deficit on cardio days.
  • RippaRita54
    RippaRita54 Posts: 19 Member
    you know what! What you said really makes sense!! I do a lot of cardio and when i eat all my excersize calories a dam well put on weight!! Yes i am measuring correctly, i do use a HRM also. But when i strength train (3x a week) i find that i am hungrier! I am going to give it a try..
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    You could just zig zag your calories so you're eating less on cardio days and eating more on strength days as long as your weekly calorie intake is the same. I honestly feel hungrier on cardio days because I usually am running my hardest - even though it's only a mile. But everybody is different! Do what works for you! :happy:
  • Fight2bFiT
    Fight2bFiT Posts: 48 Member
    You could just zig zag your calories so you're eating less on cardio days and eating more on strength days as long as your weekly calorie intake is the same. I honestly feel hungrier on cardio days because I usually am running my hardest - even though it's only a mile. But everybody is different! Do what works for you! :happy:

    what do you mean weekly calorie intake the same? i dont understand that
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    Yes, our body burns calories differently thru cardio and lifting, but calories burned are still calories burned. Why would it make a difference (from a replenishment standpoint) whether that 500 calories burned is right then thru cardio, or whether it is burned through out the next day or two from lifting?

    If you're on a 500 calorie deficit and you burn 500 calories from exercise, you need to replace it or you run the risk of not giving your body enough fuel. I think you're overthinking it.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    You could just zig zag your calories so you're eating less on cardio days and eating more on strength days as long as your weekly calorie intake is the same. I honestly feel hungrier on cardio days because I usually am running my hardest - even though it's only a mile. But everybody is different! Do what works for you! :happy:

    what do you mean weekly calorie intake the same? i dont understand that

    Meaning, you eat less some day, but more the next so that in the end, you're eating the same amount for the week as you would if you ate a set amount each day.
  • Fight2bFiT
    Fight2bFiT Posts: 48 Member
    oh ok, but i would never go over what i burned to "make up" for the ones i didnt eat the day before. i have a HRM, so i guess that is accurate for what i burn, so when it comes to calorie burns, do you, or should you eat ALL?
  • susannedunham
    susannedunham Posts: 2
    Stay with 1200 a day not more not less. You don't HAVE to eat the earned calories. That is the trick. If you eat your earned calories, you will stay the same. You need to burn around 7000 extra calories a week to lose one pound fat. Stay with 1200 a day, that's it. You can go a bit over and enjoy something on the days you burn calories, but don't eat them all. The average women needs 1700 calories a day without doing anything. If you wan to lose, you have to stay under and burn extra. After a while you want to mix up your exercise so your muscles are not memorizing everything, mix it up. I lost 38 lbs in 16 weeks with this plan.
  • Driagnor
    Driagnor Posts: 323 Member
    Also, cardio does still burn calories afterwards. I read some research recently that after cardio the subjects had a heightened RMR for up to 24 hours afterwards.

    I tend to eat back some of the exercise calories, but not all. I also go by hunger. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat them.
  • Crystalchaos72
    Crystalchaos72 Posts: 531
    Stay with 1200 a day not more not less. You don't HAVE to eat the earned calories. That is the trick. If you eat your earned calories, you will stay the same. You need to burn around 7000 extra calories a week to lose one pound fat. Stay with 1200 a day, that's it. You can go a bit over and enjoy something on the days you burn calories, but don't eat them all. The average women needs 1700 calories a day without doing anything. If you wan to lose, you have to stay under and burn extra. After a while you want to mix up your exercise so your muscles are not memorizing everything, mix it up. I lost 38 lbs in 16 weeks with this plan.


    Interesting. 3500 a week equals a pound. If you eat only 1200 and burn more your body is in a deficit so it will hold on to everything, if you don't fill your gastank can you drive further on fumes? That is essentially what you are doing if you don't refuel your body.

    Op,
    I can only suggest trying new things to see what works for YOU. This isn't a sprint to the finish, it is/should be a lifestyle. Great job exercising and try eating half of your exercise cals back or all.....it takes some tweaking. Mfp had my goals set too low so I ost kinda fast also. Maybe you need to increase your cals, I don't know. Just tossing ideas your way. Good luck!
  • DKLinDeutschland
    DKLinDeutschland Posts: 40
    I always eat the running cals I burn... I never count my cross training. When I run 10 miles on Sundays, sure as hell eat those extra 1000 calories. My net calories always stay where they are supposed to and I am still losing weight. Calories in, calories out. I like the calorie tool on runnersworld.com best.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    Stay with 1200 a day not more not less. You don't HAVE to eat the earned calories. That is the trick. If you eat your earned calories, you will stay the same. You need to burn around 7000 extra calories a week to lose one pound fat. Stay with 1200 a day, that's it. You can go a bit over and enjoy something on the days you burn calories, but don't eat them all. The average women needs 1700 calories a day without doing anything. If you wan to lose, you have to stay under and burn extra. After a while you want to mix up your exercise so your muscles are not memorizing everything, mix it up. I lost 38 lbs in 16 weeks with this plan.
    No, I'm sorry but this is just wrong. First, 1200 is not the magic number, it is the minimum a person should eat. The lowest I have ever netted was 1330 and even on that I often felt like I was starving and yet I sucessfully lost 50 pounds. Second it's 3500 calories/week = 1 pound.

    So by your advice, if someone were on a 500 calorie deficit to lose a pound per week and ate 1200 calories per day, and then burned 500 through exercise and didn't eat it back, that person would only be netting 700 calories a day which is not enough.

    Eating E calories back is not optional...I'm not saying I always eat every single one back, but I aim to eat the majority of them back. It does not make you stay the same weight because you're already eating less than before because MFP automatically builds a deficit into your numbers depending on how much you say you want to lose per week.
  • susannedunham
    susannedunham Posts: 2
    I really suggest you all do some research!I So we are all on MFP here and if you put in your weight and goal etc it gives you a recommended calorie number right? If you go to WW, Jillian Micheals or every other weight lost program supported by Dr's and professionals, they will tell you the same. Eating the "earned" calories will not support a weight loss it's called maintaining. Weight Watchers is successful for a REASON. Yes you can have a few more or balance a day or two, howeve rin the long run you need ti burn more then you eat.
    So why would you work out if not for burning extra calories? not only to get lean muscles.That makes no sens to me. However, everybody should do what it's best but stay with the facts.

    1200 is the lowest amount, not 500 that is dangerous and I want to make clear that I never suggested that!
    I'm going by 1200 calories now for 17 weeks, have lost 41 lbs and I'm not starving at all. I eat 5 times a day and even have some calories left for a little snack.

    Good luck to everybody!
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,758 Member
    I really suggest you all do some research!I So we are all on MFP here and if you put in your weight and goal etc it gives you a recommended calorie number right? If you go to WW, Jillian Micheals or every other weight lost program supported by Dr's and professionals, they will tell you the same. Eating the "earned" calories will not support a weight loss it's called maintaining.

    Except MFP already gives you the deficit and when Jillian Michaels or your doctor tell you not to eat the calories back, they're not logging on here and don't know that when you picked your calorie goal, MPF is already telling you to eat 500 calories less than maintenance.

    It's all in the math. MFP tells the OP to eat 1200 calories a day to lose one pound a week. That means for maintenance she'd have to eat 1700 calories a day. If she exercises 500 calories off and still only eating 1200 calories, that means her body is only really running on 700 calories. (1200 eaten minus 500 worked off).

    OP, if you're hungrier on strength training days, I think it's a good idea to zig zag your calories like someone else said. Total calories eaten to lose weight are supposed to be over a week anyway.
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