ginadomaszewicz wrote: »

@SModa61 I thought I had replied to your thread on extra calories, but I guess I didn't hit send. This is what I did in October. We both joined in the same month. The week before I started challenge I started logging my food and realizing I was running out of calories fast! First I traded my high calorie foods for lower and also replaced them with ones that filled me up longer. I also made sure I walked every day! When I started challenge I was still hungry at first and would use most of my exercise calories. I started doing longer walking times and drinking tons of water while doing it. The next week I found myself less hungry and started to only eat back half of my calories. The next week I made sure that I always had at least 400 calories from exercise that I didn't eat back. I also log my dinner in before I do my exercise. This way if I am really hungry and need more calories I can see how much I am in the negative and how long I need to be on that treadmill. Now I hardly eat back my exercise calories, but I have about 3-4 days a month where I am hungry and I need to eat them. You have to figure what works for you. but this way worked for me. Good luck to you this month!

@ginadomaszewicz This is GREAT advice! I have my cal goal set low (1200) so that I HAVE to exercise in order to be able to eat back some of my exercise calories. I'm definately going to move to this approach though - I think it would work well for me. As always, thanks so much for your advice.

I gave myself a "BMI TRUE-Reality Check, and admitted to the Wii Profile setting that I should be 5 ft 2 (not 5 ft 3 as I was when I first started keeping track)

So now the border between Normal and Overweight BMI (25) is at 136 pounds instead of 141 ....

Toto, it looks like we aren't in Maintenance-Land any more ... but I can see it juuuussssttt Over There ..... (currently sitting at ~ 137 / 138)

I think my stationary bike is gonna get extra-usage for November (or longer) along side the waking exergame. The bike burns much more calories per minute. (has ~ 12 plus preprogrammed options for variety)

BMcC9 wrote: »

SModa61 wrote: »

I still have not gotten any feedback from anyone regarding to use, or not use their exercise calories. I am really torn, and I would love to get others' thoughts, as I define my standards for my November UAC. Any thoughts?

@SModa61 MFP bases its goal setting with a built-in deficit, and presumes you will eat back your exercise calories (to fuel your body for its workout). Some feel that the MFP Exercise datatbase can be too generous in its estimates, so IF what you do has an alternate way to track calorie burn, use that.

With some trial and error, you will discover how much of your exercise-credit calories to eat back to keep you ~ the projected rate of loss you have in your profile.

The goal isn't to "do more so that you can eat more" The goal is to "eat enough to fuel what you want to do"

eg. I have a (very basic) fitbit synced with MFP. I don't track my brisk-walking game separately, as the stepping is counted by the fitbit (same if I were into jogging or on a treadmill or stairstepper) The fitbit will give me "exercise credit" when above my "MFP-determined" needed deficit-calorie intake level.

If I were on my exercise bike, I would take the calories-burned reading from that and include it.

If you are active, and you are basically eating healthy and enough as rule, your hunger is your body needing fuel (HUNGER ..... not "cravings") So dip into the exercise calories if you need them. You are still "in the rules" if you eat all but one ...

The more active you are above the "lifestyle setting" you gave yourself, the more the imbalance between the calories-in level you have been given to eat and what you need to fuel yourself.

Thank you so much BMcC9 Having input is very helpful and builds my confidence on making the right choices. I will finish my UAC challenge the way I began with not using any exercise, since it is only two days. Then for the November round I will update my approach. This last week I have lost comparative rapidly, which is nice, but actually concerns me for sustainability, so I need to start shifting that way. Thanks again.

My name Sharon. I’m 35 in the Hudson Valley, NY and looking for some MFP accountability for the month of November. Feel free to add me as a friend and nudge me along the way. I’ll be forever thankful to you. I need to lose 30+lbs by my birthday in February. 😊

Hi everyone, I'm located in Ontario and joining this challenge for the first time. I try to stay pretty active but need to be more cognizant of my eating habits. I'm hoping that this challenge will help me to learn to make some better choices and to start tracking every day.

@RBnorth66, @chulton2020, @TeresaSavage, @Sharon268 Welcome to the group! Its my second month here and I love it and everyone is so encouraginging, supportive, and helpfull. You will love it here! Good luck this month!

@SModa61 when it comes to how I handle my calories, I'm along the lines of @BMcC9. That is to say, I eat back a portion of my exercise calories. Since I tend to walk daily but also do a varied monthly workout routine, I ONLY count my "workout calories" as what I can eat into. That is to say, I do not consider my "walking calories" in my calculations. On active rest days, I just eat my base calories (unless I'm still hungry and want an indulgence)

Why? I've set my MFP activity to "Sedentary" (or whatever the 2nd lowest option is) and do not use a food scale. I also recalculate my TDEE on the first of every month. That means my calories change every month (usually so that I can eat more, thank you, Lord).

That said if I'm hungry; I'll eat. Starving or feeling hunger pangs makes no sense to me. That's my body telling me I'm missing something. The MFP tracking helps in that - even if I go over my calories for a day - I can choose my "indulgence" wisely. If I'm low on protein, I'll take a snack like turkey jerky. If I'm low on carbs (lol a rare occurrence for me), I'll eat chips. It may even be a micronutrient issue so if I'm low on fiber that day, I'll have a small bowl of my All Bran Buds or something.

That's the kind of 'trial and error' BMcC9 alluded to above, I suspect. So far, this set-up seems to work for me and my health goals (which are fat loss based as opposed to strictly weight loss based). With some time, you'll get a hang of what makes sense for you based on the metrics/results you're seeing.

That's part of the fun of all this!

@MaltedTea thanks for your insights. And great intro you wrote!

This is my first month for the challenge. I've gained 8 lbs over the past couple months after losing 125 with the help of gastric sleeve surgery. I recently started the C25K training program which started off great but then I had major surgery on my arm and had to take 2 weeks off. Now on my 2nd week back the weather has been less than cooperative with 25+mph winds today with the temp 35° but I did my training! I look forward to the advice and encouragement from with group and hope to reciprocate!