Scaling back exercise without gaining weight

sofrances
sofrances Posts: 156 Member
edited July 2020 in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone have any advice for scaling back exercise without gaining weight?

For example, if you have to rest an injury, or you change jobs and have a longer commute and less time, or if you have bitten off more than you can chew and can't sustain it long term.

I don't place a lot of store in the app calorie estimates - they don't seem that accurate for me.

The options I can think if would be.
1. Scale back slightly, and then cut calories if you see an increase. Repeat.
2. Preemptively make a large cut e.g. 500 calories. Cut down exercise, and then gradually increase calories until you are maintaining / losing at your desired rate.

The first option seems more feasible if you're losing rather than maintaining. If you're already maintaining then it seems likely that any reduction would lead to increase, whereas if you are already in defecit you might get away with it.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Replies

  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    Set mfp to the lowest activity setting then eat that.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    edited July 2020
    Hanibanani2020 wrote: »
    Set mfp to the lowest activity setting then eat that.

    That's not always reliable though, for a particular individual. I suspect my TDEE without exercise is less than it says, because I often gain a bit on my rest days, and I'm consuming 70 calories less than it suggests.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    #1 is how I do it. What usually happens for me is my NEAT will take over with the extra calories so I don't make any too sudden changes. I adjust, monitor, and go from there.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    #1 is how I do it. What usually happens for me is my NEAT will take over with the extra calories so I don't make any too sudden changes. I adjust, monitor, and go from there.

    Good point. Hadn't thought about NEAT.
  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    sofrances wrote: »
    Hanibanani2020 wrote: »
    Set mfp to the lowest activity setting then eat that.

    That's not always reliable though, for a particular individual. I suspect my TDEE without exercise is less than it says, because I often gain a bit on my rest days, and I'm consuming 70 calories less than it suggests.

    I assume that is simply because your macros have changed or you’re failing to measure correctly.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Also use the data you have been using to maintain up to this point. It is the most reliable.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    sofrances wrote: »
    Hanibanani2020 wrote: »
    Set mfp to the lowest activity setting then eat that.

    That's not always reliable though, for a particular individual. I suspect my TDEE without exercise is less than it says, because I often gain a bit on my rest days, and I'm consuming 70 calories less than it suggests.

    If you're judging what "works" by weight gain/loss after a single day, then you're doing it wrong. You can't make decisions based on a single day of data.

    Well, I'm judging it by several individual days, but you're right that I haven't tried consuming my estimated calories without exercise for an extended run of days.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Judging by several individual days doesn't really make sense either. Eating over your TDEE on a single day won't cause actual weight gain the next day, your body is still processing the food. Expecting it to translate to fat stores so quickly is like expecting your bank account balance online to update when you pick a five dollar bill up off the ground.

  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    If you are maintaining now, or if you're happy with the rate that you are losing at (depending on what you are now trying to do) then make adjustments on both sides of the equations. If you reduce your calories out by exercising less, then also reduce your calories in. Its a guess to some extent, to get the balance right, so then monitor results over the next few weeks.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Judging by several individual days doesn't really make sense either. Eating over your TDEE on a single day won't cause actual weight gain the next day, your body is still processing the food. Expecting it to translate to fat stores so quickly is like expecting your bank account balance online to update when you pick a five dollar bill up off the ground.

    Ok, I didn't realise that it takes so long to process food into fat. I concede your point.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    Physio says I need to cut down on some if my exercise in order to help my knees recover! Time to put these strategies to the test. Wish me luck! And if anyone has any more tips, they'll be gratefully received.
  • KarenSmith2018
    KarenSmith2018 Posts: 302 Member
    Its important to remember excerise is maybe 10% of daily calorie burn. The biggest contribution to how much you can eat is your general daily activity. Keep NEAT high/at current levels and reducing the exercise won't make a huge difference. I changed training programmes and I'm doing less each week than previous but have lost weight probably because I'm not as exhausted!
  • B_Plus_Effort
    B_Plus_Effort Posts: 311 Member
    stop the protein shakes, powders, bars, supplements if you are taking any

    remember, the easiest calories to burn are the ones you don't put in your mouth in the first place

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