Weight loss questions

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jaorti95
jaorti95 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello so I started to get back in this app again and I have a question if anyone can help me!

So my schedule is this:

Eat breakfast before work
Work
Lunch break
Work
Snack around 3
Get out of work
Workout at 6
30 min lift 20/30 cardio
Eat dinner ( within my calorie deficit )

Now my question is, will I still be able to lose weight doing this? I mean I know I’m burning calories with my workout but then I eat afterwards but with whatever calories I have left for the day? So will that stop me or maintain me? Because I don’t want that. Can someone please help me I know this may be a dumb question 😅

Replies

  • TameTiger
    TameTiger Posts: 2 Member
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    This really depends on a few factors. Age, height, active state, etc...

    What you should start with first is figuring out what your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) number falls upon. This can be achieved by a number of calorie calculators located on the web (search caloric calculator) or purchase a scale that would provide you with this information. I use the Renpho scales which bluetooths into my phone to track all my vitals and it's been quite helpful in weight loss journey.

    Keep in mind that the term 'Calorie Deficit' is deceiving. Unless you know what your daily calorie intake should be, a deficit could easily be a surplus.

    If you are looking to lose weight, may I suggest looking into fasting. It has done wonders for me (I'm 47 and am in the best shape I've ever been). Start light first, maybe with like a 16 hour fast and 8 hour eating window, then work your way to longer durations. 16 hours might seem like a long period, but this time frame includes sleeping time as well so it's not as hard as it seems.

    Also, use the MyFitness app to log down EVERYTHING you eat. You'd be surprised how quickly the calories add up. By logging in your nutrition, you'll get a clearer view on your eating habits and what needs adjustments.
  • TwistedSassette
    TwistedSassette Posts: 8,659 Member
    edited July 2021
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    When you say you eat after your workout "but with whatever calories I have left for the day" - are you meaning that you plug everything into MFP and whatever your diary says is left, is roughly what you eat? If so, then yes, it's reasonable that you would still lose weight doing this, because the calories that MFP gives you allow for a deficit.

    E.g. if you have MFP set to lose 1 lb a week, that equates to a deficit of 500 calories per day - MFP takes your BMR based on the info you give it during setup, adjusts based on your activity level (sedentary, lightly active etc) and subtracts this deficit to arrive at your allowed calories for the day. Let's say MFP calculates that you burn 2000 calories a day (without exercise), then MFP will tell you to eat 1500 calories, which gives you the 500 calorie deficit. Now let's say you burn 200 calories doing your workout, MFP will tell you to eat an additional 200 calories, bringing your total to 1700 for the day. That's still a deficit of 500 calories.

    Now, having said that, many people find that MFP/Fitbit/Garmin/Apple/whatever other method actually overestimates the amount of calories that they burn during a workout. So they decide to only eat back a portion of their exercise calories, say 50%. If you did this in our example above, you would aim for 1600 calories instead of the 1700. MFP doesn't have a setting to adjust for this automatically, you'd just leave a portion of your calorie allowance for the day uneaten and have your diary in the green.

    So what you're doing is using MFP exactly how it's meant to be used! Just make sure that your activity level and target rate of weight loss are set up correctly - it might be worth running through the guided setup again to make sure it's right for you.
  • jaorti95
    jaorti95 Posts: 65 Member
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    Thank you all seriously!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    jaorti95 wrote: »
    Hello so I started to get back in this app again and I have a question if anyone can help me!

    So my schedule is this:

    Eat breakfast before work
    Work
    Lunch break
    Work
    Snack around 3
    Get out of work
    Workout at 6
    30 min lift 20/30 cardio
    Eat dinner ( within my calorie deficit )

    Now my question is, will I still be able to lose weight doing this? I mean I know I’m burning calories with my workout but then I eat afterwards but with whatever calories I have left for the day? So will that stop me or maintain me? Because I don’t want that. Can someone please help me I know this may be a dumb question 😅

    You burn calories 24/7...for most people, exercise is actually a rather small component making up total calorie requirements. For most people, just being alive is going to be the largest component of their total daily calorie expenditure. As an example, I burn around 1800 calories just being alive...merely existing on this planet and nothing else.

    MFP has calculated a weight loss target for you based on your stats and stated rate of loss goal...that means you are eating in a deficit from what MFP is estimating to be your maintenance calories. When you workout and when you eat is completely irrelevant to weight management. Some people like long distance endurance athletes actually eat while they're exercising.

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