40+ Club: Fall Fitness Fanatics

Just a quick note...I am up almost three pounds since Friday. I know it is because I am not very active on the weekends and tend to eat bad...really not too much...but stuff I shouldn't be eating.

Hello everyone,
Last week was stressful. It is not work. It is the home life. I should tell you that we are tiling the foyer and th kitchen. It is about 500 square feet. My husband is doing it.? No, he
will not pay for it. So, yes I need to remind myself constantly to be patient.
It is hard for me to have the 80 gallon salt water tank in the living room and now the refrigerator in the family room. It has already been a two month project.

Anyway, I have actually have been looking forward to my exercise. I have been working on a routine for two months now and I feel I have it together. I am doing cardio 35 minutes four times a week. I do strength training one hour three times a week and yoga 1 hour two times a week. I am finding myself eating the exercise calories a couple of times a week, which I am trying to stop. I am trying to keep it to 1200. I was wondering what your thoughts are in regards to eating the exercise calories?

Chris: Your parrot is beautiful! I have read in Time magazine and I also heard it on the Doctors that 30 minutes 4-5 times a week of cardio is good for weight loss.

Sing: I am like you. I prefer to be outside also. I am trying to get my weight down to get back into running. Hopefully, it happens soon, because I love it in the fall.

StiringWindel: I am glad to hear that is cooling down over there. I have my aunt and uncle in Reston. They have been complaining a lot. We are coming to visit them in three weeks. My aunt is a retired elementary teacher for Fair Fax. It is so nice because she is excited and she has already planned the whole trip. I will never forget when I took my daughter to the Smithsonian when she was almost four, she asked me why I took her to see dead animals.

Alf: I am sorry to hear about your friend. I do go zumba class when I get tired of the machines for the cardio. I do like it.

Swissmiss: I do see that you go to class for strengthening. I also prefer it. I am glad to hear that your daughters finger is doing better.

Robin: Mushroom hunting does sound interesting. I do like mushrooms a lot.

TxMs: I am glad you are out of the heat. Surprised you would like it that low. When I lived in Texas, people would say, "Colorado is way too cold.".

Nice visiting with all of you. My tolerance has calmed for the moment.

Welcome to the newcomer.
Sal

Good morning!!!! :drinker: Do I sound happy? LOL It must be that yummy bowl of steel cut oats with blueberries, walnuts, chocolate protein powder and ground flaxseed that I am eating. :laugh: I did my lower body/abs workout this morning. Zumba tonight. :happy:

Sal, I do want to suggest to you that you should eat your exercise calories. With the amount of exercise you are doing eating 1200 cals is not enought at all!!! Just make sure the foods you eat are as clean as possible, veggies, fruit, lean protein, mono/poly fats, whole grain...and you will still lose weight actually more than not eating your exercise calories. My husband is the opposite of yours, if he could pay someone to change a lightbulb he would. :noway: :grumble: :laugh:

Swiss, it could be water retention and not weight gain. Also choose a meal during the weekend that can be your cheat meal and try to eat healthy the rest of the time. You can use the weekends to do something differently such as yard work, walking outdoors, riding your bike etc so you can be a little more active. Due to lack of time during the week I use Sat and Sun as my days where I can do my long workouts, that helps me stay active during the weekend. I do too sometimes eat more of the not so good for me foods on weekends, dont we all? :noway: :laugh:

I'd better get ready for work...have a great Tuesday!!! :flowerforyou:

Hi Donna welcome.


I think you should always eat your exercise calories. Just dont eat sweets like I'm prone too.

Explain why I should eat my exercise calories? Don't I need those to burn a pound of fat? :grumble: Perhaps I am getting this all wrong but I thought you had to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 lb. of fat. I am soooooooooooo confused!:grumble:

Donna, it can be a little confusing but dont despair. I have included some links to some wonderful threads regarding why it is important to eat enough in order to lose weight. Lots of people are stuck in the belief that everyone needs to eat 1200 cals in order to lose weight regardless of age, height, activity level, etc. The most important thing is to determine what your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is. You can go here to do some calculations. http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm Eating less than what you body needs to sustain itself will backfire in the end, slowing your metabolism and resulting in a plateau or even weight gain. Yes, if you need to lose weight, after determining your BMR taking into consideration the calories you burn with exercise you want to cut back about 500 calories a day. It doesnt have to be an exact science, no one is perfect and there are no perfect days, but as long as you are consistent you will see great results. I hope this helps.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9007-bmr-ma-because-of-the-answers-to-the-questions

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/123142-the-answers-to-the-questions?hl=the+answers+to+the+questions#posts-1718456

See Swiss!!! There is no way you will gain 3 lbs in a weekend!!

It would be tough, that's for certain. The math makes it tough to swallow. An pound of body fat is about 3,500 calories, so you need to consume 3,500 more calories more than you use in a day to gain a pound. Three pounds, or 10,500 calories in two days breaks down to more than 5,000 EXTRA calories a day.

That is possible, but difficult.

When you say you eat your exercise calories what do you mean? If I am suppose to eat 1450 calories a day to lose weight and I go to the gym and burn 500 calories this allows me to eat 500 more calories for the day. So 1450 and 500 equals 1950 calories can be consumed for the day and still lose weight. What is meant by eating half or all your exercise calories.

Correct, you would eat 1950 or close to it and still lose weight.

Alf: it looks like I opened up a discussion with the advice I asked. Just as others have stated, I also do believe it is confusing. I appreciate your advice and the articles. It is all very helpful. As I read what you wrote to me, I think what was hard for me to grasp is that I am not eating enough. I believe that since the focus is not eating as much in order to loose weight. We tend to focus on training the brain and the body to do with less. So, it looks like my BMR is at 1430. I will need to change the 1200 I put in. I will try changing it and let you know how it goes. Thanks also for pointing out that the extra calories need to be healthy choices. Good point about our husbands, we do have the opposite. :-)

Campanella: Welcome! It looks like we are suppose to eat the same amount without exercise.

Donna: Nice chatting with you on email. I amglad that you got it confirmed regarding cardio and how much you should do. Like, I said Chris has talked about it. Perhaps he will expand on it with articles.

Lady Persia: Thanks so much for pointing out that Alf did not mean sweets, because I am right there with you on that.:-)