Question about eating more because i'm working out

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Rosalie20
Rosalie20 Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay, so MFP has me on a 1460 calorie diet per day except it adds whatever I burned in my workout (over 1000 calories) so today for example it's telling me to eat 2667 calories today. That seems insane. I generally eat around 1400 calories per day at most so eating almost 2700 calories seems crazy. But i have sort of hit a rut lately so I don't know if maybe I should eat more calories. I just don' know what to do. I lost 21 lbs from august until now and i'm like stuck at 190 lbs now. Any advice?

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  • Cakepiebeer
    Cakepiebeer Posts: 392
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    If your lifting heavy weigbt you would wanna definitly eat more but if your just doin cardio or even ligbt weigbts then yea, but do it step by step. Try an extra 300 calories at first for maybe a week and see wgat your results are.

    No.. dont eat and extra 1000 .. thats not how its done
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    If I ate 2700calories a day , and worked out, I wouldn't lose a pound. I try to keep it to 2,000 or so + whatever my workout burns off (i estimate 500 or so)

    That applied to me when I was 190-220lbs, at which point my daily intake for even maitenece went down from 2500-2000 I'd say.

    Granted, I don't know how everyone incorporates walking or other things into their 'burned calories' I'd say its anything outside a regular routine. If you wrote down EVERY activity a day, we probably burn like 5000 calories just doing everyday stuff.

    Even if you burned 1000 calories, I wouldn't think thats enough to lose a few lbs in a month, if you're eatin well over 2000 a day.

    Have you tried changing your workout at all? Sometimes your body gets used to specific movements and you find easier ways to do it, thus burning less.
  • lb7970
    lb7970 Posts: 79 Member
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    I would recommend that you always try to eat back as many of your exercise calories as you can. Try some post workout protein smoothies. My current favorite is EAS Chocolate Fudge protein drink put in blender add banana, peanut butter and 4-5 ice cubes.
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
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    If you are realistically and accurately (read - using a HRM to calculate) burning over 1000 cals per day, you likely need to eat more. Your body is an engine, and it needs fuel. Now, you might not ever be able to eat them all back, but aim for at least half.
  • sweets2001
    sweets2001 Posts: 106
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    Good job on your weight loss so far! Try maybe eating back half of your workout calories and see if that helps you get over the plateau.
  • lisamhurley
    lisamhurley Posts: 1
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    Since you are burning so many calories during your workout and eating so few, your body might have entered starvation mode territory. It seems like you are under fueling your body for all that you ask it to do, therefore, your body is storing up and holding onto the energy stored in your body (fat) rather than burning it.
  • FAVORED1
    FAVORED1 Posts: 81 Member
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    Greetings, I do not not eat the added calories from work outs for a few reasons 1. That's just too much food (very similar to you I burn tons of calories during my work outs) and 2. The numbers are estimated-- so you may be over or under with the calories burned; unless you are using a heart rate monitor. Otherwise MFP numbers can be a little tricky--
  • Clonekuh
    Clonekuh Posts: 92 Member
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    Eat some back immediately after you work out, but it's probably overstimating your burn, so I wouldn't count on that number being real unless you're using a HRM.

    Also, yeah, throw in weights if you don't already. They're fun and build muscle which raises your metabolism so you can continue to eat and everyone wins.
  • rbryntes
    rbryntes Posts: 710 Member
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    Are you sure you might not be overestimating your calories burned? As someone said earlier, an HRM is the accurate way to tell how many are burned.,
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    i just recently upped my calories by a few hundred and i lost 6 pounds in just a few days
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    Okay, so MFP has me on a 1460 calorie diet per day except it adds whatever I burned in my workout (over 1000 calories) so today for example it's telling me to eat 2667 calories today. That seems insane. I generally eat around 1400 calories per day at most so eating almost 2700 calories seems crazy. But i have sort of hit a rut lately so I don't know if maybe I should eat more calories. I just don' know what to do. I lost 21 lbs from august until now and i'm like stuck at 190 lbs now. Any advice?

    Assuming that you have set your activity level correctly on this site (NOT including your exercise in your activity level) and you are using an accurate calorie measure during your workouts (HRM with a chest strap), then yes, if you want to maintain your deficit (whatever it is).

    Here's what helped me understand:

    I'm 5'2 155 lbs and I work a desk job (i.e I'm sedentary without accounting for my workout)

    To maintain my weight, I must consume 1760 calories. Now say I want to lose 1 lb per week. I subtract 500 calories from my maintenance of 1760 calories. That leave me with 1260. So, if I was to try lose weight without working out I must eat 1260 calories per day

    HOWEVER, I'm a gym rat and I spend 5 to 6 days a week in the gym.

    On Tuesday, I took a hip-hop class and burned 568 calories according to my HRM.

    My total expenditure for the day was 1760 (normal activity) + 568 (exercise) = 2328

    If I want to maintain my deficit of 500 cals a day for a lose of 1 lb per week. I take my total energy expenditure for the day 2328 and subtract 500 calories:

    2328-500 = 1828 <--This is what I need to eat for the day.

    Now you can chose not to "eat back" your exercise calories and have a larger deficit, but that is not healthy or optimal for long term weight lost.

    Now I do leave about 100 cals for error, but yes I "eat" my exercise calories and I lose weight.

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