How much to eat!

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BikeNut5
BikeNut5 Posts: 57 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm confused about the amount of calories I'm supposed to eat.You see I'm 5'7" and weigh 195 pounds. According to MFP my calorie intake without additional exercise to lose 2 pounds a week is 1450 calories,My question is this? Even though I'm extremely overweight I find that I can pedal my bike 6 times a week for 2 hours & burn 1800 -1900 calories a day! I know there's a healthy way to lose weight but i have a hard time believing that if I were to continue exercising(which is a good thing,right?)that I need to eat over 3000 calories a day! I have no intention on eating that much & I really enjoy riding so what should I do? If you all tell me I need to cut back on the exercise I"m going to have a hard time with that.If you tell me I need to eat over 3000 calories I need to know how to do that without going over my daily allowance of sugar,protein,fat,sodium etc..etc..

Replies

  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Keep in mind, you DO need to allow your body to rest and rejuvenate. This also helps to avoid injury during the next exercise session.

    Keep this also in mind: food is fuel... fuel is what the body needs to function, process, AND to refuel after workouts... Say - you eat 300 calories for breakfast. Then you go to the gym and burn those 300 calories.... basically you are back to 0...
  • theradiantbride
    theradiantbride Posts: 50
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    If you really liking working out that much, then do it. No problem.

    Maybe try to find a happy medium? You probably don't need to eat 3000 calories a day. Try shooting for 2000 and see how you feel. If you feel weak/dizzy/hungry, add a little more until you think it's right. Though sometimes if you exercise a lot and don't eat enough, it'll be really difficult to lose weight.

    I think for you it's just going to take a little experimentation. Or perhaps a talk with a nutritionist who really knows more about these things than I do.
  • MIMITIME
    MIMITIME Posts: 405 Member
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    When you track your food and add back your exercise, MFP automatically computes carbs, fats, calories, protein ect. I enter my foods before I eat them so I know what the damage is. It keeps me from going over. As for eating back your exercise calories, some people do, some don't and some partial until they find what works for them. 1800 to 1900 calories is a lot of calories. Seems like you could eat any thing you want without gaining with that rate of exercising.
  • BikeNut5
    BikeNut5 Posts: 57 Member
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    When you track your food and add back your exercise, MFP automatically computes carbs, fats, calories, protein ect.
    I don't think that's right ..I'll have to pay more attention to it but I know my sodium intake number doesn't change no matter how much exercise I enter.
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
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    When you track your food and add back your exercise, MFP automatically computes carbs, fats, calories, protein ect.
    I don't think that's right ..I'll have to pay more attention to it but I know my sodium intake number doesn't change no matter how much exercise I enter.

    sodium stays the same but everything else that is based off a precentage changes with your exercise.
  • elmsallmissile
    elmsallmissile Posts: 86
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    When you track your food and add back your exercise, MFP automatically computes carbs, fats, calories, protein ect.
    I don't think that's right ..I'll have to pay more attention to it but I know my sodium intake number doesn't change no matter how much exercise I enter.

    That is because the salt level is fixed at the maximum "safe" level, unless you change it, as is trans fats, zero, the only safe level of this poison.
  • Foxzy
    Foxzy Posts: 38
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    This might help answer your question
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie-deficit-weight-loss-ft51764
  • BikeNut5
    BikeNut5 Posts: 57 Member
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    This might help answer your question
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie-deficit-weight-loss-ft51764
    Thank You....I'll try to figure it out.I know my BMR number is 1764.55 so that's a start!
  • Foxzy
    Foxzy Posts: 38
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    I pretty much have decided that If I stay with my calorie intake and workout at least 30-60min a day, I should loose something. More calories burned, equals a higher deficit, which leads to weight loss.
  • BikeNut5
    BikeNut5 Posts: 57 Member
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    I pretty much have decided that If I stay with my calorie intake and workout at least 30-60min a day, I should loose something. More calories burned, equals a higher deficit, which leads to weight loss.

    my sentiments exactly!
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
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    Are you using a heart rate monitor that is telling you that you are burning all those calories. Are you looking for a reason that yet another diet won't work for you? Why don't you just try to do what it says for a couple of months and see if you get any results, if not you are any worse off than you are now.
  • BikeNut5
    BikeNut5 Posts: 57 Member
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    Are you using a heart rate monitor that is telling you that you are burning all those calories. Are you looking for a reason that yet another diet won't work for you? Why don't you just try to do what it says for a couple of months and see if you get any results, if not you are any worse off than you are now.

    So what you're saying is if I go on a long bike ride & burn 3000 calories I need to eat 4450 calories that day? Should I not ride so far?

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