exercise vs. calories

mary_kate23 · October 2011

pardon me for sounding so dumb, but I am here for advice. Have been using MFP religiously for almost a month now, have noticed weight loss, but that has slowed (as expected - considering i'm in my target weight already). What I'm really wanting to do, is lose inches (and/or weight). I am a 6' tall 26 year old female, wearing a size 8 right now, but thats a teensy bit tight. I have a lot of fat in the hips/butt.thighs areas, which is where i'm really trying to lose the inches. I'd like to be comfortable in a size 6, possibly a 4 if thats possible with these hips!

Here's where my question comes in.. MPF advises with my "lightly active" lifestyle (i'm a 4 day/week waitress - 4-6 hour shifts), I should be eating about 1400 cals/day. I exercise quite a bit - mostly cardio. I bike a lot, 45-60 minutes a day while pushing rather hard. i sometimes do p90x, and I am joining a gym today. i burn, on average, 600 calories/day. Question is, should I be eating these calories back? I am under the assumption that I shouldn't be, I don't see the point in exercising if I'm just going to be eating back. I've noticed my measurements are going down, except thigh area (i'm attributing that to biking). My main goal is to loose the hips/thigh/butt fat. I don't need to be super ripped or anything of that sort, I just want to look good. As of right now, I have fat that hangs over my jeans. I want that gone.

What are your recommendations? Am i doing too much cardio? Should I incorporate strength training at the gym? Should I be eating more or less calories? Should I not be pushing so hard on the bike (resistance)? I'm averaging 1200-1400/day right now. (not net calories, 1200/1400 calories i'm taking in total - no matter what my exercise.) Another point: I'm not really left hungry. I usually get hungry around mealtime, and then I eat. But in between, if I am hungry - I eat a fiberone bar or something. But not I'm hungry really all the time like some people talk about. Reason I'm so inquisitive is because on Sat, I was 157.8. I did a LOT of cardio this weekend, especially Sunday (HRM clocked me at burning 1450 cals - Took a long bike ride with the boyfriend around the area) and I am 159.8 today. I don't understand what could cause such a fluctuation. does water have a huge effect in this journey? TOM is not a factor right now.

Answers are all appreciated, and please, be nice

some of us are new at this and don't know as much as all of you do! I will be making my diary public for a day or two so you can see pretty much what i'm doing. I log about 99% of what I am doing.

thedeegan4 · October 2011

I'm curious about this too. I find it silly to eat back everything I work off.

MissFit0101 · October 2011

You absolutely need to be eating at least half your exercise calories back... you're talking about taking in about 1200-1400 then burning off 600 or so, leaving you with a net of only 600-800 calories... that's NO BUENO! Eat eat eat and eat some more, and yes, absolutely add strength training to your routine. I would say 3 days cardio, 3 days strength.

thetiwi1890 · October 2011

MFP starts you with a calorie deficit (i.e. you will lose weight by sticking to that). If you exercise on top of that, your deficit becomes very great, and slows your weight loss. My advice would be to get AT LEAST 1200 NET CALORIES, and to eat back at least 1/2 of your exercise calories.
From looking at your diary, it is clear that you are not eating enough, particularly given your height and activity and exercise levels. Eat more, particularly protein. Drink plenty of water and keep exercising!
:flowerforyou:

doughnutwretch · October 2011

Since you are within your target weight range, you should be maintaining 1400 cals a day or so and eating your exercise calories back. I know people fear eating more but your body needs the energy to sustain itself. As far as toning your trouble spots, you need to incorporate more strength routines into your workouts to help build muscle and burn fat. For hips/butt/thighs, the best exercises are squats, lunges, and deadlifts. Also, if you go to a gym, there are machines that work your hip adductors and abductors which will also help tone your hips and inner thighs.

ABetterBalance · October 2011

There are many opinions on eating back exercise calories, and it can get heated.

The MFP recommendation is that you do eat them back. That's why they add them to your daily totals. Your pre-set, lightly active settings already factor in a healthy calorie deficet for weight loss. Anything you burn in addition to this puts you lower than your deficit, which is why the settings on MFP naturally add them in.

Also, I did browse your exercise journal, and I didn't notice much other than cardio (which you mentioned) Have you considered doing any strength training? If you are at your goal weight, and not happy with measurements, etc... that might be the way to go. Cardio is fantastic, but there are many, many benefits to weight training as well.

tmgallo · October 2011

Hi.. i have been advised by my sister-in-law, who is a nutritionist, that if i am still trying to loose weight, that I don't eat the calories I burn each day. she tells me that when i get to the maintenance part of my goals, i then would eat the calories.

As for what type of exercises you should do... i really don't know. I don't do as strenuous a workout as you ever, but find that with small amounts of cardio, and core work, i am loosing what i want... some weeks nothing, other weeks 2- 4 pouds, and definately loosing inches. went from a size 14, to a 10/8. and still looking to loose at least another 5-10 pounds. not necessarily size though. good luck to you. hope you get more help with your question.

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

auticus · October 2011

It depends on your body. This is a popular source of heated discussion.

Here are some issues:

#1) the calories burned that MFP says is not neccessarily what you really burned. For example, if I run 6 miles, it states I burned 1,052 calories. However, getting a heart rate monitor that calculates the real calories burned I found I only burn about 750 calories. That's quite a difference... if I listen to MFP and eat those 1052 back I've actually eaten roughly +300 calories more than I worked off!!!

I find this to be why people like myself have issues with eating your calories back... because when I do it I don't lose weight and in fact gain it (because of the issue above)

I have gotten good results by NOT eating back any of my calories. I have just now taken up boxing and even with that demand on my body, I've built a lot of muscle and my body fat has decreased quite a bit (and again I am NOT eating my calories back)

#2) Some people cannot do that though. So listen to what YOUR body says, not from what people on the internet say. Everyone is different. Person A may eat their calories back, get real toned and melt body fat, while Person B could do the exact same thing and not lose body fat at all...

I play soccer and box. I cannot reccomend them both enough... people swear you need to eat more to gain muscle, but I've shown through my own trials that that is bullocks if your body is set a certain way (like mine). My arms and shoulders are now thicker as is my upper chest and I go off 1750 calories a day (and I'm 6'2 and 225 lbs).

Nutrition is also key. WHAT you eat is very important.

TeaBea · October 2011

OK this is over simplified ...... but cardio is great for burning calories and for your cardio vascular system. Strength training is for building muscle ........ to get rid of jiggle .... you want strength training.

You should be eating back some of your exercise calories ... your body needs 1400 calories for everyday stuff .... those calories are "spoken for." If you want to build muscle (replace the jiggly stuff) ......you need more "fuel." Your body cannot build muscle ..... with zero calories.

cppeace · October 2011

Were it me I would eat back very little exercise calories.. Only if you feel the need to eat some back, are hungry or feeling weak or something is just too tempting not to have a bite or two.. As for exercise, since you are focusing on wanting to lose in the hips and thighs I would work in some stairs or step aerobics.. That works the heck out of your backside... Everytihng you're doing sounds good to me. The scale will go up and down with water weight..We are women it's unavoidable... Measure yourself and do so weekly or bi weekly or monthly- depending on how fast you wanna see progress... Keep up the good work and I doubt anyone will be mean in answering this post

Kimmy

Espressocycle · October 2011

I think you are probably doing fine. You could stand to eat a bit more - especially because you are already at a healthy weight and shouldn't be trying to lose more than a pound a week. My fiance is 5'11 and 165 in a tight size 8 and I honestly can't see her losing more than 10-15 more lbs.

Arynamber · October 2011

I say listen to your body. Its SMART. If you are hungry and need the exercise calories..then EAT them.. if you can go with out them.. then go with out them. I didnt look at your journal.. but perhaps also watch what you eat (maybe you already are) For me if I go over 90 carbs a day my body holds onto my weight.

As far as exercising.. sounds like you are doing great. If you notice you are getting muscle bulky in areas that you dont want.. then limit the weight training in those areas.. Have you tried yoga or pilates? I have heard these are great for toning without bulking.

JoshDoesHVAC · October 2011

I've recently found myself facing some of the same struggles. For the past 3 months, I've done 30-60 minutes of high-intensity cardio every day. At first, my weight loss was great, but I seemed to peak a couple of weeks ago at a loss of 30 pounds when I hit 190. I've done a ton of reading from fitness experts and people on the boards and it seems like everyone's body and metabolism are different so it takes some experimentation to figure out what works best for you.

For my first three months, I never ate back ANY of my workout calories like MFP recommends. It seemed to work okay but I recently hit a wall. About 5 days ago, I started eating them back and trying a few things like drinking a ton of cold water, eating a lot of protein, and spreading meals out throughout the day and this seemed to jump start my metabolism and I'm down about 3 pounds since last Saturday. MFP recommends that I eat around 1450 calories per day. When I go for around 30 mins hard on the elliptical I burn around 500, and eating them back (or at least most of them) has recently proved beneficial for me.

As for how much cardio is good for fat loss, I read a few things from some fitness "gurus" that swear that the BEST fat loss results occur from a proper combination of cardio AND strength training. I was trying to cut a little more first, but I'm about to trade in my 100% cardio routine for a combination of cardio for 30-45 mins 7 days a week and a strength training weight schedule that goes heavy for 3 days a week (M-W-F) with 2 days of abs in between. The only thing I'm weary about at this point being that I haven't hit my target weight loss or fat burning yet and the heavy weight-lifting program recommends calorie intake of 3000-3500 to achieve full results. Although I'm sure most of it will be burned and used for fuel for muscle development, it's a little scary to throw that amount of calories into my body when I've struggled so hard to drop weight these past 3 months.

Another thing to read into is your actual calorie maintenance weight. I never paid much attention to it until recently and just assumed the less I ate and the more I burned, the more I should lose. After going online and looking at a few calorie maintenance calculators, I noticed that for my height, weight, and activity level working out everyday, MFP was spot on with their recommendations that I should be eating back my workout calories, and take in around 1950 when I burn around 500.

I hope some of that proves helpful!

lenny776 · October 2011

I have read a lot of articles that say that when you only do carido you lose muscle and fat, when you do cardio and weight training then you lose mostly fat. Plus when you do weight training it keeps your metabolism up throughout the day.

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/weight-loss/lift-to-lose
http://www.military.com/military-fitness/weight-loss/lose-love-handles

These are some of the articles that have helped me the most! Good luck and stick with it.

Drinking plenty of water is a key for me, the weeks that I lost weight is when I was drinking lots of water. The only down side is having to pee all the time but I go with what works. I have also been told that diet sodas are not the best idea when trying to lose weight as they are difficult for your body to process. I figured that they were better than regular sodas but when I switched to mostly water I saw results.

As to eating back the calories that you work off, MFP seems to be the only site that says to eat back calories. I seem to agree with some of the other posts as you should listen to your body and if your energy is low then grab a healthy snack. Just plan ahead and always have a good snack for in between meals so that you never go for vending machine junk food. I like to buy a big bag of pistachios or mixed nuts and when I do I separate them into ziplock bags so I don't over do a snack.

hottottie11 · October 2011

You should eat your exercise cals to fuel your body. You are undereating for your activity level.

I eat my exercise calories and I still lose. I eat anywhere between 1800 to 2000 cal total and I net an average of 1490 calories a week. Here is what helped me understand "eating my exercise cals":

My activity level (excluding exercise; this is important) is sedentary because I work a desk job. MFP calculated my Total Daily Energy Expenditure to be 1760 calories. This means to maintain my current weight I must stay at 1760 calories.

Now I have set myself to lose 0.5lb per week because I'm getting pretty lean and I want to focus on reduce body fat while maintaining muscle. MFP assigned me 1490 calories per day. A deficit of 250 calories per day. Now I work out ALOT. 6 days a week for 1 to 2 hours. I can burn an additional 500 to 1000 calories on those days.

I use a Polar FT4 HRM and it has been a godsend because I can know for sure what I burn.

For example, I went to zumba today and burned 554 calories. My total calorie burn is no longer 1760...it is now 2311 (1760+551). It is very important to me to maintain my deficit. I don't want to lose more than 0.5 lb per week. So my calorie goal for a 0.5 lb loss per week is now 2061 (2311-250). So in essence, I must eat back my "exercise calories". I really don't like how it sounds because it seems like you are eating away all your hard work but if you don't fuel your body properly you run the risk of stalling your weight loss. Now I always leave a little room for error. So I always leave about 100 to 150 calories for cushion.

I've been losing about 0.5 to 0.75 lbs per week. The key to making this work is making sure your activity level reflects your normal life not including exercise. Then you can add in exercise.

You can, as an alternative, set your activity level to include exercise. For example, active or very active with exercise. MFP will give more calories to eat. In this case you don't log your exercise and you wouldnt have to eat them back.

My settings are sedentary and I add in my exercise cals. I eat a average of 1800 to 1900 cals per day and burn an average of 400 calories per day through exercise (2800 cal per week). I net between 1400 to 1500.

BUT If I change my activity level settings to very active to include my exercise....MFP will give me 2152 as my TDEE and a calorie goal of 1902 to lose 1/2 per week. IN this case I wont "eat back my exercise cals". The math turns out to be the same.

Hope this helps

musicgirl88 · October 2011

pardon me for sounding so dumb, but I am here for advice. Have been using MFP religiously for almost a month now, have noticed weight loss, but that has slowed (as expected - considering i'm in my target weight already). What I'm really wanting to do, is lose inches (and/or weight). I am a 6' tall 26 year old female, wearing a size 8 right now, but thats a teensy bit tight. I have a lot of fat in the hips/butt.thighs areas, which is where i'm really trying to lose the inches. I'd like to be comfortable in a size 6, possibly a 4 if thats possible with these hips!

Here's where my question comes in.. MPF advises with my "lightly active" lifestyle (i'm a 4 day/week waitress - 4-6 hour shifts), I should be eating about 1400 cals/day. I exercise quite a bit - mostly cardio. I bike a lot, 45-60 minutes a day while pushing rather hard. i sometimes do p90x, and I am joining a gym today. i burn, on average, 600 calories/day. Question is, should I be eating these calories back? I am under the assumption that I shouldn't be, I don't see the point in exercising if I'm just going to be eating back. I've noticed my measurements are going down, except thigh area (i'm attributing that to biking). My main goal is to loose the hips/thigh/butt fat. I don't need to be super ripped or anything of that sort, I just want to look good. As of right now, I have fat that hangs over my jeans. I want that gone.

What are your recommendations? Am i doing too much cardio? Should I incorporate strength training at the gym? Should I be eating more or less calories? Should I not be pushing so hard on the bike (resistance)? I'm averaging 1200-1400/day right now. (not net calories, 1200/1400 calories i'm taking in total - no matter what my exercise.) Another point: I'm not really left hungry. I usually get hungry around mealtime, and then I eat. But in between, if I am hungry - I eat a fiberone bar or something. But not I'm hungry really all the time like some people talk about. Reason I'm so inquisitive is because on Sat, I was 157.8. I did a LOT of cardio this weekend, especially Sunday (HRM clocked me at burning 1450 cals - Took a long bike ride with the boyfriend around the area) and I am 159.8 today. I don't understand what could cause such a fluctuation. does water have a huge effect in this journey? TOM is not a factor right now.

Answers are all appreciated, and please, be nice some of us are new at this and don't know as much as all of you do! I will be making my diary public for a day or two so you can see pretty much what i'm doing. I log about 99% of what I am doing.

Everyone is either completely for it or completely against it! I just experimented with mine. I found that when I ate back my exercise calories, I gained weight, so I stopped eating them. Maybe eating back half will help you? Or maybe your body needs all of them! Find what works for YOU. Also, if you are really looking to tone up your hips/butt/thighs, I found a lot of success doing the Butt Bible! I know, I know, everyone says you can't spot reduce your fat, but while that is true, you can tone your muscles by doing specific exercises. Anyway, back to the point. Experiment and find what works for YOU! Good luck

mary_kate23 · October 2011

you all have been so helpful, thank you so much. I also noticed my weight loss goal was still 1.5lb/week, so I updated it to the recommended 1lb/week and my cals for the day jumped to 1600-something. So I am going to try to be upping my cals for the day, and water. I will try to reply back to everyone possible, seeing that some people had questions, remarks, etc that i'd like to respond back to.

@MissFit0101, @thetiwi1890 - I think I am beginning to agree with you. I think I am going to start incorporating more calories through the day (healthier calories) and see if that changes anything else. I think I am going to try protien supplements, like shakes or something. That'll add calories, and the necessary protein that is needed for muscle health. thanks for your input!

@adrenalinejunky34 - thx for the exercise suggestions - I think i'm going to get started on that today! I'm going to try a combo of strength and cardio - I love the cardio, so if I feel the drive to do it, I dont wanna ignore that feeling

hopefully i like strength training as much as i like cardio!

@ABetterBalance - I'm going to try to start strength training today. I believe I'm at the point where its necessary if I want to see any more results!

@tmgallo - thx for the input... I concur with that, and I think that while I'm trying to up my calories in general, I'll still leave out the "eating exercise calories back" until I get to a maintenance level. I've never been trying to "maintain" my weight, I'm either trying to lose, or not caring at all. So eating more calories is a scary feeling!

@auticus - very informative, thank you. I do use a HRM, just got one 2 weeks ago so I am finding the actual cals burned is different from MFP! I try to eat better, every one in a while i'll slack (i can't say no for a month straight to pizza!) but for about 95% of the time, I'm good. I'm going to be slightly upping my cals intake, but still holding back from eating all my exercise calories back. I am going to try to incorporate protein for muscle strength and health, along with strength exercises. thx for your post.

@cppeace, @Formicaman, @Arynamber, @JoshDoesHVAC - you're right. When I am hungry, I do eat (a good eat) and when i'm not hungry, I don't eat. I don't feel like I'm "starving" ever, but if you read the other responses too, I'm going to be adding more protein to my diet since I altered my goal weight loss, which increased my daily caloric intake (so I will be upping my cals in response to that). And @Arynamber - I hate yoga, but am interested in pilates for sure!

@lenny776 - very helpful post, thank you! I am starting strength today, and am hoping that helps with the areas I want to see results in. Going to try to up my water intake as well.. I hear once the body gets used to it, the constantly having to pee wears off and the body establishes an equilibrium with water retention. As for now, I'm still going to stick with not eating my cals back, but I am going to try to eat more (add more healthy i mean) so give my body what it needs - most likely protein shakes, and whatnot. I don't really gt hungry all that often, but i like your pistachio idea!!! mmmmmmm

@hottottie11 - I have the FT4 as well. Very nice device! I swear by it! wanted to add that in, but if you read my other responses, you'll see I replied back to you as well

@musicgirl88 - we're probably in the same boat

I'll have to check out the butt bible for sure! thx for the recommendation!

ladybg81 · October 2011

yes

SuperCork · October 2011

Strength training will work wonders!! I've always loved it in the past, so I was super excited to get back in the gym for it recently. Like someone else mentioned, there are a lot of varying opinions about the calories thing, and since everyone's body is different, I recommend you try a few different things to see what works best but I absolutely agree that you should not take in fewer than 1200 calories period!!

therealkittymao · October 2011

This has probably already been said, so sorry if I'm repetitive, but MFP calculates what you need to eat to lose weight without exercising at ALL. So if you exercise then you do need to make up at least some of the calories you burn with healthy foods. I personally eat back a little over half of the calories I burn and I have been really happy with my results so far.

Also, it sounds like you are already doing a ton of cardio, which is awesome, but from my experience I didn't really start to SEE results until I did strength training. If you add that in, I bet you will lose weight in no time at all!

exercise vs. calories

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