Eating calories back looking for some help answers and motiv

woo1324
woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so ive started to eat my excercise calories back over the last week , my cal allowance is 1300 a day and i usually burn 600 cals through excercise a day whhich i measure with a hrm so ive been eating 1800 cals a day leaving 100 cal buffer incase i have miscalculated etc

so far the scales are telling me i have gained 1.2 kg (2.6 lbs) i know that this is probably due to water retention and extra food in my stomach but it seems a awful lot to be just those things also it seems to be creeping up rather than dropping down and im scared if i continue with this im going to undo months of work

what i dont understand is why?
It shouldnt be possible according to the numbers, I should be losing 2lbs a week and even if i dont reach that much i should be atleast loseing something even if just a smal amount seeing as my rmr is roughly 2200 cals then add excercise to that

my foods have been good I am getting my calories from fruits vegetables proteins my snacks are usually light soups fruit ETC ive cut back to 1 coffee a day cut back as much sodium as possible and take in a low amount of carbs and my only other drink is just plain water

so whats going on any ideas , what would you do is it to early to start cutting back on calories

and another thing id love to hear from women roughly the same height and weight as me who are eating their excercise cals back or have tried and what was your experience how much do/did you lose if any

thanks :)

Replies

  • spammyanna
    spammyanna Posts: 871 Member
    I gained when I first started eating my exercise calories back, but then what I gained and more came right off. Your body is just adjusting, give it time.
  • SheilaSisco
    SheilaSisco Posts: 722 Member
    Listen to spammy... it happened to me too... I was eating around 1200 and I lost for a few weeks, then stalled out... I bumped my cals to 1300 and ate exercise cals back and I gained for the first couple of weeks (not a lot, just a little) but when I stuck with it it was like my body said, 'ok, let's go!' and the weight started flying off... it was kind of insane. Don't give up, just stick with it, you'll be happy you did. :)
  • amberrrogers
    amberrrogers Posts: 98
    I tried eating some of my exercise calories. It didnt work for me.
  • spammyanna
    spammyanna Posts: 871 Member
    I tried eating some of my exercise calories. It didnt work for me.

    How long did you give it before giving up?

    I have lost on average 1-1.5lbs per week eating all of my calories.
    I understand everyone is different, but I have noticed that people are impatient, and tend to give up on things before they have time to work.

    Good luck on your journey!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I gained when I first started eating my exercise calories back, but then what I gained and more came right off. Your body is just adjusting, give it time.

    Ditto-- gained for a couple of weeks, then started losing quickly. :)
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    Keep doing what you are doing, just pick one morning a week to weigh. I weigh in Saturday morning, first thing. I think you are just weighing too often. If you are actually burning 600 through exercise. You will lose, I promise just don't give up.
  • woo1324
    woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
    I probably should stick it out a few more weeks this would be life changing for me if it works it would take being on a diet and change it to a new lifestyle instead

    it would be nice not to feel drained after working out anymore i would also like to eat regular amounts of food and sit down to the same dinner as i feed my family, it would just change the way i look at losing weight because i dont want to just lose weight i want to keep it off for good
    I want being fit and healthy to come as naturally to me as breathing and i think the only way that can happen is with excercise and "normal" not diet amounts of food i.e eating my cals back

    but at the same time if i stop losing weight and undo all my work i dont think id have the heart to start all over again especially knowing that i cant lose weight with out having to ""diet" so im really wanting this to work ,,,,,, do you think its possible to lose 2lbs eating your calsback?
  • lucycaz
    lucycaz Posts: 191 Member
    OK – here is my 2 pence worth on exercise cals....

    I have been doing this for the last 6 months and have been consistently losing weight before I started I met with my GP and I also have a PT who is trained in nutrition, just thought I would mention that before you all start shouting at me....

    I do NOT eat back my exercise cals most of the time I am currently eating 1200cals a day and exercise between 500 – 700 4 or 5 times a week occasionally more and for the last 6 months I have lost an average of 3 lbs a week

    The key here is about how much you have to lose and what you are eating. If you have a lot to lose the Starvation mode thing is a myth if your body needs more energy than you are giving it, it will burn fat, however it will also burn muscle and that can often be a reason that someone would feel wiped out after a hard exercise period. You need to think about your micro nutrients, up your protein and reduce your carbs. Now I am def not talking about low carbing, been there years ago, done that and lost loads then put it all back on again... but aim to level out protein and carbs.... Also mix up your exercise and make sure you include strength training and conditioning....

    Increasing protein will curb your appetite as well I have a protein shake in the morning partly because I was always rubbish at breakfast and tend to be on the move quickly (due to my job I am a psychiatric nurse) I usually finds I am not hungry all day although I always make sure I eat...

    I view what I am doing as a lifestyle change not a diet I eat a little of what I fancy most of the time and am just very careful with portion control... feel free to look at my diary.... you will notice that even at 1200 cals I uaually fit in some of the nice things like chocolate (hehe)

    This will not work for everyone but it is most def working for me....


    Lucy
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    OP. What is your workout every day? 600 calories is a ton to burn every day
  • pinkmotels
    pinkmotels Posts: 39
    I just wanted to offer my support and let you know im going through the same thing :)

    I have a feeling my body has been going through a lowered basal metabolic rate for quite some time, as after recovering from an ED ive been trying to lose the weight again at what I thought was a healthy amount of calories to eat (1200-1350, with exercise and not eating back calories) but I know realise that at my stats (5"2, 134 lbs) this is far too little. Unfortunately i've been eating at that caloric level and not losing weight/staying pretty stagnant for the past 6 months :(

    I'm trying to let my metabolism reboot itself so to speak by upping my rest day and workout day calories a fair bit. Hoping to get in 1350 calories or so on rest days (my bmr is apparently around 1320) and the same + all my exercise calories (approx 250-300) on workout days. In the past i've had a huge loss the day after upping my calories on a workout day (1800) but I quickly gained back the weight the day after, presumably fluid, and that scared me so I'd cut my calories right back down again.. hoping to stick it out this time!!

    I'm really nervous and so I'm thinking ill avoid the scales for 2 weeks or so, and just continue working out and eating a higher caloric amount. Has anyone else gone through this/anyone have any idea how long it might take for my body to stop holding onto the extra fluid and start burning the extra calories? Obviously I know everyones metabolisms are different, but any words of advice or stories are much appreciated!
  • stevwil41
    stevwil41 Posts: 608 Member
    I'm by no means an expert but here's how it worked for me. Pre MFP I was eating about 1500 calories a day and walking for anywhere between 45 to 60 minutes a day and if you would have mentioned "exercise calories" to me I would have asked you WTF you were talking about:) I was losing about 4 lbs a week then. I started MFP and was eating a little more, logging my exercise calories and losing about 3 lbs a week. After a month or so of this I started eating about half of them back and was still losing around 2 lbs a week. Now that I'm within about 10-15 lbs of where I want to be (which is actually just to drop 1 more pants size) I eat them all back and usually go over at least once a week, sometimes by an embarrassing amount. With the exception of one week in the last 2 months I've lost somewhere between .6 and 1.2 lbs per week and I'm set to lose 1 lb/week.

    Basically, it was something I had to play around with in order to find what worked for me but I'll be honest, when I was looking at needing to lose 40 or 50 lbs still there was no way I could bring myself to eat all of them back. Now it's easy and I look at it as training myself how to eat within my calorie allowance to keep the weight off permenantly and it seems to be working so far. Good luck:)
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
    I think it depends on you and can be very different for different people. Personally, 1800 calories a day would make me gain weight, even doing 600 calorie workouts. I don't eat my exercise calories. TO eat more than 1200 would be disastrous for me.

    But then 1200 is an improvement for me, I used to stay strictly below 900. So, if you're used to more than 1800 then you should be fine to eat that level and lose.

    I don't know the answer but don't assume that eating your exercise calories OR not eating them will work - you have to find what works for you.
  • pinkmotels
    pinkmotels Posts: 39
    I think more than anything I'm just going to try and keep my net calories at 1200 - 1300, which is something that hasn't happened in a while. It's worth a try anyway :)
  • tpd56
    tpd56 Posts: 6
    I've been logging with MFP for a month now after hitting a stall doing low carb. I've gained five pounds! I've been eating back half of my exercise calories some days. I'm 49, so I'm wondering if menopause has something to do with this inability to lose. My calorie goal is 1250 and most days, I swim 2,000 yards and run 2 miles 3-4 days per week. I've upped my weightlifting to how I used to lift in college. HELP!! My foods are pretty healthy choices for the most part. I've been told to give it time, too, but I'm leaning towards going back to low carb
  • pinkmotels
    pinkmotels Posts: 39
    I've been logging with MFP for a month now after hitting a stall doing low carb. I've gained five pounds! I've been eating back half of my exercise calories some days. I'm 49, so I'm wondering if menopause has something to do with this inability to lose. My calorie goal is 1250 and most days, I swim 2,000 yards and run 2 miles 3-4 days per week. I've upped my weightlifting to how I used to lift in college. HELP!! My foods are pretty healthy choices for the most part. I've been told to give it time, too, but I'm leaning towards going back to low carb

    It sounds like you're doing a lot of exercise, and I wouldn't be surprised if your body needed more energy (although im not sure of your height). Are you still doing low carb while you're logging on MFP? if not, that could definitely be your answer. If you are though, id try and play with your calories and try and net 1200 at least, it might take a bit of guess work but try and stick with it for 2 weeks.
  • tpd56
    tpd56 Posts: 6
    not doing low carb...added items like greek yogurt, oatmeal, and brown rice to my diet. not a huge meat eater, but get my protein with nuts and whey protein. I'm 5ft 4in. I've always worked out alot, but have about 40 lbs that have creeped on over the years. I drink a lot of water in the form of coffee and tea. I add propel to my water bottle. wondering if fake sugars and caffeine are an issue?
  • SPheonix22
    SPheonix22 Posts: 90 Member
    Maybe try eating back half your cal. Remember all cals as well as exercise is an estimate. Also I agree with measuring once a week until you see whats working. And 600 cals seem like a lot1 What exactly are you doing/
  • woo1324
    woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
    wow love this site thanks so much for all your replys i read through them all and would love to reply to everyone but im sitting here with a baby on my knee whos trying to press all the keys for me so ill make this a quick reply for now :/ so far what im feeling from the replys is there is no exact mould for this i have a feeling my metabolism might be a bit shot as when i was burning large amounts of cals and not eating them back i was still not losing a whole lot and im really quite big so that doesnt make a whole lot of sense

    I think maybe i might have to wean myself into this like some of you have suggested by maybe just starting by eating half my excercise cals back,
    im at such a critical stage i feel in my weight loss journey that im thinking maybe now isnt the time to start messing around its just soooo dissapointing though because i feel if i have to eat this little and excercise this much just to lose some weight how on earth im i going to maintain my goal weight for the rest of my life

    thanks again you have all given me allot to think about :)
  • woo1324
    woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
    Oh also or those asking what i do to reach 600cals ,,, most days i do 60 minutes on a stationary bike on the hardest program which offers high resistace i also do this at a hgh intensity i use a hrm monitor to track my cals burnerd its a polar watch so more accurate than the bike which tells me im burning up to 200 higher

    also every second morning i go for a 30-60 min walk which with pushing a stroller and going up hills burns anywhere from 200-400 cals according to my hrm so on those days i can burn around 800-1000 cals a day
  • DebWalsh06
    DebWalsh06 Posts: 2
    I am no pro at this but it sounds to me like you need to keep eating more. I am 5'6" and weigh 185. I have my calories set at 1570 and I eat most of my exercise calories. I don't work out as much as you but your body needs to replace what you are burning. If you earn 600 calories I would eat at least 400. You should be able to eat what your family is eating, it is the only way to stay on this plan forever. I also would only weigh yourself once a week for a month or so. If you notice you aren't losing as much at that point you can lower your totals by a little more or keep it where it is if it is working. Try not to look at the scale too often or you will never know if it is working.

    Good Luck!
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