Hey Girls 50 and over!

Coco_Puff
Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Are you eating back your exercise calories? Everywhere I look it says as we age we need to eat less calories to maintain our weight, but I'm trying to lose, not maintain. I'm standing still, losing and gaining the same pound very week, so as scary as it is for me, I'm really gonna try to get them all in for the next week and see what happens. Just wondering what's working for you.

Replies

  • sabinecbauer
    sabinecbauer Posts: 250 Member
    Are you eating back your exercise calories? Everywhere I look it says as we age we need to eat less calories to maintain our weight, but I'm trying to lose, not maintain. I'm standing still, losing and gaining the same pound very week, so as scary as it is for me, I'm really gonna try to get them all in for the next week and see what happens. Just wondering what's working for you.

    If that's what's happening, you may want to try and eat them all back. It does sounds as though you're undereating.

    Personally, I'm not eating all of them back (50 and in perimenopause, so I know exactly what you mean :wink:), which works for me. Having said that, every body functions different, so you'll have to experiment a little to see what gets those pounds dropping. One lady our age, whom I know and who has lost a whopping 85 lbs, found her 'sweet spot' between 1300 and 1400 kcal net. She says that every time she stalled, she added calories in 25 kcal increments, until she got going again.
  • dmcklouky
    dmcklouky Posts: 16 Member
    I vary on whether I eat mine back. I hate to say a lot of times I exercise solely to eat the calories. I am going wine tasting with friends in tomorrow and I will get up early to swim 40 minutes so that I can enjoy the wine tastings and cheeses and crackers and then my friend is cooking dinner. I weigh myself daily, which I know is a no no.. but it keeps me motivated. If I go up, I exercise more and won't eat the calories back, or will not eat all of them back. I think it is an individual preference. It depends on what motivates you. I am on 1200 cal so I can use every calorie I can get if I am going to spend the day with friends where eating and drinking are the focus. Now that I think about it, I better up that swim to an hour...lol..
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    I've been thinking about this, too. I recently purchased a heart monitor and have been using it in my exercise classes. I realize I'm not in great shape, but it turns out I'd have to do over 10 hours of classes to burn 1 lb...3500 cal., right? So maybe it would be best not to eat back the paltry 312 I earned today?
  • fitacct
    fitacct Posts: 242 Member
    I'm 56 and have been on this journey since last July. I rarely ate all my exercise calories and have steadily lost weight throughout my time here. As of today, I have reached both my health and calorie goals (normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels and down to under 135 lbs.).
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I turned 50 last year.

    I don't get overly focussed on the numbers of calories eaten or burned - at best they're a good estimate, but to me there's no point trying to get to any of the targets spot on. I aim for a +/- 10%.

    Knowing that it's really hard to measure calories burned during exercise, I dont eat all of them back.

    If I'm doing strength training, I know I'll take a chocolate milk afterwards. And if I do a cardio session, I'll fuel that properly with some good carbs. Those will probably take me a bit over my normal daily total, but wont be as high as the target with exercise calories added - it'll be somewhere between the 2.

    It does take a bit of experimenting to see what works for you - good luck!
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