Seeking advice from those who eat some/all of their exercise

onequirkygirl · March 2012

*calories back.....haha

My goal that MFP sets for me is 1,200. I chose sedentary settings and have a pretty low goal weight and still have a ways to go.

Lately, I have been burning anywhere from 600-700 calories through exercise daily. So if I keep my calories between 1,200 and 1,500, I'll lose. If I eat it so my net calories is 1,200....I don't lose, I gain.......is it just based on the person? I see some people who can eat around 1,800 calories (and workout really hard, too) ......and are very successful. That seems like healthy weight loss to me. My BMR is around 1,400-1,500......of course I burn more than that during the day, but I've got a comfy job, as well as an undertreated thyroid which sets my daily burn back slightly.

But when I attempt that, whoa nelly, the scale jumps up frantically.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

jenlarz · March 2012

I usually eat back my exercise calories. I try not to net below 1200, although it does happen on occaision. I have lost consistenly at this point. Your body needs food be able to keep up the exercise. I know this is a common thread on here and so people feel very strongly about this, so you'll probably get plenty of response

susannamarie · March 2012

It is possible that you are underfeeding your body sufficiently that any time it gets extra food, it hangs on to it.

It is also possible, though, that you're overestimating your caloric burn (some people say MFP is over for them) and/or underestimating your food . Combining this with your thyroid issue could result in an inaccurate deficit count.

Either of these could be an issue.

onequirkygirl · March 2012

Well......I do use a heartrate monitor, my rate is in the upper level if not out of my range during the whole hour.....I am pretty meticulous about measuring and weighing everything as well. OCD here.

Then again....I may be obsessed with the scale. I'm probably judging too much on a day to day rather than week to week.

*is impatient*

LorinaLynn · March 2012

I've always eaten most of my exercise calories, but if you're body isn't used to it, you may see a temporary gain on the scale. Give it a few weeks before saying it does or doesn't work for you.

Dilfster · March 2012

I eat exercise calories, but not all of them.

rockerbabyy · March 2012

i eat all my exercise calories, and im one of those who net 1845 and lose just fine. sounds to me like youve undereaten long enough that your body is used to it, so it hangs on to what it can when you eat more.
IMO you should set your daily goal as your BMR and eat that + exercise calories for a month and see how it goes. if you can, stay away from the scale for at least two weeks (if you cant do the whole month)

susannamarie · March 2012

How long have you kept your calories higher before judging? If you are weighing on a day to day basis, yes, you will probably not see the immediate drop.

I haven't gone as low as 1200 net because I know it doesn't give me the energy to train Aikido the way I want to. I would rather have slower weight loss and more energy. The weight still seems to be dropping off at an ok rate.

DataBased · March 2012

Then again....I may be obsessed with the scale. I'm probably judging too much on a day to day rather than week to week.

I've seen it said so often here NOT to weigh yourself daily. When I stopped, and switched to weekly weigh-ins combined with measuring inches, not just weight, I realized that getting close as possible to the net goal was working. I don't know why we seem to gain or at least not lose pounds at first - but I sure lost inches, and that kept me motivated to stay with it. Last weigh in, I lost 2 lbs. That was double what I had hoped to lose each week.

At least TRY not weighing yourself daily... it may be what saves your sanity. LOL!

Revenant1066 · March 2012

My first question would be how are you determining the amount of calories you burn exercising? I was going by what the cardio machines at the gym said. Then I got a heart rate monitor. The gym equipment overestimates by up to 30% in my case. So, if I had been eating back all the calories I thought I was burning, I probably would have gained weight too, or at least have slowed my weight loss way down.
Sorry, just saw you said above that you use a HRM...ignore my comment

onequirkygirl · March 2012

My first question would be how are you determining the amount of calories you burn exercising? I was going by what the cardio machines at the gym said. Then I got a heart rate monitor. The gym equipment overestimates by up to 30% in my case. So, if I had been eating back all the calories I thought I was burning, I probably would have gained weight too, or at least have slowed my weight loss way down.

Maybe.....okay...I think it might be because this happened around 10 pm at night......I ate just around 400 calories.....totally within my calorie limit though, infact I was still under 1,200 net....weighed in the next morning, up 1.4.......but you know what I ate? It was hummus, and baby carrots, and string cheese, and greek yogurt....gah

Perhaps I am too obsessive over the recent past

I am going to start spacing them out, if I use them, into my meals.

philco41 · March 2012

It could also have something to do with when and what you eat to use these calories...

rockerbabyy · March 2012

I am going to start spacing them out, if I use them, into my meals.

thats also a great plan - on my cardio days i burned at least 600, and i spread it out between all my meals and snacks so that i dont have to eat them all after my workout at 11pm

onequirkygirl · March 2012

Yeah, I just need to plan better. Thank you everyone!

I should have titled the thread, "The Woe of Being Impulsive"

Seeking advice from those who eat some/all of their exercise

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