anxiety when eating exercise calories

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emilyisbonkers
emilyisbonkers Posts: 373 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hello everyone :)
I am having trouble with feelings of guilt after eating back my exercise calories, my goal is set to 1200 net, and I like to hula hoop and my job involves a lot of walking, so some days mfp tells me I need to eat about 2000 calories.

I find this is making me very anxious on the days that I do eat that much, I find it hard to believe I could actually lose weight on days where I eat 2000 calories.

However, last year I dieted down to 123lbs, but I was eating around 600 NET calories a day, and now I am eating 1200 NET calories minimum a day, and weigh 133lbs, but DESPITE weighing a lot more, I am the same size and can wear the same clothes.

Am I right in thinking this is muscle weight? How can I get over this fear? Any advice is helpful xx
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Replies

  • emilyisbonkers
    emilyisbonkers Posts: 373 Member
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    bump? anyone :D
  • GreekByMarriage
    GreekByMarriage Posts: 320 Member
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    I always eat my exercise calories back... if you are nervous about it, start by eating 50% of them back and go from there...
  • microwoman999
    microwoman999 Posts: 545 Member
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    I really feel like this a lot too! Bump
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Not sure what to say, you just have to try it and see if it works. If it doesn't, adjust.
  • echoica
    echoica Posts: 339 Member
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    try eating back only half :)
  • dg09
    dg09 Posts: 754
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    Some people only eat half of them back. I really don't see anything wrong with that if it makes you more comfortable.
  • Camsdette
    Camsdette Posts: 32 Member
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    Get a Heart Rate Monitor so you'll know how much you're really burning. There's not a problem with eating back your exercise calories unless you're overestimating the burn.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Set your calorie target to 2000 and ignore the exercise calories.
  • my2boiz
    my2boiz Posts: 89
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    the difference between dieting and eating right on mfp is that mfp is a lifestyle. Don't think many people would be very successful on 600 calories for long periods of time. Add weights to working out. You will build more mucsle and burn fat faster. i go by clothes too. If they fit then i'm ok, as soon as they get a little snug, i have to be careful.
  • SilentRenegade
    SilentRenegade Posts: 245 Member
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    To be honest with you, I had to up my calories to lose weight. They had me at 1200, I stuck to it, and nothing happened.

    I upped it to 1500 and I'm losing slowly.

    I looked it up based on my measurements and BMI and should be eating about 1600-1700 a day. (This weekend I hit 2k each day and lost 2 pounds...)

    600 NET is very low... You may not feel hungry, but it could cause your body to hold onto whatever is there.

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Give that a shot and see what it tells you. I like the tool, and I think it seems more realistic. I'm never hungry, but I'm never stuffed either, I'm right in the perfect zone I guess you could say.
  • cressievargo
    cressievargo Posts: 392 Member
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    Not trying to be mean, but honestly if eating causes you that much anxiety, you should seek professional help before you develop a full-blown eating disorder. Not to mention eating 600 calories is no where near healthy.
  • sunshinesonata
    sunshinesonata Posts: 241 Member
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    Get a Heart Rate Monitor so you'll know how much you're really burning. There's not a problem with eating back your exercise calories unless you're overestimating the burn.

    ^^ this.
  • Loko_Ino
    Loko_Ino Posts: 544 Member
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    So MFP tells you to eat 200 cals..that must mean you are burning 800 cals in your activities..subtract the 800 from your 2000 and you are actually eating 1200..

    But like another user said, eat half and see how that works for a few months. I went 3 months not eating mine back and didnt lose squat before I sat down and thought about it. MFP says eat 2280 cals, I burn 1000 during my workouts, I am only taking in 1280, my resting metabolic is 2200...my body thinks I am starving. So now I eat back my cals and will try that for a few months.
  • my2boiz
    my2boiz Posts: 89
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    the difference between dieting and eating right on mfp is that mfp is a lifestyle. Don't think many people would be very successful on 600 calories for long periods of time. Add weights to working out. You will build more mucsle and burn fat faster. i go by clothes too. If they fit then i'm ok, as soon as they get a little snug, i have to be careful.

    oh, and 2000 cals is a lot. I just bought a fitbit to track my actual calories burned and its pretty accurate. look into something like that. :)
  • pukekolive
    pukekolive Posts: 237 Member
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    Hi, Have you included your hula hooping and walking at work as part of your lifetsyle rating or do you add them as exercise?

    For myself I don't add any of my day to day exercise such as walking at work into my lifestyle as I have a sedentary job and only walk at work intermittently.

    I do log physical exercise such as continuous walking and gym workouts and eat most of the calories (I try and make sure I net 1200 calories particularly when I have burnt over 400).

    Walking which is not sustained (e.g. walking between departments at work) for me is not aerobic enough to count as cardio/daily exercise.

    Do you have/ can you borrow a pedometer or heart rate monitor to see how active your work is?

    If you can't accurately measure what you are doing at work then I would suggest entering your lifestyle as sedentary or lightly active.

    Only log sustained exercise and eat those calories, this way you won't be overestimating what you have burned.
  • emilyisbonkers
    emilyisbonkers Posts: 373 Member
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    thanks everyone :)
    I think I will eat 50% back and leave myself a buffer, after all I doubt I could overestimate exercise by 50%!
    I want a HRM but cant afford one :(
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
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    You could try only eating the calories back if you're hungry, and letting them go if you're not.
  • tiggergrrl23
    tiggergrrl23 Posts: 98 Member
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    Get a Heart Rate Monitor so you'll know how much you're really burning. There's not a problem with eating back your exercise calories unless you're overestimating the burn.

    ^^ This - MFP and cardio machines typically give higher calorie burns that what you have actually burned. If you wear a HRM or a Body Bugg, you will have a better picture of where your burn is, so it won't be so stressful to eat back some (if not all) your exercise calories. I never used to eat them back, but a few months ago I got a Body Bugg and now I eat back almost all of them and my weight loss has increased substantially. Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • bossmodehan
    bossmodehan Posts: 210 Member
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    Being the same size will indicate that your body composition has changed.

    You really shouldn't being concerned about trying to eat 2000 cals on higher activity days - your body needs them to function and recover in the healthiest possible way (i.e. not having to resort to burning muscle for energy)

    I will also add, and I know it's difficult because I get anxiety too when I'm faced with an unhealthy meal that I haven't prepared (interestingly, not so much unhealthy snacks!), but being anxious and stressed can in fact promote fat storage and has in my experience caused digestive discomfort if I eat when I have that horrible anxious sinking feeling in my stomach.

    I take a couple of deep breaths, think rationally about the situation, and the difficult situation are becoming easier to deal with.

    I'm not saying I have the best advice going, just giving you my thoughts on how I relate to a similar problem.

    Take care and good luck.
  • lizzie1030
    lizzie1030 Posts: 60
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    I eat back my calories, but set a limit as to how many I will eat in a day, no matter how much I burned. I think I am worried about over estimating how much I have actually burned. Once, I went on an all day hike, about 7 hours on hilly terrain and when entered it in, it gave a crazy amount of calories, so I ate a really big dinner. I was really hungry after all that hiking, but I think I went overboard and I weighed more the next day. So, I set a limit for myself.

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