2 words about exercise calories

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visiri
visiri Posts: 173 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have noticed a trend amongst the posters of threads that discuss why they are not going to eat back their exercise calories -

two words – Last time

As in, last time I lost weight I did it this way and I was successful.

I have a few questions and an observation.

One, if you were so successful last time, why are you trying to lose weight again? I’d say you were successful with the losing, but not with the maintaining that loss. Could it be that your process was an unsustainable diet and not a true lifestyle change?

If you were unable to keep the weight off after your “success” last time, why are you using the same method this time? I’m sure most are familiar with the Einstein attributed definition of insanity – doing the same actions over and over, expecting different results.

Please go out and do some research and arm yourself with knowledge and make decisions for the long haul, not the short loss cycle. I also strongly recommend that if you want to keep to below 1200 net calories a day, you do it with the guidance of your doctor and a nutritionist.

So I ask you to ask yourself, in one year from now will this journey be another last time I lost weight, or is this THE last time you’ll lose weight?

Replies

  • theartichoke
    theartichoke Posts: 816 Member
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    Amen!
  • taiji22
    taiji22 Posts: 13
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    Hear! Hear!!
  • honestlysweet
    honestlysweet Posts: 221 Member
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    Any diet or lifestyle change or whatever terminology you use, is not going to be long term if you don't stick with it continuously. That doesn't mean that it didn't work. It obviously got the weight off, didn't it? So it worked. Once the weight is off, many people can keep it off and many can't, but the diet itself did get the weight off.
  • Erika1962
    Erika1962 Posts: 187 Member
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    Any diet or lifestyle change or whatever terminology you use, is not going to be long term if you don't stick with it continuously. That doesn't mean that it didn't work. It obviously got the weight off, didn't it? So it worked. Once the weight is off, many people can keep it off and many can't, but the diet itself did get the weight off.


    Amen!!!
  • LizKurz
    LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
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    I have noticed a trend amongst the posters of threads that discuss why they are not going to eat back their exercise calories -

    two words – Last time

    As in, last time I lost weight I did it this way and I was successful.

    I have a few questions and an observation.

    One, if you were so successful last time, why are you trying to lose weight again? I’d say you were successful with the losing, but not with the maintaining that loss. Could it be that your process was an unsustainable diet and not a true lifestyle change?

    If you were unable to keep the weight off after your “success” last time, why are you using the same method this time? I’m sure most are familiar with the Einstein attributed definition of insanity – doing the same actions over and over, expecting different results.

    Please go out and do some research and arm yourself with knowledge and make decisions for the long haul, not the short loss cycle. I also strongly recommend that if you want to keep to below 1200 net calories a day, you do it with the guidance of your doctor and a nutritionist.

    So I ask you to ask yourself, in one year from now will this journey be another last time I lost weight, or is this THE last time you’ll lose weight?

    Well, I eat my calories back, but I just wanted to comment on the losing it a second time thing.

    The first time I lost weight and actually got it right, it was 102 lbs and it stayed off for 5 years until I got pregnant and was put on serious activity restriction and put on 45 lbs. so, now, 15 months after this baby, I'm realizing I'm going to have to make a huge effort to lose it again, and that just eating healthy and listening to my body and working out wont cut it. If I listen to my body, I eat to maintain.

    So, not always is someone losing it a second time that didn't get it right the first time.
  • Rikki007s
    Rikki007s Posts: 102 Member
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    preach it!
  • obeseto13point1
    obeseto13point1 Posts: 144 Member
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    I agree with the idea of making this a lifestyle change and not just a diet. What really gets me is the people who don't eat any of their exercise calories, eat a bunch of crap or drink a lot of shakes to replace meals, or skip meals, and then are so proud of themselves for losing tons of weight fast. If your only goal is to lose weight then yes not eating your exercise calories, and starving yourself will probably get weight off fast. But if you want to be HEALTHY and you want this to be your NEW LIFESTYLE then do you really think that slim fast and starvation are the ways to go?
    That being said, I do believe that eating at least some of your exercise calories is or can be beneficial to your weight loss. I am kind of on the fence about this:). Do what is good for you, but do it in a healthy manner.
  • StartingAnewDay
    StartingAnewDay Posts: 319 Member
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    I went to a nutritionist.. at 400lbs.. who put me on a 1500 cal diet.. working out 4-6 times a week.. THATS why I'm doing it again.. Because apparently, my nutritionist and my doctor didn't know jack sheet about bmr,tdee,rmr,bf etc: their goal is usually to see a lower number on the scale when you go in for that check up.. as long as your not 'drugging it up" and it seems to be working, they don't look beyond.. Add to that, in this day and age, most doctors push.. and push hard the "surgeries" they spout statistics of keeping it off etc: but never get seriously involved in helping.. for christs sake even my knee doctor asked me had I considered bariatric surgery.. so forgive me if I don't think they are the be all, end all because of their title. I never even HEARD of eating a calorie back until I joined this site.

    Most of the people on this site learned more than they ever knew about losing and how to eat here than they ever learned in their doctors office. Also, it's a process. I didn't understand until 5 minutes ago that ONLY when using BMR or a sedetary level of activity should you eat exercise calories back.. When you use the TDEE estimation and subtract 10-20% from it you Do NOT have to eat exercise calories back because the TDEE accounts for your exercise.. Only if you go above and beyond what you estimated should you eat them back..

    So from those of us that need a little more time to get it.. We appologize for bieng so slow and annoying :flowerforyou: We will try and keep our ineptitude to a minimum.. :tongue:
  • ivansmomma
    ivansmomma Posts: 500
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    Yes, this is a lifestyle, and there are times in our lives that - life happens. Whether it's pregnancy, illness, stress, whatever - may cause serious weight gain. Everyone is an individual, and sometimes you have to see what works for you. Sometimes you have to reassess what is good and healthy for you at that stage of your life and go for it. So, yes, I have had several 'last times'. But, I have been pregnant, I have had stress, I have had (in remission) an auto-immune disease and a kidney transplant.

    So, just remember lifestyle and healthy eating, exercise/activity and in all of our lives - compost happens!! We don't know what the other is going through, but support and encouragement is what MFP is all about, isn't it????
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
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    lol...I tried to guess what your two words would be. All I came up with was "eat them." :happy:
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    Any diet or lifestyle change or whatever terminology you use, is not going to be long term if you don't stick with it continuously. That doesn't mean that it didn't work. It obviously got the weight off, didn't it? So it worked. Once the weight is off, many people can keep it off and many can't, but the diet itself did get the weight off.

    Yes, it got the weight off. But, the method was obviously something you couldn't sustain for the rest of your life if the weight has come back on.

    That is what the poster is trying to say. Sure, it worked, but it wasn't something you could follow for the rest of your life. THAT is the key to success. Not just getting the weight off, but doing it in a way that you can maintain it.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    lol...I tried to guess what your two words would be. All I came up with was "eat them." :happy:

    :laugh: Same here! :laugh:

    I also think that eating the exercise calories all along makes maintaining sooooo much easier. Other times I tried to lose, I trained my body to survive on minimal calories. In other words, I screwed up my metabolism by under-eating so much.

    This time around, I'm amazed at how much I can eat and still lose. I had to up my calories recently because I was still losing in maintenance. I'm almost 40 and other than when I exercise, I'm pretty sedentary. But I'm eating over 2000 a day. It's great! :smile:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I went to a nutritionist.. at 400lbs.. who put me on a 1500 cal diet.. working out 4-6 times a week.. THATS why I'm doing it again.. Because apparently, my nutritionist and my doctor didn't know jack sheet about bmr,tdee,rmr,bf etc: their goal is usually to see a lower number on the scale when you go in for that check up.. as long as your not 'drugging it up" and it seems to be working, they don't look beyond.. Add to that, in this day and age, most doctors push.. and push hard the "surgeries" they spout statistics of keeping it off etc: but never get seriously involved in helping.. for christs sake even my knee doctor asked me had I considered bariatric surgery.. so forgive me if I don't think they are the be all, end all because of their title. I never even HEARD of eating a calorie back until I joined this site.

    Most of the people on this site learned more than they ever knew about losing and how to eat here than they ever learned in their doctors office. Also, it's a process. I didn't understand until 5 minutes ago that ONLY when using BMR or a sedetary level of activity should you eat exercise calories back.. When you use the TDEE estimation and subtract 10-20% from it you Do NOT have to eat exercise calories back because the TDEE accounts for your exercise.. Only if you go above and beyond what you estimated should you eat them back..

    So from those of us that need a little more time to get it.. We appologize for bieng so slow and annoying :flowerforyou: We will try and keep our ineptitude to a minimum.. :tongue:

    You raise a a really good point here - so many people say 'my doctor is OK with it' or 'my doctor recommended this calorie level' - but doctors are not dieticians - most of them are not specialists in any way shape or form when it comes to sustainable weight loss.
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
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    lol...I tried to guess what your two words would be. All I came up with was "eat them." :happy:

    :laugh: Same here! :laugh:

    I also think that eating the exercise calories all along makes maintaining sooooo much easier. Other times I tried to lose, I trained my body to survive on minimal calories. In other words, I screwed up my metabolism by under-eating so much.

    This time around, I'm amazed at how much I can eat and still lose. I had to up my calories recently because I was still losing in maintenance. I'm almost 40 and other than when I exercise, I'm pretty sedentary. But I'm eating over 2000 a day. It's great! :smile:

    And I want to congratulate you! I saw your post in that bikini! You are hot!!!!

    I did that exact same thing. I killed my metabolism eating only 1200 calories for 1.5 years or so. I have been slowly upping my calories too. I am now at 1450 on average then with exercise I'm eating between 1800-2000 calories a day. I'm continuing to lose inches and lose body fat percentage. The scale hasn't moved, but that's because I'm losing fat and gaining muscle. Exactly like your pictures show! You all strong with your muscles!
  • cheeksv
    cheeksv Posts: 521 Member
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    I rarely eat my calories back and have lost weight at a steady pace. I take breaks often sometimes for a month at a time without counting calories and have never gained weight back. I am healthy and still losing and most importantly it works for me. Everyone get's to the party differently and to group all non exercise calorie eaters in one failure boat is a tad silly.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Options
    lol...I tried to guess what your two words would be. All I came up with was "eat them." :happy:

    :laugh: Same here! :laugh:

    I also think that eating the exercise calories all along makes maintaining sooooo much easier. Other times I tried to lose, I trained my body to survive on minimal calories. In other words, I screwed up my metabolism by under-eating so much.

    This time around, I'm amazed at how much I can eat and still lose. I had to up my calories recently because I was still losing in maintenance. I'm almost 40 and other than when I exercise, I'm pretty sedentary. But I'm eating over 2000 a day. It's great! :smile:

    And I want to congratulate you! I saw your post in that bikini! You are hot!!!!

    I did that exact same thing. I killed my metabolism eating only 1200 calories for 1.5 years or so. I have been slowly upping my calories too. I am now at 1450 on average then with exercise I'm eating between 1800-2000 calories a day. I'm continuing to lose inches and lose body fat percentage. The scale hasn't moved, but that's because I'm losing fat and gaining muscle. Exactly like your pictures show! You all strong with your muscles!

    Totally with you here. I had my metabolism screwed up by pretty much being on a liquid (and very very low calorie) diet for 17 days while in ICU plus a couple of months after of undereating - totally gained weight when I started eating at my prior level - it's taken a while to get it back to normal (with a few false starts along the way) and I am now back to eating about 2,000 a day and losing weight (with pretty much no cardio - just strength training) and more importantly, losing body fat.
  • Mzfoster0517
    Mzfoster0517 Posts: 83 Member
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    I do agree that not all methods used at losing weight are effective or long term, and people really have to change their way of thinking , their way of living and do something the will last a lifetime. Diets are made to be broken, Life Changes are more permanent. They consist of more work, planning and a different mindset.

    I don't eat back all of my exercise calories one because unless it's a weekend day, I generally workout at night after I get off work and the kind of workouts I do burn a lot of calories, so it would be a strain on my body to try and eat 700 good calories before bed. I would be sick as a dog in the morning.

    I do get irritated about people starving themselves. Yes I fast for Biblical purposes from time to time, but if it's one thing I know about fasting weight loss or starvation weight loss is you will likely gain almost if not all of that weight back because your body starts storing fat as a safety mechanism.

    So for people who are out here trying to take control of their lives and make that change, continue on and make lasting, smart choices. Also don't read this (original) post and get discouraged that it seems as if someone is critiquing your methods or downplaying your past successes. Do what works for you but keep in mind the longterm progress.

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