I feel like there's no point
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I know people aren't going to like what I have to say, but here goes. I'm a nurse, and I know about your body going into starvation mode and everything, but eating your "exercise" calories just doesn't make sense. It is important to eat enough to make sure to get your nutrients and not to go under 1200 calories, or whatever your body absolutely needs, but.....I spoke to the doctor that I work with (He's a family practitioner) about the "exercise" calories. What I was told that you can eat your exercise calories, but only if you NEED to eat something more, or once you've decided to stop losing weight. Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. The only way that it works the way that it says here is if you are depending on building muscle mass in order to lose weight and to increase your basal metabolic rate. Which is what we all want to do, but you need to actually see some improvement in order to keep going. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat. Remember, success begets success.
I'm bracing myself, because I know that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of negative responses, but it's just something to think about. I'm not saying to NEVER eat your exercise calories, but if you don't have to, why should you? :ohwell:
Hold up a sec. Can you explain the way he get's here:
"Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. "
What I mean by that is, how did you explain this site to him. Did you tell him that this site already builds in a calorie deficit before you exercise?
I also asked my doctor about this. I also spoke to my wife's trainer about this, she is also a certified nutritionist. I showed my plan to both of them (the site plan) and they both agreed that the plan is the correct way to go about it.
I just don't see what is so hard to follow for this. I'm not trying to be snide or trying to hurt any feelings but it's simple numbers. You have a certain number of calories that your body uses to maintain weight, you subtract say 500 a day to loose 1 lb a week. Everyone's with me so far right? So if you subtract say 500 more because you worked out, then you eat back that 500 your still down 500 from your maintenance calories. call maintenance 2000 calories (random)
so 2000 - 500 is 1500 this gets you 1 lb a week weight loss (500 X 7 is 3500 or 1 lb)
-500 is 1000 (the 500 you exercised)
+ 500 is 1500 (the 500 you eat to replace the exercised)
1500 is 500 less then your maintenance calories.
did you explain it this way to the doctor? Or did you just tell him maintenance minus exercise plus eating exercise?
Again, just trying to figure out why he would say this. I'm thinking it was just a misunderstanding.
I don't want this to look like I'm going after you Jessica. I'm not, this is done with the best of hopes that it can be cleared up for people. If you can just give a little explaination as to why it's wrong then I'm fine with it, I just have done a lot of research on it, and this flys in the face of most of it.
Just to clarify, nobody's saying Eat your exercise calories or else, when people say that they mean, on this site, there is a deficit pre-built into your calorie allowance, so exercise calories will increase the deficit over and above an already reduced calorie count, which can (and many times does) bring you below a safe calorie deficit.0 -
I know people aren't going to like what I have to say, but here goes. I'm a nurse, and I know about your body going into starvation mode and everything, but eating your "exercise" calories just doesn't make sense. It is important to eat enough to make sure to get your nutrients and not to go under 1200 calories, or whatever your body absolutely needs, but.....I spoke to the doctor that I work with (He's a family practitioner) about the "exercise" calories. What I was told that you can eat your exercise calories, but only if you NEED to eat something more, or once you've decided to stop losing weight. Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. The only way that it works the way that it says here is if you are depending on building muscle mass in order to lose weight and to increase your basal metabolic rate. Which is what we all want to do, but you need to actually see some improvement in order to keep going. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat. Remember, success begets success.
I'm bracing myself, because I know that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of negative responses, but it's just something to think about. I'm not saying to NEVER eat your exercise calories, but if you don't have to, why should you? :ohwell:
There's that phrase "muscle weighs more than fat" again. Someone stated in a post the other day that a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. I completely agree. So how can muscle weigh more than fat? It's like saying a pound of bricks weighs more than a pound of feathers. A pound is still a pound no matter what's being weighed.0 -
Gotta agree here with "eating the exercise." I filled my doc in today and she was fine with it.
Let me use my example:
If you limit yourself to 1400 calories a day--which is about what I do--then exercise on top of that to burn up anywhere from 700 to 1000 calories a day, then you are actually only giving your body only from 400 to 700 calories a day! No one can exist for long on that small amount of calories. So you eat back what you eat but not beyond the original 1400 you planned to limit yourself too.
For today, I can eat up to 2100 calories and still only be "eating" 1400 because I burned up 700 calories riding. That still means that I'm cutting out about 1000 calories from what my body needs to stay at the current weight I am--which for me is 2400 calories a day.
If I didn't eat back those 700 calories, I'd be giving my body a total of 700 calories today--wayyyyyy to little.0 -
I know people aren't going to like what I have to say, but here goes. I'm a nurse, and I know about your body going into starvation mode and everything, but eating your "exercise" calories just doesn't make sense. It is important to eat enough to make sure to get your nutrients and not to go under 1200 calories, or whatever your body absolutely needs, but.....I spoke to the doctor that I work with (He's a family practitioner) about the "exercise" calories. What I was told that you can eat your exercise calories, but only if you NEED to eat something more, or once you've decided to stop losing weight. Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. The only way that it works the way that it says here is if you are depending on building muscle mass in order to lose weight and to increase your basal metabolic rate. Which is what we all want to do, but you need to actually see some improvement in order to keep going. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat. Remember, success begets success.
I'm bracing myself, because I know that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of negative responses, but it's just something to think about. I'm not saying to NEVER eat your exercise calories, but if you don't have to, why should you? :ohwell:
Wait just one sec. First, what logic does he use to get here:
"Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. "
I also asked my doctor about this. I also spoke to my wife's trainer about this, she is also a certified nutritionist. I showed my plan to both of them (the site plan) and they both agreed that the plan is the correct way to go about it.
I just don't see what is so hard to follow for this. I'm not trying to be snide or trying to hurt any feelings but it's simple numbers. You have a certain number of calories that your body uses to maintain weight, you subtract say 500 a day to loose 1 lb a week. Everyone's with me so far right? So if you subtract say 500 more because you worked out, then you eat back that 500 your still down 500 from your maintenance calories. call maintenance 2000 calories (random)
so 2000 - 500 is 1500 this gets you 1 lb a week weight loss (500 X 7 is 3500 or 1 lb)
-500 is 1000 (the 500 you exercised)
+ 500 is 1500 (the 500 you eat to replace the exercised)
1500 is 500 less then your maintenance calories.
did you explain it this way to the doctor? Or did you just tell him maintenance minus exercise plus eating exercise?
Again, just trying to figure out why he would say this. I'm thinking it was just a misunderstanding.
I agree with Banks. I explained this to a friend who then replied "but you replace all the calories that you lost during exercise!"
No!
2000 calories - 500 calorie deficit= 1500 calories
1500 calories- 600 burned from exercise= 900 net calories
900 calories+ 600 calories= 1500 net calories for the day.
As a nurse, would you condone eating only 900 net calories for the day?0 -
There's that phrase "muscle weighs more than fat" again. Someone stated in a post the other day that a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. I completely agree. So how can muscle weigh more than fat? It's like saying a pound of bricks weighs more than a pound of feathers. A pound is still a pound no matter what's being weighed.
By volume, muscle weighs much more then fat. I.E. a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of lead, but a cubic meter of feathers weighs much less then a cubic meter of lead. If you take a softball size amount of fat and a softball size amount of muscle, the muscle will weigh much more.0 -
LonelyPilgrim
You can't quit. I know exactly how you feel. When I get depressed, I want to stay in bed and cry all day. I have actually prayed to go to sleep and never wake up. It will get better. I know it feels like it won't but it will. I know you can't imagine feeling good again but you will.
You are exercising and eating healthier which automatically decreases your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type II diabetes and a host of other things. You will live a longer, healthier life and have more time to enjoy your son because of it. You'll be able to take walks on the beach without getting winded and you'll be able to fly kites, throw a ball and enjoy your kid. Weight in and of itself is meaningless. Improved cardiovascular health, increased strength and better stamina is priceless.
Be proud of yourself for making the commitment and sticking with it. Be proud of your accomplishments and who you are. Trust that the lifestyle changes that you've made will work. If it took a 18 mos to gain, it might take that long to lose but you owe it to yourself to stick with it.0 -
QUOTE:
There's that phrase "muscle weighs more than fat" again. Someone stated in a post the other day that a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. I completely agree. So how can muscle weigh more than fat? It's like saying a pound of bricks weighs more than a pound of feathers. A pound is still a pound no matter what's being weighed.
By volume, muscle weighs much more then fat. I.E. a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of lead, but a cubic meter of feathers weighs much less then a cubic meter of lead. If you take a softball size amount of fat and a softball size amount of muscle, the muscle will weigh much more.
Ok, I get that. So a volume of muscle weighs more than a volume of fat. That makes more sense to me than just saying muscle weighs more than fat. Thanks for clearing that up Banks.0 -
So, just an observation? You fell in love, started a new life with someone, stopped your birth control? Have you considered if you may be pregnant? That would be a good answer to your problem
I'm actually trying to get pregnant right now. But I'm on this website to change my bad habits to healthy habits! 0 -
LonelyPilgrim
You can't quit. I know exactly how you feel. When I get depressed, I want to stay in bed and cry all day. I have actually prayed to go to sleep and never wake up. It will get better. I know it feels like it won't but it will. I know you can't imagine feeling good again but you will.
You are exercising and eating healthier which automatically decreases your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type II diabetes and a host of other things. You will live a longer, healthier life and have more time to enjoy your son because of it. You'll be able to take walks on the beach without getting winded and you'll be able to fly kites, throw a ball and enjoy your kid. Weight in and of itself is meaningless. Improved cardiovascular health, increased strength and better stamina is priceless.
Be proud of yourself for making the commitment and sticking with it. Be proud of your accomplishments and who you are. Trust that the lifestyle changes that you've made will work. If it took a 18 mos to gain, it might take that long to lose but you owe it to yourself to stick with it.
That is really well said! The only advice I can add is when you go to see the Dr., examine any medication you might be taking. (obviously disregard that if you're not on any
) Alternately, WebMD has a feature where you can look up possible side effects of drugs. There are many commonly prescribed things that make weight loss difficult.
:flowerforyou:0 -
I have to agree with Banks...I had a physical this week (what a wonderful thing to do for your birthday :grumble: ) and I spoke with my Dr. and my nutritionist regarding MFP. We pulled up the site in my nutrionist's office and after she and my Dr. both reviewed how it worked, they stated that this site was doing exaclty what you should be for weight loss.
Since there has been so much confusion about net calories and exercise calories I asked them to clarify it in clear terms...what they stated to me is exactly what Banks is saying. The site calculates your BMR (the amount of calories your body would burn if you did nothing all day long this amount is what you would eat to maintain your current weight) Then from that, based on your goals that you enter, MFP subtracts the amount of calories you need to burn to lose your requested pounds per week. This is the calorie decrease that is needed to calculate your weight loss so, in theory, even if you didn't exercise but followed the weight program that MFP sets up for you, you should still lose weight. (Of course that is providing you update your weight regularly which cause a change in your calorie count over time)
My Dr. and nutritionist did agree that you don't have to eat ALL of your exercise calories but if you don't you must make sure never to fall below the net calories, or your body will start to pack away the calories you take in and store them as fat to help reduce the risk of starving. This will absolutely result in a weight gain. My nutritionist said that this part of weight loss is very scary as people tend to put their body into a starvation mode and aren't even aware of it. She told me that if I don't want to eat all of my calories, and as long as I am at the net calories needed, then that was fine. My Dr. however warned me that to keep my metabolism going that you need to fuel it, just like gas in a car....the less you have the less distance you can do. Sorry, that was his quote, not mine. He recommended that I not practice this too often (not eating all of my earned exercise calories) as your body will grow accustomed to that reduction. He told me never to leave more than 10% of the calories earned each night. My Dr. did say that you can also "bank" them and use more on some days, less on others....but that would require you to do the homework as the site doesn't allow for that kind of calculation. (This FREE site can only do so much) My Dr. also explained that by switching up my calorie count from day to day is yet another way of givng a boost to my metabolism as I would be constantly changing and "confusing" it.
My Dr. and nutritionist were so impressed by this site and it's simplicity that they are considering bringing it to their interdisciplinary teams as a tool to suggest for some of their patients.
PHEW That was a long post but it helped me and I hope it helps you too. 0 -
I feel for you so much...I am on this website my self to lose those last 10 lbs. I am also of the opinion to not eat the exercise. Depending on your age, I am 37 and 10 years ago I had no issues losing weight but as we get older things change, losing 10 lbs is a lot harder. 2000 calories is very high for most women out of their 20's especially if you drive everywhere and only truly exercise thoat 1 hour at the gym ...this website gives me 1200...which I thought was super low, but without eating my exercise calories, I have lost 4 lbs. Keep trying to tighten the belt, pardon the pun, also a great book is The eating Clean diet...not fun, but all nutritous...My husband and I have been on this diet since April 1st, our big very hard decision was no alcohol for the month...hard, but with 1200 cal, a glass of wine will not fit. Be true and keep trying...it will come off, set short goals, sometimes you will notice clothes fit better or you are more flexable have more energy......and we are all allowed to have a 1 person pity party, so yours is now over!!!0
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I know people aren't going to like what I have to say, but here goes. I'm a nurse, and I know about your body going into starvation mode and everything, but eating your "exercise" calories just doesn't make sense. It is important to eat enough to make sure to get your nutrients and not to go under 1200 calories, or whatever your body absolutely needs, but.....I spoke to the doctor that I work with (He's a family practitioner) about the "exercise" calories. What I was told that you can eat your exercise calories, but only if you NEED to eat something more, or once you've decided to stop losing weight. Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. The only way that it works the way that it says here is if you are depending on building muscle mass in order to lose weight and to increase your basal metabolic rate. Which is what we all want to do, but you need to actually see some improvement in order to keep going. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat. Remember, success begets success.
I'm bracing myself, because I know that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of negative responses, but it's just something to think about. I'm not saying to NEVER eat your exercise calories, but if you don't have to, why should you? :ohwell:
See I have a hard time...My daily life says that I should eat atleast 1500...(I walk alot during the day and my body is starving by 9pm) I always have something left over...It just makes weight loss a lot slower if you do it by eatingmost of y our exercise calories. My DR told me to eat no less than 1500 or my body will starve...On here it told me 1300....I am listening to my Dr about this obviously...
Sometimes your body just hits a platue...Mine has at 186...It isn't loosing...It isn't gaining...I am planning another trip to the Dr....
Don't get to discourage...The lady that I quoted is right....Don't eat yer exercise calories...Not all of them anyways... :happy:0 -
I know people aren't going to like what I have to say, but here goes. I'm a nurse, and I know about your body going into starvation mode and everything, but eating your "exercise" calories just doesn't make sense. It is important to eat enough to make sure to get your nutrients and not to go under 1200 calories, or whatever your body absolutely needs, but.....I spoke to the doctor that I work with (He's a family practitioner) about the "exercise" calories. What I was told that you can eat your exercise calories, but only if you NEED to eat something more, or once you've decided to stop losing weight. Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. The only way that it works the way that it says here is if you are depending on building muscle mass in order to lose weight and to increase your basal metabolic rate. Which is what we all want to do, but you need to actually see some improvement in order to keep going. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat. Remember, success begets success.
I'm bracing myself, because I know that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of negative responses, but it's just something to think about. I'm not saying to NEVER eat your exercise calories, but if you don't have to, why should you? :ohwell:
See I have a hard time...My daily life says that I should eat atleast 1500...(I walk alot during the day and my body is starving by 9pm) I always have something left over...It just makes weight loss a lot slower if you do it by eatingmost of y our exercise calories. My DR told me to eat no less than 1500 or my body will starve...On here it told me 1300....I am listening to my Dr about this obviously...
Sometimes your body just hits a platue...Mine has at 186...It isn't loosing...It isn't gaining...I am planning another trip to the Dr....
Don't get to discourage...The lady that I quoted is right....Don't eat yer exercise calories...Not all of them anyways... :happy:
If you aren't eating your exercise calories, that may be why you've plateaued!0 -
This is all too funny... so many people not eating their exercise calories....
I'll do extra exercise just to eat more... have a glass of wine... whatever....
I got issues :ohwell:0 -
Hold up a sec. Can you explain the way he get's here:
"Otherwise, all that you are doing is replacing everything that you have worked so hard to lose. "
What I mean by that is, how did you explain this site to him. Did you tell him that this site already builds in a calorie deficit before you exercise?
I also asked my doctor about this. I also spoke to my wife's trainer about this, she is also a certified nutritionist. I showed my plan to both of them (the site plan) and they both agreed that the plan is the correct way to go about it.
I just don't see what is so hard to follow for this. I'm not trying to be snide or trying to hurt any feelings but it's simple numbers. You have a certain number of calories that your body uses to maintain weight, you subtract say 500 a day to loose 1 lb a week. Everyone's with me so far right? So if you subtract say 500 more because you worked out, then you eat back that 500 your still down 500 from your maintenance calories. call maintenance 2000 calories (random)
so 2000 - 500 is 1500 this gets you 1 lb a week weight loss (500 X 7 is 3500 or 1 lb)
-500 is 1000 (the 500 you exercised)
+ 500 is 1500 (the 500 you eat to replace the exercised)
1500 is 500 less then your maintenance calories.
did you explain it this way to the doctor? Or did you just tell him maintenance minus exercise plus eating exercise?
Again, just trying to figure out why he would say this. I'm thinking it was just a misunderstanding.
I don't want this to look like I'm going after you Jessica. I'm not, this is done with the best of hopes that it can be cleared up for people. If you can just give a little explaination as to why it's wrong then I'm fine with it, I just have done a lot of research on it, and this flys in the face of most of it.
Just to clarify, nobody's saying Eat your exercise calories or else, when people say that they mean, on this site, there is a deficit pre-built into your calorie allowance, so exercise calories will increase the deficit over and above an already reduced calorie count, which can (and many times does) bring you below a safe calorie deficit.
I completely agree with Banks on this one. GemFB, you say you're eating 1500 calories and your doctor says not to go under that, but then you are exercising and not eating your exercise calories? I'm guessing you're burning over 600 cals (just a guess, I don't know what kind of exercise you do). That would make you only having 900 cals in a day, WAY less than your doctor said. MontanaGirl is right, that may be why you plateaued...0 -
This is all too funny... so many people not eating their exercise calories....
I'll do extra exercise just to eat more... have a glass of wine... whatever....
I got issues :ohwell:
I like your issues!! I agree 100%. I have rarely wondered what I can eat to get rid of some calories. I am usually quite the opposite. I see a piece of chocolate cake, glass of wine...whatever....and say ok....I will just go ahead and run a couple more miles. I almost always eat every single exercise calorie.0 -
I rarely lose actual weight, but then I notice my pants are a bit baggy in the tuckus. Hang in there honey. you watch, this happened to me 2 years ago. For 3 months it seemed as though I was not losing anything, then all of a sudden every day I got dressed something didn't fit, in a 3 week period I went down 3 pant sizes, now that was tough to keep up with, when your clothes dont fit, size 18 to 12.........it will happen. Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!0
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Cute name Sassie! It made me laugh.0
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OK, here's the deal. (disclaimer: I'm not a Dr., but I've spoken to several of them along the way. . .along with a nutritionist, a naturopath and a personal trainer.)
Long story short: the less you have to lose, the smaller your deficit from your maintenance calories should be. Big calorie deficits are only for people who have a lot of "reserve energy" (excess weight) to draw from. People with less to lose must eat more in order to fuel their muscles and their brains.
In my personal experience, when I hit the "last ten pound" mark, I decided to really dig in and calorie restrict. I was eating about 700 net calories a day. I lost nothing. NOT a SINGLE POUND! Frustrated, I went to a nutritionist. The first words she said, after reviewing my food diaries were "well, clearly, you're not eating enough." I upped my calories to 1500 a day, and started eating nearly all of my exercise calories (now that I have a heart rate monitor, I eat every last one). I was able to sucessfully lose the last ten pounds by eating more!
We are so conditioned by the diet industry (which, think about it, would go out of business if we actually all lost the weight and kept it off) that dieting = punishment. It doesn't. If you have only 20ish pounds to lose (and, believe me, I know it doesn't feel like "only") It simply will come off more slowly. Sad, but true.
Sorry, just my two cents.:flowerforyou:0 -
OK, here's the deal. (disclaimer: I'm not a Dr., but I've spoken to several of them along the way. . .along with a nutritionist, a naturopath and a personal trainer.)
Long story short: the less you have to lose, the smaller your deficit from your maintenance calories should be. Big calorie deficits are only for people who have a lot of "reserve energy" (excess weight) to draw from. People with less to lose must eat more in order to fuel their muscles and their brains.
In my personal experience, when I hit the "last ten pound" mark, I decided to really dig in and calorie restrict. I was eating about 700 net calories a day. I lost nothing. NOT a SINGLE POUND! Frustrated, I went to a nutritionist. The first words she said, after reviewing my food diaries were "well, clearly, you're not eating enough." I upped my calories to 1500 a day, and started eating nearly all of my exercise calories (now that I have a heart rate monitor, I eat every last one). I was able to sucessfully lose the last ten pounds by eating more!
We are so conditioned by the diet industry (which, think about it, would go out of business if we actually all lost the weight and kept it off) that dieting = punishment. It doesn't. If you have only 20ish pounds to lose (and, believe me, I know it doesn't feel like "only") It simply will come off more slowly. Sad, but true.
Sorry, just my two cents.:flowerforyou:
MARVELOUS! Thanks viv, that's perfect!:drinker:0
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