eating more & exercise to lose more question

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amy_marlene
amy_marlene Posts: 178 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i'm 5'5,sw-161 lbs,cw- 148 lbs
i've been eating 1200 cals and exercising 4-5 days a week for 30 minutes ( sometimes 45 ) but wasn't eating exercise calories. hitted the plateau after 8.8 lbs lost and stalled for 4 weeks. Last Sunday i decided to stop exercising to see if the scale is going to move and bam - lost 5.5 lbs.
So i figured out i should be eating exercise calories to lose weight. I'm i right? I still eat 1200 cals even though i'm not exercising.
what should i do? thank you :))
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Replies

  • cathie2903
    cathie2903 Posts: 85 Member
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    I would eat back your exercise cals especially if ou have set your limit at 1200. If you don't eat back your body isn't getting enough "fuel" to cope with the exercise so you don't lose.
    I have recently uped my cals and stuck with my 3/4 times a week exercise - mix of cardio and strength - and I am losing again.

    Stick with it! Good luck x
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Last Sunday i decided to stop exercising to see if the scale is going to move and bam - lost 5.5 lbs.

    Excellent. You reduced your calorie deficit to a more manageable level and won with a weight loss.

    Is the logical conclusion that you should not exercise as much ?
  • amy_marlene
    amy_marlene Posts: 178 Member
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    Last Sunday i decided to stop exercising to see if the scale is going to move and bam - lost 5.5 lbs.

    Excellent. You reduced your calorie deficit to a more manageable level and won with a weight loss.

    Is the logical conclusion that you should not exercise as much ?
    i don't know.i don't think i was exercising too much,i think i didn't eat enough
  • amy_marlene
    amy_marlene Posts: 178 Member
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    I would eat back your exercise cals especially if ou have set your limit at 1200. If you don't eat back your body isn't getting enough "fuel" to cope with the exercise so you don't lose.
    I have recently uped my cals and stuck with my 3/4 times a week exercise - mix of cardio and strength - and I am losing again.

    Stick with it! Good luck x
    thank you :)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    You should eat your exercise calories back to give yourself a reasonable deficit. However, I would warn you that some of the weight you lost would be water weight (sorry) - when you exercise, you tend to retain more water in your muscles, so stopping exercising you probably released some of it. Not trying to put a downer on your weight loss at all (congratulations on your loss so far), and you should absolutely do what you decided, however do not get discouraged if you gain a little the first week back at exercising - it will only be water weight if you do.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    i don't know.i don't think i was exercising too much,i think i didn't eat enough

    You were eating X, exercising Y, achieving nothing.

    You changed to eating X, not exercising. The weight came off.

    A man from Mars (or me) would conclude that the exercise was not helping your weight loss. Stopping it worked. Why restart ? Is weight loss your goal, or exercise for exercise sake ?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    i don't know.i don't think i was exercising too much,i think i didn't eat enough

    You were eating X, exercising Y, achieving nothing.

    You changed to eating X, not exercising. The weight came off.

    A man from Mars (or me) would conclude that the exercise was not helping your weight loss. Stopping it worked. Why restart ? Is weight loss your goal, or exercise for exercise sake ?

    Exercise has a lot of benefits other than weight loss. Why not keep the appropriate deficit? In other words, keep exercising, but keep a smaller deficit?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    calerie.png

    a 25% calorie reduction (CR) compared to a 12.5% calorie reduction and 12.5% exercise calories (CR+EX) over 3 and 6 months M3 & M6. Also compared to control group and VLCD group who had a VLCD until 10% weight loss up to M3 then maintenance M3 to M6. CALERIE study, US published data.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Why not keep the appropriate deficit? In other words, keep exercising, but keep a smaller deficit?

    Depends on her priorities. Looks like she found a solution that works, I would stick with it while it works.

    You want her to gamble on adding back the exercise and adding calories ? She can try that too, no evidence it'll be any better for weight loss though so as I say depends on priorities.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Why not keep the appropriate deficit? In other words, keep exercising, but keep a smaller deficit?

    Depends on her priorities. Looks like she found a solution that works, I would stick with it while it works.

    You want her to gamble on adding back the exercise and adding calories ? She can try that too, no evidence it'll be any better for weight loss though so as I say depends on priorities.

    Definately up to the OP. However, due to the significant benefits of exercise, especially for women, in my opinion, it would be better to work to a goal that includes weight loss and exercise.
  • amy_marlene
    amy_marlene Posts: 178 Member
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    i would like to continue with exercising because my body is changing a lot while exercising and i feel good but i don't want to stop losing again. i think i'm going to go back to exercising when i hit the plateau again.
    yes,i also think the most of it is water weight but i lost centimeters too while not exercising.
    thank you for your opinions and advices :))
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    I would keep up the exercise but increase cals (set goal to 0.5-1 per week as you don't have much to lose), as Sarah said exercise has many benefits as well as weight loss.

    The same happened to me, I was netting 1100-1200 back In January after exercise. Had to stop exercise due to injury and netted 1650, I lost more the month I didn't exercise much than any other month. Now I can exercise again, I've increased cals to keep net around 1600 and the loss has continued :-)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Eat ur exercise cals!
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    OP you're now in the healthy weight range according to BMI (congrats!) so it's going to be harder.

    Exercise is for health. Since you are a healthy weight, you should be focussed on health not a number on the scale. So no I don't think you should stop exercising.

    I don't know how old you are but I put 25 when I figured out your TDEE (maintenance calories) This number will obviously change if you're not 25, but exercising 1-3 days a week you should be eating 2036 to maintain. Taking 20% off that figure (to lose weight) has you eating 1629 calories a day. So when you were exercising and not eating calories back you were underrating. Why not try eating slightly more and exercising and see what happens? You will put on weight initially (water weight usually) but you will feel better and your body will adjust accordingly.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    i don't know.i don't think i was exercising too much,i think i didn't eat enough

    You were eating X, exercising Y, achieving nothing.

    You changed to eating X, not exercising. The weight came off.

    A man from Mars (or me) would conclude that the exercise was not helping your weight loss. Stopping it worked. Why restart ? Is weight loss your goal, or exercise for exercise sake ?

    ^not this...I like my *kitten* much better firm. Sounds like water weight due to the fact you werent eating enough in the first place. Try researching bmr and tdee.
  • Kincar
    Kincar Posts: 601 Member
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    I've had the same thing happen to me (I lost more when I ate the same cals and exercised less). I researched BMR and TDEE. I started eating to net at least my BMR everyday and started losing again.

    I've found I lose more on the scale when I exercise less. However, I lose more in inches when I work out more. Plus, I like the way I feel and look from exercising. For me, it's a matter of finding the right balance.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    I've had the same thing happen to me (I lost more when I ate the same cals and exercised less). I researched BMR and TDEE. I started eating to net at least my BMR everyday and started losing again.

    I've found I lose more on the scale when I exercise less. However, I lose more in inches when I work out more. Plus, I like the way I feel and look from exercising. For me, it's a matter of finding the right balance.
    ^This, I'd rather go up and look skinnier then be a light flab ball. I got to goal doing the light flab ball thing, my butt has increased it's hotness 10 fold since I started hiking :P
  • checci
    checci Posts: 2
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    Either you're gaining muscle mass from exercise or you're eating so little compared to what you burn off that you're putting your body into starvation mode so that the days you don't exercise your body clings onto the calories you consume is what I would guess?

    Please try to be happy with the weight you are at because you're healthy and I'm pretty sure you look really good. I look back at when I weighed 130lbs and I thought I was fat, how ridiculous I was being... I'm now 192lbs and would give anything to get back there instantly but unfortunately it's going to take a long time.

    Please don't stop exercising because its stopping your weight loss. It's good for your body and will help you tone up and look better. When I was at a similar weight to you I used to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. I did this for a year and the number on the scales didn't go down at all but I felt great and I looked great so why did it matter if I weighed the same?
  • Burlesque12
    Burlesque12 Posts: 177 Member
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    I've had the same thing happen to me (I lost more when I ate the same cals and exercised less). I researched BMR and TDEE. I started eating to net at least my BMR everyday and started losing again.

    I've found I lose more on the scale when I exercise less. However, I lose more in inches when I work out more. Plus, I like the way I feel and look from exercising. For me, it's a matter of finding the right balance.
    ^This, I'd rather go up and look skinnier then be a light flab ball. I got to goal doing the light flab ball thing, my butt has increased it's hotness 10 fold since I started hiking :P

    ^^^^AGREE WITH THESE^^^
    I exercise and started to eat 20% less my TDEE about 6 wks ago and havent lost lbs but have lost inches, and I get compliments on my new toned arms & legs. I dont want to be "skinny fat".
  • MST318
    MST318 Posts: 11 Member
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    I have a similar issue. I can't seem to get enough calories in each day. I could fill it with "junk" but obviously that is not what I want to do. I think because fruits and vegetables tend to be filling, I find I don't really WANT to eat.

    Just to give you an idea, here is a breakdown of my intake yesterday:

    Egg white/ spinach omelet
    1/2 c apple slices
    1 oz cheese
    protein shake with 1% milk
    side salad with grilled chicken (no dressing)
    1/2 c of cheerios
    1/2 c of honeydew melon
    4 oz of chicken breast

    This was only about 1300 calories, and going to the gym dropped my calories to below 1000.

    Anything I can do?

    The scale hasn't moved in quite some time and I'm getting discouraged...

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