Calories vs. Exercise

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  • Buckeyt
    Buckeyt Posts: 473 Member
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    2. Exercise doesn't do a massive amount for weight loss in general, 50 years ago you would have been laughed at if you even suggested it.

    Great point that isn't talked about a lot.
  • beth40n2
    beth40n2 Posts: 233 Member
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    You need to eat more for a while and boost up your metabolism again. You are at a plateau because your body is used to the amount of calories your are eating. Actually yo yoing your calories and exercise is good. Eat 1200 one day, 1600 the next and make sure you have a cheat day each week and eat more to boost up that metabolism. After a cheat day, drop your calories for a couple of day and you will loose.
  • nbhobbes
    nbhobbes Posts: 284
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    I would say it depends on what you are doing for working out. Are you doing exercises that burn fat such as aerobics or are you lifting weights?

    If your building muscle via weights (Even if it's just to tone up) then it's gonna slow the weight loss as the body changes and the density of the tissue (Fat vs muscle) gets added on. (Muscle weighs more than fat.)

    My guess is your not seeing the same dramatic drop in weight as your adding muscle and that process is slowing the weight loss.
  • SylentZee
    SylentZee Posts: 262
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    "Starvation Mode" is not a myth, if you don't eat enough, you're body needs to restrain how much energy is used. Maybe you've hit a "wall"?

    Personally, I would leave the calorie intake at 1200 and continue to exercise. See how it works out for a week, you might be surprised.
  • DoOrDoNotThereIsNoTry1
    DoOrDoNotThereIsNoTry1 Posts: 149 Member
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    Your calories are too low. Not knowing your size, you should probably be somewhere between 1400-1500 or so. Your body needs fuel and you can only get that from good food. On days you exercise or work out, you should at least eat 1/2 of the calories burned. Carbs for cardio and protein for muscle building. You also want to incorporate strength training to your workouts. Muscles burns more calories. Not saying you have to do bench presses or anything. But a day or two of light weights or resistance in junction with a day or two of cardio should help you. Lastly, you need to be drinking lots of water. Water keeps you cool and hydrated and helps metabolize the fat and remove it from you system...and keeps you detoxified. It will also help with the muscle soreness. Potassium is great for that as well. You can also try apple cider vinegar...1 tsp with water. It helps with blood circulation, has numerous vitamins and can also help in weight loss.
    Good luck.
  • ebonijo2
    ebonijo2 Posts: 73
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    For muscle soreness drink cranberry juice
  • cmoon00
    cmoon00 Posts: 18
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    GREGLATINI - great advice, thank you :) I'm getting the general vibe that my calorie intake is too low it seems. I'm 5'8 and currently sitting at 150lbs. Lean muscle build - not bulky.

    Just getting back into cardio and strengh training both - only been back at it a week which explains the extreme soreness...lol. Never heard of the apple cidar vinegar idea, I might have to try that.

    Also, I assumed I should be making up those extra calories I burn if I am working out. The two times I have worked out thus far this week, I have tried to eat more throughout the day in anticipation that I am going to burn at least 200 calories when I get in the gym. However, I've had a hard time doing that cause I feel like I am constantly stuffing my face!
  • kaellinn18
    kaellinn18 Posts: 31 Member
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    2. Exercise doesn't do a massive amount for weight loss in general, 50 years ago you would have been laughed at if you even suggested it.

    Great point that isn't talked about a lot.

    No, it's not a great point. Calories go in and you either burn them or you get fat. Period.

    50 years ago we didn't have access to the huge amount of cheap high calorie food we do now and many people had jobs that were more physical. Obesity was not the problem it is today because the access wasn't there.
  • alizah79
    alizah79 Posts: 11
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    I swear you took the words right out of my head. I have more to lose than you do, but MFP set my calories at 1200/day because of the sedentary lifestyle I had when I started. I have since been exercising 3-4 times per week burning at least 400+ calories at each session for a month now. I lost 4 pounds the first week but since then.. nothing. In fact I keep going back and forth between 165 and 159. I bought into the "eating back my exercise calories" idea, but I realized that I was already eating at 1200 calories before starting any of this and eating an additional 400 calories on work out days leaves me stuffed and sleepy and feeling awful. I'm not losing inches, pounds, or seeing any other results. So, I went back to just eating 1200 even on work out days and still... nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm very interested to see what ends up working for you from the advice you've gained here.
  • kaellinn18
    kaellinn18 Posts: 31 Member
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    I swear you took the words right out of my head. I have more to lose than you do, but MFP set my calories at 1200/day because of the sedentary lifestyle I had when I started. I have since been exercising 3-4 times per week burning at least 400+ calories at each session for a month now. I lost 4 pounds the first week but since then.. nothing. In fact I keep going back and forth between 165 and 159. I bought into the "eating back my exercise calories" idea, but I realized that I was already eating at 1200 calories before starting any of this and eating an additional 400 calories on work out days leaves me stuffed and sleepy and feeling awful. I'm not losing inches, pounds, or seeing any other results. So, I went back to just eating 1200 even on work out days and still... nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm very interested to see what ends up working for you from the advice you've gained here.

    The advice I gave for cmoon00 would apply to you as well. You should let MFP set your initial calories, then get a heart rate monitor (this is pretty important) so you can accurately track how many calories you are burning during exercise and then eat more to offset it. Do this for a month or so, and if you still aren't seeing results, it is possible that you are one of the outliers for which the standard formula that MFP uses isn't precise enough and you may need to adjust your daily goal up or down. However, you should ALWAYS eat back exercise calories, assuming that your initial daily intake is correct. You don't have to eat them back the same day. I spread mine out over the week.
  • cmoon00
    cmoon00 Posts: 18
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    I swear you took the words right out of my head. I have more to lose than you do, but MFP set my calories at 1200/day because of the sedentary lifestyle I had when I started. I have since been exercising 3-4 times per week burning at least 400+ calories at each session for a month now. I lost 4 pounds the first week but since then.. nothing. In fact I keep going back and forth between 165 and 159. I bought into the "eating back my exercise calories" idea, but I realized that I was already eating at 1200 calories before starting any of this and eating an additional 400 calories on work out days leaves me stuffed and sleepy and feeling awful. I'm not losing inches, pounds, or seeing any other results. So, I went back to just eating 1200 even on work out days and still... nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm very interested to see what ends up working for you from the advice you've gained here.


    YAY (I think) I'm not alone!! LOL...

    I'm getting two concepts from this message string...

    1. I'm possibly not eating enough calories even at 1310 a day.

    2. I need a heart rate monitor to better calculate my calories burned while exercising.
  • alizah79
    alizah79 Posts: 11
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    You don't have to eat them back the same day. I spread mine out over the week.

    This is something I've never heard. That would be so much easier than trying to eat an additional 400 calories per day on exercise days.
  • cmoon00
    cmoon00 Posts: 18
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    Your calorie intake could be too low in the first place (I don't know your height/weight/activity level though so I couldn't say for sure). I would recommend using some other calculators to figure out your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and try not to eat below that (I eat my TDEE -15% (total daily energy expenditure- you can calculate all that at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and I'm doing pretty well on it. Often when people are eating too little they will lose weigh quickly at first and then start hitting a speed bump. I had this happen and I did some research and it turns out MFP had me way too low on calories (which it does for a lot of people). I upped my calories and started losing again. Basically I wasn't fueling my body properly and it didn't like it lol.

    ETA: The Eat More to Weigh Less group has a lot of great info on this

    Holy Crap! LOL...so here is what I came up with when I used your calculator on the site you referenced:

    TDEE set to 15% - 5 meals a day - desk job little exercise. 5'9....150lbs.

    BMR = 1484

    Daily calories to maintain weight (TDEE) = 1781

    Daily Calories based on goal in Step 6 = 1513

    So I need to be eating at least 1513 calories a day if I want to lose weight???
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
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    Your calorie intake could be too low in the first place (I don't know your height/weight/activity level though so I couldn't say for sure). I would recommend using some other calculators to figure out your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and try not to eat below that (I eat my TDEE -15% (total daily energy expenditure- you can calculate all that at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and I'm doing pretty well on it. Often when people are eating too little they will lose weigh quickly at first and then start hitting a speed bump. I had this happen and I did some research and it turns out MFP had me way too low on calories (which it does for a lot of people). I upped my calories and started losing again. Basically I wasn't fueling my body properly and it didn't like it lol.

    ETA: The Eat More to Weigh Less group has a lot of great info on this

    Holy Crap! LOL...so here is what I came up with when I used your calculator on the site you referenced:

    TDEE set to 15% - 5 meals a day - desk job little exercise. 5'9....150lbs.

    BMR = 1484

    Daily calories to maintain weight (TDEE) = 1781

    Daily Calories based on goal in Step 6 = 1513

    So I need to be eating at least 1513 calories a day if I want to lose weight???

    Sounds about right. That's what I eat per day and I'm 143 and 5 foot 2 :) I'm losing, but slow and steady and I did hit a monthlong plateau after raising cals from 1200, but now seem to be losing again after a couple of even higher cal days and a few days of rest. My body rewarded me by dropping 2.5 pounds :)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    1. Sounds like you had something that worked and broke it. I would go back to it.

    2. Exercise doesn't do a massive amount for weight loss in general, 50 years ago you would have been laughed at if you even suggested it. The creation of large calorie deficits by adding exercise on top of food intake reductions often appears to cause people problems. There are also measuring issues where you might overestimate your exercise and eat more with a resulting loss of calorie deficit.

    3. A sore muscle is a swollen muscle, you'll be carrying water around in those sore places which will appear on the scale.

    Your responses to 1# and 3# are not consistent. If it is water weight (which I agree with) per #3, then she has lost 'real' (i.e. non water) weight if the scale is the same.

    Re #2, exercise has a load of other benefits other than weight loss.
  • JeffGDDG
    JeffGDDG Posts: 252 Member
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    I'd take some Advil or something for the soreness. It'll get better. Your diary looks good to me. If I did anything I would move that protein shake to first thing in the morning from dinner. It'll help get your metabolism going and stoked for the day.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    2. Exercise doesn't do a massive amount for weight loss in general, 50 years ago you would have been laughed at if you even suggested it.

    Great point that isn't talked about a lot.

    It's not talked about a lot because it is ridiculous.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Your calorie intake could be too low in the first place (I don't know your height/weight/activity level though so I couldn't say for sure). I would recommend using some other calculators to figure out your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and try not to eat below that (I eat my TDEE -15% (total daily energy expenditure- you can calculate all that at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and I'm doing pretty well on it. Often when people are eating too little they will lose weigh quickly at first and then start hitting a speed bump. I had this happen and I did some research and it turns out MFP had me way too low on calories (which it does for a lot of people). I upped my calories and started losing again. Basically I wasn't fueling my body properly and it didn't like it lol.

    ETA: The Eat More to Weigh Less group has a lot of great info on this

    Holy Crap! LOL...so here is what I came up with when I used your calculator on the site you referenced:

    TDEE set to 15% - 5 meals a day - desk job little exercise. 5'9....150lbs.

    BMR = 1484

    Daily calories to maintain weight (TDEE) = 1781

    Daily Calories based on goal in Step 6 = 1513

    So I need to be eating at least 1513 calories a day if I want to lose weight???

    To clarify - you should be eating near that number to lose weight in a healthy sustainable manner.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    You don't have to eat them back the same day. I spread mine out over the week.

    This is something I've never heard. That would be so much easier than trying to eat an additional 400 calories per day on exercise days.

    I find it easier to do that - I estimate my total 'burn' for the week, including exercise and then set my daily goal based in that - so I eat a static amount each day. I find it easier to plan my food that way.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
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    Good Morning All,

    I need some advice here....

    When I first started MFP, I had my calorie intake set to 1200. I sit at a desk all day for work, so not very active, and I was not working out at the time. Each day I was staying under 1200, but coming close to it and I dropped 4 lbs. very quickly.

    Now, I have started working out consistantly again. So I have increased my calorie intake to 1310 since I am now working out at least 3 days a week thus burning additional calories. On the days I am NOT working out, I am making sure that I am still at least hitting 1200 with my calorie intake, as that is what the goal was when I wasn't being active.

    Question is -

    1. Am I even doing this right??

    2. I'm not dropping weight now after adding in the exercise and increase in calories, why?

    3. Side note, what do all of you do for EXTREME muscle soreness besides Epson salt, icy hot, etc? (I've been walking around for a week looking like a 70 year old lady. It looks even worse when I try to sit down!)


    Any advice/suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

    Thank you,
    Catrina

    This is not uncommon. Many times when you first start exercise, you will see an increase in water retention due to the muscle building process. This water weighs something. It is temporary however and you should be able to see progress soon.

    The way many of us use the site is to set our calorie goal and base activity level based upon what we usually do (in your case, sedentary)... Then we add the exercise that we do with an estimate of what that exercise burns... This will automatically increase your goal calories accordingly. As for me, I eat back a portion but not all my exercise calories because I am not convinced that the actual rates of burn are that terribly accurate .. especially if you are using the MFP estimates (they cannot take many factors in consideration such as weight, exertion due to complicating factors such as incline on treadmills, etc.)...

    As for the pain, try taking an Ibuprofen (if you can tolerate it) or a Tylenol or Aspirin if you can't -- prior to your work out.

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