I am not sure how to consume all my calories?????

How did you burn that many calories??

Well, you definitely should be eating 6 times a day if you're trying to get all your calories in. Not sure if you are or not. But you can get them in by eating things like an apple topped w/ almond butter, or a slice of whole grain bread and almond butter, a protein shake that has soy/almond/rice milk, greek yogurt, protein powder, and fruit in it, protein bars. Of course, you need to be watching out for your fat intake and not just be consuming empty calories. If you can't seem to get all the calories in then you can make up for it by working out less.

I think it's unlikely that you've burned that many calories. If you are using online formulas or what the machines say, they can vary pretty wildly from reality. A good heart rate monitor will get you in the ballpark, but even they can be inaccurate. When I started using a HRM, I found it to measure much less than the formulas on MFP said.

This is one reason I'm not a big fan of eating all your exercise calories during the weight loss phase, btw. Some, sure, if you need to in order to have the energy to work out. But it's so easy to miscalculate them that leaving some on the table, so to speak, gives you a cushion to account for any miscalculations.

Hi. Being Aubrielle's work out buddy, I can say that she's actually (if not burning 1300) burning CLOSE to that amount. Granted, not all information from the web or machines is going to be accurate 100% of the time. However, it's close. Either way, you're not answering her question. She asked how she could end up filling up the calorie space. MacMadame, you've lost a substantial amount of weight, and I'm sure you can agree with me on the fact that putting your body into starvation mode by not eating a certain amount of calories per day, is NOT good for your diet. The more you burn, the more you need to consume. Hence the protein work out shakes after work outs. They're full of fat, protein and calories, to fuel your body.

She and I are eating extremely healthy meals, aiming more for a low carb/low fat diet. This also is hurting her in the lack of calories consumption department. I don't want to sound rude, but could you possibly extend your knowledge in a more polite way and answer her question rather than question not only HER practices and claims, but this website's design as well? Thanks.

As far as the treadmill, the numbers should be dead on. Try entering 10lbs less than your weight on the treadmill and deduct 10% (A tip from Tamtastic. I usually skip the 10% step)

ivykivy, thank you, that makes a lot of sense. We actually just started our elliptical and treadmill workouts today, as we have only been doing this for 5 days now. Up to this point, we've been doing mostly walking, ranging from 1 mile to 3 miles a day, at about 3mph. Now that we're starting to feel a lot better, we're going to up our routine a bit, because we have the endurance and energy now to do so.

Congratulations on your lifestyle change :flowerforyou: Not only are you exercising but you want to eat better. That's great. :happy:

I too work out alot (on my days off) and can easily burn over 1000 calories. Yes, I will add 5 min of calisthenics (ab crunches, push-ups, etc) or stretching - I work out to DVDs. If the DVD lasts an 55 min and only 45 min is step aerobics, I mark the left over time as to what was done.

I try to make fresh fruit or vege juice in the morning which comes to between 200 to 250 calories - I make a different juice each morning by mixing different things together - pears, apples, grapes, cranberries, melon, oranges, beets, carrots, cucumber, spinach, etc. I have been eating homemade peanut butter on bread or celery - I just put plain peanuts in the grinder for 10 min - I calculated that each TBL has about 103 calories. Soy milk with a scoop of whey protein can add another 250 - I figure my body needs the extra protein and calories from the hard workouts. I also use these days to splurge and have something that may not be as good for me. That way I don't feel I am missing out on anything. I have tried the Greek yogurt which is supposed to be healthier but even with fresh fruit - it's not my favorite. An ounce or two of a nut/raisin mix can add a few hundred calories.

I have been trying to eat 1/2 of the exercise calories just in case I have miscalculated something. So far I have been loosing 1 to 2 pounds a week - it makes me happy.

Good luck and keep up the great work.

Chocolate milk (if you haven't already heard this), peanut butter!!!

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
Congratulations on your great beginning and all your exercise.

Peanut butter or nuts are great ways to add calories. Starting your day with a higher calorie breakfast and eating every few hours with some good protein are good ways to get more calories.

When I first started on my weight loss journey I didn't try to eat all my exercise calories, just enough so i didn't feel weak and tired. by not eating all my exercise calories, I allowed for the possibility that I was overestimating my exercise calories or underestimating my calories consumed.

Not eating all my exercise calories worked for me.:bigsmile:

When I first started on my weight loss journey I didn't try to eat all my exercise calories, just enough so i didn't feel weak and tired. by not eating all my exercise calories, I allowed for the possibility that I was overestimating my exercise calories or underestimating my calories consumed.

Not eating all my exercise calories worked for me.:bigsmile:

All summer I ate my exercise calories, and I stayed the exact same. I stopped eating my exercise calories (sometimes I eat SOME of them) and the pounds started coming off again. You'll find what works for you, your body will tell you.

Hi. Being Aubrielle's work out buddy, I can say that she's actually (if not burning 1300) burning CLOSE to that amount.

You can't possibly know how many calories she is burning unless you are a human HRM. :laugh: I never said she wasn't working hard. I just questioned her numbers because they were very high for the sorts of exercises she is going and she said she got them from MFP and I know that MFP over-estimates for most people.

Besides, even HRM use formulas so it's still an estimate. It's close, but it can be off by as much as 10% and some HRMs are more accurate than others.

The treadmills, btw, do NOT use HR in their formulas. They are using a straight body weight x minutes worked formula. Some also factor in age, but most of them don't even ask for your age.

When I got a HRM, I found that the machines over-estimated my calories burned for everything I did except running (where they under-estimated until I got fitter). You can't go by them. MFP doesn't ask for your average HR when it calculates your exercise calories, so you can't go by that either. (MFP also over-estimated all my calories burned except for running compared to my HRM.)

I'm sure you can agree with me on the fact that putting your body into starvation mode by not eating a certain amount of calories per day, is NOT good for your diet.

No, I can't agree with that at all. Starvation mode is a myth.

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

I never ate my exercise calories during my weight loss phase. There is nothing wrong with eating some or even all of them, but there is a risk of eating too much and stalling out your weight loss if you over-estimate your calorie burn and studies have shown consistently that people under-estimate what they eat and over-estimate their exercise. Therefore, we have to account for that.

However, I did up my protein as my activity levels increased. That caused my calories to go up somewhat, but nowhere near what I was burning in exercise. It's important to get enough protein when you diet as you want to lose as much fat as possible and as little lean muscle tissue.