Eating calories burned?

Hi there -

My 500 calorie deficit is between 1400-1500 calories daily.  My question is, when I workout and burn 300+ calories, should I be eating those calories so my deficit stays around the 500 mark?  I haven't been doing that and am wondering if that could be contributing to the plateau I've encountered?

Thanks!

If you workout to the tune of 300 cals your resting metabolism also goes up a little.  So instead of a 800 cal deficit you might find it's 900 or 1000 instead.  So it does make sense to increase your food intake on days when you do a lot more exercise than normal.

If you've been dieting for several weeks your plateau could indicate that your body has got used to operating on less food.  In which case it makes sense to have a day when you get the full 2000-ish calories you technically need to maintain your weight.  This gives things a boost.

And if you work out several times a week (rather than once in a blue moon) increase your activity level on the CC calculator to something more appropriate.   You may find you need to eat more as your baseline.

Finally... if your BMI is within or close to the healthy 20 - 25 range, weight-loss is very slow going.   Don't know if that applies to you.

Thanks for responding, I was hoping you would, I've seen some of your posts before and you know your stuff! 

I have been working out consistently, 4-5x a week, since October with the exception of a very recent 2 week hiatus due to bronchitis.  Slowly getting back into the groove, only worked out 3x last week and all 3 workouts were very light.  I'm hoping to do 4 days this week with at least 2 of them being my norm. 

Currently my activity level is set to Light.  I have a desk job and workout 30-40 minutes, 4-5x a week (mostly elliptical and jogging).  CC set my daily calories at 1490, but I've been aiming for 1400.  I am very close to a BMI of 25, I think I'm somewhere around 25.8.  I'm totally psyched at the thought that on the days I workout I could eat 1700-1800 calories but am afraid to over-do it.  Sometimes I swear I am putting way too much thought into this and obsessing over every detail, it's tiring!

So based on this, would you say I'd be safe to eat what I burn on the days I workout?

Thank you!

I think, rather than varying your intake up and down by a lot, it helps to go with a more even amount.   If you aimed for a regular 1500-1600 a day and if you tried to be reasonably active (e.g. taking a brisk walk) on the days when you don't formally 'work out' I think you'd see more progress. 

Make sure your food is the good, wholesome sort (lots of vegetables!!) and that it's evenly spaced out during the day.  And, if you find you've been eating the same things too often, now would be a good time to try new recipes and introduce different foods.  Shake things up a little... keep it interesting.  That helps a lot.

 Do make space for a 2000 cal day about every 2 or 3 weeks from now on.  It's a very good way to keep things lively and it's also very good practice for when you move from weight-loss to weight-maintenance.  

I'm in the same boat.  My BMI is about 26 right now and I exercise ALOT (4-5x a week for an hour +)  I love the feeling of working out and I just got a bodybugg so that I could count how many calories I am actually burning.  Some days my total calories burned is 3,500.  I always wonder how many calories I should be consuming on those days...  Does anybody know?

Can you tell me what a bodybugg is?

A Bodybugg is a monitor that you strap to your arm that calculates the amount of calories you burn as long as you have it on, even at rest.  It is used by the members of the Biggest Loser on TV, and advertised primarily through 24 Hour Fitness.  You have to subscribe for the service and pay a month fee in order to download the data and receive a report of daily calories expenditure and intake (you also enter the calories consumed to get the full picture).

I have a used one for sale if anyone is interested.

lsparklz

Original Post by scollom:

Can you tell me what a bodybugg is?

Google is your friend! www.bodybugg.com/

Hello!  I'm really really new to all of this calorie counting and maintaining stuff and I'm still a bit confused by the concept as laid out in this thread.

Over the past month, I've gone from about a 3000 calorie a day diet (with nothing healthy in those 3000 calories) to about 1000-1200 per day, with it almost all being infinitely better for me (no fast foods, more fruits and veggies, no candy, no ice cream, no potato chips).

I've also been increasing my exercise time each day to where I'm at about an hour and a half every day doing something, either brisk walking or cardio stuff at the gym.  As near as I can estimate, I'm burning about 500-1000 calories a day just in exercise.  

Being new to this, I've been trying to keep it simple with "burn more calories than you take in and you'll lose weight."  However, from what I can tell on this thread, that's not necessarily the case.  

Could someone lay it out for me in extremely simplistic terms?  And feel free to use my numbers in any examples you choose to give.  My BMR is 1945.  I'm 40 years old and am 5'8", 210 lbs.  My job is mostly at a computer, with occasional field work.

Thanks in advance.

Signed,

Confused 

Thanks GI-Jane, great information.  I have been dieting for about a year and have dropped about 50 pounds.  I lost most of this since I started walking daily (7 days a week) on the treadmill for an hour at about 3mph and an incline now of 4.5.  I have RA so this is a real push for me and I am not able to do many other forms of exercise but this seems to work for me.  My BMI is down to about 28 so you can see I have a way to go still.  I tend to walk off about 450 calories a day and also use a bodybugg to measure the loss when not on the treadmill since the treadmill tells me what I have burned during my workout.

I found your comments about increasing daily intake to 2,000 periodically interesting.  I'm not sure why you say this is a good idea.  I do increase my intake by an extra 2/3rds of what I exercise off but rarely want to eat more than that.  I'm interested in methods to break those plateaus that we all hit every so often.  It seems if I change my workout some it helps but it does take a few days to do anything.  Any ideas are appreciated and thanks again.  Karen

I would also appreciate being corrected if I'm doing this wrong.  I have only just started calorie counting since it has worked for me in the past and am currently on between 1200-1500 a day.  On top of this I cycle for between 40-60 minutes every day, uphill in the evening, which I am assuming burns approximately 200cals.  Does this mean I'm actually only consuming about 1000-1200 cals a day and is this a healthy amount?  I'm 25 and 146lb.

Hope someone can help

Cheers

Hey, stormgirlz, you also need to provide your height for us to judge, but I`m pretty sure you are undereating by a fair amount, somewhere in the vicinity of 500 cals. I`m sure someone can recommend a reliable calculator. Don`t be afraid to up your intake, even if in the first few days you might notice a little increase in weight. It`s perfectly alright, and in the long run you will lose more steadily, have less trouble maintaining, not to mention your body will thank you. ;) Best of luck!

Stormgirlz,

I'm 26, 5'7" 145 lbs. I had gotten down to from 149 lbs to 138 lbs by exercising 4-5 days a week for half an hour a day and eating 1850 calories or so a day. Then I slacked off for a few months and got back to 145 lbs. My point in telling you this is that when I wasn't eating enough calories, the weight would not come off. I was eating 1500-1600 calories a day and I was in starvation mode. I was hungry all the time and couldn't figure out why. I came on these boards and someone suggested I calculate my BMR and multiply it by my activity level. As soon as I did that I got an appropriate calorie amount, roughly eating 80% of my daily calorie needs. I lost weight in a snap. I didn't keep my exercising up and gained but I'm back at it again and believe I will lose the weight by eatin 1800-1850 a day now.

Erica

I'm not an expert by any means but I'm someone who seems to have achieved long-term victory over the weight adversary for a number of years. From being overweight by at least 30 lbs in college, to being underweight (due to health issues and ulcers) in my 20's, to staying at a healthy weight but (to me at least), not aesthetically pleasing due to softness and body fat during my 30's, in my 40's I've made lifestyle changes that seem to have stuck.  Especially in the past 4 years or so -, I've maintained a very lean physique that I'm finally happy with (age 47, 5'5", 111-115 lbs varying, BMI 18.7, body fat 19%.)  And I've never felt better or had more energy. So here are my two cents:

1) Cardio is not enough for long-term weight loss and maintenance.  You MUST include REGULAR weight-bearing exercise with cardio to work your muscles as well as your heart.  Whether that be intensive yoga (using the body's own weight), pilates, or weight training (in my opinion, the best and easiest solution).  If you have had weight issues in the past or are an athletic-shaped ecto-mesomorph like me,  it's very very difficult to maintain a lean physique being a cardio queen or jogging fanatic alone.  Building up muscle in your body is a surefire way to help your metabolism stay humming, especially when you get to be my age (and with the accompanying hormonal changes).  I see women in the gym all the time who do an hour or more of intensive cardio every day and maybe sit-ups, but they won't go near weights.  I'm sure they are fit, but their bodies never change, and I see them come back year after year.  Don't buy the "you'll bulk up" line. If you have fat on your body, you may appear slightly "bigger" for a while, but it's temporary.  You will see the results as those hungry muscles burn up calories and the fat drops away around them, giving you tone you never knew you had.

2) In addition to weight training to help burn more calories overall and rev up your metabolism, doing intervals in your cardio session makes a HUGE difference.  It not only improves your heart function, it makes your body burn more fuel by the stopping and starting aspect of it.  Once again, I see some of these same women get on the treadmill or the elliptical with a magazine and just go at the same speed for 45 minutes.  They are sweating at the end but they haven't challenged their bodies because they do it every day. I was told by a very well-regarded trainer that I don't have to do intervals every day - maybe every other day.  With a heart rate monitor (which I LIVE by), I'll do 65% effort on the treadmill or elliptical, then sprint for 2 minutes and get my heart rate up to 85%.  Then back down, for a half hour.  My husband and I take hour-long fast walks on weekends and I'll make sure I do at least 3-5 sprints during that walk.  Cycling is great (at least where I live, with a lot of hills) because you automatically are forced to do intervals.  That's also part of the reason spinning is so effective.

3) Personally, I think it's not just "calories in, calories out" but what's in the calories.  Again, I am not a nutritionist.  But I do best trying to keep in the vicinity of the 30-30-40 eating plan.  It may be me, but my body just seems to love to store up carbohydrates for the winter.  Believe me, I eat them - lots of them - but I keep them to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes whenever possible.  Movie popcorn will kill me if I have it more than once every month or two.  

4) Calories - I write everything down.  I am not obsessed - do it once or twice a day - but I am brutally honest.  I write everything down even if I am on vacation and eating 3000 calories a day.  It just makes you so much more aware and conscious - not just of calories but the nutrition (or junk) you are taking in.   But I've noticed that my weight maintenance is at its best when I DO have a 2000-3000 calorie day every couple of weeks.  I try and eat the maximum amount of calories possible and still maintain.  Once in a while I'll "surprise" my body with a couple really low days, as well as high days...and this seems to keep things humming.

5) Junk - trans-fats, processed foods - I'm sorry, but no matter the calories, they just don't get processed by MY body as well as fresh food.  In other words, they may "say" they're 100 calories, but they function in my body as if they're 500.  I stay away from them as much as possible.  ALSO - alcohol.  My body fat dropped from 22% to 20% during the year I gave it up all together and has never gone up since.  Nutrition and exercise brought it down even further.  But it's my personal opinion that for some of us, those 2 glasses of wine a night that may seem "harmless" in the caloric numbers department actually slow the metabolism, cause water retention, andjust plain hold the body back from being all it can be.

Anyway, stormgrlz, you sound like you are working hard and I salute you.  As I said, it took me years to find a method that worked for me on a consistent, long-term basis.  Remember, just by paying attention to what you eat and committing to moving around, you are already giving your body a priceless gift.  If the weight loss slows, don't get discouraged or lose track of the big picture - you are doing what's right for your precious body.  Look at it as a long-term project to tweak your routine until it works for you.

Hi, be careful about dropping your daily calorie intake below 1400.  An average woman burns 1400 lying in bed for 24 hours.  If you eat less than 1400 you will eigher not be able to maintain this for very long or you may slow your metabolism down. 

Losing weight is not about "not eating" it's about eating the right thing at the right time.

WOW!!  It sounds like everyone here is obsessed with excercising!!  I must admit that I never excercise, which I know isn't good, but I think that 5 times a week is a bit much!  I am 5'5" and 95 lbs.  I have claculated my BMR to be about 1200.  I usually eat 1400 calories/day and that seems to maintain my current weight, however, I am constantly very hungry!  Do you think I would be able to up my calories without gaining weight and this low activity level?? (I am a college student, so the kind of activity I get involves walking around campus, and other basic daily activities)

This being my very first posting to this wonderful sight, I hope to not sound too brash, but  nlb235' s post sent chills through my body!  Being 5'5" and weighing in at 95 lbs could have serious consequenses.  This isn't just "borderline" underweight. 

When was the last time you saw a physician?

Please need help, I'm very confused...I'm 24, 5',4" and my weight is 155lb, If I excercise 4 times a week, how many calories do I need to eat daily in order to lose weight? and what should I do to loose 35 pounds as soon as possible?

 I work 4 times a week in an office and 3 nights as a cocktail server and I'am also going to school 2 times a week so I'm very busy during the week..

If you are just starting out and don't have too much background in weight loss, I would suggest you go to the calorie target function under the tools above and enter your information; it should come up with a plan for you.  Try that for a month or so and see how you're doing.  There are all sorts of web sites out there that can help you determine how much to eat and what if you don't care for this one. 

Above all, keep trying!

Regina.

OMG  nlb235 your bunny is sooooo cute!

Thanks ash 3141!!  I love her!  And Colleen1954, I saw my doc about 3 weeks ago.... but that  doesn't matter.  He knows I am underweight... it happens when you are anorexec!  haha, well, I AM working on recovery, but it takes time!!  I am actually only 10 lbs underweight which is a lot better than what I have been in the past.  I have to start with mainenance before I start to go for gaining weight in order not to fall backwards.  But I am still just so surprised at how little everyone here seems to eat and how much excercise they are doing and yet say they are having trouble loosing weight.  The calculator on this site said I should be eating 1200 to maintain my current weight at my curent low activity level, yet I am eating around 1400 and not gaining at all!  My friend who is the same height as me was eating 1700 when she was 95 lbs and that wasn't enough even to make her gain!!  Fore Nikole2108, you should be able to eat at least 2300 cal for maintenance if not more, and so a little less for loosing!  You sound very busy and so you must burn lots of energy!!  And adding excercise to that you would probably be able to increase by 100/200 a day when you excercise!  Just remember the importance of WHAT it is you eat, and watch for those "hidden calories" like the sugar and cream that you may put in your coffee/tea, butter/oil used in cooking, etc.  Stay positive though!