Calories / Working Out

So I am finally going to get more serious with my exercising and join a gym this week. I have been told that, I really don't need to pay attention to my calorie intake, but concentrate more on the protein intake ... but I think with exercising, I really should increase my calories as well. I am currently getting in about 500-700 cal / day, still with only about 50g of protein a day (on average). I don't go back to the clinic for another 3 weeks, so for those of you that are further out than 3 months and exercising ... do you recall how many calories you were consuming at this stage? 

 

I feel that my weight loss had slowed down, well it has generally been slow, losing on average about 1.5 lb a week.  I am going on a cruise in 8 weeks, so would like to tone up some and reach my second goal I have set for myself, by then.  

I just checked My Fitness Pal from about three months out (oh how i MISS eating so little and being full!!) I was averaging 600-800 calories, and I would get at least 300 burned from exercise. I was training for a triathlon at that time, so I probably burned more. I should have been having way more protein than I was getting in. I can't believe how low I had it!!

 

I was also eating in the 600-800 range at that point in time. I don't think it's necessary to increase your calories at this point if you're just starting out. It becomes necessary when people are training very hard, but the average gymgoer does not need to do this. Be vary wary of "eating back" calories burned during exercise. Another thing to keep in mind is that people tent to really overestimate their calories burned so try not to fall into that trap.

Good for you for getting active! You're still losing well

I'm at 5 months out this week and intake about 550 - 750ish calories/day and my protein goal is 75g/day which I hit consistently. At 3 months out I was more around 450 - 600 calories but my protein was more around 60 - 80g/day. My own goal I've made for myself when exercising is to not burn more than 1/3 of my calorie intake doing cardio, plus whatever my body burns while I do weights. I totally made this up so it's not from a professional, but it makes me feel good that I'm not burning all of my calories while exercising, which would be easy to do at this point. After your workout I would say it would be good to get in the habit of having something high in protein right after... like a shake or something and maybe that will help with your intake as well.

In regards to stalls... I was in a big one around your stage then I dropped a lot then I stall for a week or so then drop again. Hopefully it will pick up again for you soon!

I was between 700-800, 90 g of protein daily and about 300 burned during aquafit :) Good luck!

Thanks everyone.  So I currently record everything in My Fitness Pal ... so when I incorporate my exercising, whether it is cardio and weights - they will deduct the calories from what I should be eating?  For example if I ate 700 cals and burned 300 cals, will MFP, show 400 cals for the day?  I just want to make sure I am doing it right.  

 

Also, for those of you that kept track of your exercising as well and if you used MFP, did you find the numbers there were accurate?  I want to make sure I am being as close to accurate as I can be. 

I know, I really need to increase my protein.  I haven't been able to drink the protein powder, at all.  I have tried them different times over the past 3 1/2 months and they aren't going down.  But I really do need to increase it!!  

MFP will show your total calories consumed, and then adds your calories burned from exercise, giving you a "NET" balance.  Some people then feel free to eat those add'l calories, but those of us still in the weight loss phase generally do not.  Having said that, if you DO need to increase somewhat because of strenuous exercise then do so, just be cautious. 

I think it's pretty important to get in enough protein one way or another - at the 3 month stage the nutritionist recommended 75 to 85 gr per day to me.  I will always remember the clinician at one of the HRRH info sessions telling us that protein is critical for muscle health and to remember that your heart is a muscle.  Sooo...especially when increasing exercise for fitness, we shouldn't worry about calories so much as in getting in the proper nutrients (vitamins, etc.) and enough protein to support our bodies.

We are close to the same point. I am doing around 700-800 calories a day with minimal working out. I am about to start adding more cardio in as well. I finally feel comfortable in my own skin and don't feel like working out is going to cause a heart attack!  lol  I am pretty consistent with getting in 60g of protein daily. I am really trying to hit 80-100 but I gag on protein drinks. The ones I finally settled on are only 15g each so to keep calories down I can only have 2 per day. Gotta make the rest up with food, which is hard when you can't eat much. Beef jerky has become my go-to snack since it's pretty protein-dense. I am going to try to not increase my caloric intake at first and see how it goes. I like the idea of a protein drink right after working out. I plan to work out in the morning so maybe I will do the protein drink after working out and before breakfast (egg).

What kind of protein drink did you end up with?