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diet and exercise
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
i would like to think i'm pretty clued up about diet and exercise, i mean i know what i should and shouldn't eat, and i know what exercise suits me and stuff, but one thing that really stumps me is the fact that a lot of diet guides say that in order to lose weight you have to use up more calories than you consume.
because i am overweight and on a calorie controlled diet, i usually consume about 1200 cals a day.
i do some form of exercise every day, like it used to be i would do swimming one day, gym the next, swimming, gym, etc, but recently i have been swimming everyday. in an average workout i would burn about 300 cals and i know that your body still burns cals for a few hours after you finish exercising but surely not as many as 1200? i mean if it is true that you have to burn more cals than you spend, then how am i ever going to lose any weight?
any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
because i am overweight and on a calorie controlled diet, i usually consume about 1200 cals a day.
i do some form of exercise every day, like it used to be i would do swimming one day, gym the next, swimming, gym, etc, but recently i have been swimming everyday. in an average workout i would burn about 300 cals and i know that your body still burns cals for a few hours after you finish exercising but surely not as many as 1200? i mean if it is true that you have to burn more cals than you spend, then how am i ever going to lose any weight?
any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
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Comments
*looks around for someone who may actually know what they are talking about*
Exercise burns calories on top of this rate, and as you said, keeps your metabolism raised for sometime afterwards. Exercise also helps maintain/build muscle and the more muscle your body has, the more calories you burn, even at rest.
1,200 calores a day is too low to be honest. I don't think I'm explaining this very well, but take a look at this - it's a pretty comprehensive guide to how it all works and the science behind it. It is also not sleep deprived and babbling incessantly like I.
Don't get disheartened, keep up your good work (and bump up your flippin' calories woman!)
its not just exercise that helps you loose weight. everything you do in a day burns those calories! for example, it is said that cooking burns 100 cals an hour and sleeping burns 65cals per hour so i mean come on, 8 hours sleep, 65 cals an hour thats er... hmm * doesnt do maths ne more and needs a calculator!!*
well its calories burnt! plus, things like celery (eugh) are negativer calories which means you burn more eating it than is actually in the celery itself! pretty handy i thinks!
but loosing weight doesnt happen over night cos if it did, we'd all be lovely and thin and have nothing to have a good moan about which we all do! just keep doing what you're doing but i wouldnt make your diet as strict as making sure your cals dont rise above a certain amount cos thats wen probs start and u can become obsessive. just enjoy what your doing, dont make dieting a chore!:crazyeyes
Taking exercise is only a small part of it, but also helps because it tones you up.
I don't know how old you are, or how tall/heavy you are, but have you checked your diet out with a doctor first?
i am 18, am 5 foot six inches tall, and i weigh 14 stone.
everyone tells me i carry it well and i dont look 14 stone, but thats not the point, i just hate the thought of weighing that much.
i know weight loss takes time but i mean i have been eating carefully and exercising for about 5 months and nothing is happening. in fact when i started i was 13 and a half stone, so i have put on a half stone, although i know thats muscle cos i can feel it in my arms and legs.
i know im big boned, so i'm not expecting to lose like 4 stone, i would be lucky to lose 2. i have definetely toned up from doing all my exercise, but maybe im just not eating the right kind of food. its very frustrating. i hadn't considered seeing a doctor about my diet but do you think i should?
Besides, at 18 you are still growing...
Susie:)
i weighed myself yesterday and i had lost 4 pounds this week. happy days! i thought. i went shopping today with my pay rise and 4 pounds is nothing really when it comes to clothes.still nothing fitted me. oh well, i thought, never mind.
when i got home i had to rush to work so i didnt have time to pack something for dinner and also i left my purse behind so i had no money. a guy at work offered to buy me something to eat for dinner from the canteen so i got a burger and chips and like a bar of chocolate. and it tasted so good after how healthy i had been eating all week!
but then i felt so guilty. and then i felt totally disgusted with myself. i wanted to make myself sick. i needed to get rid of the full feeling in my stomach, it was like i could feel the fat spreading to different parts of my body. i felt awful, i went to the toilets at work and i was gonna do it when i suddenly realised what i had been thinking of doing.
i have seen so many people around me suffer from eating disorders and i have seen how it has destroyed them and how they have never really gotten over it properly. i always told myself i would never be able to even bring myself to do that. i mean i have made myself sick before, like if i have drank FAR too much and need to clear my system, and i always feel horrible after, my throat and teeth feeling minging like.
but this evening i really wanted to do it. i thought, i will just try it once to see what happens.
this is crazy. i cant stop thinking about food and my weight and how many calories im burning when i exercise and stuff, its just like its taking over, and i want to do something about it before it gets out of control and i do something stupid.
please help me
I actually lost 4 stone myself in the year after i had my baby, so i know how hard it is, and how disheartening it is, when the weight doesnt fall off as quickly as youd like, but making yourslef sick is not the answer, because if anything, it screws your metabolism right up, and makes it harder to lose weight in the long run, also it means you are not actually changing your eating habits and lifestyle so you wouldnt be able to keep the weight off, once youd lost it. the best thing for losing weight though is excercise, I walk absolutely everywhere, and i walk fast - simple things. you dont need to pay for a gym to excercise, walking is free.
hope you get on alright, and remember 1 step at a time
i have been very emotional about a number of things over the past month or so. i think this is what is triggering my frustration and making me think irrationally. i hope that i have the sense and strength to wise up a bit and stop this before it starts.
i know losing weight takes time, and the only way to do it healthily is eating healthy and exercising daily, but its like i refuse to accept it or something, you know, i want all the weight off in one month or something unrealistic like that.
i am exercising every day and have been for the past 2 months or so, although it always seems like im not doing enough, even tho sometimes i know i may be doing too much exercise.
although i work in a leisure centre and get free use of the facilties so thats an incentive. a guy from work and two of the girls have said they want to get fit and lose some weight so we are all gonna start training together, which is good too cos its more fun if your doing it with someone.
at the moment im doing something different everyday, swiming, gym, walking, workout video, etc.
the weekends are the hardest though, i guess cos im off work and im not eating at the same times im eating the rest of the week. i tend to just snack on crappy foods
well i guess i will have to take it one day at a time and see how it goes.
in the meantime thanks very much everyone for the advice
I would guess that this is where the problem is. If you're on a calorie controlled diet in the week of 1200 but then you eat 2500 calories on a sat and sun then you've pretty much started to undo the hardwork you've put in. Why not do a lot of your exercising at the weekend so that it keeps you busy and out and about?
Please never feel that you have to become ill to be thin. I watched my best friend go through bulimia and anorexia and like Rainbow brite said it's definately not the answer to making yourself better
i wouldnt say that my calorie intake doubles at the weekend. and i still exercise at the weekend. i just find that i dont eat actual meals, but rather just snack.
things are getting a little easier, but its hard.
Easting something like a chocolate bar and a hamburger isn't going to make much of a difference in the long run anyway.....its only if you eat that every day that it will happen to make you heavier.
IN fact, you need the fats in unhealthy food for certain processes in your body.
What everyone has been talking about ( the calories that your body needs to maintain itself) is your basal metabolic rate. It depends on your body size and activity. By exercising regualrly, you can increase this...every five pounds of muscle you put on increases it by about 100 claoires a day.
My advice to you.
Drink lots of water. It actually will in crease your metabolism slightly....well, actually it stabilizes the rate, but bottom line is will help. Plus its good for your heart and kidneys.
Cut out soda. Its empty calories. Even chocolate bars have some good things in them, soda has none....even the sugar that is in it is so refined as to give you a minimal health benefit. Cut out one soda a day....140 calories, times 30 days, equals 4200 calories.
one pound of fat is 3500 calories
do not calorie count! it doesn't work. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to combine exercise and a better diet. Exercise raises your metabolism. If you merely diet, your metabolism will slow down to meet your intake. Then when you go back to eating like you used to , you will put the weight back on.
if you have any questions you may PM me.