Why do people set the juddd calculator to little or no exercise?

[raquelena]

Is it because people actually do no exercise or another reason? It's been alluded to quite a few times that there may be another reason but I can't seem to find it!

Thanks!

[Yam-Yam]

I've seen Pat and Beeb, I think, and other very successful JUDDers post that in their opinion, the exercise calories that are added in on those sites are over estimated. Pat always says, why would you want to eat back the calories you worked so hard to burn off if you don't have to and if you are trying to lose weight?

However, if you do strenuous exercise and feel hungry all the time and feel like your body is not getting enough nutrition, you can experiment with upping your calories and see if you still lose. Some lose even better when they do it.

[raquelena]

Hmmm ok thanks I'm still not sure if that makes sense though! Say if you average your calorie intake to be 1200 per day eg 500/1900 but then burn off 300 cals every day in exercise that'll take your average to 900, which is likely to put you into a stall no? Maybe I'm just understanding this wrong!

Does anyone regulary exercise and either eat back or not eat back their exercise calories? Would love to hear from your experiences!

[DD80]

I work out 5-7 days/wk for 60-90 mins (sometimes more) and I put the 1-3 times/week into the calculator. I do sometimes go over my cals still, but I was way too hungry at "no exercise" calorie limit. I'd say find what works for you. I guess my answer is that I eat back some of the calories I burn.

Edited to add: I'm losing pretty well too!

[Dottie]

Maybe because how many calories you, as an individual, burn can't be accurately calculated using generic tables?
What you burn is comprised of so many factors (type of exercise, metabolism, temperature, thyroid function, intensity level, etc), it's really impossible for a table or simple pulse monitor type of equipment to give you an accurate accounting.

[thomasina838]

Originally Posted by raquelena

Is it because people actually do no exercise or another reason? It's been alluded to quite a few times that there may be another reason but I can't seem to find it!

Thanks!

well when i picked the exercise level i do (3 times a week - light) i got so many cals for the up days that i gained weight. not my intent. and it was very difficult to get in 2000 cals per day. i had no trouble with 400 on the DDs. but i was gaining. so that obviously wasnt going to work for me.

if i pick sedentary then i get about 1800 cals for the UD and i can get that in. also it is about 200 cals more than what it took to keep me stabilized this last year or two. so this week i am doing 1800/350 - 400. i wont know till i weigh in on Friday if that fixed things for me. once i started talking about that other people started reporting the same thing. it seems like for many the UD cals has to be about 200 more than whatever it used to take you to stabilize and 20 - 35% of that for the DDs. you need that swing.

[thomasina838]

Originally Posted by raquelena

Hmmm ok thanks I'm still not sure if that makes sense though! Say if you average your calorie intake to be 1200 per day eg 500/1900 but then burn off 300 cals every day in exercise that'll take your average to 900, which is likely to put you into a stall no? Maybe I'm just understanding this wrong!

Does anyone regulary exercise and either eat back or not eat back their exercise calories? Would love to hear from your experiences!

you dont know what your exercise cals are. that is the problem. you may think it is 300 cals but after you have been doing it a while you burn less and less as your body get used to it.

if you pick one level down from what you actually do on the JUDDD calculator and it is not enough to cover your exercise you will be hungry on the UDs. your body will tell you.

[Luna Loca]

I also read somewhere that the calories you burn from working out aren't really what they mean when they talk about sedentary or moderate or heavy exerciser. They're talking about what you do most of the time. So if you sit most of the time, and work out hard for one hour a day, you're sedentary. If you're on your feet but not walking around, it would be light activity. If you're walking all day, like a waitress, then it would be moderate, and if you're doing manual labor then it'd be heavy exercise. Since most Americans sit all day, the usual advice is to select little to no exercise.

Makes sense to me.

[adillenal]

My reason is because I do not exercise and even if I did I would not be burning many calories because I would not be exercising for long periods of time. Plus I see it as a wash. Eat 100 calories, exercise off 100 calories. What have I accomplished?

[DD80]

Originally Posted by adillenal

My reason is because I do not exercise and even if I did I would not be burning many calories because I would not be exercising for long periods of time. Plus I see it as a wash. Eat 100 calories, exercise off 100 calories. What have I accomplished?

I agree in theory and I see what you are saying here. I won't go into all the heart/lung benefits of exercising, but I would like to mention that exercise, especially weight training, builds muscle, which increases your calorie burning power througout the entire day. So, the more I train, the more I burn calories at rest. So, while I don't want to replace all the calories I burned (let's say 200 for the 60 min workout), if I'm hungry, then I will eat something because not only did I burn the extra calories, but I'm burning more throughout the day - I'm feeding my higher metabolism, which is a good thing! This is why I say, listen to your body and experiment!

Also, as a side note, if you use a heart rate monitor or something else to estimate calories, you need to take into considersation how many calories you would have burned if you had not been exercising. For example, If I burned 200 cals during a 60 min exercise, then I would want to subtract the amount of calories I would normally burn in that hour doing no exercise (let's say 50) from that total, to come up with 150 cals burned. IF I were hungry, I would probably only replace 50-100. I find that because I work out on both DDs and UDs, I am a bit hungrier on some days. Again, I want to feed my metabolism.

[adillenal]

I walk but I don't consider that exercise since it really accomplishes little. I used to use our BowFlex but injured my shoulder (wrestling a goat that didn't want to load at the state fair) and I am still recupertaing so I doubt if I have any muscles to burn fat. Guess if I weren't so lazy I would do the lower body workout, no shoulder involved there. I am slowly starting to do my ttapp exercises again. And I mean SLOWLY. They even stress my shoulder so I am being uber careful. I look at exercise as a means to better health but not something that will help me lose weight because I will never be doing anything near as much as those poor people on Biggest Losers do. And it is sad but I absolutely HATE exercise. I have free weights and a weight bench in addition to the Bow Flex too. It isn't like I don't have access to the equipment. In fact I actually have a workout room. Now I am starting to feel guilty.

[DD80]

Originally Posted by adillenal

I walk but I don't consider that exercise since it really accomplishes little. I used to use our BowFlex but injured my shoulder (wrestling a goat that didn't want to load at the state fair) and I am still recupertaing so I doubt if I have any muscles to burn fat. Guess if I weren't so lazy I would do the lower body workout, no shoulder involved there. I am slowly starting to do my ttapp exercises again. And I mean SLOWLY. They even stress my shoulder so I am being uber careful. I look at exercise as a means to better health but not something that will help me lose weight because I will never be doing anything near as much as those poor people on Biggest Losers do. And it is sad but I absolutely HATE exercise. I have free weights and a weight bench in addition to the Bow Flex too. It isn't like I don't have access to the equipment. In fact I actually have a workout room. Now I am starting to feel guilty.

Don't feel guilty! I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty! I'm sorry.

If you have injuries, you need to start slow and do what you can! If you just like walking, then do that. I have lots of injuries and limitations - I just do what I can and I find exercises that I like to do (If I had to walk on a treadmill for an hour, I wouldn't do it - I just don't like that). I also modify if I can't do something in a class I take. I used to feel weird about it, but after hurting myself because of my stubborness multiple times, I just modify and smile while doing it.

[adillenal]

No, No. YOU didn't make me feel guilty. I look at all of my expensive equipment (bought when DS and I used to lift weights together when he was in junior high) and it just sits there gathering dust. I also have a treadmill but prefer using it in the morning and DH complained due to the noise so I try to walk outside on the oilfield road. Only safe place since we live on a paved road. I would get killed trying to walk down the paved road.
I really do need to exercise though. BUT I won't add the calories in since it would defeat my purpose of tracking calories. In my opinion.

[thomasina838]

Originally Posted by adillenal

My reason is because I do not exercise and even if I did I would not be burning many calories because I would not be exercising for long periods of time. Plus I see it as a wash. Eat 100 calories, exercise off 100 calories. What have I accomplished?

increased muscle tone; better cardio vascular health. a few things like that. still not a weight loss maneuver

[adillenal]

I guess I forgot to mention that I have a very active lifestyle. I have many outside chores to do twice a day as well. I regularly lift and move 50 pound sacks of feed. I also do craft shows where I move all of my display in and set up (by myself) in the morning and tear it down again and haul it all back out at the end of the day. Formal exercise is what I do not do much of. At work I walk the halls every hour for 10 minutes mainly becasue I am cold and trying to warm up.

[KathyL]

I exercise 6-7 days per week and avg. 1.5 hours each day. At least half of it is walking (treadmill, outdoors, and with a video, and sometimes there is jogging/slow running included). I use the numbers for 'moderate' exercise. If I used the 'no exercise' option I would only get 300/1500 calories. And that's just not enough to keep my metabolism going good. With the 'moderate' option I get 389/1947 though I generally use 400 (and sometimes fast completely)/1850.

[Kissa]

I generally do 3 or 4 hour long classes a week, Zumb, Combat, Aerobic/toning and the like.

I still enter no exercise as I know I don't work as hard as the younger women in those classes. I have seldom eaten at my DD cals, around 360, more like 400 to 500. I last well right from the start, thigh I didn't have much to lose.

I now eat up to 500 or more and maintain well below goal.

[raquelena]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts!

why would you want to eat back the calories you worked so hard to burn off if you don't have to and if you are trying to lose weight?

Originally Posted by adillenal

I see it as a wash. Eat 100 calories, exercise off 100 calories. What have I accomplished?

Hmm my point is if you're gonna exercise but then still keep to the same JUDDD numbers because you don't want to 'do all that exercise for nothing' you might as well not exercise (leaving aside that exercise in itself has other benefits apart from calorie burn!) and just eat less. But this of course is silly. If you look at it from a calories in and out, your remaining calories will be too low.

eg normally I eat 500/1900 = average 1200 cals

if i start exercising that burns 300 cals now average is 900 cals, which people seem to be suggesting is ok?

But to me, this is the equivalent of saying 'pfft, stuff exercise' i'll just eat 300 cals less so 200/1600 = 900 cals average.

Opinions? Am I being silly here?

[DD80]

Originally Posted by raquelena

Thanks for everyone's thoughts!



Hmm my point is if you're gonna exercise but then still keep to the same JUDDD numbers because you don't want to 'do all that exercise for nothing' you might as well not exercise (leaving aside that exercise in itself has other benefits apart from calorie burn!) and just eat less. But this of course is silly. If you look at it from a calories in and out, your remaining calories will be too low.

eg normally I eat 500/1900 = average 1200 cals

if i start exercising that burns 300 cals now average is 900 cals, which people seem to be suggesting is ok?

But to me, this is the equivalent of saying 'pfft, stuff exercise' i'll just eat 300 cals less so 200/1600 = 900 cals average.

Opinions? Am I being silly here?

Go back and read my answer above. I think that you should do what is comfortable for you. I eat back some of my calories because I work out a lot and I'm hungry. I don't want to be hungry.

I think that if I burn 300 cals, then I should probably have a protein rich snack after my workout to feed my muscles. Some days, I don't feel like eating, so I don't, but for the most part, I will have a 100-160 cal snack after a workout. I do think of these as extra calories that I can choose to have or not have, but most diets I have been on (even strict ones) say to have a protein rich snack (protein shake, cheese, almonds) after working out.

I've heard over and over (even from low carb guys) that working out is for cardiovascular health and toning up, but is not a good tool for weight loss because people tend to eat back the calories they burn because they are hungrier. Diet is really what counts when trying to lose weight. I believe that this is true for the most part. I don't think I eat back all my calories (I'm sure some days I do), but I do not mind eating them if I feel I need them.

I hope this makes sense!

[raquelena]

Originally Posted by DD80

Go back and read my answer above. I think that you should do what is comfortable for you. I eat back some of my calories because I work out a lot and I'm hungry. I don't want to be hungry.

I think that if I burn 300 cals, then I should probably have a protein rich snack after my workout to feed my muscles. Some days, I don't feel like eating, so I don't, but for the most part, I will have a 100-160 cal snack after a workout. I do think of these as extra calories that I can choose to have or not have, but most diets I have been on (even strict ones) say to have a protein rich snack (protein shake, cheese, almonds) after working out.

I've heard over and over (even from low carb guys) that working out is for cardiovascular health and toning up, but is not a good tool for weight loss because people tend to eat back the calories they burn because they are hungrier. Diet is really what counts when trying to lose weight. I believe that this is true for the most part. I don't think I eat back all my calories (I'm sure some days I do), but I do not mind eating them if I feel I need them.

I hope this makes sense!

Yea, I think I agree with the majority of what you've said. I think my problem is that at university (I study medicine) they constantly bang on about myths society believes that have no scientific backing that I find it really hard to know what is actually true! I think I'm just gonna stick to DD calories and on UD i'll eat if I'm hungry. And if I start to stall I'll eat more if that is physically possible!

[DD80]

Originally Posted by raquelena

Yea, I think I agree with the majority of what you've said. I think my problem is that at university (I study medicine) they constantly bang on about myths society believes that have no scientific backing that I find it really hard to know what is actually true! I think I'm just gonna stick to DD calories and on UD i'll eat if I'm hungry. And if I start to stall I'll eat more if that is physically possible!

There are lots of myths...I think that's why you need to figure out what works best for you. Science isn't always correct and it is constantly changing.

Try out a calorie rotation and see if you lose on it. If you don't, then change it up! See what works.