Calorie Burn (X Post)

Posted this elsewhere, but got to thinking there are frequent questions about adding calories back from exercise on this board. Here are my thoughts:

I forgot to put this in my daily post, but I wanted to share this tidbit. Yesterday I did 5 miles of interval training on the stationary bike. I kept a good heart rate going at about 128-134 bpm for the 5 miles and then cooled down.

I decided to calculate my calories burned since it's been several years since I've ridden the stationary bike. My grand total calorie burn for this exercise was somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-170 calories. Not a whole lot. Looking at that number really brought home why I don't eat back exercised calories. Heck, 150 calories isn't even the number of calories in a Quest Bar! 

I think this really shows why it is so hard to exercise off a bad eating plan. 

Take this for what it's worth to you. This to me also points out how much "machines" and some websites over estimate the number of calories burned for exercise. 

Excellent post!

True....so sadly true....

Which is why I don't stress as much about becoming a gym rat. I walk 5 days a week on my 45 minute lunch from work, because I agree you need movement in your life for health. But I am not so much into busting my ass for an hour doing some hip hop cardio dance class just to burn off the calories in a portion of jerky. Especially because there was a new study I read recently that basically said in black in white it's what you eat not how many hours you spend in the gym. Yes you can build muscle that burns fat I am not saying that isn't a fact.  But multiple doctors and one personal trainer told me you can go to the gym 5 hours a day and bust your ass but if you eat 4 bags of M&Ms that same day you wasted those 5 hours. Not that I am bashing exercise, it's good for your heart and your mental state, just saying when people nag me about going to the gym I just kinda let it roll off my back like water off a duck. My dad harps on me that I won't be able to maintain my weight loss if I don't go even though I walk and as soon as the snow melts my bike is coming out of storage and once it's warm I'll be spending days off at the lake swimming to my hearts content for hours I should have been born a mermaid I spend so much time swimming. I just tell my dad "you do you, I'll do me, this is my journey and my body doesn't function like that of a normal person's anymore because my anatomy has changed."

As I have read somewhere:

You eat correctly to lose weight.

You exercise to get healthy.

I'm sure there's a little overlap there, but it's true that you can't exercise weight off long term.

psychoticparrot

Excellent post!!!! I lift weights because I love it....in fact I became obese working out 5 days a week....it's for health not weight loss! I was morbidly obese and had no comorbiities and I atribute that to the exercise.

Great post kairk. I get weary reading posts from people that think they are burning 700 or 1,000 calories from a workout. I think a lot of folks are just trying to rationalize eating more.

Exercise is wonderful, fantastic for your health. I admire those that devote themselves to it. But it's not how we lose weight.