I Need opinions

J

Jminor92

New member
I'm trying to use the summer to cut down on calories and I'm taking in about 2800 and burning around 4100 around 2100 is my BMR and I burn 1000 in my lifting routines and 1000+ biking (typically mountain biking). Unfortunately that creates a 1300 calorie deficit. And thus I'm worried I could push myself into starvation mode. Is this a viable worry? Or could I possible even increase the exercise with out having to also eat more? I already have trouble eating enough calories.

Thanks.
 
I'm not really sure I understand what you're asking.

First of all, I'm somewhat skeptical of your numbers. Most people burn about 600 calories an hour in vigorous exercise (give or take a few). Unless you're exercising for 3+ hours a day, I'm having a hard time seeing that you're burning 2000 calories in weight lifting and biking.

Next you're saying you are trying to cut down on calories, but then you finish up with that you already have trouble eating enough calories ... so ... um .. which is it? If you're already having trouble eating enough, then why do you want to cut down?

What exactly is it that you're trying to do?
 
Yeah. I messed up the first sentence. I was tired. Heh. I meant cut down on fat, basically lose fat. and I'm exercising on average 2 and 1/2 hours a day (I have plenty of time to) 1 and 1/2 biking and 45min to an hour lifting. My question though is due to the large deficit am I possibly going to go into starvation mode even though the deficit is mostly from exercise.
 
Oh. Ok, bottom line is NO. :)

Starvation mode is a dieting myth. :) Seriously ... were there any fat people that came out of the concentration camps? No. And if anyone were to trigger "starvation mode" it would have been someone living on 500-800 calories a day and doing hard physical labor.

Metabolic adaptation does happen, but not on that scale - not on the scale that causes you to quit losing weight all together.

Here's the thing - if you're eating 2800 calories, you're getting the nutrition from 2800 calories. That's the most important part. The big problems with metabolic adaptation and nutrition come in when someone tries to do all that exercise on 1000 calories or 800 calories or even (and yes, people ahve come on this board and tried to justify) 500 calories per day. AT that point you're not getting enough nutrition to support your daily needs, much less to support a level of exercise. In that case, you have to start to worry about injury, damage to your body from lack of vitamins and minerals, etc.

At 2800 calories, you shouldn't have to worry about that at all.
 
Have to say, I still doubt you are burning 2000kcals in 2-2.5 hours of exercise.

I used to do that; 2 hours of cardio, I wore a heart rate monitor and tracked the calories my HRM said I was burning and you know what? it tailed off. I'd at best be able to burn 700kcals in the first hour, the second half an hour maybe 300kcals but more likely closer to 200kcals and the final hour I'd be fat slower, I'd maybe make 100-200kcals as I was just working till I dropped and trying to keep myself going.

I did not lose any weight. I'd basicly work till I had no energy and then feel very hungry when I'd finished. I'd eat about 300kcals following that workout and then go home and eat another 500kcals for dinner...(Added to that the previous 10 years of chronic anorexia and bulimia, I had/have a very screwed body). I would add to the above that exercise actually doesn't make that much difference, not in comparison to what you eat.

Try to exercise in short sharp bursts- far less gruelling (unless you like spending 2.5 hours repeating yourself day in day out- I know I hated it) cut down over time rather then all in one go if it freaks you out but please don't make the same mistake I did and assume exercise has that much of a say in your weight.
 
Its not a total stop in weight loss that I'm concerned about, its a slow in the weight loss and the possibility of losing muscle mass with the fat.

As for the exercise, according to my calculator Mountain biking for an 18 year old male that weighs around 220 will burn just under 1300 calories in 90 minutes. Biking at speeds between 12-14 would burn just over 1300 calories. and my lifting routines burn around 600 calories in an hour. So if i do just one biking routine and my lifting that comes to about 1900 calories. (Just showing you my math)

And yes I do enjoy my cardio since I'm not trapped in a gym.
 
Its not a total stop in weight loss that I'm concerned about, its a slow in the weight loss and the possibility of losing muscle mass with the fat.
Click to expand...

Well, your weight loss will slow, unless you start out conservatively and be more aggressive as you lose weight. Typically, the maximum rate of weight loss is 1% of your body weight per week. So, as you lose weight, that 1% becomes less and less. On the other hand, if you try to lose 1lb per week, you should be able to do that forever... at least as long as you weigh more than 100lbs.

Also when you lose weight, you're always in a fight to mainain muscle mass. The more you use your muscles while losing weight, the more you'll keep, but some muscle loss and other lean body mass loss should be expected.
 
As long as you are losing weight at a reasonable rate, like about 1 percent of your body weight per week, there is no reason to worry about it. If it's much faster than that, eat more calories.
 
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