started tracking calories: I routinely eat 4000-5000/day yet dont burn nearly that amount

The undigested calories in your poop could feed a small family in Africa.

Velociraptor wrote:

The undigested calories in your poop could feed a small family in Africa.

Can I monetize that?

I think, A) you don't know how to count calorie intake (not unusual) or B) you don't know how to calculate calories burned, or C) and most likely, you can't do either.

Some people do have a high rate of metabolism though

KJ wrote:

I think, A) you don't know how to count calorie intake (not unusual) or B) you don't know how to calculate calories burned, or C) and most likely, you can't do either.

That could be, but it's not rocket science, is it? I use myfitnesspal. They estimate my metabolic rate, it's probably wrong but close enough, and I figure 100 calories per 1 mile run. Now I might be a little conservative with my counting of the calories (i.e. I'd rather overestimate than underestimate), but even if I corrected for both of those things, I doubt it would make a huge different in how much I eat. I eat a lot. A lot. And I only run 7-9 miles a day. And I have a desk job.

IlikeYoutube wrote:

That could be, but it's not rocket science, is it? I use myfitnesspal. They estimate my metabolic rate, it's probably wrong but close enough, and I figure 100 calories per 1 mile run. Now I might be a little conservative with my counting of the calories (i.e. I'd rather overestimate than underestimate), but even if I corrected for both of those things, I doubt it would make a huge different in how much I eat. I eat a lot. A lot. And I only run 7-9 miles a day. And I have a desk job.

I have the same "problem". I run about 70 mpw, mostly not very hard, I have a desk job, and I only weigh about 115 pounds (a perfectly reasonable weight for a small framed 5'5" woman). And I'm almost 60 years old. But whenever I start to count calories I get up to about 4000 before the end of the day and stop counting in horror. I've been this way all my life and I never could figure it out.

Do you mind sharing a typical day's menu? I would like to see what 4k looks like for a healthy person. Have counted only infrequently, usually found myself in the ~2500 range. (Male, 5'11, 160, 60 MPW)

So much of this depends on your age, height, weight, and what type of job you have. Also how much do you sleep? Do you run in hilly areas? Do you run when it's hot? How much quality work do you do? How healthy is this 5000 cal diet? If you want an actual accurate answer, you need to provide more information. So many things could play a role in this.

Also 100 cal per mile is very unlikely to be an accurate measurement. Maybe if you are a 2:30:xx marathoner running 10:00 miles it is feasible, but I highly doubt you are burning that few calories during your runs. Amount of calories burned, can also vary based on the conditions (hills, speed, possibly heat).

FriendlyLobo wrote:

Also 100 cal per mile is very unlikely to be an accurate measurement. Maybe if you are a 2:30:xx marathoner running 10:00 miles it is feasible...

Why?

FriendlyLobo wrote:

So much of this depends on your age, height, weight, and what type of job you have. Also how much do you sleep? Do you run in hilly areas? Do you run when it's hot? How much quality work do you do? How healthy is this 5000 cal diet? If you want an actual accurate answer, you need to provide more information. So many things could play a role in this.

Also 100 cal per mile is very unlikely to be an accurate measurement. Maybe if you are a 2:30:xx marathoner running 10:00 miles it is feasible, but I highly doubt you are burning that few calories during your runs. Amount of calories burned, can also vary based on the conditions (hills, speed, possibly heat).

An average sized male will burn about 120 cals per mile, and women about 105 cals. There are not many variables beyond your weight (of course if you're running up hills this will increase the calories burned, but most people running 60/week are not running all those miles up hills).

For a 60 mile/week women runner, maintenance calories will be about 2900/day, and likewise for a runner man, 3300/day.

4-5000 calories is a ton of food. You'd have to intentionally be eating a lot of clean food, or even a good amount of junk. Can you post a typical day?

OK so here is what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast: smoothie after my run (2 bananas, 2 servings peanut bill, 2 cups almond milk, some protein powder)

Lunch: McDonald's southwest crispy chicken salad (no dressing), apple

Dinner: sushi night! (15 pieces sashimi, 4 pieces nigiri, miso soup, side salad with ginger dressing, 4 pieces veggie tempura, approx 2 cups cooked rice with sashimi. one gin and tonic before dinner

Snacks: 2 servings pimento cheese w/15 saltine crackers, banana, 2 small containers diced pears, 2 whisky manhattans

Myfitnesspal tells me this is around 4500 cals. I ran 12 miles yesterday, so I should be about +1000 in the calorie department. Yesterday might have been a little unusual only in that it was a weekend so I drank a bit more, but I also ran a bit more than I usually do.

There's no way that's 4500 calories. Your smoothie is maybe 500 with lunch another 500 at best. A piece of sushi is between 35 and 60 calories according to google so your dinner comes out to 1200 calories plus or minus. Your snacks and drinks are about 500 as well.

Add that all up and your total is under 3000 calories, just what would be expected for someone at your body weight and activity level.

Eating 5000 calories clean is an unreal amount of food. Even eating junk reaching 5000 a day consistently requires a concentrated effort.

I can only report what myfitnesspal tells me. So the original thought that accurately reflecting calorie intake might be right.

Myfitnesspal is pretty accurate. This is definitely a case of user error.

I think you might be underestimating how many calories are in 2 cups of rice, veggie tempura, the alcoholic beverages, etc. etc.

15 pieces sashimi = 500

4 pieces nigiri = 150

miso soup + side salad with ginger dressing = 50

4 pieces veggie tempura = 200

approx 2 cups cooked rice with sashimi = 400

one gin and tonic before dinner = 100

total = 1400

Eye balling it I was 200 calories short. That still puts you at 2900 calories for the day--a far cry from 4500.

Myfitnessspal has the 4 pieces of nigiri at 320, not 150. The tempura at 315, not 200. A giin and tonic is way more than 100; myfitnesspal says 160 (and that assumes a fairly light (i.e. standard 1.5 ounce) pour).

Once you start realizing that you're 20-120% off on each of these items, you can see how you can reach 4500 easily.

I'm literally looking at myfitnesspal right now. 6 pieces of tempura is listed at 320 calories. That means 4 pieces is just over 200 calories. I have no idea what kind of nigri you even ate because it's a generic catchall term for a mound of rice with a piece of fish lying on top of it. Most listed on myfitnesspal are in the 35-50 range per piece, so my estimate isn't that far off.