Should you work out while on a 1200 calorie diet??

TiffKouns

I am on a 1200 calorie a day diet and have been told you shouldn't workout while on this diet? I feel like I can loose more if I add in exercise! I love to be active! I have lost about 13 lbs so far in 22 day! Need to lose 25 more

psuLemon

With as little weight you have to lose, 1200 calories probably isn't right for you, especially if you are active. Also, if you follow MFP's structure, you are supposed to eat back exercise calories.

Another thing to consider is to follow the TDEE method (there are TDEE calories).

DemoraFairy

Yes. Work out and eat back your exercise calories!

Fayeworth

Of course you can exercise whilst on the 1200 diet but I strongly advise that you eat more calories on those days. It is recommended not to dip below 1200 so say you then go and burn 500 exercising, you're only actually eating 700 which is just not enough to give your body the energy/nutrients it needs. I have read many posts on this site and most say to eat back some, if not all, of your exercise calories. Hope this helps.

TiffKouns

That's another question I had do you eat back your exercise calories?

DemoraFairy

tkouns2015 wrote: »

That's another question I had do you eat back your exercise calories?

Click the exercise tab at the top and search for the exercise you did and add it as you would add food. It'll add the calories to your total. Though some people prefer not to eat all their exercise calories back as machines and MFP tend to over estimate how many calories you burn.

Edit: Whoops I misread that as how do you eat back your exercise calories lol. Yes eat them back, or at least some of them.

psuLemon

Yes, if you follow MFP, you should eat back exercise calories. And with only 25lbs to lose, you should be aiming to lose 1lb per week. This will probably end up with around 1700 to 2100 calories (especially if you exercise 5 to 6 hours a week).

If you want, post your height, weight, age and workout routine and we can make a recommendation.

queenliz99

tkouns2015 wrote: »

That's another question I had do you eat back your exercise calories?

yes eat back most or all your calories.

TiffKouns

My age is 39 will be 40 first of April! I am 5'2 1/2 , weight right now is 149 I started at 162 my goal is 125 to 130! I love to fast walk outside or I go to the gym and do 30 mins cardio and then weights on all parts of the body on different days! Mostly I do cardio tho, gym days are few and far

4bettermenow

Everyone is different. I am at 1200 a day...5'2" and weigh currently 176. Down from 203. I workout 5 days a week, either walking or 30 day shred or both. I typically only eat back about half my exercise calories and it is all dependent on how hungry I am. I rarely go over 1200 net and when I do, its typically the week before TOM, when my body is just hungrier. I am satisfied at my calorie intake, but it took me a couple of months of playing with my intake to get it right for me. So, you find what works for you.

psuLemon

tkouns2015 wrote: »

My age is 39 will be 40 first of April! I am 5'2 1/2 , weight right now is 149 I started at 162 my goal is 125 to 130! I love to fast walk outside or I go to the gym and do 30 mins cardio and then weights on all parts of the body on different days! Mostly I do cardio tho, gym days are few and far

How often do you go to the gym?

TiffKouns

4bettermenow wrote: »

Everyone is different. I am at 1200 a day...5'2" and weigh currently 176. Down from 203. I workout 5 days a week, either walking or 30 day shred or both. I typically only eat back about half my exercise calories and it is all dependent on how hungry I am. I rarely go over 1200 net and when I do, its typically the week before TOM, when my body is just hungrier. I am satisfied at my calorie intake, but it took me a couple of months of playing with my intake to get it right for me. So, you find what works for you.

Serah87

BINGO!!

OP READ THIS: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

TiffKouns

I have never been over my 1200 calories yet

TiffKouns

tkouns2015 wrote: »

I have never been over my 1200 calories yet

psulemon wrote: »

tkouns2015 wrote: »

My age is 39 will be 40 first of April! I am 5'2 1/2 , weight right now is 149 I started at 162 my goal is 125 to 130! I love to fast walk outside or I go to the gym and do 30 mins cardio and then weights on all parts of the body on different days! Mostly I do cardio tho, gym days are few and far

How often do you go to the gym?

TiffKouns

I honestly go maybe once or twice a week , if it's nice outside I will walk about a 3 mile radius in the evenings! But if I don't get to walk I will go to the gym

psuLemon

I would probably put you around 1300 to 1400 calories since you aren't overly too active. I would recommend macros around 40% carbs, 30% fats and proteins. If you want to increase calories, then all you need to do is average more exercise.

mcibty

DemoraFairy wrote: »

Yes. Work out and eat back your exercise calories!

This. Thank you. Close thread.

+ obligatory note that 1,200 is probably too low.

TiffKouns

psulemon wrote: »

I would probably put you around 1300 to 1400 calories since you aren't overly too active. I would recommend macros around 40% carbs, 30% fats and proteins. If you want to increase calories, then all you need to do is average more exercise.

TiffKouns

Awesome! Thank you so much!

TiffKouns

Awesome! Thank you so much!

MKEgal

tkouns2015 wrote:

I am on a 1200 calorie a day diet (sic) and have been told you shouldn't workout (sic) while on this diet (sic)? I feel like I can loose (sic) more if I add in exercise! I love to be active! I have lost about 13 lbs so far in 22 day (sic)! Need to lose 25 more

You should ask whoever put you on this diet (your doctor? dietician?). Probably they'll say yes, you should exercise, but make sure it's OK for you.

If you're just a regular person who's come to MFP hoping to lose weight, then get the "I'm on a diet" idea out of your head. Diets are temporary. Once you're "off my diet" you'll go back to how you used to eat, and you'll get fat again. If you want to make a permanent change, make better eating habits & exercise regularly.

30 min of cardio will maintain your weight. To lose, you'll want to do more, possibly twice that. Cardio is the most effective way to burn calories. Weightlifting will have you looking fabulous once you lose the fat, because your muscles will be toned, so keep up with that. (If you don't like going to the gym, google body weight workouts.)
.

tkouns2015 wrote:

My age is 39 will be 40 first of April! I am 5'2 1/2 , weight right now is 149 I started at 162 my goal is 125 to 130! I love to fast walk outside or I go to the gym and do 30 mins cardio and then weights on all parts of the body on different days! Mostly I do cardio tho, gym days are few and far

Going by BMI a healthy weight for your height would be 105 - 130. So your goal is reasonable.

But with a goal of losing only 30 lb you're losing too fast. 4 lb a week could be healthy if you'd started out more than 100 lb overweight (I've managed it a couple of weeks), but you should be aiming for 0.5 lb, and as you get closer to goal that will slow to even less, maybe 0.25 lb.

My doctor & dietician told me to eat 10x my healthy goal weight in calories & ignore exercise calories. I started off doing that (1700), but as I lost weight & hit plateaus, I adjusted calories down by 50-100 at a time, so now I'm about 300 cal under the "10x goal weight" idea (1400). Usually ignore exercise calories, and it's been working for me.

The reasons for ignoring exercise calories:
most people underestimate what they eat
most machines (including MFP) overestimate calories burned
For most people, most of the time, those more or less cancel out.

Here's a newbie help post where I compiled links to helpful info, including sexypants (which was already posted... go read it now, then come back here), realistic goal setting (weight, calories, macros), accurate food logging/weighing, motivation, etc.

MKEgal

psulemon wrote:

I would recommend macros around 40% carbs, 30% fats and proteins.

That's outside of a healthy range for carbohydrates (too low).

Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges:
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx

page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

psuLemon

MKEgal wrote: »

psulemon wrote:

I would recommend macros around 40% carbs, 30% fats and proteins.

That's outside of a healthy range for carbohydrates (too low).

Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges:
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx

page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

Considering protein and fats are essential macronutrients and carbs are not, there is no reason to not deviate from "those" standards. There really are no adverse affects from going lower than 45% as long as you don't have a medical issue or a binge issue.

Also, that link doesn't provide any evidence against it.