Eating too little?

ajc1309

I'm currently eating around 1200 cals a day and exercising for 35-45 mins, 5 days a week. My bike tells me I'm burning 250-300 cals (250 for 35 mins and 300 for 45 mins).

I haven't weighed myself in over a week so I'm not sure how fast I'm losing right now. I'm 5'3", last time I weighed in I was 134lbs. My goal is around 112lbs. Am I eating too little for that amount of exercise? I also don't eat all of my exercise calories back... I eat about 20-70 calories back.

juggernaut1974

Most likely.

Assuming you're 100% spot on with your calorie calculations (in AND out) you could probably eat a couple hundred calories per day more without any consequences.

But if you're not weighing yourself regularly, there's not really a good way of knowing.

My advice would be to bump up your intake by 150 calories/day or so, and start tracking your weight. Do this for about 6 weeks or so and track your progress. Then, if the weight is coming off too slowly (or too quickly) you can adjust as necessary.

TeaBea

Most MFP users eat back 50-75% of exercise calories....so yeah it's likely too little.

Keep in mind that 1200 before exercise is MFP's lowest minimum default. Plenty of women can lose weight while eating more (just not quite as fast).

With less than 25 pounds to lose, your weekly goal should be no more than 1 pound a week. Aggressive weight loss makes it hard for your body to support existing lean muscle.

ajc1309

I do weigh everything I eat and drink.

My problem is at the moment, I don't own bathroom scales so the only time I can weigh myself is when I visit my in-laws. But I will invest in some.

The last time I weighed in I had lost 4lbs in about 5 weeks I think, that was July 21st. But I also wasn't exercising for 45 mins then, I was just doing about 30 mins.