1200 calories to lose weight. Food alone or adjust with exercise?

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Katelin7141
Katelin7141 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I always thought that the recommended calories amount is the daily calories recommendation whether I exercise or not. Myfitnesspal adds calories that I am allowed to eat when I exercise and active during the day. I don't do any hardcore exercise like crossfit or anything. Should I be eating based off the calorie adjustment from myfitnesspal or go for 1200? :) Thank you everyone

Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,041 Member
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    My activity level is set at sedentary ... because I'm sedentary. On average I probably only exercise a couple hours a day, so that leaves a whole lot of sedentary time in there.

    Therefore the calories MFP gives me are my completely sedentary calories. In my case, 1350.

    Then when I do exercise, I log that, and eat some of those calories back.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. So you do eat 1200+

    However, keep in mind calorie burns are going to be estimates. Many people eat back 50-75%. Start with a %, then adjust this against your actual progress as time goes by.

    1200 is a default minimum, so unless you are very petite this is already a pretty small number.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Just want to re-emphasize that eating back your exercise calories is the way MFP is set up.
    Eat your goal calories to lose the weight, your exercise calories (50-75%) to fuel your workouts.

    Cheers, h.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    When eating the absolute minimum like you are I always recommend to eat back at least a portion of exercise calories.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,003 Member
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    Mfp is designed for you to eat back the exercise calories that you earn. You should be netting 1200. Sometimes the calorie estimates are over inflated, so it is a good idea to start by eating about 50% of the exercise calories and then after about 4 weeks reevaluate. If you are losing faster than expected you can eat back more of your exercise calories.
  • ridge4mfp
    ridge4mfp Posts: 301 Member
    edited June 2016
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    Although it's not what you asked, many find that 1200 is difficult to maintain, so adding exercise for additional calories is strongly recommended. I got down to a goal of 1240 before slowing my loss (now at 1390), and I found I really needed the exercise calories.
  • Katelin7141
    Katelin7141 Posts: 13 Member
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    Thank you everyone! That makes more sense. :)
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    ridge4mfp wrote: »
    Although it's not what you asked, many find that 1200 is difficult to maintain, so adding exercise for additional calories is strongly recommended. I got down to a goal of 1240 before slowing my loss (now at 1390), and I found I really needed the exercise calories.

    I'm going to agree with all of the above responses, but especially this. I started with 1200 and found that I still lose weight when eating 1400-1500 before exercise calories and it makes it a lot easier for me. I don't know what your stats are, but I'm 5'1 and currently 160lbs. I started at 220, eating around 1600-1800 a day.

    I also agree with doing the percentage of calories you burn and also investing in a heart rate monitor if you have the money. I have one (as well as a FitBit) and it has been absolutely incredible for my weight loss progress.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    Personally, I never track or log calories from exercise. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.
  • Katelin7141
    Katelin7141 Posts: 13 Member
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    The funny thing is I went to the articles section of the gold membership and there was an article discussing this topic. Basically it recommends NOT eating the exercise calories back if trying to lose weight. The times it does recommend eating them back is if you do really intense training at 1+ hours a few times a week or want to gain weight. I love that article section. :)
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    I prefer to have a low calorie allowance and eat exercise back. Others prefer to have a higher allowance and they don't eat the exercise back. I believe that's personal preference and comes to the same thing in the end.

    What I think most people here would find concerning is the idea of having a low calorie allowance like 1200, and NOT eating exercise back. 1200 as your total calorie intake would be terribly low and unlikely to be sustainable. So if you want to keep 1200 as your goal, you need to eat back your exercise.

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