eating back burned calories??

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babypunkprincess
babypunkprincess Posts: 109 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone! I just had a baby 4 weeks ago and the last 2 weeks have been dieting and I'm ready to work out (I'm not breast feeding) I have been eating 1200 calories a day and am down to my pre pregnancy weight (160) but I still want to lost 15-20 pounds. My question is I want to stay at 1200 calories a day cuz I am losing 1.5-2 pounds a week but if I start exercising should I eat back my burnt calories?

I want to start walking 30 mins everyday and doing jillian michaels videos 3x a week.

Thanks!

Replies

  • LisaKay91
    LisaKay91 Posts: 211 Member
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    I have read if you are within that range that maybe you should set your goals less aggressive.. maybe lose .5-1 pound per week so you can eat more but still lose at a safe rate. The way MFP works (if that is what method you're using for weight loss) is eating exercise calories back. You can start at 50% and see how your weight loss goes for a few weeks and adjust them from there.

    I am on 1200, as well but I am also extremely sedentary and only work out 3 days per week. I occasionally eat them back if I am hungry, sick, weak, etc or I will 'bank' them for 2-3 days and have a "cheat meal" without guilt.. such as going out to eat where you know things may be higher calorie than usual. My exercise calories are my buffer for the week in case I get lazy with logging or miscalculate something. Do you use a food scale to weigh all your food? Sometimes those who don't under-calculate their calories for the day and eating back exercise calories may stall losses.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Yes. Exercise will increase your calories out, so to keep your 1.5-2 lb per week loss, you will need to eat a bit more so that your deficit remains the same. If you don't then you will increase your deficit past the point that is considered safe/healthy by NIH. Start with eating 50 % for 4-6 weeks and see what your average weekly loss is. If it's more than 1% bodyweight or more than 2lbs per week; eat more of those calories. If it's less than 1.5 lbs per week or less than you want (not exceeding 2 lbs per week); eat less of those calories.

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