Ok Supposed to eat 1200 calories I also workout, Does that mean I can eat the calories I burned?

NorthCascades

scrapperthoke wrote: »

Not if you want to lose weight, but be careful because your body may need more calories depending on the type of exercise you are doing, intensity, and duration. It is all about calories in vs. calories out and working towards a deficit so you lose fat. It also depends on the type of calories you consuming. Make them count and be high in nutrients and fuel your body will use instead of store away like a squirrel and its nuts. Find your balance.

Really? Because I lost 75 lbs and ate back the calories I burned while I did it.

kgirlhart

cheryldumais wrote: »

I was on 1200 calories for a year. I lost 72 pounds at a rate of 1.4 per week average. I ate back about half of my exercise calories. I had set my loss for 2 pounds a week. Did I not lose that fast because I ate half of my exercise calories? Who knows. Just my experience. Good luck.

Since 1200 is the minimum mfp will give you it is likely that 1200 was not a 1000 calorie deficit. If you put in for 2 pounds per week but a 1000 calorie deficit will give you a goal of 1150, then mfp will give you 1200. It is possible that your exercise calories were not accurate, but it is also possible that you were only at a 750 calorie deficit instead of 1000.

kgirlhart

If you are using mfp for your goal you are supposed to eat back the exercise calories. That is how this site works. If you used another site and a TDEE calculator for your goal then don't eat the exercise calories. But if you used mfp for your goal you are supposed to be eating back your exercise calories. /those of you saying that you don't eat the exercise calories because you are trying to lose weight are not properly using mfp. Your deficit is already built into your goal so that you can lose weight without any exercise at all. Yes, sometimes the exercise burns may be overstated and so it is ok to only eat back a portion of the exercise calories to see how that goes. After about 4 weeks or so you will know if you are losing at your expected rate then you are good. If you are losing faster then you should eat back more exercise calories and if you are losing slower then eat back less. I feel it is especially important for your health that if you are at the minimum calorie goal (1200 for women, 1500 for men) then you need to eat back at least a portion of those calories.

WinoGelato

kgirlhart wrote: »

If you are using mfp for your goal you are supposed to eat back the exercise calories. That is how this site works. If you used another site and a TDEE calculator for your goal then don't eat the exercise calories. But if you used mfp for your goal you are supposed to be eating back your exercise calories. /those of you saying that you don't eat the exercise calories because you are trying to lose weight are not properly using mfp. Your deficit is already built into your goal so that you can lose weight without any exercise at all. Yes, sometimes the exercise burns may be overstated and so it is ok to only eat back a portion of the exercise calories to see how that goes. After about 4 weeks or so you will know if you are losing at your expected rate then you are good. If you are losing faster then you should eat back more exercise calories and if you are losing slower then eat back less. I feel it is especially important for your health that if you are at the minimum calorie goal (1200 for women, 1500 for men) then you need to eat back at least a portion of those calories.

Well said.

kimny72

OP, 1200 is the absolute lowest calorie goal MFP will give you. Your profile says you only have 28 lbs to lose, so if your goal is set to lose more than 1 lb per week, you might want to dial it back a little.

Regardless, on MFP you are supposed to eat back at least some of your exercise calories to fuel your body, and if you are going to go with a low calorie goal, you definitely should eat at least some of them back!

katattackme

Right on! Thank you for the good advice

katattackme

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