1200 net or does it matter

jelleigh

Hey

So I'm 5'8 and about 195 lbs (with 50 to lose at least). My doctor told me yesterday that I'm pre diabetic and need to lose the weight (no surprise here). Conveniently, a few weeks ago I cracked down on my diet and activity and I'm committed to seeing this through.
For activity, I'm doing 21 day fix (a beachbody program). The program says you burn about 400 calories for the 30 min workouts which seems high to me. I walk a lot (yesterday was 25000 steps, today was 18000) and my fitbit/MFP daugaar I'm burning in the 3200 call range. My calorie goal is 1490 which I fill with protein, veggies, and a bit of fat /dairy.
Today I ate a few hundred extra calories , but generally I'm sticking around my calorie goal. But MFP is giving me like 800-1200 extra exercise calories. I'm not hungry and I have energy. Is this just because the routine is relatively new? I really feel like my calorie burn is far lower than what it is estimating and would prefer to not eat back exercise calories because I tend to use "leftover" calories on junk. So I guess my question is, what symptoms should I look forto indicate whether I'm not eating enough? Can I keep essentially ignoring my earned exercise calories if I'm feeling ok? (If I feel hungry I am snacking a bit more - today I had 1/3 cup nuts after dinner. But generally I haven't been)

AnnPT77

I accidentally under-ate at first, even while eating back all my exercise calories, because MFP underestimated my needs (rare, but it happens). I found it very manageable to stick to that too-low goal, and I felt great . . . until suddenly, I didn't. Then, it took several weeks to recover.

Consider eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories (a lot of people go for 50% to start, if worried the exercise is overestimated), at least until you have 4-6 weeks of experience and can see your average weight loss rate over that period of weeks. That's your best indication of whether you're under-eating or not. Some of the consequences of under-eating or under-nutrition only show up in the long term, so it's best to avoid the possibility. At your current size, something not much more than a pound a week loss would probably be ideal, for a while.

If you are consistently under on calories, consider building more calories into your plan. That can be from nutrient-dense but more calorie-dense foods if you like (full-fat rather than non-fat dairy, peanut butter, avocados, somewhat fattier fish or meat, avocados, a bit more olive oil in your salad dressing, nuts, etc.). Or, if your nutrition is already well-covered, it can include some treat foods.

Losing weight too slowly can be frustrating, but losing it too fast creates health risks. I know which side of that I'd rather err on.

Best wishes!

LyndaBSS

Welcome to the community!

If you haven't already, read the stickies at the top of the getting started forum. Very informative and helpful.

Good luck with your journey!

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pro31wahine

@jelleigh really awesome advice from @AnnPT77

Looks like you're on the right track. Incorporate more healthy fats throughout your meals... half an avocado, coconut oil, avocado oil dressing.

What's great is that you are able to recognize this hurdle. Go get it💪