Minimum calories required, before or after exercise

morethanjustamomto4

I have read that you should try to have a minimum calories of 1200 per day to keep from going into starvation mode. Is that calories not including what you burn in exercise or including them? For instance if in a day I eat 1370 calories, that is over the 1200. But then I do exercise and burn 340 calories which at the end of the day gives a net of 1030 calories. So do I HAVE to eat more to get to 1200? I don't want to mess up with trying to lose weight and could use some knowledge about it. Thanks for the info! :-)

otalip

Hi I started this program in July. I was eating my exercise calories and not losing weight. So I decided not to eat them at all and i was starving and feeling not well. Now what i do is I make sure I hit 1200 calories at minimum if i am extra hungry as i usually am I only eat half of what I exercise. I am losing weight at a snails pace but for me this feels safe and healthy. I wish you alot of luck .

tiffncay16

i also want to know this ! i always have a net of like 600-800 at the end of the day. i eat 1200 calories (sometimes more but barely ever) and i burn about 500-600 calories a day (sometimes more).

SailorKnightWing

Try to hit 1200 after exercise. That should be the minimum you've eaten by the end of the day.

S0nsh1ne

Hit what MFP recommends for you PLUS your exercise calories back.

ccpippin

I have started seeing a nutritionist and we discussed this yesterday because I had the same question. If my goal is to eat 1600 calories then eat only 1600 calories. Even if I burn off say 300 calories I am to still only eat the 1600 total for the day to lose the weight that I want to lose. She did state that I can eat some of the calories that I burn but I would not lose the weight as fast as if I didn't.

SailorKnightWing

I have started seeing a nutritionist and we discussed this yesterday because I had the same question. If my goal is to eat 1600 calories then eat only 1600 calories. Even if I burn off say 300 calories I am to still only eat the 1600 total for the day to lose the weight that I want to lose. She did state that I can eat some of the calories that I burn but I would not lose the weight as fast as if I didn't.

Your nutritionist is correct, but MFP already calculates this. Your nutritionist is explaining to you TDEE, which means Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which is how many calories you need to live if you lied in bed all day and did nothing. To lose a pound a week, you eat 500 fewer calories than your TDEE number per day or 3500 fewer calories per week. When you set up your MFP account, it goes ahead and calculates your TDEE and subtracts your daily activity level's worth of calories and the 500 needed to lose that lb a week (if that's the goal you chose).

Your nutritionist is pretty much explaining what MFP does automatically for you.

morethanjustamomto4

So what do I do if I exercise last minute in the day and don't get a chance to eat the calories back? This happens frequently due to kids schedules and trying to FIND the time to exercise. Do I eat the calories back the next day? Or just let it go?

guessrs

Great question! I was wondering about that. I save my exercise cals for weight loss. Ill eat them when I'm in maintenance.

_HeartsOnFire_

You know a quick way to eat those calories back after a work out...a spoon and peanut butter.

But yes, always try to have 1200 total after exercise.

grimendale

MFP is a NEAT calculator, so it assumes that you are losing weight by eating at a deficit and not doing any exercise beyond what you specified in your daily activity level (usually sedentary or lightly active). If you exercise above that, you need to eat more to avoid driving your deficit too large. Eating under one day won't hurt you, but doing so consistently over a long period of time can lead to metabolic thermogenesis, which can negatively impact your metabolism. If MFP sets your goal at 1200, that should be your net total for the day. Thus, if you burn 400 calories in exercise, you should eat 1600 total that day to net 1200. This seems counterintuitive (a lot of people ask why exercise if not to burn off extra calories), but having a deficit too large is unhealthy and can lead to malnutrition and can lead to a higher percentage of the weight lost coming from lean body mass rather than fat. Exercising and maintaining a small deficit helps to preserve muscle mass and improve overall health. Hope that helps.

diadia1

You know a quick way to eat those calories back after a work out...a spoon and peanut butter.

But yes, always try to have 1200 total after exercise.

agree. you should have a net calories of 1200 and more.

And don't forget milk chocolate. So good after a workout!

BetterKimmer

Yes! Eat more until you hit a minimum of 1200 after deducting exercise calories. Always go with the net calories.

morethanjustamomto4

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I appreciate it. :-)

morethanjustamomto4

MFP is a NEAT calculator, so it assumes that you are losing weight by eating at a deficit and not doing any exercise beyond what you specified in your daily activity level (usually sedentary or lightly active). If you exercise above that, you need to eat more to avoid driving your deficit too large. Eating under one day won't hurt you, but doing so consistently over a long period of time can lead to metabolic thermogenesis, which can negatively impact your metabolism. If MFP sets your goal at 1200, that should be your net total for the day. Thus, if you burn 400 calories in exercise, you should eat 1600 total that day to net 1200. This seems counterintuitive (a lot of people ask why exercise if not to burn off extra calories), but having a deficit too large is unhealthy and can lead to malnutrition and can lead to a higher percentage of the weight lost coming from lean body mass rather than fat. Exercising and maintaining a small deficit helps to preserve muscle mass and improve overall health. Hope that helps.

Thank you so much! I know many others were saying the same thing but I think the way you said it made it clear to me. :-) Thanks!