Help needed.....

sukanda

Hi everyone, its my second day at MFP. I'm confused. To reach my weight goal, it seems that I must consume 1200 calories per day. I workout four to five times in a week. Having logged in my exercises, it looks like I've earned extra calories. What does it mean? Should I eat up all the extra calories? If I don't is that bad? Because after about 1200 calories I'm pretty much full. What happens then? Is the deficit bad?
Please help me because I want to lose weight and I don't want to the wrong thing. Thank you.

alantin

Please, read this post about the exercise cals.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

The deficit is what's important. It should stay about the same all the time somewhere between 0 - 1000 Calories depending on your goals, current weight, etc. According to the Finnish Olympic Committee 300-500 Cals is an optimal range to minimize muscle loss but you can do more if you have a lot to lose.

In short. You need to eat enough and too large a deficit is harmful to your health.
A bad day sometimes doesn't turn the boat over though..

One way to add your calories is to switch all diet or fat-free products to regulars. That way you'll eat the same amount but get more calories. I have occasionally had problems eating enough too. I fixed it then by taking rapeseed oil to bridge the gap.