Weight loss questions

ariellespiller

I've heard before that when you burn too much and eat too little your weight will plateau, but it doesn't make sense to me. Do you know why that happens? Shouldn't calories burned+ calories not eaten = weight loss?


Also, on days that I exercise, I still don't eat over 1200 calories, just because I'm making better food choices and am filled up with much less than that amount. Am I supposed to eat those exercise calories too?

Any input is appreciated! :bigsmile:

azlady7

the way i understand it is this: the body needs so many cals to function properly. when we eat way below our cals the body thinks we dont have enough food to eat therefore it goes into 'starvation mode' and stores the cals we consume as fat for a later day.

jrich1

Your body needs 1200 cals a day net just to be alive, if you eat less than that your body isnt getting nutrition it needs and starts storing everything it gets and you will stop losing weight. If you exercise you are burning fuel, you need to eat some back again just to replenish what your body needs, ready the newbie topics and it will answer a lot of this for you.

jean51

As long as you feel good and are still losing I wouldn't worry about it. But if your losses have slowed you may want to try adding calories.

kmarowski

If you burn too much and eat too little, your body will kick into "starvation mode", and you will actually stop burning fat. Your body will hold/store that fat to keep you alive.

From everything I've read/researched/been taught by fitness experts & personal trainers, if you exercise and burn extra calories, you need to eat more to avoid that transition to starvation mode. The minimum number of calories assumes you maintain whatever activity level you entered without any additional exercise. Adding exercise increases caloric need, so yes, when MFP increases your calories according to exercise, you want to eat those calories in order to continue losing.

You may want to do some research for yourself on some reputable sites to determine whether your calorie goal is accurate for you.

0Jaime0

Great advice! I myself hit a plateau on my weight loss, until I found this site almost 2 weeks ago. My mom has always told me, you HAVE to eat snacks between meals to get you metabolism going, or else you will go into starvation mode. Well, I was always AFRAID to eat those little snacks because I was feeling like I was overeating. But, after finding this site and entering my goals, I was told the same thing - I was eating WAY too less calories a day setting my body into starvation mode and doing the exact opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. Since finding this site and starting to eat snacks between meals, I lost 2 pounds the first week. One day I will realize (I pretty much already have) that Mom's ALWAYS right!!