Dear community

Bananagirl32

Dear community,

I'm am confused on how many calories I'm suppose to consume everyday

For example: my food diary requires me to eat 1,200 calories a day .

If I go exercise, I burn up to 300 to 500 calories depending what I do.



My question is-if I did a workout that burned
500 calories, after I ate 1,200 calories,

Am I
Suppose to eat
500
More to make
Up the absence,

Or do I
Just stick to 1,200 miles no matter what?

fushigi1988

If you stick to the 1200 (how did you come up with that number?) and burned 500 in exercise, you will only have netto 700 calories that day, that is way too low.

I like this calculator: http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Fill in all the data, and try to stick between the BMR and TDEE numbers.

pyrowill

You have to NET 1200 a day, so if you eat 1200 and workout 500 you have netted 700. Which is bad. You need to do what is called 'eating the calories back' to make your net be 1200. So lets say you will workout 500, and you need to net 1200, then by the end of the day you would need to eat 1700cals.

Don't worry, its a good idea .

neandermagnon

you're supposed to eat your exercise calories. Your calorie goal number already has a calorie deficit, so if you ate this and did no exercise, you'd still lose weight. If you exercise and don't eat the calories back you will end up with too big a deficit which is very counterproductive as it's hard to stick to and increases the risk of losing lean body mass along with the fat. Doing exercise and eating back your exercise calories helps to protect your lean mass (as well as all kinds of other health benefits) so what you lose is more likely to be just fat.

monikabenoit

I agree with previous posters that have said you DO need to make up for calories you've burned off. You really shouldn't eat too few calories or your body goes into "starvation mode" which slows your metabolism down. The calorie burn calculator usually rewards you will too many calories burned but I would eat no less than half of the calories burned off during exercise, and all the extra calories are perfectly okay to eat and you will still lose weight - your body needs the energy to fuel your next workout!

weightliftingdiva

Also, how much weight do you have to lose? If you only have to lose 5-10 pounds, you shouldn't be trying to lose 2 pounds a week. Aim for a 1/2 pound instead. If you change your goal then you can eat more. ^.^

ren_ascent

If you stick to the 1200 (how did you come up with that number?) and burned 500 in exercise, you will only have netto 700 calories that day, that is way too low.

I like this calculator: http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Fill in all the data, and try to stick between the BMR and TDEE numbers.

Haven't seen this calculator before but it's awesome. Thanks for posting it!

leggup

If you have fewer than 40 lbs to lose, your diary should be set to 1 lb loss per week. If you have 10 lbs or less to lose, set it to .5 lb loss per week. 1,200 calories a day is too aggressive. Everyone else addressed your question- exercise "earns" more calories to eat. Most people eat back 50-80% of their exercise calories, just in case the calorie burn is inaccurate.

MeganAnne89

I read OPs post in my head like William Shatner

sadiebea25

I read OPs post in my head like William Shatner

Lol, I had to go back and read it again, too funny!

OP, 1200 cals is pretty low, don't set your loss to 2 lbs a week, try 1 lb and see what it gives you...

SLLRunner

You really shouldn't eat too few calories or your body goes into "starvation mode"

This is misinformation and a myth. Starvation mode is not based on the amount of calories you eat but on how much body fat and muscle mass you lose, and it's actually pretty rare to nil in the common dieter. Also people who are normal weight or overweight have zero danger of starvation mode.

Banana Girl,

Yes, you want to properly fuel your body so you eat most of your exercise calories back. I go through stages where I eat them all back, other times perhaps 70-80%, it just depends. Last year, I lasted on 1200 calories plus eating my exercise calories back for about two weeks or so then upped my calorie loss goals.

Just a word of warning: MFP and the gym machines will often overestimate calories burned, so either knock some of the calories off or eat about 80% of your exercise calories back to account for any error. If you have a heart rate monitor, you are probably safer on the calorie estimations.

Good luck!

JTick

If you stick to the 1200 (how did you come up with that number?) and burned 500 in exercise, you will only have netto 700 calories that day, that is way too low.

I like this calculator: http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Fill in all the data, and try to stick between the BMR and TDEE numbers.

Just putting this out there - this calculator WAY overestimated for me...by a lot. It put my TDEE at 3300. I maintain somewhere around 2500-2800 (on active days). If I took a cut off this sites TDEE, I'd be gaining or at least maintaining my weight. I just want to make people aware - sometimes it's good to look at a few different calculators and average them if they wildly differ. TDEE is just an estimation, it takes some work to find your actual numbers.

fooninie

You have to NET 1200 a day, so if you eat 1200 and workout 500 you have netted 700. Which is bad. You need to do what is called 'eating the calories back' to make your net be 1200. So lets say you will workout 500, and you need to net 1200, then by the end of the day you would need to eat 1700cals.

Don't worry, its a good idea .

this is really simply put, well said! That's what I do. I have 1400 net calories per day. I usually burn an average of 300 working out so I actually EAT 1700 cals but since I burn 300 of those, I net my 1400 (roughly...I'm not married to my numbers... lol)

warning: any mention of starvation, clean eating, "bro science" etc. will reap a TON of wrath and will snowball into some warped debate... simple question, simple answer....

feherd

You have to NET 1200 a day, so if you eat 1200 and workout 500 you have netted 700. Which is bad. You need to do what is called 'eating the calories back' to make your net be 1200. So lets say you will workout 500, and you need to net 1200, then by the end of the day you would need to eat 1700cals.

According to this post I read ( http://csperriton.blogspot.com/2013/05/net-calories-confusion.html ) it says try not to NET below 500 calories.


". . . If I ate my budgeted 1224 calories and burned 500 calories, my net calories would be 724. You are not in starvation mode if you eat at least 1200 calories, but you will be hungry. Try not to go under 500 net calories for weight loss."



I don't know how knowledgeable this lady is but according to her profile, "I earned a B.S. in Health Promotion/Lifestyle Management from Weber State University in 2002. I chose two emphasis: Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. I also have a minor in Nutrition. I worked in my field for several years as a Community Health Educator, Nutrition Counselor, and Exercise Physiologist. I also have experience as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor."

JoelleAnn78

You have to NET 1200 a day, so if you eat 1200 and workout 500 you have netted 700. Which is bad. You need to do what is called 'eating the calories back' to make your net be 1200. So lets say you will workout 500, and you need to net 1200, then by the end of the day you would need to eat 1700cals.

According to this post I read ( http://csperriton.blogspot.com/2013/05/net-calories-confusion.html ) it says try not to NET below 500 calories.


". . . If I ate my budgeted 1224 calories and burned 500 calories, my net calories would be 724. You are not in starvation mode if you eat at least 1200 calories, but you will be hungry. Try not to go under 500 net calories for weight loss."



I don't know how knowledgeable this lady is but according to her profile, "I earned a B.S. in Health Promotion/Lifestyle Management from Weber State University in 2002. I chose two emphasis: Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. I also have a minor in Nutrition. I worked in my field for several years as a Community Health Educator, Nutrition Counselor, and Exercise Physiologist. I also have experience as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor."

pander101

You really shouldn't eat too few calories or your body goes into "starvation mode"

This is misinformation and a myth. Starvation mode is not based on the amount of calories you eat but on how much body fat and muscle mass you lose, and it's actually pretty rare to nil in the common dieter. Also people who are normal weight or overweight have zero danger of starvation mode.

Banana Girl,

Yes, you want to properly fuel your body so you eat most of your exercise calories back. I go through stages where I eat them all back, other times perhaps 70-80%, it just depends. Last year, I lasted on 1200 calories plus eating my exercise calories back for about two weeks or so then upped my calorie loss goals.

Just a word of warning: MFP and the gym machines will often overestimate calories burned, so either knock some of the calories off or eat about 80% of your exercise calories back to account for any error. If you have a heart rate monitor, you are probably safer on the calorie estimations.

Good luck!

Was just about to mention something about "starvation mode". It takes a very, very long time to go into. But you should eat back your calories. 1200 is the minimum you should be eating to be properly fueling your body. But I also agree, get a heart rate monitor or underestimate calories burned. MFP is inaccurate when calculating calories burned and so are the work out machines. I was surprised when I compared MFP calories burned to my HRM and then again to a calorie burned formula using my average heart rate.

feherd

You have to NET 1200 a day, so if you eat 1200 and workout 500 you have netted 700. Which is bad. You need to do what is called 'eating the calories back' to make your net be 1200. So lets say you will workout 500, and you need to net 1200, then by the end of the day you would need to eat 1700cals.

According to this post I read ( http://csperriton.blogspot.com/2013/05/net-calories-confusion.html ) it says try not to NET below 500 calories.


". . . If I ate my budgeted 1224 calories and burned 500 calories, my net calories would be 724. You are not in starvation mode if you eat at least 1200 calories, but you will be hungry. Try not to go under 500 net calories for weight loss."



I don't know how knowledgeable this lady is but according to her profile, "I earned a B.S. in Health Promotion/Lifestyle Management from Weber State University in 2002. I chose two emphasis: Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. I also have a minor in Nutrition. I worked in my field for several years as a Community Health Educator, Nutrition Counselor, and Exercise Physiologist. I also have experience as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor."

Just putting what I read out there. It isn't like this is my information.

NancyN795

If you stick to the 1200 (how did you come up with that number?) and burned 500 in exercise, you will only have netto 700 calories that day, that is way too low.

I like this calculator: http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Fill in all the data, and try to stick between the BMR and TDEE numbers.

Just putting this out there - this calculator WAY overestimated for me...by a lot. It put my TDEE at 3300. I maintain somewhere around 2500-2800 (on active days). If I took a cut off this sites TDEE, I'd be gaining or at least maintaining my weight. I just want to make people aware - sometimes it's good to look at a few different calculators and average them if they wildly differ. TDEE is just an estimation, it takes some work to find your actual numbers.

It overestimated even more for me! The BMR seems to agree with other calculators, but the TDEE has to be off. If I put in just sleep time and let the rest of the day default to sitting, it gives me almost the number of calories that my FitBit dashboard says I can have for today and I've done an hour of Zumba today. If I actually enter the average of what my FitBit has said are my "Very", "Moderately" and "Lightly" active minutes it says my TDEE would be 4677! If I demote each of those activities down one level (reasonable, I think, given what it indicates each activity level consists of), it still says my TDEE would be 3482! I wish! If that was actually my TDEE, I'd be losing weight much more quickly.