how many calories do I HAVE to eat?

jenneyd

I am under my calorie goal most days, but generally get more than 1200 calories. I earn more calories by exercising,but is it NECESSARY to eat the "earned" calories?

elainegsd

No. It isn't necessary.

Michelle_J

I had the same question last week. I misunderstood the whole MFP calorie thing and thought I was doing great by being under my calorie count until I wasn't losing weight and I read another post where the # of calories MFP suggests you eat is what you need to eat to lose weight. Someone told me "gotta fuel the engine"....And it's suggested to eat your exercise calories too. Hope this helps =]

foxfirekenzie

There are about a zillion topics just like this one already posted. I am sure you can find some answers right away by looking them up.
Bottom line is, no, you don't HAVE to eat them, but it may be best for sustained energy. If you are concerned about the amount, maybe you can just eat a portion of them back and see how that treats you.

melleyd

I don't usually eat them. If I worked out like I was supposed to it would get me from 2 pounds up to 3 pounds per week.

mynameisdumbnuts

I eat some of them back. Exercise depresses my desire to eat, so I have a hard time eating those extra 400 or so calories back.

anghahnmowry

I noticed that if I eat most of my daily calories, but no my exercise calories, I get my weekly weight loss. I was told that if you don't eat most of your alloted calories, that your body stores it as fat and prevents you from losing weight. there is no way that I would be able to all of my calories and the exercise ones too!!!

chris2991

Just make sure you're getting at least the 1200 otherwise you may not be getting the nutrition you need. As along as you have over 1200 no you don’t need to eat the exercise calories back.