Eating back exercise calories

kefryar

So I keep hearing different things. I usually "earn" around 600-700 calories a day exercising. I only have 5, max 10 pounds to lose, so should I be eating these calories back or not?
Daily goal is 1200 calories.

elleloch

If you don't eat back your calories you'd only be netting like, 600 calories or lower. That's too low. So yes eat the calories.

MFP makes this extremely easy to understand so I don't really understand why it's so hard for people to grasp. Green calories mean go. Red means stop. 1200 is a low number, you shouldn't be netting lower than 1200 on a long term, regular basis.

Liftng4Lis

MFP is designed for you to eat them back, yes. Most people eat back half as that gives room for miscalculations either in your measuring or over estimating calories burned during exercise. You don't have much to lose and what I found was when my calories were that low I just stalled out (so it definitely won't hurt to eat them back).

kefryar

I guess it gets confusing when you're eating what you should be, exercising, and not losing more than a half a pound a week. A lot of people find that sort of frustrating, so I think that's why these questions pop up.

elleloch

What's wrong with losing half a pound a week?

Liftng4Lis

I guess it gets confusing when you're eating what you should be, exercising, and not losing more than a half a pound a week. A lot of people find that sort of frustrating, so I think that's why these questions pop up.

Half a pound a week is fantastic. You want something sustainable!