Working out/ calorie counting....

Jewelz87

Hey Ya'll,
I have a question that i've been trying to figure out for a while! I have a calorie count everday of 1200 cals. Does this mean if i eat 1200 or under i will lose weight in a healthy way?? ALSO..i usually take in about 1500 cals a day but i also work out, giving me 400 "extra" cals. This leaves me under my 1200 cals. Is this a good way to lose weight?? or should i only eat 1200cals and still burn my 400 cals??? HELP PLEASE!! :drinker:

Healthyby30

If you only eat 1200 then burn off 400, it's like you only ate 800 calories...which is not enough for your body to run off. You are doing the right thing by eating back what you burn to get a net calories of 1200.

erickirb

You goal is not to come in under 1200 calories, it is to eat 1200 plus your exercise calories. It is difficult to get the required nutrition and energy on a diet under 1200 calories.

Kayte625

i always eat back at least half of my exercise calories. i try not to eat all of them because i don't have a heart rate monitor, so i am trusting MFP to be relatively close to what i'm burning. but i have been losing pretty steadily since the end of August, so i figure i'm doing the right thing.

JMun

I try to work out 5 days a week.
I wear a heart rate monitor so I can accurately track calories burned.
I eat max 1550 calories/day and almost never go under 1200 calories/day.

Some days I don't manage to eat all my exercise calories but I always make sure I'm over 1200. Even if it means eating a handful of almonds before I go to bed.

saldanaagency

I find that if I don't take at least 1200 calories, I am too weak to work out. So my new goal is to eat 1500 calories per day and burn at least 300. I feel a lot stronger!