am i eating too much? not enough?

calliope_music

so i've got my calorie limit at 1800/day before exercise. i usually, according to MFP, burn 700-800 calories during exercise...this will give me something like 2500-2600 calories all-inclusive to work with. after i exercise, i generally eat what i've burned off, just because i haven't eaten dinner yet and like to have a snack after i work out.

i seem to be losing weight in spurts. last week, i gained weight. just stepping on the scale this morning to see if there was any progress, i was down almost 5 lbs.

any advice? i feel like eating the cals after exercise is just too much to be eating in one day. can someone explain how net calories really work?

NightOwl1

How about meeting in the middle, and trying to eat back half of your exercise calories? This way, you will never be starving yourself, and you won't be eating too much in case the calorie count isn't right.

ruddyrunner

I'm not an expert, but I've found that the number of calories burned during exercise vary quite a bit. Machines at the gym say one thing, heart rate monitor says another (which seems more reliable), MFP estimates say something else. Rather than eating all of the exercise calories, maybe only eat a percentage of them to allow for estimation errors. Perhaps only eat say 500 exercise calories and see if that helps.

tiffsNEWlife

You are going to get alot of response on eating back your exercise calories. Here is what I do (I'm not a professional) this is just something that is working for me. My goal is 1200 calories a day. I work out pretty much everyday. I STAY at 1200 calories a day, and I do not eat back my exercise calories. Except for every 3rd or 4th day. This way I can boost my metabolism. This is just my way of doing things and it seems to be working for me.

EKarma

your body weight will flluctuate daily.. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water, especially if you are eating a lot of salt. Which reminds me, keep an eye on your sodium. It makes a big difference.

calliope_music

thanks everyone! i actually ordered an HRM (should be here tomorrow!) so i'm hoping this will really help to know exactly what i'm burning.

i have tried to stay at my 1800 calories even with exercise, but i end up pretty hungry if i don't eat back some of the calories. some days i'm hungrier than others.

i am definitely trying to limit my sodium, but i hate that sodium is in everything i'm cutting back on frozen meals for lunch, which i generally just grab because they're convenient.


thanks for the advice, though - i'm going to take all of your replies into account, and hopefully with the addition of an HRM can figure this out!