My take on exercise calories (please read if you are new!!)

NicNac86

Think of it like your wage slip or paycheck.

You have your gross income (income before tax etc)

Then you have all your deductions (tax etc).

Then you have your net wage (take home pay).

So, the calories you eat are you gross income, the exercise you do are your deductions. Your net calories are the calories you've eaten (gross pay) minus the calories you've burned exercising (taxes), leaving you your net calories (take home pay)

As long as your net calories are over 1200 or close to your daily goal (whatever that may be) you should be fine.

The 1200 part is rubbing me the wrong way. for MEN 1200 is not the number, that's the floor for women based on the WHO study done in the 80's, for MEN it's 1500 as an average (although I've heard 1600 too), but each person will be a little different. Just because MFP allows you a number, doen't mean it's safe, conversly, not every woman needs 1200 to be safe, smaller, obese women (say a 4'11" woman who is obese, could probably safely eat below 1200 and still lose weight in a healthy manner) I'm just saying, please don't throw around this 1200 number to much, it's pretty much arbitrary and only should be used for women.

Sorry, yes I should've said for women! I often forget there's men here too. Sorry :flowerforyou:

tami05

I have been wondering for along time about whether or not I should eat my exercise calories, and reading through all these comments I can see where all the confusion comes from.

I started losing weight with calories about a year and a half ago when I was 218lb, I stuck to a 1500 calories a day program for most of the time and the weight came off well. Since then I have started to exercise and have never been sure if I should eat them. I am now 159lb and am aiming to be around147 (I am 5F 4)

to lose 1lb a week my daily cals should be 1280, but I burn around 400 in exercise at lease five days a week. I dont eat my exercise calories but I have a huge problem with sticking to it, after about day five I am craving any food I can put my hands on, then I end up giving in a stuffing my self and swearing that I will be better tomorrow and then get the whole guilt thing about breaking it. My point is that most days I eat 1200 ish calories minus the four hundred means I am managing on 800 calories only, so maybe its not a wonder I cant stick to it for long.

I plan to go back to eating 1500 calories and carry on exercising and hope that by doing this the issue of day 5 will no longer be a problem, which means in the long run hopfully I will lose a little bit each week and feel more in control! I have been at 159 for 6months now, so believe that it is worth a try.

I must try to remember in my frustrated days that I have lost 59lb already, so I know I can do it!!

dartany

Naturally burns calories.......? You can not count the calories that your body uses daily to preform neccessities of living, i.e breathing...., coughing....., heart beating, as weight loss calories. Yes it takes energy to preform these task and your bodies fuel for this energy is in the form of calories. But they aren't actually "lost". Remeber calorie counting is about calories in and calories out." Your body doesn't acutally lose calories from preforming the task neccessary to stay alive. Think of it logically if you acutally lost the calories it took for you to breathe you would be dead. You have been preforming these task all your life and you haven't been loosing weight until you changed your diet and exercise plan. If this common weight loss myth was true humans would naturally be in a state of weight loss....which isn't the case as we all know...

FearAnLoathing

What works for some does not work for others.I dont eat mine,except for special occassions if I go out for a drink or something.
Its been almost a year since I started losing weight,and I am healthy and have never stopped losing 1 to 2 pounds a week.

JoEllen92

I never eat my exercise calories back at least not all of them but I tend to exercise in the middle of the day before I've finished eating so then I eat tea and a snack after.

EbonyGemstoneHealth

Its definately about the NET you are so right,not the first user to remind me,but its good to know other user have this important knowledge.

dartany

No.... don't do it . Exercising doesn't mean you should go and eat more food. You exercised to get rid of those calories ....which results in weight loss.....why would you eat them back? It is almost impossible to determine how many calories you expend during exercise any way and your body is not processing the food you just ate as calorie burn during exercise. This is such a weightloss myth. If you watch the biggest looser you have seen this myth debunked. Those people work out like 8 hours a day.....and they don't replace those calories they still maintain a diet....that is why that have such dramatic weightlosses in a week.

Celo24

No.... don't do it . Exercising doesn't mean you should go and eat more food. You exercised to get rid of those calories ....which results in weight loss.....why would you eat them back? It is almost impossible to determine how many calories you expend during exercise any way and your body is not processing the food you just ate as calorie burn during exercise. This is such a weightloss myth. If you watch the biggest looser you have seen this myth debunked. Those people work out like 8 hours a day.....and they don't replace those calories they still maintain a diet....that is why that have such dramatic weightlosses in a week.

This is wrong. If you didn't already have a calorie deficit built into your calorie goal, then I would agree with you. However, MFP already builds a deficit in which is what a lot of people are having trouble remembering. So, if you go back to my initial example in the original post, I already had a built-in calories deficit of 500 a day without ever exercising. That had me on track to lose one pound a week. And that is exactly what happened. Some weeks, I had bigger losses, some weeks I had smaller losses, but I was able to lose weight consistently in a healthy manner.

Comparing the vast majority of people to the Biggest Loser contestants is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Most of us are not as obese as the contestants are. Most of us don't have trainers and doctors supervising us every day. Most us can't afford to burn 7000 calories in one workout (that's what Rulon Gardner talks about in this week's Sports Illustrated that I just got). Please don't muddle people's minds by trying to compare the average person to the Biggest Loser contestants. It is NOT apples to apples.

As far as your other post concerning the fact that our bodies naturally burn calories, no one is claiming those are weight loss calories. All I am saying is that EVERYONE'S body has a certain amount of fuel that is needed to maintain themselves. Walking to the car, breathing, playing with the dog...everything burns calories. That is why you need to eat a certain amount every day and why you need to eat your exercise calories back. Otherwise, your body doesn't get the fuel it needs to function, your metabolism can slow down and the dreaded "starvation mode" that everyone fears here can become an issue.

Go with what MFP tells you you should have as your NET calories. Again, NET = calories eaten - calories burned. They already build in a deficit for you so you WILL lose weight. This website does a very good job of showing people how to do things the RIGHT way and I am living proof that it works.

tami05

so do think I should try and carry on eating 1200 calories and burning 400 a day, is that healthy? I know that I will lose weight quicker this way but it leaves my very hungry all the time. I have 5 children and get cranky and tired when hungry any tips will help me to feel full will help

I feel that I would stick to it alot better with more calories a day, even if I lose one pound a week slowly, this would be better for me than falling off after five days and then staying the same after a good 5 days and a bad 2!

Celo24

so do think I should try and carry on eating 1200 calories and burning 400 a day, is that healthy? I know that I will lose weight quicker this way but it leaves my very hungry all the time. I have 5 children and get cranky and tired when hungry any tips will help me to feel full will help

If you are eating 1200 and burning 400, your NET for the day is 800 and that is not enough fuel for your body. That's part of the reason why you are cranky and tired. Eat more food!! If you are burning 400 a day and your MFP target is 1200, you should be eating 1500-1600. Focus on getting plenty of protein to help fill you up.

FearAnLoathing

Just like some people say they are living proff that eating their exercise calories work for THEM,I am living proff that not eating them works for ME.
I net under 1200 almost all the time for a long time I am perfectly fine

SHBoss1673

Just like some people say they are living proff that eating their exercise calories work for THEM,I am living proff that not eating them works for ME.
I net under 1200 almost all the time for a long time I am perfectly fine

lets put this in context please. By that I mean, can you give us all your stats? How tall are you, how active are you, what is your weight, have you been to the doctor lately to be tested for malnutrition, what is your exercise schedule like?

You very well could be the exception to the rule, who knows. But I submit that just because someone is losing weight, does not mean it's healthy weight loss, and it does not mean they are not in starvation mode. Starvation mode isn't some big shining glow that surrounds you, it's not obvious if it's not full blown starvation, starvation mode means your body has reduced it's metabolic rate to compensate for the inability to equalize nutritional intake and stored reserves vs calorie expenditure, that means that additional hormones are produced to reduce muscle growth and repair, increase fat storage, reduce immune system health, make your skin have less color, reduce gallbladder function, and a whole host of other things, none of these things are immediately noticeable to the average person as the symptoms come on slowly.

the thing is, we want people to be healthy, and whether or not you are being healthy with your weight loss, and I have no idea if you are or not, in general creating a deficit that is to large to support is an unhealthy practice that leads to health issues if left for the long term.

Lushcious

This is an ongoing discussion on MFP and probably on other fitness sites too. Most people think to lose weight is to restrict calories. That's it. BUT if you restrict too much it has the opposite effect. The body has this wonderful ability to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances.

Then you get to hear "anorexics lose weight by restricting calories". That is not the same thing. Anorexics aren't burning fat. Their body is burning muscle, shutting down organs and systems to conserve fuel, basically destroying their insides. But they aren't burning any fat because their body has none to spare. They are on a Starvation Diet. Starvation Mode is a biological response. Not the same thing.

What's so interesting is the ones who are saying you don't need to eat your exercise calories are the little ones - the ones already at a healthy weight yet they want to be underweight. The little ones are the ones who should be eating ALL OF THEM because their calorie deficit is already so low.

I gained almost 20 in under a year from "not eating". Coffee during the day, munching in the evening and what I wanted to eat on the weekends (I won't get into my sugar issues). Now I eat 4 meals or more a day and I have lost weight. I love burning calories because then I can eat more.

So thank you for putting this back out here. Hopefully more people will listen.

This is excatly what i asked my Dr.about when he told me i wasn't eating enough.I asked about how are anorexics are so thin.And he pretty much explained it the same way.I also for the past 4 years pretty much ate just like u did.coffe and dinner and eating on weekends.I would work out sometimes for 2-4 months and not lose a thing.I gained about 30lbs.over that time.Even knowing what my Dr.told me i still find it very hard to eat.but since coming here it's making much more sense.I am still usually under my net calories.So for now i'm trying to get into the habit of eating all of my calories before i workout too much.I feel like i'm constantly eating.But i'm slowly getting the hang of it.I have also noticed that i have sooo much more energy.My mood is better also.I am now hungry when i wake up in the a.m.And by eating all throughout the day when dinner comes my portions are more under control.And i'm not hungry anymore after dinner.Now i understand how when i would work out 6 days a week for 2 hrs. and wouldnt lose weight,was because my body basically was running on literally empty.I'm also noticing a huge improvement in my skin in just about of 1 week.So all in all i have to say that i agree completely with this post.And it's the easiest explanation i have found yet.Good Luck to all of u!!

Lushcious

Ok just so I'm clear on this (I just started), I should do my best to make sure that my NET calories are equal to my daily calorie allowance?

At the moment I've got a daily goal of 1360. My food intake has been 1119, exercise took off 543, and my NET is telling my 576. So do I need to get that NET value up to 1360?

Yes please eat more.For about 4 years i averaged 600-800 calories a day.Over time i gained 30lbs.I was tired all of the time,had terrible mood swings...Since i've been fueling my body more the improvements have been huge in just about a week.U might not feel the effects now but if u continue on like that u will over time.

Lushcious

This is 1 more thing i started to tell myself.I have 2 children.Would i only feed them 600-800 calories a day?NO way!

FearAnLoathing

Just like some people say they are living proff that eating their exercise calories work for THEM,I am living proff that not eating them works for ME.
I net under 1200 almost all the time for a long time I am perfectly fine

lets put this in context please. By that I mean, can you give us all your stats? How tall are you, how active are you, what is your weight, have you been to the doctor lately to be tested for malnutrition, what is your exercise schedule like?

You very well could be the exception to the rule, who knows. But I submit that just because someone is losing weight, does not mean it's healthy weight loss, and it does not mean they are not in starvation mode. Starvation mode isn't some big shining glow that surrounds you, it's not obvious if it's not full blown starvation, starvation mode means your body has reduced it's metabolic rate to compensate for the inability to equalize nutritional intake and stored reserves vs calorie expenditure, that means that additional hormones are produced to reduce muscle growth and repair, increase fat storage, reduce immune system health, make your skin have less color, reduce gallbladder function, and a whole host of other things, none of these things are immediately noticeable to the average person as the symptoms come on slowly.

the thing is, we want people to be healthy, and whether or not you are being healthy with your weight loss, and I have no idea if you are or not, in general creating a deficit that is to large to support is an unhealthy practice that leads to health issues if left for the long term.

I am 5'6 right now I am at 183 pounds.I am lightly active i guess im a stay at home mom go to the park everyday with my 3 yr old,house work and such.I go to a doctor often.I was a long time meth user so I go to get my heart and other things checked out to make sure there are not side effects from the long time use sneaking up on me.
My drug use played a part in how I got fat.
Now my doctor knows the way i am eating i show no signs of malnutrition i am starting to develop muscle i am pretty healthy i have issues with copd due to smoking
Now heres what my doctor and the nutrionalist i was seeing think is going on with me.I spent 17 years (half of my life) on meth.I started using everyday around 16.I would go 3 to 4 days without eating because meth makes it really hard to eat even if you want to.Sometimes I would be able to choke down some fast food.But normaly i would go along time just drinking soda and crap.I did this for so long my doctor wonders if i have some how changed the way my body works,not alot is known about long term meth use.When I quit in 2006 I an started eating everyday I was probobly eating 1500 to 1800 calories a day.I put on wieght fast.Add in a pregnancy and bed rest and boom 230 pounds..lol
When I first started trying to take off the weight I started tracking calories to see where i was at without changing anything except i stoped drinking soda i was under 1400 just eating the way I had since quiting dope.I wasnt losing anything at 1400 so I started exercising april of last year at that time 6 days a week 2 hours a day.I never ate back the calories i burned and started losing 2 pounds a week.Now I dont exercise as much because I no longer have babysitting I workout 5 to 6 days a week now for 30 minutes to an hour.I feel great full of energy,so I really dont think my net being at 800 or 900 day to day is going to hurt me because my body got real good at makeing do at much less for so long.
Sorry for such a long post but mine are very unusal circumstances

SHBoss1673

I am 5'6 right now I am at 183 pounds.I am lightly active i guess im a stay at home mom go to the park everyday with my 3 yr old,house work and such.I go to a doctor often.I was a long time meth user so I go to get my heart and other things checked out to make sure there are not side effects from the long time use sneaking up on me.
My drug use played a part in how I got fat.
Now my doctor knows the way i am eating i show no signs of malnutrition i am starting to develop muscle i am pretty healthy i have issues with copd due to smoking
Now heres what my doctor and the nutrionalist i was seeing think is going on with me.I spent 17 years (half of my life) on meth.I started using everyday around 16.I would go 3 to 4 days without eating because meth makes it really hard to eat even if you want to.Sometimes I would be able to choke down some fast food.But normaly i would go along time just drinking soda and crap.I did this for so long my doctor wonders if i have some how changed the way my body works,not alot is known about long term meth use.When I quit in 2006 I an started eating everyday I was probobly eating 1500 to 1800 calories a day.I put on wieght fast.Add in a pregnancy and bed rest and boom 230 pounds..lol
When I first started trying to take off the weight I started tracking calories to see where i was at without changing anything except i stoped drinking soda i was under 1400 just eating the way I had since quiting dope.I wasnt losing anything at 1400 so I started exercising april of last year at that time 6 days a week 2 hours a day.I never ate back the calories i burned and started losing 2 pounds a week.Now I dont exercise as much because I no longer have babysitting I workout 5 to 6 days a week now for 30 minutes to an hour.I feel great full of energy,so I really dont think my net being at 800 or 900 day to day is going to hurt me because my body got real good at makeing do at much less for so long.
Sorry for such a long post but mine are very unusal circumstances

Yes, they are very unusual, and they lead to the exact point I'm talking about. Your BMI is right about at 30, which is right on the edge of obese, and I have no idea what your body fat % is but from the story, I imagine it's relatively high (considering the food and lifestyle choices you were involved in). Add to that the addiction, and you have a very unique situation. Whether or not your metabolism is functioning normally, I have no idea, but given these facts, you can't really use your situation as a benchmark for others.

I really hope you continue your success, and I'm more than willing to help if you have any questions, I consider myself a very well read amateur at nutrition, as well as a professional personal trainer. That means that, no, I don't have all the answers for nutrition, but I've studied extensively, probably more than many GP doctors (as they receive minimal nutrition training for the most part unless they take it upon themself after med school). I say everything because people just need to realize that not every scientific fact is going to line up exactly with their results, the human body's just to complicated for that. But in general, they follow natural rules, and starvation mode is a simple fact of nature, and recognizing it is important to keep weight loss techniques healthy.

FearAnLoathing

I am 5'6 right now I am at 183 pounds.I am lightly active i guess im a stay at home mom go to the park everyday with my 3 yr old,house work and such.I go to a doctor often.I was a long time meth user so I go to get my heart and other things checked out to make sure there are not side effects from the long time use sneaking up on me.
My drug use played a part in how I got fat.
Now my doctor knows the way i am eating i show no signs of malnutrition i am starting to develop muscle i am pretty healthy i have issues with copd due to smoking
Now heres what my doctor and the nutrionalist i was seeing think is going on with me.I spent 17 years (half of my life) on meth.I started using everyday around 16.I would go 3 to 4 days without eating because meth makes it really hard to eat even if you want to.Sometimes I would be able to choke down some fast food.But normaly i would go along time just drinking soda and crap.I did this for so long my doctor wonders if i have some how changed the way my body works,not alot is known about long term meth use.When I quit in 2006 I an started eating everyday I was probobly eating 1500 to 1800 calories a day.I put on wieght fast.Add in a pregnancy and bed rest and boom 230 pounds..lol
When I first started trying to take off the weight I started tracking calories to see where i was at without changing anything except i stoped drinking soda i was under 1400 just eating the way I had since quiting dope.I wasnt losing anything at 1400 so I started exercising april of last year at that time 6 days a week 2 hours a day.I never ate back the calories i burned and started losing 2 pounds a week.Now I dont exercise as much because I no longer have babysitting I workout 5 to 6 days a week now for 30 minutes to an hour.I feel great full of energy,so I really dont think my net being at 800 or 900 day to day is going to hurt me because my body got real good at makeing do at much less for so long.
Sorry for such a long post but mine are very unusal circumstances

Yes, they are very unusual, and they lead to the exact point I'm talking about. Your BMI is right about at 30, which is right on the edge of obese, and I have no idea what your body fat % is but from the story, I imagine it's relatively high (considering the food and lifestyle choices you were involved in). Add to that the addiction, and you have a very unique situation. Whether or not your metabolism is functioning normally, I have no idea, but given these facts, you can't really use your situation as a benchmark for others.

I really hope you continue your success, and I'm more than willing to help if you have any questions, I consider myself a very well read amateur at nutrition, as well as a professional personal trainer. That means that, no, I don't have all the answers for nutrition, but I've studied extensively, probably more than many GP doctors (as they receive minimal nutrition training for the most part unless they take it upon themself after med school). I say everything because people just need to realize that not every scientific fact is going to line up exactly with their results, the human body's just to complicated for that. But in general, they follow natural rules, and starvation mode is a simple fact of nature, and recognizing it is important to keep weight loss techniques healthy.

Thank you.You are very helpfull.If I ever have any questions you would be one of the ones on the site I would ask.Right now I seem to be moving along nicely so im cool with the way things are for me.I am hyper aware of my health now since there are so many things that can go wrong down the line.I pretty much run to the drs at the first sine of anything acting wierd

dartany

No.... don't do it . Exercising doesn't mean you should go and eat more food. You exercised to get rid of those calories ....which results in weight loss.....why would you eat them back? It is almost impossible to determine how many calories you expend during exercise any way and your body is not processing the food you just ate as calorie burn during exercise. This is such a weightloss myth. If you watch the biggest looser you have seen this myth debunked. Those people work out like 8 hours a day.....and they don't replace those calories they still maintain a diet....that is why that have such dramatic weightlosses in a week.

This is wrong. If you didn't already have a calorie deficit built into your calorie goal, then I would agree with you. However, MFP already builds a deficit in which is what a lot of people are having trouble remembering. So, if you go back to my initial example in the original post, I already had a built-in calories deficit of 500 a day without ever exercising. That had me on track to lose one pound a week. And that is exactly what happened. Some weeks, I had bigger losses, some weeks I had smaller losses, but I was able to lose weight consistently in a healthy manner.

Comparing the vast majority of people to the Biggest Loser contestants is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Most of us are not as obese as the contestants are. Most of us don't have trainers and doctors supervising us every day. Most us can't afford to burn 7000 calories in one workout (that's what Rulon Gardner talks about in this week's Sports Illustrated that I just got). Please don't muddle people's minds by trying to compare the average person to the Biggest Loser contestants. It is NOT apples to apples.

As far as your other post concerning the fact that our bodies naturally burn calories, no one is claiming those are weight loss calories. All I am saying is that EVERYONE'S body has a certain amount of fuel that is needed to maintain themselves. Walking to the car, breathing, playing with the dog...everything burns calories. That is why you need to eat a certain amount every day and why you need to eat your exercise calories back. Otherwise, your body doesn't get the fuel it needs to function, your metabolism can slow down and the dreaded "starvation mode" that everyone fears here can become an issue.

Go with what MFP tells you you should have as your NET calories. Again, NET = calories eaten - calories burned. They already build in a deficit for you so you WILL lose weight. This website does a very good job of showing people how to do things the RIGHT way and I am living proof that it works.

Congratulations and continued success. There is no one RIGHT WAY LOL... I have lost 11 lbs in less than a month and not only do I not eat my weight loss calories back...on some days I dont meet my net goal. I wasn't comparing people to Biggest Loser. I was making the point that you don't have to eat calories expended during exercise back in order to loose weight. It is absolutely ridiculous to me that someone who is overweight would be concerned about starvation mode. Clinically I am obese and I have plenty of fat storage for my body to use to preform its daily task. Actually I have more than enough, that is why I am considered obese. Typically I burn 220 on the elipitcal and I do weight training but have no idea how many calories I burn doing that. However, after I finish my workout I certainly don't go eat an additional 220 calories....my goal is calories out. Being already fat, and not eating that 220 calories back forces my body to use some of that stored fat instead...ie Losing weight.

MelanieB1979

Bump. Something for me to remind myself of. Thanks!

JesaGrace

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the math of it....I eat the exercise calories...

Maxylicious

Wow for the first time I truly understand what the plan is here. Not only do I not make my MFP 1200 calorie goal (only eat about 800 calories), I also burn almost 900 calories each day working out. I guess I've been starving myself for weeks without even realizing it. I just assumed as long as I eat 3 healthy meals (mostly salad) and a snack I was fine, but i guess not.

If i eat 800c but burn 900c, then my body probably assumes i haven't eaten all day. Wow. Now i know what people mean by starvation mode. Lately its been getting harder to drop the lbs. Could this be why???

virginiagomes

reading tomorrow

whatupskinnyjeans

I do agree that MFP starts us out with a deficit and perhaps all exercise calories should be eaten. The real problem comes in trying to accurately come up with how many calories were actually burned. I know that I can go for a 45 minute FAST walk in a very hilly neighborhood and my HRM will say I burned something like 450 calories. If I put in a fast walk into MFP it will give me over 600 calories. Which of those do I trust. Personally, I really feel like both are probably overestimates. I don't want to eat 600 extra calories for a 45 minute walk. If I would have been sitting around the house for that 45 minutes I would have burned about 70-80 calories so I definitely need to subtract these from whatever I "eat back". I don't know if everyone does this, but regardless of how badly I want to credit myself with a tremendous amount of calories burned, it doesn't help my weight loss if the number isn't accurate. I usually give myself half of what my HRM says and try to eat that much. It keeps my net calories around 1200. I know that heart rate monitors are the best estimate we have, but even they just estimate. There is really no way to know.

Yes I agree 100%. u burn calories just by breathing. I try to eat 1200 calories... N the earlier in the dAy the better to get my metabolism moving

dkanli

Thanks for that I was getting a little confused and felt guilty about eating back my exercise calories. Now it all makes sense. This is only my first week but I love MFP already - the iphone app is awesome.

Davali

I still don't get it, but believe it and will follow it. Only just (as in yesterday/today) introducing exercise into the mix and I don't want to stall at the first hurdle.

Thanks everyone for being so informative - I do feel like the class dunce on here.....

biged335

Thanks for the post... But it's so hard for me to eat back my calories... I might be a big man but I've never been a huge eater. That's not what put the weight on. I have to eat 2020 cals just to hit my goal without taking out for exercise. Eating that many heathly calories is hard work. I get tired of eating. But I'm glad I was told about this website, so I've been able to kick my intake up.

Celo24

Wow for the first time I truly understand what the plan is here. Not only do I not make my MFP 1200 calorie goal (only eat about 800 calories), I also burn almost 900 calories each day working out. I guess I've been starving myself for weeks without even realizing it. I just assumed as long as I eat 3 healthy meals (mostly salad) and a snack I was fine, but i guess not.

If i eat 800c but burn 900c, then my body probably assumes i haven't eaten all day. Wow. Now i know what people mean by starvation mode. Lately its been getting harder to drop the lbs. Could this be why???

Absolutely. You haven't been giving your body enough fuel to do what it needs. Start eating some more and I'm betting you turn a corner pretty quickly.

Celo24

Thanks for the post... But it's so hard for me to eat back my calories... I might be a big man but I've never been a huge eater. That's not what put the weight on. I have to eat 2020 cals just to hit my goal without taking out for exercise. Eating that many heathly calories is hard work. I get tired of eating. But I'm glad I was told about this website, so I've been able to kick my intake up.

I definitely understand. Now that I am in maintenance, I have 2220 calories to eat daily (before exercise) and it is tough!! Nuts, peanut/almond butter, avocado, chocolate milk, cottage cheese, string cheese....some of the things I keep around to try and kick up my calories but still eat healthy. Once you figure out what works for you, it DOES get easier.

zoezoe11

Wow - that's great. I am quite new to the site, but have tried losing wieght in the past and had same problems: eating about 1200 calories a day, exercising daily and burning 400-600 calories daily and then feeling very deprived a few days later, and ending up eating a lot more than I planned. I am on a 1200 calorie plan and burn about 400-500 calories daily now and i eat most of my calories back. I aim for 4-5 lbs a month weight loss and don't feel deprived at all! Good luck!