Not eating enough

Bonnie1974

I am confused, but yet I am sure it is somewhere in these topics. And feel kinda dumb to ask this but here I go:

I just completed my food log for yesterday (forgot to complete it last night) and it told me I am not eating enough?? I am eating my 1200 calories or just under it. But i work out for an hour a day.. So it allows me more calorie intake, why is this?

I always thought that eating less and exercising was the way to lose weight, is there something I don't know?

Confused :huh:

erickirb

MFP is set up so you lose your goal amount of weight wether you workout or not. So if you don't workout and eat 1200 cals you will lose your goal amount. This is the same as eating 1600 and burning 400 from working out it nets 1200 (1600-400 is the same as 1200-0) So you must eat the exercise calories in order to reach your goal. Otherwise you may burn more or less, but not you goal.

BeLightYear

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

a2canadian

1200 calories a day is not very much and if you are exercising sufficiently (this depends on your body type and fitness) you could be getting as little as 600 kcal net/day. Think about your body as an engine. If you put 5L of gas in and then drive until it until you are running on fumes... eventually the car will stop. Now imagine that those fumes are all of your nice new muscles! Your body will consume muscle and convert it into fat if it does not have enough energy. Calories are converted into heat. No calories, no heat, no energy.

Use exercise to build fitness, stick to your 1200kcal (net) diet plan and see where it takes you.

cw454

You do need to eat less and exercise, but not eating enough will slow down your metabolism. You need to find that happy medium.

Ms_Natalie

MFP calculates your daily goal after taking into account the deficit required to lose a certain amount of weight a week. You should be aiming for 1200 a day...no lower than this. Your body needs food, nutrients and vitamins to psychologically and physiologically function. When you withdraw these calories your body notice this. Eating less than 1200 for a long period of time may also cause your body to hold onto excess weight in fear that you are going into a period of starvation.

Many people do not lose weight eating less than 1200 and find that weight loss begins when calories are increased.

You can choose whether to eat your exercise calories back or not.

There are sticky threads in some of the forums if you still needs things clarified.

Kendyl10

Exercising gives you a deficit on your calories- with this program you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. If you eat under the 1200, it will tell you you aren't getting enough. I have done that a couple times- I just haven't been able to get up to the 1200. But it isn't something you want to make a habit of, especially if you are burning 500 calories in a workout. It is ok to go over that base 1200 if you are exercising. It is encouraged.

I agree, it is confusing. I had to have it explained to me. Hope my explanation makes sense

casonyamc

That's a misconception that a lot of us has had until we started the process ourselves. Just remeber: YOU HAVE TO EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT!! In doing research on this question, I've read that if you starve yourself, you won't lose weight because the body is going to think that it's not going to get fed and hold on to the fat that you are trying to lose. You have to eat fat to burn fat. It sounds funny, but this has been said on the Biggest Loser, Celebrity Fit Club, and any other weight loss shows that I've seen. You can't starve yourself!

linkinrockerchick

I had a hard time wrapping my brain around this at first too. The concept is: if you burn 150 calories working out, you burned off 150 of food you took in. That means you are allowed to eat more food to fuel your body. With or without exercise, you should try to meet the 1,200 calorie goal. Im still struggling with this myself. Im finding out that I need to force myself to eat more.

Kirstie_C26

when u set ur goals on mfp, it already gives u a calorie defecit, which when u exercise increases to an 'unhealthier' level therefore, u shud eat bak at least 1/2 - 2/3 of ur exercise cals to compensate.

generally if u wana stay under ur total cals for the day leave around 150-200 which wont give u the 'starvation mode' warning

hope this helps
best wishes
Kirstie xx

knittygirl52

Overall it's true--eat less and exercise more and you will lose weight. But remember that food is also fuel. Fuel to give you the energy to exercise. So, normally, try to eat your 1200 calories, and know that the exercise calories can be eaten if you want--you will still lose weight, though it may slow it a tad.

FYI, most women should NEVER eat less than 1200 calories on a regular basis--unless they want to LOWER their metabolism, which I doubt. To give an example of that, my daughter's senior year in college, she was on a very tight budget. She also wanted to lose weight. So she ate less and less. She lost very little, if any weight that year. She was so fatigued that she slept most of the time. She knows better now!

mlb929

Do a search for eating back your exercise calories - it's a subject that has been beaten to death, debated, re debated, and talked about to debate again. The bottom line IMHO - if Yes it's the right thing to do, No you aren't ever going to convince some people that they should, no it's not necessary, yes you may slow your progress or go into the dreaded "starvation" mode, etc etc etc.

dixiechicdana

Here is an example: To maintain my weight of 190, I would need to eat 1850 calories per day.
A healthy deficit is 500-1000 calories to lose weight. However, women should never drop under 1200.
I know the exercise is going to burn about 350 calorie so that would take me from 1850 to 1500.
So then I want to get to 1200 calories, so I take off 300 calories from the food part.
so with exercise and calories, I am eating 1200 calories.
If you decide to just eat 1200 calories, then you have already created your deficit not including the exercise. That is whay it gives those calories back.

mykluvedburg

Also be aware of what cw454 is saying. When you don't put enough calories in, your body holds on to what it has even harder to increase survivability. Eating healthy instead of sparingly can make the difference between weight loss and sitting at that wall for a while.

Edit: Lol, it's weird refreshing the page and seeing 60 new posts before yours.

Bonnie1974

Thank you all for your help, but I guess I am slow and still confused

So if I am readig right:

My body needs 1200 calories a day,
If i work out i am buring the calories my body has taken in for the day, and I need to give it back.

So if i burn 600 calories at the gym, I need to feed my body back those 600 calories?

Sorry confused

erickirb

Yes. If you only eat 1200 and burn 600 would be like eating 600 and not working out. MFP gave you 1200 NET to reach your goal loss/week. so if you burn 600 you would have to eat 1800 to net 1200 (1800-600)

Bonnie1974

Thank you Erickirb,

I just took a look at what i had yesterday and my days end calorie intake was less than 1200, and I worked out. so in the end this is not good, becus it shows I had 578 calories remaining.

Which means my body did not get enough,

I am starting to understand it more and more.. Maybe makes sense why I have been working my butt off and nothing..