Caloric Intake...

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shopgirl192
shopgirl192 Posts: 102
in Food and Nutrition
I am so confused. My goal is 1200 calories a day and with exercising, I usually burn 800 calories. Should I be eating all these calories back? For example today, after exercising, it says my "net calories" are like 100-something... That's like nothing. I am losing weight but I noticed today while doing measurements that my body fat has JUMPED up almost 4% in the past 3 weeks even though I'm losing weight.... I want to be losing weight and body fat. Can someone help me figure this out!?!

Also... sodium intake... YIKES ~ I had a TON of sodium today! I had canned soup at lunch because I'm just getting over a cold and then I had Chipotle (Burrito Bowl) for dinner and the sodium was so high after I looked it up that I stopped eating it!

Any suggestions on caloric intake and body fat loss... as well as sodium intake!?!?

Replies

  • wanttogetskinny
    wanttogetskinny Posts: 194
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    It is recommended that your net intake be no lower than 1200, whether you exercise or not. Anything below this is putting your body in starvation mode. 1200 is still a deficit - you technically use more than this just being alive - so you will lose weight eating 1200 a day!
  • shopgirl192
    shopgirl192 Posts: 102
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    I guess I should eat something more today than.... any suggestions? It needs to be something with low sodium, since apparently I have an explosion of sodium today!
  • aml17
    aml17 Posts: 30 Member
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    What has really helped me with sodium intake is I plan out everything I'm going to eat the next day that night while laying in bed. Then I can see the totals, and I can tweak it if I am too high in sodium or sugar. If I didn't plan out my whole day ahead of time I would be over in sodium every single day. I've learned that even though frozen meals are fast and easy, I have to stay away from them usually or it completely ruins it for me!
  • TiDinzeo
    TiDinzeo Posts: 309
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    To lose weight at the rate you've set in your profile, you should be as close to your daily calorie goal, plus exercise calories at the end of the day. A little over or a little under isn't a bad thing, but a lot either way could be.
  • ChassityGetsFit
    ChassityGetsFit Posts: 173 Member
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    Ok, I know that MFP says to eat 1200 calories NET, meaning you should be eating back your workout calories. But on Biggest Loser they eat 1200-1500 calories a day and DON'T eat their workout calories back! I figure that if you eat 1200 calories per day then you're eating 1200, not 800 or whatever your net would be, so why the starvation mode!? But whatever! I don't know if this has any impact on your body fat or not, but it could also depend on what exercises you're doing. Are you doing enough cardio to burn fat? If you're eating right before your workout then you may be putting your body into a carb burning state and not a fat burning state. Try waiting about an hour or so before working out! As far as sodium, you should try to eat more veggies instead of canned or restaurant food! Or buy foods with no salt added. You should look for no more than 5g of sodium per serving! Good luck!!!
  • shopgirl192
    shopgirl192 Posts: 102
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    Thanks! I usually don't eat out as much as I have this week... I'm a teacher and with getting home so late every night, I had no choice! Well tonight I did, but Chipotle was just calling my name! LOL!

    I usually eat lunch at 10:15 (we have first lunch!) and I ate a cereal bar for a snack at 12:45.... So I definitely didn't eat anything before I worked out.

    I guess I'll just try different things and see what works best. Thanks for the suggestions!

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