Am I eating enough????

erinsnyder357

When I started mfp my goal was to lose 2 pounds a week and mfp set my "normal" calorie intake at 1200 a day. Then, as I workout, the program add's my workout calories to my available intake... the question I have is... if I start with 1200 but have burned 400 so it shows my daily goal as 1600 do I have to eat 1600 calories that day to not put my body into starvation mode? Because I have been able to create daily menu's of 1200-1300 calories and not be hungry it seems counterproductive to just eat the extra calories because I burnt them but I am not seeing much of a loss like mfp is telling me I should be seeing.... Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!!

Alexa1471

I'm the same so I'll be watching this post for answers!

graysmom2005

From what I gather...you are correct. I'm dealing with this too. MFP already fits in the 500 calorie deficit. It's already done for you. So if you don't eat the calories it gives you then you are eating too little. Is that correct? Bueller? Bueller?

dcmat

1 - ensure you eat at least 1200 cals
2 - I don't eat all of my burnt cals back, but I do have some - however I am burning 2000 a day so need the extra carbs

johnnythebaptist

Best information you need to know!!!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

pjrisher

You're going to get a million responses from people saying that science proves if eating your calories back is necessary or not but most people seem to agree that each person needs to figure what works out best for them.
I personally don't eat most of them back and I feel great. With that said, my body isn't the same as yours so our calorie needs are different.
What I'm saying is that you'll just need to listen to your body and figure out what works best for you. Good luck

erickirb

When I started mfp my goal was to lose 2 pounds a week and mfp set my "normal" calorie intake at 1200 a day. Then, as I workout, the program add's my workout calories to my available intake... the question I have is... if I start with 1200 but have burned 400 so it shows my daily goal as 1600 do I have to eat 1600 calories that day to not put my body into starvation mode? Because I have been able to create daily menu's of 1200-1300 calories and not be hungry it seems counterproductive to just eat the extra calories because I burnt them but I am not seeing much of a loss like mfp is telling me I should be seeing.... Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!!

Yes you must eat them if your goal is 1200 and the 1200 is the minimum Net calories you should have. Net calories are calories consumed minus calories burned. So if you eat 1300 but burn 400 that is a net of 900 (1300-400) and would be the same as eating 900 and not exercising, this is not enough.

MFP gives you a caloric intake to lose weight without exercising by creating a daily caloric deficit. When you exercise you increase this deficit, so MFP adds back those calories to ensure your deficit remains at your goal amount.

The less you have to lose the more important a smaller deficit is, if your deficit is too large and you don't have many fat stores your body will end up burning muscles instead of fat to use as fuel, not what you want as this will slow your metabolism down.

morganadk2_deleted

Are you eating to enough?

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


This is just a part of it! please read the link above


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677



Good luck on your journey

johnnythebaptist

Well I was told by my doctor...this is the last month I can be on 1400 Calories diet and was told to eat over on the weekend about 300-400 More calories.

NatalieWinning

Last year I could not lose more than one pound in 3 months of trying hard with diet and exercise. I realized once I Joined MFP that I wasn't a freak of nature. I wasn't eating enough. My husband eventually joined and his problem was he only ate once or twice a day, and the bag of pretzles he ate right before bed with coke was how he maintained his weight at all. It was not a healthy weight. Drinking water at and above the recommended amount, and eating "right" as well as eating enough consistantly through the day made a huge difference!

When you eat, it also makes a big difference if you eat more fruits and vegetables. And less processed and ready made food. It's really true.

Here is also a good read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

staciekins

Let's say you were eating 3500 cals with no exercise every day and thats how you gained weight.
So now, you wanna lose as fast as possible. You eat 1200 cals a day with no exercise. That's your minimum NET. You add 400 cals of exercise. Your NET becomes 800. So you add back that 400 by eating it making it 1200 cals NET again. So, you eat a total of 1600 cals, with 400 cals exercise. (Remember that is the BARE MINIMUM! The more you lose, the more you need to intake.) That is still significantly less than what you were probably consuming before AND you don't risk putting your body into starvation mode nor do you risk being malnutritioned. WIN!

dlaplume2

Yes, you do need to eat back those exercise calories. I do want to point out that MFP has a floor of 1200 calories. You may have your goal of 2lb a week set too high. I don't know what your current weight is and how much you have to lose, but on your ticker you are less than 20lb away from your goal. You should have your weight loss goal between .5 to 1 lb a week. The reason I point this out, is because I don't want you to get discouraged if you only lose one pound and then say this doesn't work. The point here is to be healthy and lose weight safely. If you create too much of a deficit, that your body can't handle, you will do more harm than good. Eat your 1200 calories and your exercise calories, and make sure your goals are reasonable. As you get closer to your goal weight, there is less room for error and weight loss does slow down. One more thing, IF you are not feeling hungry, that is not a good thing. It means your body is reacting to the calorie restriction, by slowing down your metabolism and by shutting off those hunger pangs. When a body is starving it will send hunger pangs, when those pangs don't get satisfied the body stops sending those signals. It gets used to the pain, much like your finger gets used to wearing a ring, after a while you don't even notice it.

Best wishes

erinsnyder357

Yes, you do need to eat back those exercise calories. I do want to point out that MFP has a floor of 1200 calories. You may have your goal of 2lb a week set too high. I don't know what your current weight is and how much you have to lose, but on your ticker you are less than 20lb away from your goal. You should have your weight loss goal between .5 to 1 lb a week. The reason I point this out, is because I don't want you to get discouraged if you only lose one pound and then say this doesn't work. The point here is to be healthy and lose weight safely. If you create too much of a deficit, that your body can't handle, you will do more harm than good. Eat your 1200 calories and your exercise calories, and make sure your goals are reasonable. As you get closer to your goal weight, there is less room for error and weight loss does slow down. One more thing, IF you are not feeling hungry, that is not a good thing. It means your body is reacting to the calorie restriction, by slowing down your metabolism and by shutting off those hunger pangs. When a body is starving it will send hunger pangs, when those pangs don't get satisfied the body stops sending those signals. It gets used to the pain, much like your finger gets used to wearing a ring, after a while you don't even notice it.

Best wishes

I am at 150 now and wanted to get to 140... my goal is 1 pound a week...