Confused on Calorie Intake.

lydia2012change

Can someone please help me understand how this calorie intake works. I almost met my 1200 calories but when I did my Zumba I burned quite a bit to where it only left my calories remaining at 961. There was a note at the bottom that stated I could cause my body to go into starvation mode. What can I do to make sure my body doesn't go into starvation mode? I had breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack so I am not missing any meals. I even cut my cardio by 20 minutes so I won't burn anymore calories for the day. How do I balance the two to make sure I get the result I want. Should I cut my exercise down? I can't even imagine eating more because I'm far from hungry and stuffing myself would make me feel miserable.

Last time I lost my weight I was on diet pills and I gained it back and then some. It feels good to do it the right way this time and MFP is definitely has the support I need to keep me motivated and my head held high

veganbaum

On days you exercise, you could simply plan an extra snack earlier in the day, eat a bigger breakfast, whatever, to eat back some of those exercise calories. It doesn't have to be after your workout.

AZKristi

Women should never eat less than 1200 calories per day. You will get this message anytime you go below this threshold.

bry_all01

You do not want to create a deficit, if you do this consistantly, your body goes into starvation mode and thus you will most likely not lose the weight.

MFP took into account everything you plugged in when determining your goals, so you definitely want to try to eat back half, if not all of your calories, if possible.

SeanMurphy

In my opinion, eat your calories, and unless you are doing hard work daily, don't worry about eating back your exercise calories so much. Be more concerned with what you're eating than what you're doing. This is a huge topic of discussion on this site, and if you search for "eating back your exercise" you'll find quite a few threads about it, with a lot of good folks on both sides.

If you are doing work like Zumba or any other kind of activity regularly, change your goals to reflect the number of workouts you're doing weekly, or move your lifestyle category up an activity level, and the program will automatically adjust your daily calorie intake to take your activity level into account. You don't want to be running a marathon every day but only getting 1200 calories allotted to you by MFP. Be honest with it, and you'll generally get something that's pretty accurate.

As long as you're not feeling hungry all the time, you're probably doing alright. Most people's bodies are fairly smart and unless you're masking signals with things intended to block hunger signals, and as long as you can tell the difference between real hunger and boredom hunger (I struggle with that myself) you should be able to tell if you're getting enough food to be ok.

superhippiechik

Yo can drink some milk after a workout or have some yogurt or high calorie fruit. Peanut butter is awesome too.

PatientBearTiger

In my opinion, eat your calories, and unless you are doing hard work daily, don't worry about eating back your exercise calories so much.

Then you don't understand how MFP is built. The caloric deficit necessary to lose weight is already factored in when you sign up. Those exercise calories need to be eaten and become more and more important as people get closer and closer to their goal weights.

peachNpunkin

Anytime you eat less than 1200 cals you will get that message. You should plan on your days that you exercise to eat back at least half of the calories you eat. I try to plan my meals the day before, and if I know that on a certain day, I am going to do a certain exercise that may burn more calories that other workouts, I plan to eat back at least half of those calories. My goal is 1530 cals per day, I aim for 1600 cals per day, because I do alot of walking (intentionally), and on days that I workout I plan for 1700 to 2000 cals, depending on what I am going to do for a workout on that day.

NotGoddess

I know you don't feel like eating more, but you need to. Try eating more in the day or eating more often, increase your calories as you start to feel more hungry, maybe 100-200 a day to start.

ahavoc

There are some things your need to find out. First and foremost is how many calories do you need to eat in order to maintain your weight where it is right now. You can use the BMR calculator in the Tools section, and I suggest finding 2 or 3 others online and averaging the answers you get. Once you find out this number you subtract 500 calories a day so you can lose 1 lb a week. 1 lb equals 3500 calories, so 7 x 500 equals 3500. It's math, it's science, it works. If you exercise, then that would increase your weight loss.

But here's the thing. If you cut your calories too much, your body will store what you eat and not burn them. If you are really overweight, like I am, then you should look to lose 1.5 - 2 lbs a week. But when you get closer to goal 1 lb a week will be more realistic because your body adjusts.

And here's the other thing. The best way to eat is to have the biggest meal be breakfast, with protein and the whole nine yards, and the rest of your meals smaller. Think of your body as an engine that you want to continually put fuel in so it burns consistently. Your metabolism is key and exercise and eating the minimum amount of your calories, (the amount that MFP says you need to eat before exercise) is key.

Also, invest in a good heart rate monitor so you can accurately calculate how many calories you are really burning. Don't trust exercise machines or what pops up here on MFP. Your age, your weight and heart rate determines your real calorie burn, and that will be also be key.

SeanMurphy

Then you don't understand how MFP is built. The caloric deficit necessary to lose weight is already factored in when you sign up. Those exercise calories need to be eaten and become more and more important as people get closer and closer to their goal weights.

And in a perfect world, this would be true. If someone is doing one session of activity like Zumba a week and burns 200-300 calories, and this puts them under a 1200 calorie limit, it's true that a snack is probably in order. However, and I know I can't speak for everyone, but I suspect a lot of folks underestimate or omit, by mistake or not, the occasional item throughout the week. An omit or underestimate some activity once in a while won't cause one great harm.

We none of us are perfect, and the body is not a perfect difference engine. Going under 1200 calories once a week is NOT going to suddenly make you spiral out of control and cause your body to shut down all metabolism. Doing it regularly is a sign of impatience, for sure, but that was what the rest of my post was about, how regular activity is meant to be allotted in the goals and lifestyle section.

lydia2012change

Thank You.

lydia2012change

Yes. I make sure I eat my 3 meals and today I only had 1 snack. I'll work on eating a bigger breakfast to make up, And I decided I will do my 50 Zumba workout 3 times a week and my 20 minutes Zumba DVD 2 times a week. I don't want to over do it.

lydia2012change

Thats a good idea, thanks

KimmyEB

I don't always eat back my exercise calories. In fact, I rarely eat them back. And I don't purposely try to eat them back. But I also don't purposely try NOT to eat them back. My opinion is...do what is best for YOUR body. If you're hungry, then eat. If you're not, then don't. People are saying "you MUST eat" "you HAVE to eat them back"...well, who says? Forcing myself to eat if I'm not hungry just seems stupid, in my opinion. And I would never tell anyone else they should. 3 meals and a snack in one day sounds perfectly healthy to me, and I honestly don't know any nutritionists or doctors who would disagree on that. There's conflicting opinions to this topic, but in all honesty, I know plenty of nutrition specialists and people with actual DEGREES on the subject of health and wellness who will say that no, you do NOT have to eat back your exercise calories if you're not hungry. This is the first, and only, website that I've seen that promotes eating them back.

PatientBearTiger

This is the first, and only, website that I've seen that promotes eating them back.

Because this is the first, and only, website that already factors the caloric deficit into your daily alloted calories.

KimmyEB

This is the first, and only, website that I've seen that promotes eating them back.

Because this is the first, and only, website that already factors the caloric deficit into your daily alloted calories.

My dad is part of a health and wellness group that does everything MFP does the old-fashioned way--with a pen and paper. I think their doctors and nutritionists that work with the group can factor stuff just fine. My original point stands--why should someone force themselves to eat when they aren't hungry? Making myself feel sick doesn't seem very productive.

PatientBearTiger

This is the first, and only, website that I've seen that promotes eating them back.

Because this is the first, and only, website that already factors the caloric deficit into your daily alloted calories.

My dad is part of a health and wellness group that does everything MFP does the old-fashioned way--with a pen and paper. I think their doctors and nutritionists that work with the group can factor stuff just fine. My original point stands--why should someone force themselves to eat when they aren't hungry? Making myself feel sick doesn't seem very productive.

You still aren't getting it. MFP already builds in the deficit. It's part of your daily allotment of calories. Doctors and nutritionists want a calorie deficit to lose weight and so does MFP. However, doctors and nutritionists don't build the deficit in the way MFP does. It's a very unique system.

As for making yourself sick, no one is suggesting that. Plan your day and meals ahead of time so that you get your calories without stuffing yourself. If you still have questions, please visit http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

KimmyEB

This is the first, and only, website that I've seen that promotes eating them back.

Because this is the first, and only, website that already factors the caloric deficit into your daily alloted calories.

My dad is part of a health and wellness group that does everything MFP does the old-fashioned way--with a pen and paper. I think their doctors and nutritionists that work with the group can factor stuff just fine. My original point stands--why should someone force themselves to eat when they aren't hungry? Making myself feel sick doesn't seem very productive.

You still aren't getting it. MFP already builds in the deficit. It's part of your daily allotment of calories. Doctors and nutritionists want a calorie deficit to lose weight and so does MFP. However, doctors and nutritionists don't build the deficit in the way MFP does. It's a very unique system.

As for making yourself sick, no one is suggesting that. Plan your day and meals ahead of time so that you get your calories without stuffing yourself. If you still have questions, please visit http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

Unique, yes...but it also has its flaws. And you can prepare meals ahead of time, plan what you're going to eat, etc...but me personally, I don't always eat what I plan. Or I may not eat as much as I planned...or maybe I eat MORE than I planned. My point is, this "system" doesn't work for everyone. So I don't understand why some people here feel the need to tell others what they need to do.

chevy88grl

The goal of this website is to get your daily calories as close to zero as possible. Having hundreds of calories leftover is NOT how this website is designed to work.

If you have a hard time eating your daily calories - add in higher calorie (but good for you) foods like nuts, nut butter, or even a protein shake with milk, etc. Then you're getting your daily calories easily.

If you know you are going to work out later and suspect you won't be able to eat more - eat more BEFORE you workout. You can add 100 calories to each meal during the day and it'll even out at the end.

You have to fuel your body. Plain and simple. You wouldn't start out on a long journey in your car without putting gas in it first - why expect your body to function without the fuel (food) it needs?

idwoof

You will not go into starvation mode! Biggest myth ever. Your metabolism is affected by the amount of calories you consume but not enough to make it shut down if you stop eating. You think your body doesn't have to function just because you stopped eating?
How come anorexics still lose weight? How come people on fasts lose weight? How come HCG makes peoples weight drop so quickly?
People that are eating anywhere above 1000 calories don't need to worry about starvation mode. Even if they are exercising. You don't need to eat back your exercise calories (I do) it's not totally necessary.