Confused now...should I eat back my exercise calories?

cathie2903

I am fairly new to MFP and over the last 2 weeks i have lost 3lbs, but this gets me to a weight which I always find hard to reduce. I have started exercising by aerobics, spinning classes and 30 day shred DVD every (almost!) morning..DVD that's is not the rest! I have read a few blogs where it's said that if you don't eat your exercise calories, you will struggle with weight loss....

My daily calorie target is 1200.... If I get say 400 exercise calories should I then eat 1600 cals per day?? I can't get my head round it...cos it seems to me that as long as I get my 1200 cals I can "bank" the exercise cals...

Anyone help me?? Thanks Guys...

KLi531

Yes!! Here's a great little link that can explain it a whole lot better than I can...


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

juggalotus

Well, I can tell you that I don't eat my calories back...I mean i dip into them sometimes if I need them, but on average, i will have about 100-700 calories left over for the day....I have lost 16 lbs in a month....Everyone is different. Everyone is going to tell you something different, trust me, i have asked this question before....It's a trial and error thing...what works for me, might not work for you....I say eat back at least half. I have a lot of weight to lose so that's probably why it's working for me. If you're closer to your goal weight, or maintaining them I would say yes, definitely eat them back....But if you have a significant amount to lose, then i would say play around with it and see what works for you and roll with it! good luck

TG55555

Yes, I'm in the same boat.... new to MFT... lost 3 lbs... 1200 cals per day. I view my exercise calories as a reward, therefore I'm more motivated to get active.

PS Just started to use "Couch to 5 k in nine weeks" (free NHS uk podcast).

cathie2903

KLi531 - thanks for this link.....I have read it....slowly...cos it's a lot to take in, but makes a lot of sense!!

pardeypies

i was just wondering, as the information i get is a little confusing. Isn't 1200 Calories a little low? i used to think that was my goal, but then i was told i should be almost twice that (and this is WITHOUT exercise).......now im worried i eat too much.....

i guess its a personal thing.........but im pretty sure if your doing all that exercise, you can afford to pay it back as your body will no doubt need that extra feed

babyblake11

if you want to 'bank' the calories and not eat them then change to 1 pound a week or 1/2 pound, that will give you more calories to eat, then burn the amount that will get you back down to 1200

MissMaggie3

I was also on 1200 calories for a pound loss each week. I am now a bit higher, as I'm going for half a pound.

I've been doing loads of exercise, and I almost always eat all my exercise calories back. After staying the same weight for a while at the beginning, I have since lost steadily - 22 pounds in total, with just a few more to go. I definitely recommend it - it feels the healthy thing to do, and it works. I didn't want that haggard look either that comes from rapid weight loss.

robin52077

i was just wondering, as the information i get is a little confusing. Isn't 1200 Calories a little low?

For most people, 1200 is way too low. That is the LOWEST recommended amount for ANYONE. most people should be above that but nobody should ever be below it. I tried it and was starving, weak, dizzy, headaches...etc...and I am 5'2" 112 lbs...after wearing a BodyMedia device for a few months I find out my average daily calories are around 2000...so I should eat 2000 to maintain, and NO LOWER than 1500 to lose. No wonder I was starving to death at 1200....

Trial and error is the key.
Eating less is NOT always the answer to weight loss. Sometimes you need to eat MORE to prove to your body that you are not starving it and it is safe to let go of the fat stores it is holding onto. I reached goal by eating 1500-1800 a day.

KLi531

KLi531 - thanks for this link.....I have read it....slowly...cos it's a lot to take in, but makes a lot of sense!!

No prob! It is very wordy...

MissMaggie3

i was just wondering, as the information i get is a little confusing. Isn't 1200 Calories a little low?

For most people, 1200 is way too low. That is the LOWEST recommended amount for ANYONE. most people should be above that but nobody should ever be below it. I tried it and was starving, weak, dizzy, headaches...etc...and I am 5'2" 112 lbs...after wearing a BodyMedia device for a few months I find out my average daily calories are around 2000...so I should eat 2000 to maintain, and NO LOWER than 1500 to lose. No wonder I was starving to death at 1200....

Trial and error is the key.
Eating less is NOT always the answer to weight loss. Sometimes you need to eat MORE to prove to your body that you are not starving it and it is safe to let go of the fat stores it is holding onto. I reached goal by eating 1500-1800 a day.

I'm very interested in this. I would LOVE to get a BodyMedia device, but we can't get them here in the UK and the only available equivalent doesn't seem to be getting very good reviews.

It was MFP that set me at 1200, but I am now on 1280. On rest days (very rare) I can't really cope with so little food, so I suspect I should be a bit higher too. I'm only 5' 4" (and now down to 117 pounds), but I see you are even smaller! Do you feel you are relatively active? I suppose I am a fidgity person, but I don't know if that is relevant.

P.S. Hope you don't mind - I copied your signature; I love that one!

MoonIite

I eat back most of my exercise calories. I lost 1.8 lbs today despite eating 1500+ cals. However, I do run into trouble when I end up burning more calories than expected. On days like those I try to plan what I'm going to eat the day before, so I can net 1200 calories. It doesn't always work, but I find that if I don't eat back all of my exercise calories I make up for it the next day. I'm usually hungry then.

I'm working on the last 10 pounds so I changed my goal to 0.5 lb a week. And I don't regret it one bit. I'm actually enjoying it, because I get to eat more. Who doesn't like that? But today is especially weird. I expected a 0.5 lb loss when I stepped on the scale this morning, but instead lost more.