What does this mean?

eddiegirll

I started with 1,685 Daily Calorie Allowance. I don't get how this works after I put in my exercsie, my calorie allowance goes up. I just lowered my calories the first week & logged them in my food diary. This doesn't make sense to me, my second week, I gained 1 lb, because I thought I was suppose to. I don't think I am suppose to eat them back! I need some guidance to find the answers that I need to see how this really works.
When I first put my weight in, it adjusted my Daily Calorie Allowance to 1,685. Am I suppose to do that which is Required for my height & weight right now?
I want to make my Daily Calorie Allowance down to 1,200. Does anyone change their Recommended Daily Calorie Allowance?

Totals
591
113
9
19
20
10

Remaining
815
80
37
33
180
13

Calories
Carbs
Fat
Protein
Chol
Fiber

5' 4"
S.W. 234(Sept. 5, 2011)
P.W. 227(Sep. 12, 2011)
C.W. 228(Sept. 19, 2011) HELLO! What happened?
G.W. 125

rtmama

If you search the forum for "eating exercise calories" you'll find about a million prior posts with pro and con views.

Good luck!

PS. I doubt you gained a pound of fat in one week, that would mean you ate 3500 extra calories. Could be water retention.

MrsCon40

When you work out you get to eat more! Yay! That's the best reward there is!!

Why?

Because MFP calculates a healthy deficit BEFORE exercise, so even though you eat more when you exercise you will still lose! Your body needs nutrients to help replenish and repair after exercise!

That's why MFP is the cat's pajamas!

:flowerforyou:

trixieflow

hi, that is a long running battle on this site. i have been off and on this site for a while and i think that for ME it won't work to eat back the calories. maybe it works for those trying to maintain? seems weird though because that is how it works on WW as well. you get more points when you exercise. this is going to be my first week NOT eating back my exercise calories and i can't stop thinking about food!

trixieflow

i was eating back my exercise cals and not losing.
so frustruating...

aa1440

I eat back most of my calories. I try to work out very hard some days just so I can eat more.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Lleldiranne

MFP calculates a base metabolic rate (your original allowance) and then adjusts for exercise, since you burn more calories when you exercise. It's already given you a deficit in your goal, so if you don't eat back exercise calories you're increasing the deficit. That can work, as long as it's not by too much.

I prefer, right now, to eat back my calories. But after baby, I may experiment with that a little. There's benefits to each. But I also know several people who had stopped losing weight because of not eating enough. When they increased calories, they starting losing again.

stephanie8625

it is different for everyone -- the calories that you exercise are added back in, I was not eating my exercise calories back in the beginning and could not lose, now I eat back 1/2 of my exercise calories and sometimes almost all of them and I am getting results. And also is not all about weight, make sure that you do your measurements and add them to your info page, you will also see results in measurements some weeks when you have not lost weight. Hang in there, do not give up, you are going to have the good and bad weeks, but the most important is to stay with it.........it will all work out in th end. :flowerforyou:

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bethdris

Since I had a lot to lose and didn't feel too hungry, I almost never ate back any of my exercise calories. Once in a blue moon, I"d eat maybe 1/4 of them back. Everyone is different. MFP does calcuate a deficit WITHOUT exercising. Thats why they add them into your available cals once you exercise.

Now that Im maintaining and eating more, I do feel I need to eat more. My "food" cal is 1850 and i have yet to hit that. Since I still do exercise, I don't eat back those calories right now.

Its all trial and error. It works differently for everyone.

eddiegirll

I heard both ways! This is confusing, but I think I can understand how it is suppose to work. It does sound like you are in the same shoes as I am in that sense. I do know as long as we seek we shall find, that is just what God says we are to do. Keep on Trucking:flowerforyou: Thanks very much for everyone's opinion.

Okay I can understand water retention & not just losing any weight, because the first week I ate way below my Daily Calorie Allowance & lost. This week I began to eat back the exercise calories. I think just maybe it does take some time to adjust.

MrsCon40

I heard both ways! This is confusing, but I think I can understand how it is suppose to work. It does sound like you are in the same shoes as I am in that sense. I do know as long as we seek we shall find, that is just what God says we are to do. Keep on Trucking:flowerforyou: Thanks very much for everyone's opinion.

Okay I can understand water retention & not just losing any weight, because the first week I ate way below my Daily Calorie Allowance & lost. This week I began to eat back the exercise calories. I think just maybe it does take some time to adjust.

Give any change at least two weeks for your body to sort it out. DO NOT GET ON THE SCALE.

eimaj5575

I always eat my workout calories. Your body needs the extra food to keep your metabolism going otherwise your metabolism can start to slow down bc your now eating enough. Good luck. And remember the first step to losing weight is to actually eat!

eddiegirll

Hi bethdris,

I agree with you because the way you were eating was the way I was eating & it was working for me. As long as I ate enough calories to prevent my body from going into starvation mode. That is where I felt safest.

I do agree it is trial & error. Plenty of mts. along the way, to help tone up the muscles, gives us time to take a rest down in the valley. So we can regain energy for the next one!

Thanks all! I'm getting there.

mark03264

First of all, you probably should not put your daily calorie goal all the way down to 1200 if MFP is telling you that you should eat 1685 based on your weight, activity level and weight loss goals. If you eat too few calories you are VERY likely to sabotage your weight loss.

If you set up MFP right to start with then the daily calorie goal that MFP gives you already has a calorie deficit built in to lose weight. That said, you should eat close to the calorie goal MFP gives you each day including eating back most of your exercise calories. Depending on how far under the daily calorie goal you are, you are very likely to cause your body to hang onto the fat it has by either slowing down or even stopping fat loss. It may not happen right away but eventually you will most likely plateau. If you have a lot of weight to lose you can probably get away with it longer but as you have less to lose your body will plateau easier. May sound counter-intuitive but that's just the way it is.

Most reputable health care professionals, and this site, recommend losing 1 pound per week. At weight loss rates greater than 1 pound per week a person is likely to lose muscle mass in addition to fat. As you lose muscle mass your metabolism declines making it hard to continue losing weight and harder to maintain your weight when you reach your goal. Also, 1 pound per week loss is at a calorie deficit of 500 calories which most people can maintain over the long run. Greater deficit than this and many people feel too deprived or restricted and will not continue to reach their goal.

kennethmgreen

Mark, answering this question again, with patience and knowledge and good information. Every time.

eddiegirll

Thanks Mark,

This helps me figure out the confusion. Like MrsCon40 said about giving myself two wks before I get on a scale, that is where I went wrong. Now I want to get back on track...I'm ready to try it again. I appreciate everyone's advice.