It occured to me that I might be adding my calories/excersic

foodcraver

I have calculated that I need 1200 calories a day. Some days I exercise, and it says that I would get 500 more calories to eat.Is this right?What I mean is, In order to lose weight at a steady space do I eat them? Or do I use my exercise as a deficit and lose weight quicker. I hope I explained it right. Thanks for your help. Tell me what you recommend.

candicejn

I'm new, but if you search "eating back your exercise calories" you'll see a lot of debate on this subject. Some say to eat them all, some say to eat half, some day to eat none. I guess it's up to you! Never go below 1200 calories, though - that seems to be the consensus overall!

Hope that helps!

LizC26

I think it depends on how close you are to your goal or how big/small you are....If you only have 5 or 10 lbs to lose, then you need to eat back your exercise calories to keep your body from slowing your metabolism down....If you have lots left to lose, You can afford the bigger deficit in calories per day.

dlyeates

I would definitely say eat them back. Now this is just my personal experience but I also thought that I would lose weight quicker if I didn't eat back my exercise calories. I actually plateaued for over a week and didn't start losing until I started eating them back. Talk about freaking me out!!! The best way I've heard it explained is that my body may hove gone into a mini starvation mode and held onto the weight not knowing if I was really in a starvation situation. My experience is that I needed to eat them back. You'll find what works for you but this is mine.

Pebble321

I agree that it depends how much you have to lose - if you are just starting out then the bigger deficit might well mean faster weight loss.
If you don't have a lot to lose then making your calorie deficit much bigger might mean that your body isn't getting enough good fuel to keep you healthy and energized to keep on working out.
Personally I have always eaten these calories and have lost weight steadily - that is the way MFP is designed and it's worked very well for me.

foodcraver

Thank you all, I will just add that I am 5 ft 1" and have about 8-10 lbs left to lose. The first amount came off slowly before MFP. Mainly following Weight Watchers PP system. That is why I am unsure of how to proceed with this program, and I want to ensure success. My first weigh in is coming up and I don't want a same or gain. Thank you for any help and information. Much appreciated.

Pebble321

If you've only got a little bit to lose then 1200 cals/day is pretty low - I would definitley be adding in, and eating, your exercise cals.
Really though, everyone is different - give it a try for a few weeks and you will work out what is best for you.

csi4us

I'm new, but if you search "eating back your exercise calories" you'll see a lot of debate on this subject. Some say to eat them all, some say to eat half, some day to eat none. I guess it's up to you! Never go below 1200 calories, though - that seems to be the consensus overall!

Hope that helps!