for those people who MFP have their net calories @ 1200...

sinobaako82

This is really interesting - my goal is 1250 net per day and I do eat back my exercise calories. I'm 166lbs and aiming to lose 26lbs maybe more (if I can be bothered lol!) but I am really struggling to lose anything at all. I tend to go by my average net calories - somedays i'm over and somedays i am under. This week I was about 1000 over my net cal goal for the week (oops!) but that should still be enough to lose a bit less than 1lb even - but no!!! nothing, nada, everyweek - frustrating is an understatement!

this is my third week, i am on 1200 calorie goal too. and i notice this week, tomorrow is my weigh in and i don't think i have lost a pound. i do eat back my calories. my diary tells me i should be weighing this or that in 5 weeks but i don't see how i will get there if i am not losing. could it be we are not logging the right calories? i feel so hungry all the time.

Kymmu

O.k. ...this is the sound of me opening a can of worms,
I had a professional hook me up to a machine that they use in hospitals.
The print out says my BMR is 1136 cals.
My target when I've gained 2.2kg of lean weight is 1201 cals.
I trust this to be true.
I tried to up my caloric intake as per most of the suggestions from well meaning friends on MFP.
I felt uncomfortably full throughout the day, and actually nauseous through out the night. It woke me up.
I went back to how I feel the best.....I have abundant energy ( i've just been for a run) and feel great.
I eat a very clean Paleo style diet. I run on healthy fats - simple carbs and protein.
Even with daily exercise, running /weights/ballet /boxing/abs class. I'm eating around the 1200cals, and I've put on 1.3 kgs this week. I'm assuming it's muscle - but am unsure if it could be possible to gain that much muscle in a week....
I'm built like a pixi - short and fine boned....
So while I'm feeling good and energetic, I'm not going to eat more, unless I want to.
Interested in opinions............

Cr8tive_Ingenuity

For those of us who MFP calculates should be netting 1200 calories a day (including me):

Are you consuming ALL of your exercise calories? This is such a debatable topic as I have searched these message boards---- BUT most peoples responses come from people who have a lot more calories to work with. We have so little calories to work with---so what is working best for you?

I want to know from those people who have a net calorie goal of 1200...Are you losing, stalling, gaining? I am fairly new to this site so I am just trying to understand since we have such a low caloric intake do we HAVE to eat all our calories back in order for us to lose weight healthily? As sometimes WITH exercise I am under, around 1169, etc.

With only 8lbs to go you are eating way below what you should.
MFP is actually killing you slowly.
If you were obese at 35%+ bodyfat then running below BMR is okay till you stall.
With only 8lbs to go?
Figure out those stats before you jump into the diet.
Hell you could probably eat upwards of 1600 calories a day and drop weight.

hes right..contrary to popular belief, your metabolism is higher when you are overweight because it has more energy to work with. as you lose weight you need to eat more in order to keep the "metabolism" going. Metabolism is the summation of your chemical reactions in your body. Not to get too scientific but every cell in your body required ATP. When ATP is low, you go into anaerobic and break down fat and muscle. AT first your body breaks down fat if you are overweight. Its easily accessible to the body. As "fat" decreases and you have less calories, then it goes to muscles. Since you lost weight and ATP is required for cells to thrive, you need to give your body what it needs. Energy, through food. More food than before since you lost most of your weight. HOpe this makes sense. Im not a doctor and Im giving you just the basics. Im sure theres a whole lot more to the process

Clinno

For those of us who MFP calculates should be netting 1200 calories a day (including me):

Are you consuming ALL of your exercise calories? This is such a debatable topic as I have searched these message boards---- BUT most peoples responses come from people who have a lot more calories to work with. We have so little calories to work with---so what is working best for you?

I want to know from those people who have a net calorie goal of 1200...Are you losing, stalling, gaining? I am fairly new to this site so I am just trying to understand since we have such a low caloric intake do we HAVE to eat all our calories back in order for us to lose weight healthily? As sometimes WITH exercise I am under, around 1169, etc.

With only 8lbs to go you are eating way below what you should.
MFP is actually killing you slowly.
If you were obese at 35%+ bodyfat then running below BMR is okay till you stall.
With only 8lbs to go?
Figure out those stats before you jump into the diet.
Hell you could probably eat upwards of 1600 calories a day and drop weight.

Listen to this man! he helped me decide to up my calories when I hit a plateau and I instantly started losing again. I have lost exactly 12kg in exactly 60 days!

taxidermist15

i can barely eat my 1200 calories, let alone eating BACK my exercise calories, unless i eat a mcdonalds hamburger or something, which i dont particularly wanna do. but i tend to graze a lot, 3 grapes here, cauliflower there, a small handfull of nuts, which i usually forget about logging, cause its such a little amount, but i guess it adds up?

BarbWhite09

Im at 1200, I lose. I can still lose if I eat 1400 a day too though.

savlyon

I am on 1200 cals. I usually burn 400-600 cals/day and have about 200-300 remaining left to eat. I don't typically net the 1200. However, I look at this as a guide because the exercise cals are NOT exact and I also do not have the absolute portion sizes.

I am losing. I think what is causing me to lose is that I am currently avoiding sugary foods. It's working well for me. I have 35lbs to lose and I have lost 71 total.

Helloitsdan

Calorie dense food is key.
And please do the math instead of accepting 1200.
The thing about the hormones and stuff.
I've heard of women who are unable to have kids because they dieted wrong.
Be careful ladies!
=D

BethN77

She doesn't have 8# to go, she's lost 8#. The "killing you slowly" bit isn't accurate & was pretty harsh.

I have 8# to go (5'2" 34y female) & MFP has had me at 1200 from day 1. If I'm hungry, I eat back my exercise "bonus". If I'm not hungry, I don't. Many times, I'm under the 1200 even on days I don't exercise. In fact, b/c of some physical limitations early in the year, the vast majority of my weight loss has been from this calorie deficit alone!

Unless you're where you need/want to be (maintenance), 1200 might be about right for you to lose weight at calorie deficit without depending on exercise, too, depending on the variables you entered on your goals. Remember, MFP also takes your height, age, gender, & daily activity level into account, not including logged exercise.

LOL! Doh! Most of my friends have the "To Go" on their bar! Sry!

Okay so Beth, I ran your numbers through my handy dandy calculator and came up with your stats for dieting.
Your BMR is 1350
TDEE if sedentary 1620
I dont know your BF% so I took a shot at 22%
This gives you a LEAN Mass of 99lbs
Fat Mass of 28lbs.
Your perfect weight is 120lbs so Kudos for shooting for that!
You can drop pounds easy at 1500 calories
Macros:
Protein 30% 113g 452calories <---Lift weights and youll keep lean mass while dieting!
Fat 30% 50g 452calories <----Used as fuel and helps regulate hormones!
Carbs 40% 150g 602calories <---Premium Fuel! Never skimp on Complex carbs!

So depending on how long you have been eating below your BMR you are actually robbing nutrients from your Vital Organs!
Um...vital organs in the dictionary refers to the organs you need to live.
This is why you see so many posts on this website about "Why arent I dropping?" "Is 1200 too much???" "Whats wrong with me? I'm not losing any weight!!!" "I'm starving!"

Thats because its a proven fact that if you eat too little, your body will bring your metabolism to a grinding halt!
Also if you are female you can harm your vital organs by screwing up your hormones!
So go for it!
Eat your 1200 or less with your BMR of 1350.
I'll be over here helping folks lose weight eating closer to 2k calories and full bellies when they go to sleep!
It's better to burn the fat off doing aerobic activity and weight lifting than starving it away and harming your LeanMass.

Look, I'm a pretty blunt guy when it comes to this website because I call it when I see it!
If you are dieting incorrectly because MFP is a flawed program then I think its up to all of us to say something when we see it!
I love to see success and i'm the best cheerleader when my friends are winning.

Harsh? Yes! Truthful? Absolutely!

This lady asked for the experiences of those of us who do 1200 calories a day. That's where *I* fall & give her feedback I did. Where your numbers for her correct, since your calculations & conjecture were based on 8# to go instead of 8# lost? No, I didn't get my initial quote of 1200 from MFP. That number came from my female MD & I do hope everyone else consulted their own MD as well. I started losing weight in March but didn't even join MFP until August. By that time, I was already halfway to my goal. As I wrote the first time, early in the year I had severe physical limitations, so I couldn't exercise at all for months. Where else would weight loss come from, except for calorie deficit. I said "many times" I don't eat over 1200 calories a day. I didn't say "most times". Most of the time, I am either around 100 under or around 100 over whether I exercise or not. Yes, I should've clarified that. I'm pretty satisfied with my current weight loss, except that I know I could've already been where I want to be before now.

Please don't "run" *my* numbers again without my asking for them, that's creepy. (Harsh, yes. Truthful, absolutely!) It makes me very uncomfortable.

ster81

Just my two cents on the subject and i'm not qualified in anyway so this is just from personal experience. I've been sticking to the 1200 calorie a day and so far it's been working great. I've lost a total of 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks and my energy level feels exactly the same, granted i dont do any cardio at all, but I lift weights 4-5 times a week. I never eat my calories back since i never felt I needed to. People might say eating this low will send your body into starvation mode and eat up your muscles as well, but I haven't seen it happening. I push as much, if not more weights eating this low, and my body fat percentage is dropping quick. I guess whatever works for you guys, you should stick to it. Oh yeah, and the skinny fat thing, i'm eating this low 1200 a day and i dont see it happening at all.

mkwongh

Agreed!

[/quote]
I try not to eat back all of my exercise calories because I don't have a HRM and I don't trust MFP's "estimates", but I do eat at least some of it back. (But if I'm not hungry or tired/cranky, I "save" those extra calories for a day when I feel like I need it.) The more I exercise, the more I can eat, and it's a healthier way to do it in the

[/quote]
I am losing. The weight is coming of slowly, but the inches are coming off much faster. 1200 isn't much of a deficit for me, though. And don't worry if you end up eating 1169 instead of 1200...it's all estimates, and that's close enough.
[/quote]

ProjectTae

Ok, so from reading half of the replies I get that it works differently for different people, so what is a healthy deficit then? I follow the 1200 cal a day thing which is a 393 cal deficit for me (my MRP is 1593), what is a healthy calorie deficit to lose weight?

ster81

@projecttae.... I would say start at a number you are comfortable with like for example 1350 and aim to lose a lb a week... When you check the scale and your losing more than a lb, raise it up by 50 a day til you get te numbers right. Same if you ain't seeing a lb off, drop it 50-100 a day and see if it helps.

rose_mortem

MFP WAYYY over estimates calories burned, so if I eat back all my exercise calories, I GAIN. Maybe for being 5'1" it's okay to eat a little less? That's what I tell myself, at least. I have mine set to 1250, and I've experimented a bit, and found that I straight up GAIN if I eat 1400 a day. Slow metabolism or what? I'm a full time student, and I have yet to find time for exercise. Freshman year is killing me!

splashwags

bump

Sweetrayray80

I absolutely eat my 1200. Now as to eating all the calories I burn from excercise...No. I work out at night mostly. So eating that many calories back is impossible. I would have to go to bed with tons of food in my stomach. I anticipate how many calories I plan to burn & half that. Then I spread them out through the day. So I start with 1200. Then if I plan on burning 500, I add 250 to my day. Has me eating around 1450 a day. On the days I know I'm not going to the gym, only 1200. I tried not to add my excercixe calories for a month & felt like crap. So be careful how low you go. It takes your body 1200 calories just for basic function..breathing, heart beat, brain, etc. Also I have to have a muti vitamin. Just not enough calories to get everything you need.

CiciPorcayo

Lately (past 2 weeks) I have been averaging 1100 calories or so and my goal calorie intake a day is 1200. Sometimes I am really hungry and go over 1200 by 2-300 calories, sometimes I am under by 200 or so... I have lost 5 lbs since I started dec 1st and I have wondered this same question! I got a lot of ****ty answers however I just think do what works for you and if what your doing doesn't work switch it up til it does!

Cindy_Fit4Life

I started eating back my exercise calories because I wasn't loosing weight. I even added "Burned calorie refuel" to my food journal! If I burn 900 calories and eat my 1200 then I only have 300 calories/units of energy. This is not good for the body. If I burn too much whereas it's almost impossible to refuel all my burned calories, I'll eat half.

Hope this helps!