Goal calorie intake vs exercise

DDBeard

I'm confused and I hope one of you can help. I'm just getting started and my goal daily calorie amount (from myfitnesspal) is 1600. I have been on average over the past week eating 1068 calories per day prior to exercise (one day I only had 900..but was full all day). I am now trying to balance my food intake and plan meals so I'm on target for the best outcome. But I am not sure what I should actually target....

I read online that you should never go below 1200 calories a day. Is this really what I should target to loose weight in a healthy manner? I want to loose weight but don't want to do damage to my body by not doing it properly. My other question is, assuming I should target 1200 calories a day is that before or after doing exercise?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

jecka31

When you set your weekly weight loss goal (1lb, 2lbs, etc), MFP automatically creates a deficit (without exercise) that will allow you to reach this goal. For me, I am within 10lbs of my goal and my intake is 1360 before exercise to lose 1 lb a week. When you exercise, you need to add more calories (you get extra!!) so that your net intake is still the recommended amount. For example, today I burned around 450 calories making my goal intake 1810. This is to make sure that my body gets the fuel it needs to function. I have days when I don't plan well or have a higher burn then expected and end up with a huge deficit. I don't freak out about one day but I try not to have more than one of these a week. At the end of every night, I sit down and plan what I will eat the next day. I eat every 3-4 hours so I can spread my calories across the whole day. Hope this info helps!

Piccachu

When you set your weekly weight loss goal (1lb, 2lbs, etc), MFP automatically creates a deficit (without exercise) that will allow you to reach this goal. For me, I am within 10lbs of my goal and my intake is 1360 before exercise to lose 1 lb a week. When you exercise, you need to add more calories (you get extra!!) so that your net intake is still the recommended amount. For example, today I burned around 450 calories making my goal intake 1810. This is to make sure that my body gets the fuel it needs to function. I have days when I don't plan well or have a higher burn then expected and end up with a huge deficit. I don't freak out about one day but I try not to have more than one of these a week. At the end of every night, I sit down and plan what I will eat the next day. I eat every 3-4 hours so I can spread my calories across the whole day. Hope this info helps!

It sure helped me! Thanks! I didn't realize MFP did the calculations if you add in exercise into the goal area.