EATING BACK EXERCISE CALORIES......(if you burn a lot)

WiegandS

I haven't read the majority of the posts, but here is what I do. (Sorry if I kind of allude to the same things that people may have said..like I said I never read beyond the first page)

I set myfitnesspal goal to lose 2lbs per week. This sets me up with a 1,200 calorie max calorie intake goal for the day.

I usually do at least an hour of cardio 6x a week (sometimes up to 2.5 at separate times plus lifting) There are days when I am burning more than 1,200 a day and days when I only burn around 500. When you log in your workouts, myfitnesspal will automatically log in extra calories you are allowed to consume in a day.

I'm not a nutritionist/doctor/trainer/ etc, but in my opinion if you are burning more than 500 calories and are on a 1200 calorie diet then you should eat back some (not all!) that you burn so you body doesn't go into starvation mode. For 500 calories and under I suggest bumping the calories to 1350. You will still have a 350 calorie burned deficit plus the deficit for calorie depravation already taking place.

I made the mistake of eating 1,000-1200 calories in conjunction to working out and I ended up passing out at the gym. I learned my lesson in the most embarrassing circumstance where the manager had to feed me bananas and gatorade because he thought I was going to go into shock. You need to eat!

If anyone really doubts that you can't lose weight eating back some of your calories you are wrong. Not eating the extra calories will eventually fatigue you. Yes, realistically I would love to lose about 10 pounds a month, but I'm down 18 pounds in 2.5 months and I even let myself cheat on xmas eve, xmas, new years and a random bar weekend.

Think of it this way, those 1200 calories are fuel for your body to push it through the day, if you burn it all off then your body won't have enough energy to repair your muscles and you definitely won't have enough energy to really push through your workouts. If I burn 1350 on a giving day and only eat 1200 calories that day, I am essentially starving myself.

Just my 2 cents... grain of salt people I'm not expert. I'm just sharing what works for me and what logically makes sense.