exercise and food tracking

joanrosey

So the fitness pal says 1200 cal daily goal.
I just got a heart rate monitor to figure the calories burned. Today's workout said 806.

I have read the forum that says to eat the calories burned b/c if you don't u can go into starvation mode... This seems like a lot of calories burned....

So if I factor right today I should eat 2006 calories? This seems like a LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help

_Witsy_

Why hello my friend =p

First...double check that all your information is correctly entered into your HRM...depending on how long you workout and the intensity of your workout, 806 is totally realistic.

Next....you won't go into starvation mode. MFP sets you this calorie goal of 1200 based on information you already provided...mfp has already factored in your exercise and created a deficit so that is why people will say to eat back what you earn...if not...you're day may look like this..

1200-806=394 net calories. That is way too big of a deficit and extreme dieting can really put the brakes on your metabolism. The minimum recommended to net for the day is 1200..so in order to meet that, you'd need to eat those calories back.

Now granted...if you only eat back half one day....and all of them next day...that's fine too! WL is not linear and sometimes you may just not physically be able to eat those calories back. However...the best way to get them in....ENJOY YOUR FAVORITES! Full fat cheese or a scoop of icecream....nuts and seeds...Peanut butter!!

thisismeraw

Does your HRM have a chest strap and allow you to enter your age, sex, weight and height? If it does, than that number would be correct. If not, than your burn amounts won't be totally accurate.

You should be eating your exercise calories back, especially considering your daily goal is only 1200 which is most likely far too low. Have you reset your weekly weight loss goal recently since you are so close to your goal?

jacksonpt

So the fitness pal says 1200 cal daily goal.
I just got a heart rate monitor to figure the calories burned. Today's workout said 806.

I have read the forum that says to eat the calories burned b/c if you don't u can go into starvation mode... This seems like a lot of calories burned....

So if I factor right today I should eat 2006 calories? This seems like a LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help

How long did you workout?

My guess is that everythign you said is right. Yes, eat back those cals. yes, 800 is probably a little high (but you won't know for sure until you've done this for a month or so and get a better feel for things.

vegaspfmf

Its probably correct. You should calculate your tdee yourself to double check though

ctfullen

Is it really that bad to not eat back calories burned? I generally eat 1400-1500 calories a day, but am not good at keeping track of my exercise. Is it that important to eat more on the days when u have an intense workout?

jacksonpt

Is it really that bad to not eat back calories burned? I generally eat 1400-1500 calories a day, but am not good at keeping track of my exercise. Is it that important to eat more on the days when u have an intense workout?

Ultimately it's not about eating back cals you burn... it's about not creating too large of a calorie deficit. Your 1400-1500 cals per day already puts you in a caloric deficit. When you burn cals exercising, that deficit gets larger. Too large of a deficit over too long of a period of time will have negative side effects. People say to eat back exercise cals to keep the deficit healthy.