Eating to few calories and ? about exercise calories

hml86

I've read somewhere on here that your suppose to eat back your exercise calories...Why is that? That doesn't hurt your weightloss? Also I've been looking through my diary and noticed that I haven't been eating much...having 800 or more calories left a day after exercising....Can this slow down my metabolism
and eventually make me hit a plateau? How can I make myself eat more a when I'm not hungry and add more variety? Thanks!!

PrincessEliNa

Bump!

nikkinoonarr

I would like an answer to this too, I did a 2 hour hike on Sunday and when I finished for the day I had nearly 1000 calories left over, it told me off (in red) ha ha, there was no way I couldve eaten it all back!

hml86

I would like an answer to this too, I did a 2 hour hike on Sunday and when I finished for the day I had nearly 1000 calories left over, it told me off (in red) ha ha, there was no way I couldve eaten it all back!

I know....I feel the same way! I've been doing this since I've started in Jan 2012 and ive been losing so far...just worried that it will eventually make me hit a plateau!

chachita7

You should try to eat back your calories for you want to try for your net to be 1200 however it isn't always possible to do so. Your body needs the fuel to function properly and when you eat too few calories well you are not fueling it well...

I eat I lose... that is the best way I can explain it... I don't eat enough by mid week I feel sluggish and unmotivated...

Mellowmar98

I have just recently started with MFP and I have questioned the samething. What I have read is you do want to eat back some of those calories. I wouldnt eat all of them but I definitly make sure I get atleast 1200. Some people have said the more you eat and then burn the more you loose. A lot of people have said they up there calorie intake and have noticed more loss. But anything below 1200 your body goes into starvation mode and you definitly wont loose. Hope this helps.

huntindawg1962

The short answer is that you are set up to lose say 2 lbs a week - that would be a daily deficit that would add up to 7000 less calories per week. If on any day you do an extra 1000 calorie burn above that., you are essentially setting yourself up for a higher loss. Now, that does not sound bad but then comes the debate as to if you want to eat back your calories, need to be above some minimum number as a minimum, and a whole bunch of other considerations that you are about to get all sorts of answers on from others on.

amyy902

this is an age old debate. these boards are full of misinformed answers, or people sort of get it but they dont and try and give informed answers. the best advice is you should try and talk to a diatician to decide whats the ideal way forward for you. im fully qualified in nutrition and i advise people on it as part as my living but its a hrad call for anyone sat at a screen to try and give informed and correct advice. even your doctor can help out on this

jenniferdances1

Read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/539912-why-eating-exercise-calories-is-so-important

BrianSharpe

I would like an answer to this too, I did a 2 hour hike on Sunday and when I finished for the day I had nearly 1000 calories left over, it told me off (in red) ha ha, there was no way I couldve eaten it all back!

Bad news, when the numbers are red you've gone over......

leannems

This topic comes up constantly. If you had searched the forums, you would have found tons of answers.

As luck has it, someone created a pretty funny site to explain it: www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

Keep clicking through, and it'll link you to some of the prior forums.

erickirb

I've read somewhere on here that your suppose to eat back your exercise calories...Why is that? That doesn't hurt your weightloss? Also I've been looking through my diary and noticed that I haven't been eating much...having 800 or more calories left a day after exercising....Can this slow down my metabolism
and eventually make me hit a plateau? How can I make myself eat more a when I'm not hungry and add more variety? Thanks!!

If you don't eat them you will not be fueling your body properly. Eating 1200 may be okay when not working out but say you burn 400 calories, if you don't eat them it would be the same as eating only 800 calories on days you don't workout as you are giving your body 400 less caloires to perform regular function as exercise essential "stole" those 400 cals.

800 = 1200-400, but if you ate 1600 you would give your body the 1200 that it needs 1200 = 1600-400.

erickirb

this is an age old debate. these boards are full of misinformed answers, or people sort of get it but they dont and try and give informed answers. the best advice is you should try and talk to a diatician to decide whats the ideal way forward for you. im fully qualified in nutrition and i advise people on it as part as my living but its a hrad call for anyone sat at a screen to try and give informed and correct advice. even your doctor can help out on this

True, but more professionals don't know how MFP works and that it does not take into account exercise when assigning calorie goals.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout. This 1700 takes into account planned exercise, the 1450 ignores exercise completely.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

treetop57

Bad news, when the numbers are red you've gone over......

Apparently people also get a red nastygram if they say "complete this entry" with less than 1200 net calories for the day. At least that is what I've deduced from comments here on the boards. I have no personal experience because I don't think I've ever netted less than 2000 calories, let alone less than 1200!

SPNLuver83

Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to keep going. This number is what your body burns if you were just laying in bed all day. Many formulas to figure this out, MFP has it set at 1200 for most of us. If you take in less calories than that your body will start to store any calories you do put in just to make sure it has enough to keep running. Which is why you need to eat back your work out calories. If you don't you are pretty much starving yourself and your body will start to freak out. It may not be right away, especially if you are obese, but soon enough you will feel the effects... Tired all the time, cranky, breakouts, hair loss, brittle nails etc etc.

mexy04

Listen to fat2fitradio.com try avocados, olive oil, cheese, and bananas, oh and almond butter or peanut butter.

Di3012

I would like an answer to this too, I did a 2 hour hike on Sunday and when I finished for the day I had nearly 1000 calories left over, it told me off (in red) ha ha, there was no way I couldve eaten it all back!

I know....I feel the same way! I've been doing this since I've started in Jan 2012 and ive been losing so far...just worried that it will eventually make me hit a plateau!

Don't worry about what might be, just be concerned with right now and right now, what you are doing is working.

heybales

Bad news, when the numbers are red you've gone over......

Apparently people also get a red nastygram if they say "complete this entry" with less than 1200 net calories for the day. At least that is what I've deduced from comments here on the boards. I have no personal experience because I don't think I've ever netted less than 2000 calories, let alone less than 1200!

True, from what I've discerned, it'll even threaten the badly named starvation mode idea.
Sure wish they wouldn't do that. While it may scare some, probably not that many, and just creates debates.

treetop57

True, but more professionals don't know how MFP works and that it does not take into account exercise when assigning calorie goals.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout. This 1700 takes into account planned exercise, the 1450 ignores exercise completely.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

This is by far the clearest explanation I've read on this topic. I hope you have it saved somewhere, Eric, and just copy it into new threads as needed!

boodlelibra

So, what is a good high cal snack that people have to boost cals at the end of the day? I don't want to do shots to keep my cals up. Well, I kinda do but know that's not the smartest route :drinker:

frugalmomsrock

I would like an answer to this too, I did a 2 hour hike on Sunday and when I finished for the day I had nearly 1000 calories left over, it told me off (in red) ha ha, there was no way I couldve eaten it all back!

If it told you off in red, then that means you consumed fewer than 1200 calories--without taking exercise into consideration.

mfp sets you up with a caloric deficit anyway, so you'd lose weight simply by sticking to the caloric allotment given. When you exercise it off, you eat those calories back to keep yourself at a HEALTHY level of calories for weightloss instead of pushing yourself down to an unhealthy number of net calories.

erickirb

So, what is a good high cal snack that people have to boost cals at the end of the day? I don't want to do shots to keep my cals up. Well, I kinda do but know that's not the smartest route :drinker:

haha,

Nuts, seeds, olive oil, drink some cals (milk juice) avoid diet and lite foods and eat the full calorie versions.

frugalmomsrock

So, what is a good high cal snack that people have to boost cals at the end of the day? I don't want to do shots to keep my cals up. Well, I kinda do but know that's not the smartest route :drinker:

spoon+peanut butter=a heavenly, high cal snack with healthy fats.

Lauren8239

Bad news, when the numbers are red you've gone over......

Apparently people also get a red nastygram if they say "complete this entry" with less than 1200 net calories for the day. At least that is what I've deduced from comments here on the boards. I have no personal experience because I don't think I've ever netted less than 2000 calories, let alone less than 1200!

Exactly right. I've been getting the red because I'm way below after working out. The red jumping out at me is what got my attention about not eating enough. So thank you MFP

heybales

I've read somewhere on here that your suppose to eat back your exercise calories...Why is that? That doesn't hurt your weightloss? Also I've been looking through my diary and noticed that I haven't been eating much...having 800 or more calories left a day after exercising....Can this slow down my metabolism
and eventually make me hit a plateau? How can I make myself eat more a when I'm not hungry and add more variety? Thanks!!

So you can see the success of others NOT starting on the low end of the calorie deficit method.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/546227-for-the-500-000-time-eating-more-works

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/547975-help-eatting-back-calories

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/539980-people-who-have-had-success-by-upping-their-calories

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/547983-not-losing-anything-except-my-mind

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/494091-i-just-don-t-care-anymore

crystal8208

Bad news, when the numbers are red you've gone over......

Apparently people also get a red nastygram if they say "complete this entry" with less than 1200 net calories for the day. At least that is what I've deduced from comments here on the boards. I have no personal experience because I don't think I've ever netted less than 2000 calories, let alone less than 1200!

Yup. Warning! You aren't consuming enough calories, it says.

Here's a good reply - you can eat less than 1200 and you will lose weight. Except that you will lose muscle too (instead of just fat and that's bad :noway: ), and if you continue on that path, if you are quite large to start with, you increase the chance that at goal weight, you'll have lose saggy skin. It's best to up the calories and lose a little at a time. You didn't put it on in 2 months, how can we expect to get it off in 2 months?

Biggest Loser is not the norm.... Once I accepted this and went up on my calorie intake, not only was I happier to get to eat more again, but I lost weight after a 4 week plateau. :drinker: Good luck in figuring out what works for you!

A_New_Horizon

Sounds to me like you are eating too few calories and yes it does slow down your metabolism. I know it is backwards, but you really do need to eat more to lose weight/burn calories.

I did some research myself with the help of a friends and realized that MFP has my BRM too low (it should be 1430 vs 1330). I workout usually 3-4 days a week and burn anywhere from 500-800 calories/workout. I was consuming around 1400 which is too low for me considering my workout, so now, I consume anywhere from 1900-2300. I have my calories set on maintenance and I usually eat back most of my exercise calories. I would do some research for yourself and do some calculations.

ElHombre23

Every physical body is different listen to yours...What works for someone may not work for you and vice a versa. If you plan to be in the "red" often make sure you factor in a high calorie day here and there just to keep your metabolism interested. Again that has worked for me in the past I won't promise it will work for anyone else.

askinnybanana13

Okay here is the best answer I have. but you probably already know this

When trying to loose weight we need to burn calories.... your body naturally burns calories without the help of exercise. (check your BMR under the tools section). It is the simple and yet so confusing but calories in must equal calories out. It is like a checking account you make your deposit and you cant spend more than you have or you overdraft. So your deposit is your food and you have all those calories to spend but must spend them all or they transfer to you savings account--- think of the savings account as your fat storage.

Your metabolism will plateau because your body will believe it is starvation mode and can only go so long with such little calorie intake, this will cause your body to store fat in the hard to loose places like our mid sections( our savings account)

I hope this makes sense but as long you burn what you consume and consume enough to burn than weight loss and metabolism will speed up. The most important is that you eat and should eat 1200 or more calories a day to avoid starvation mode and burn them to loose the weight.

betholiver

bump

huntindawg1962

So my question is that if this eating below your "BMR is bad" is so apparent to all on MFP, then why does MFP continue to give you a daily allotment below that number?? I read somewhere on these threads someone said that the BMR is a constant. Well, the fat2fit calculators won't allow me to go the whole distance to my goals because it says my calories is below BMR but to set a higher goal and recalc it when I get there - implying (what we already know) the BMR will be lower when bodyweight is also lower thus allowing a new daily input to achieve the end goal.