How many calories can I really have?

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tiaredgypsie
tiaredgypsie Posts: 21
in Introduce Yourself
HI all, I'm new and primarily use the app. I have my phone in my hand all day so this is super easy for tracking and making choices. I noticed an immediate improvement! But here's my little dilemma: I've been doing this for just under a week. The first two days I struggled to eat under my recommended count because I wasn't doing any exercise (just finishing recovery from an injury but am generally a very active person). Then I figured out how exercise off-sets the calorie consumption, giving you more "allowed" calories to work with. I used this over the weekend on vacation, where I ate what I wanted to but watched portion size and we were very active. when I got home, the scale spiked! Almost 5 lbs higher! It's possibly I've got some bloating/water gain right now but that number was like a kick in the seat!

So. Did I error in thinking that my new "remaining" allowance was what I should be working with? Should I stay under the 1320 that is my goal no matter how active I am?

Replies

  • dalildevil
    dalildevil Posts: 55 Member
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    no...you can and should eat your workout calories. you want to be at or as close to your Goal calorie mark :-)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    You did it right. Most likely water weight from higher levels of activity and sodium.
  • silkandsugar
    silkandsugar Posts: 125
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    You should keep in mind that people usually overestimate the calories they burn so I wouldn't think of it as a free pass to just eat more. I eat if I'm hungry but if not I'll just watch my calories from food. I don't really pay attention to net for this reason precisely.
  • mcott1012
    mcott1012 Posts: 27 Member
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    I agree with the above posters. My weightloss slowed almost to a stop when I stopped eating back my exercise calories. Just keep doing what your doing and don't let the pesky numbers on the scale throw you off course!! :drinker:
  • purpleface
    purpleface Posts: 21 Member
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    You're doing everything right, just make sure you're drinking plenty of water & make sure you weigh yourself when you wake up first thing (after bathroom breaks). There's no way you can just gain 5lbs in a week or two without overeating ridiculously so I'd go with the water weight theory. Just keep going & eating back your exercise calories & you should see a difference when your body has settled back into rhythm.

    Good luck!
  • YossDillo
    YossDillo Posts: 19
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    Hey, I'm new at this too and I have a question: Isn't part of the point to eat less than your goal and exercise more than your goal? I'm not talking about eating so little it puts you in starvation mode, but I thought you lost weight by eating less than your goal, and exercising was a way to insure that.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    I think that it depends on whether you are a type A or not. I literally won't eat something without logging it. I count the number of strawberries or baby carrots I eat, etc. I also set myself to sedentary even though my job frequently is at least lightly active. so I think the overestimations of machine workouts canceled with the underestimation of non-exercise activity. In any case, eating exercise calories worked for me. My boyfriend is a terrible logger, so he loses well only if he leaves a buffer.
  • tiaredgypsie
    tiaredgypsie Posts: 21
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    Thanks everyone! That was great feedback and very reassuring. I'm almost positive I'm not drinking enough water (don't log that).

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