Confused on Calorie Intake!

lmsimo2
lmsimo2 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do you need to eat 1,200 calories daily or net 1,200 calories daily?

For instance....say i eat 1,200 calories but then do a 500 calorie workout....do I need to then go and eat those 500 calories to net 1,200? Or as long as I eat 1,200 calories, i do not have to eat my cardio calories?

Replies

  • Embera
    Embera Posts: 289 Member
    in my opion i would say net according to otherpeople on here mfp thinks your eating ur cals back so you should if your burning more than your eating it could be realy bad for you
  • domnut
    domnut Posts: 32 Member
    I would say it's optional to eat your additional calories you earnt from exercise...

    If you feel like you need them (like you're extra hungry from your workout etc) then you should eat them. But if you're just eating them because you think you have to then I wouldn't...

    In saying that, I'm no doctor or nutritionist so I'm not really sure sorry :) But that's what I do anyway.
  • kwin91
    kwin91 Posts: 128
    I know that you shouldn't eat them all back because what your doing is creating a calorie deficit, so if you eat them all back then you wouldn't be necessarily burning anything so what you did burn would be pointless to eat back. I usually eat like 12-1300 and then workout and burn about 300-400 calories. But I am not a nutritionist so I am not sure either. I hope someone on here posts a correct answer so I can find out as well!!
  • kparks2
    kparks2 Posts: 121 Member
    I eat my exercise cals but I zig zag so tonight I will do 200 less and tomorrow I will eat all my cals (net and exercise) and Tuesday I will go a little over and repeat. Tricks the metabolism. Since I like to eat I work out a ton at the gym too if that helps
  • seekingstrengthX2
    seekingstrengthX2 Posts: 771
    1200 NET... definitely NET.
    If you eat 1200 and burn 500, your body is left with 700 calories to function on... which is not enough and not healthy.

    1200 NET.
  • pkfrankel
    pkfrankel Posts: 171 Member
    The average person burns 1800 - 2000 calories a day from normal living. To lose weight we have to reduce the intake and increase the output to create a deficit. If we create too large of a deficit the body senses a scarcity of food and slows down to protect itself. Eating 1200 calories is 60% of what is needed for normal living. Anything much less triggers the scarcity mode. Adding exercise increases the calories we need for normal living so if you exercise and burn 500 calories you need 2500 for normal living. Eating 60% of 2500 is 1500 calories.

    I would eat 60% of the calories burned in exercise.
  • poodlepaws
    poodlepaws Posts: 269 Member
    I do NOT eat my exercise calories.
  • 115perfection
    115perfection Posts: 109 Member
    MFP already gives you a calorie deficit, eat back your cals! I eat back my cals AND eat around 1400 cals usually and I'm losing weight faster than roadrunner runs... which is pretty friggen fast
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    Net.
    And Pu it's not necessarily too low if someone's really short like I am. :D
  • 115perfection
    115perfection Posts: 109 Member
    The average person burns 1800 - 2000 calories a day from normal living. To lose weight we have to reduce the intake and increase the output to create a deficit. If we create too large of a deficit the body senses a scarcity of food and slows down to protect itself. Eating 1200 calories is 60% of what is needed for normal living. Anything much less triggers the scarcity mode. Adding exercise increases the calories we need for normal living so if you exercise and burn 500 calories you need 2500 for normal living. Eating 60% of 2500 is 1500 calories.

    I would eat 60% of the calories burned in exercise.

    What he said!
    To correct myself, I eat back MOST exercise calories. And I'm 5'3"
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    At 1200 a day I would definitely eat them all back, as 1200 is the recommended minimum for women.

    I'm set at 1700 calories a day, and I eat all of those no problem, and usually all of my exercise calories as well (sometimes more), and I'm still losing. Some days I'm not as hungry, so I don't eat all my exercise cals back, but if I'm hungry, I eat!

    Gotta fuel that body! :smile:
  • SheilaSisco
    SheilaSisco Posts: 722 Member
    1200 NET... definitely NET.
    If you eat 1200 and burn 500, your body is left with 700 calories to function on... which is not enough and not healthy.

    1200 NET.

    This. MFP already figures your calories at a deficit, so in order to keep that deficit at a healthy level, you SHOULD eat your exercise calories back. Also, you might consider raising your minimum net to 1400 or so... I'm only 4'11", I'm eating at about 1700 a day and I'm losing. When I tried to eat at 1200 I was always hungry and tired and I stalled out in my weight loss about 3 months in... because I wasn't eating enough.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    I know that you shouldn't eat them all back because what your doing is creating a calorie deficit, so if you eat them all back then you wouldn't be necessarily burning anything so what you did burn would be pointless to eat back. I usually eat like 12-1300 and then workout and burn about 300-400 calories. But I am not a nutritionist so I am not sure either. I hope someone on here posts a correct answer so I can find out as well!!

    MFP already builds in the caloric deficit. You're just causing a greater deficit by not eating calories back. Creating a bigger than MFP issued deficit crashed my results weekly.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
    Net.
    And Pu it's not necessarily too low if someone's really short like I am. :D

    Girlfriend is 5'1" and <120 pounds, she eats 1400+ day and actually needs to up her calories. She's at the thinnest and lightest she has been in her adult life. So yeah, height is pretty much a non-excuse for eating this low of an amount.
  • palmerig88
    palmerig88 Posts: 623 Member
    I eat mine
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Every calorie calculator I've seen suggests higher calories when you exercise.
    The difference with MFP is that it doesn't ask you to take a guess at how much exercise you're going to do each day, it gives you a baseline calorie amount so you can lose weight without exercising, then expects that you will add (and eat) more calories when your exercise.

    So, if you are using MFP to calculate your calories: YES, you should eat 1200 net.
    If you are using another calculator that already includes exercise calories: NO, don't add extra, just eat the base amount.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    MFP suggests that after you set your goal (weight/week you would like to gain or lose) they will have calculated in an given you the calories to eat. Any exercise you add, especially if you have your settign at seditary. You eat those, that way you do NOT starve your body for it's work out, and you will still lose weight.

    People here have their own formulas some are extreem and some are reasonable, some are more focused on instant results and and some are focused on health.
    I try to friend those interested in health.
    Good health to you.
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
    My vote is that if you are using an HRM and know how many calories you burned, then yes, eat them back! If not, then I would eat some back, but not all, since MFP usually overestimates calories burned. I DO eat my exercise calories.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Ignore any stupid recommendations to eat a specific number of calories such as 1200, 1500, 1800, etc. They are generalizations that are NOT accurate for everyone. Figure your BMR, then add more calories for your normal daily activity, and then add more calories for your exercise to get your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Then eat no less then 80% of TDEE. Eating less then TDEE, even if it is above 1200, 1500, 1800, etc., will signal the body to pull energy from muscle and preserve body fat. Everyone is different and everyone has a different TDEE and goal calories. Do the math and find your specific needs.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

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