NEW Member - calorie intake/exercise question

Goal_Line

Well, im still confused. LOL!

From what i am gathering... i can officially eat 1200 a day... and i MUST eat that. (before any exercise)

If i exercise and burn 500 calories, i HAVE to eat those 500 calories back?

seriously, can one eat that much food in a day.. and lose weight??

The last doctors visit i had, he told me in order to lose weight, i MUST not consume more than 1000 calories a day.

So I guess my main question is, for strictly losing weight... as long as my NET calories are 1000, will i still lose weight? or will i not have enough calories to lose?

Maybe i should give up already! I just dont understand!!! =*(

Wow I can't believe a medical professional told you to not exceed 1,000 cal. What most people need is a lifestyle change that they can stick to over the long term. The liklihood of long-tern success on a 1,000 cal diet is nearly zero.

otissa

I'm glad you asked that question. I need to know the same thing. My goal is 1200 calories and I thought I needed to stay well below that. So, I recently found out that I don't eat enough, which is why I can't loose weight.

RobynMWilson

Whatever doctor told you to lose weight to only eat 1000 cals per day should lose his practice!! I eat 2000 cals per day to maintain!! And I'm only 136lbs!! I lost weight a long time ago and have kept it off for many many years so I know more than this doc does apparently. If you restrict yourself that much, you're gonna slow down your metabolism, your body is gonna eat muscle for fuel, which, in turn, would slow down your metabolism even more b/c muscle burns fat. And being THAT restricted may lead to "falling off the wagon". I'm gonna friend you so you can see my food diary every day. I dk your weight or anything but I would NEVER EVER tell anyone to eat less than 1400 cals per day if they're exercising, especially!!

barrveen

I also wasn't understanding when I first started out. if you burn 400 hundred calories in exercise your calorie intake number automatically increases. because your body is burning it up you actually need to eat more to maintain. just eating 1200 for me without exercise wasn't enough. I felt hunger all the time. when I exercised it allowed me to eat more and be satisfied. I also lost weight when I exercised. the week I did no exercise I neither gained nor lost. See what works for you.

wild_wild_life

This thread is really stressing me out. Literally, I'm getting all clammy and tense.

OP, as you can see you will get a lot of conflicting advice on this. Some of it is because people have no idea what they are talking about and some of it is just that this is not an exact science and there are different ways to do it.

I don't think anyone can really give you advice without more information like height, current weight, and goal weight. However, it's important for you to understand how MFP is set up so you can make an informed decision about how to use it.

MFP calculates your daily maintenance calories with no exercise and subtracts a deficit from that based on how fast you want to lose weight. When you exercise, to keep the deficit the same, it "gives you calories back" and expects you to eat them. Understand that eating them will do nothing to change your deficit that MFP has set, while not eating them will increase your deficit, which may or may not be a good idea, depending on your initial deficit and your maintenance requirement. If your initial deficit is 1000 calories based on a 2 lb per wek goal, by not eating them back you are extending this to 1400 which is too high for most people. Keeping your deficit between 500-1000 cals per day is generally safe.

Crazy4Healthy

Can you lose weight eating 1,200 or less, yes... but are you looking for a quick fix or a lifestyle change? I've done the 1,200 calories more than once in my life and managed to drop weight fairly quickly (even without exercise), but I have also always managed to gain it back (and then some). This time, I'm eating more and it is taking me longer to lose, (28 lbs in 7 mths) but I know this is now my life and when I reach my goal I will be able to maintain it. If you commit to 1,200 a day (even with exercise), you will find it very difficult to maintain once you start eating normally again. Even though MFP puts many at 1,200 that is actually on the low end for most (unless would normally be fairly small and petite). I'm only 5'3" and still eating between 1,500-1,700 a day depending on exercise levels and I'm still losing weight at a consistent rate.

Just my two cents.....

heybales

Well, im still confused. LOL!

From what i am gathering... i can officially eat 1200 a day... and i MUST eat that. (before any exercise)

If i exercise and burn 500 calories, i HAVE to eat those 500 calories back?

seriously, can one eat that much food in a day.. and lose weight??

The last doctors visit i had, he told me in order to lose weight, i MUST not consume more than 1000 calories a day.

So I guess my main question is, for strictly losing weight... as long as my NET calories are 1000, will i still lose weight? or will i not have enough calories to lose?

Maybe i should give up already! I just dont understand!!! =*(

1500 sounds like a lot?

Compared to 1200 or 1000?

And how much did you used to eat before that got you to point you now need to lose weight?

Any idea to actually have a frame of reference to know what sounds like a lot?

Sure it sounds like a lot compared to eating 300 calories a day.

And sure it sounds like hardly anything if you used to be eating 3000 calories a day.

What did YOU select as a weight loss goal weekly? 2lbs? Then 1200 already has that taken out, 2200 would have been your estimated no gain no loss amount to eat daily.

And frankly, the only way to truly know is figure out how much you used to eat before making these changes. Log some complete days of all the junk and packaged foods you used to eat in typical day.
Now subtract 1000 calories - eat that much, and you'll lose weight.

faithchange

Please don't give up! You are getting a lot of conflicting information, that's for sure. All I can say is your doctor is WRONG...1000 cal and you would be anorexic. That's crazy. I know when I started on MFP it said 1200 cal too for me, which I was informed by a friend that is a coach and challenging me to lose my last 25lbs that 1700 cal was more the correct amount for me. I do exercise 6 times a week though. I had been plateauing for months and I wasn't always eating that much. So, I agree completely with a post earlier where she said on 1200 you could lose fast, but you likely will gain it back. Totally true.

Never give up on yourself...quitting MFP because you don't understand is just that...giving up on yourself! Stick around and learn. If nothing else, what are you hurting by just logging in your nutrition to be accountable for what you eat daily and then extras like exercise. That's what its all about. Listen to your body and make wise choices about what those calories your eating are.

Most women are in the 1200-1700 category...Also...eat your calories back after exercise if you are hungry. If your not, don't eat. You will know. I lost when I just listened to my body too. Sometimes I didn't log in . This point in my life, I need the accountability again.

Remember don't give up! It does work as they say...if you work it.

vnsaroja

I think if you keep about 300-700 calories deficit from your allotted 1200 +exercise you should be okay. That may give you some leeway for days that you slip

mcarter99

This thread is really stressing me out. Literally, I'm getting all clammy and tense.

OP, as you can see you will get a lot of conflicting advice on this. Some of it is because people have no idea what they are talking about and some of it is just that this is not an exact science and there are different ways to do it.

I don't think anyone can really give you advice without more information like height, current weight, and goal weight. However, it's important for you to understand how MFP is set up so you can make an informed decision about how to use it.

MFP calculates your daily maintenance calories with no exercise and subtracts a deficit from that based on how fast you want to lose weight. When you exercise, to keep the deficit the same, it "gives you calories back" and expects you to eat them. Understand that eating them will do nothing to change your deficit that MFP has set, while not eating them will increase your deficit, which may or may not be a good idea, depending on your initial deficit and your maintenance requirement. If your initial deficit is 1000 calories based on a 2 lb per wek goal, by not eating them back you are extending this to 1400 which is too high for most people. Keeping your deficit between 500-1000 cals per day is generally safe.

But it is often NOT setting your deficit at 500-1000. If her TDEE is 1800 and she wants to lose 2 lbs/week it sets her to 1200. That's 1.2 lbs/week. If she eats back exercise, that's 1.2/week. There's no reason she can't aim to lose 2 lbs/week by not eating back all her exercise calories.

wild_wild_life

This thread is really stressing me out. Literally, I'm getting all clammy and tense.

OP, as you can see you will get a lot of conflicting advice on this. Some of it is because people have no idea what they are talking about and some of it is just that this is not an exact science and there are different ways to do it.

I don't think anyone can really give you advice without more information like height, current weight, and goal weight. However, it's important for you to understand how MFP is set up so you can make an informed decision about how to use it.

MFP calculates your daily maintenance calories with no exercise and subtracts a deficit from that based on how fast you want to lose weight. When you exercise, to keep the deficit the same, it "gives you calories back" and expects you to eat them. Understand that eating them will do nothing to change your deficit that MFP has set, while not eating them will increase your deficit, which may or may not be a good idea, depending on your initial deficit and your maintenance requirement. If your initial deficit is 1000 calories based on a 2 lb per wek goal, by not eating them back you are extending this to 1400 which is too high for most people. Keeping your deficit between 500-1000 cals per day is generally safe.

But it is often NOT setting your deficit at 500-1000. If her TDEE is 1800 and she wants to lose 2 lbs/week it sets her to 1200. That's 1.2 lbs/week. If she eats back exercise, that's 1.2/week. There's no reason she can't aim to lose 2 lbs/week by not eating back all her exercise calories.

I understand what you're saying. That's why I did not say she should necessarily eat them back. However, you are making two assumptions -- that her maintenance is less than 2200 and that her typical calorie burn will not be so great as to extend her deficit beyond what is reasonable. Advising to eat or not to eat exercise calories are both based on assumptions when all of the information is not provided like in this case. Advising a person to stay within a certain deficit makes more sense.

The problem is the majority of people using this site don't know their deficit in the first place so can't make an informed decision about replacing exercise calories. I lean towards the conservative end of things, just follow MFP's recommendations and eat the calories it tells you. You may lose some potential for more rapid weight loss for a time but you don't risk going too low. I know you feel differently, and that's cool!