Eat back all of your exercise calories or you WILL DIE.
Options
Replies
-
It's just how MFP is set up. Do what works for you, but if you start forums like this, be prepared for people who are hard core MFP that say, you joined, now follow the rules for best results.What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?
Where are these 'rules' for best success or what are they??0 -
Where are these 'rules' for best success or what are they??
eat a balanced, sustainable diet at a moderate calorie deficit
exercise0 -
What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?
It is a legitimate concern-- I joined MFP in July of '08. Eating 1200 calories with moderate exercise, never eating back calories, by June of '09 I'd lost 46 pounds. Determined to hit my goal of 50 pounds, I went on a full court press-- cut out all crap, and went on a diet of basically rice cakes, sugarfree peanut butter and greens. I began training for a half marathon, and didn't eat back my calories because I wanted those last rascally pounds off. I was on a mission.
By the end of September, my weight started creeping back up. My eating never changed, so I upped the exercise. Still crept up. I then tried a veggie juice fast-- four days of nothing but vegetable juice. Still training for the half, and adding Insanity into the mix-- by June of '10 I was up 20 pounds. By Christmas, I'd gained back nearly all of it.
My eating never changed. I was a faithful calorie counter. I never wanted to be fat again, so I'd totally changed my eating. As I tried to figure out what happened, along the way, I read about starvation mode. Keeping up the long-term cell deprivation hurt me. I didn't have any more fat to burn-- I began burning muscle, and my body's self-preservation kicked in. The lady on here who lost 100 pounds on 1200 calories still had some to give-- I didn't.
Nearly three years later, and with the help of some T3 hormones, my body seems to have finally forgiven me and is healing. I've taken 15 of the gain back off, and am working on eating sensibly, and religiously eat back all my calories.
I know everyone's story is different-- and what works for some, doesn't work for all. But there is a simple principle of credits and debits-- you see it in your bank account. You spend more than you deposit, you overdraw your account. Not so different with your calories. You burn more than you ingest, problems over time will occur-- for me, it was a year and a half of sustained deprivation.
Food for thought-- it is real. It does happen. It gets overblown here, for sure, but be wise about your choices.
I could have written your post... but mine involved WW, training for a century, and a 30lb gain instead of 20.... after 2 years, I am finally able to take the weight back off, slowly, ever so slowly.
Be careful what you do to your body.... it will forgive you in time, but you may not like to process to get there.0 -
What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?
It's the way the site was built to be used, so when someone new asks I generally recommend they use the site as it was meant to be used before starting to fudge numbers. Then, if it doesn't work, you experiment and find what works for you.
I've also got a long track record with trying to starve myself into quick weight loss, and after 30 years I'd like to think that hard-earned experience might be useful. Especially to someone who is already looking at significant adjustments to their caloric intake and a huge lifestyle change.
However, different things work for different folks. If you don't want to eat them back, don't. But if someone asks, based on my own 30+ year experience trying to lose weight on too high a deficit, and all the sweat and tears and emotional and physical impact it's had on me over that 30+ years, I'm going to try and direct them toward what's finally working for me - eating at a defined deficit for weight loss, and working out to be more fit (which means eating enough to replace the "extra" burn, rather than using it to try and accelerate my weight loss).0 -
i don't eat back all of mine. some people do. i was eating 1,600 calories a day. i think i have set for me to lose 1lb a week which i'm pretty happy with. even set at that and eating 1,600 calories a day i was losing some weeks 1-2lbs a week until i hit this recent plateau. i went to a nutritionist and was told to up my calorie intake to 1775-1800 a day because i'm doing p90x (and to be honest i'm not following the nutrition plan because... it says i should eat 2,400 calories a day and i feel like that is a lot since i'm trying to lose weight). since eating the 1,800 calories, i've already started losing again.
you do need to base it on your body. if you're eating healthy and frequently and getting enough of everything you need and not running out of energy or feeling like you're starving, you're probably fine. i have a hard time getting up to the 1,800 calories so i drink a protein shake with skim milk. it keeps my energy levels high without feeling like i'm stuffing my face when i'm not really hungry. 0 -
I wouldn't be so black and white about it.
"Eat back your exercise calories or you will starve" that's just silly.
A lot of people here have a higher calorie allowance than us. From what I can tell, 1200 is the bare minimum anyone should eat in a day. If I log out with about 200 calories leftover I get a warning saying that eating this little could cause me to be malnourished.
I love eating. Obviously. So if I can go on my elliptical for 30 minutes and win back 300 calories, I am very well going to eat back those calories, *especially* after working out. I've lost a little over a pound a week so far, so it's working for me. Maybe it wouldn't work for everyone.
But imagine this: Your daily calorie goal is 1200. Then you jump rope for an hour and burn 1200 calories. Wouldn't that be like having no calories at all for the whole day? Probably not something you want to do every day.
Like someone said earlier, if you're hungry, eat them back, if you're not hungry then don't eat them back. But I mean if you're netting only 500 calories a day then I'm pretty sure that is considered starving.0 -
What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?
It is a legitimate concern-- I joined MFP in July of '08. Eating 1200 calories with moderate exercise, never eating back calories, by June of '09 I'd lost 46 pounds. Determined to hit my goal of 50 pounds, I went on a full court press-- cut out all crap, and went on a diet of basically rice cakes, sugarfree peanut butter and greens. I began training for a half marathon, and didn't eat back my calories because I wanted those last rascally pounds off. I was on a mission.
By the end of September, my weight started creeping back up. My eating never changed, so I upped the exercise. Still crept up. I then tried a veggie juice fast-- four days of nothing but vegetable juice. Still training for the half, and adding Insanity into the mix-- by June of '10 I was up 20 pounds. By Christmas, I'd gained back nearly all of it.
My eating never changed. I was a faithful calorie counter. I never wanted to be fat again, so I'd totally changed my eating. As I tried to figure out what happened, along the way, I read about starvation mode. Keeping up the long-term cell deprivation hurt me. I didn't have any more fat to burn-- I began burning muscle, and my body's self-preservation kicked in. The lady on here who lost 100 pounds on 1200 calories still had some to give-- I didn't.
Nearly three years later, and with the help of some T3 hormones, my body seems to have finally forgiven me and is healing. I've taken 15 of the gain back off, and am working on eating sensibly, and religiously eat back all my calories.
I know everyone's story is different-- and what works for some, doesn't work for all. But there is a simple principle of credits and debits-- you see it in your bank account. You spend more than you deposit, you overdraw your account. Not so different with your calories. You burn more than you ingest, problems over time will occur-- for me, it was a year and a half of sustained deprivation.
Food for thought-- it is real. It does happen. It gets overblown here, for sure, but be wise about your choices.
I could have written your post... but mine involved WW, training for a century, and a 30lb gain instead of 20.... after 2 years, I am finally able to take the weight back off, slowly, ever so slowly.
Be careful what you do to your body.... it will forgive you in time, but you may not like to process to get there.
Oh, no-- I didn't gain only 20. That was just along the way....I started at 210 and got down to 164....when all was said and done as the weight piled back on, I was back up to 205. I'd gained almost all of it back.
To say I was devastated was an understatement. I cried for a year....but, while I came close, I never gave up. I started eating sensibly, and the funny thing was....realizing I was starving myself, I did some calculations about how many calories I would need to maintain with the current exercise I was doing. The number was 2300. That freaked me out. But, I did agree to start eating 2100....and I didn't gain an ounce. In fact, I finally started losing.
The body is an amazing thing. It most definitely lets you know when it's not happy.
I'm now 191....on my way back. I'll never again be so stupid.0 -
Oh, no-- I didn't gain only 20. That was just along the way....I started at 210 and got down to 164....when all was said and done as the weight piled back on, I was back up to 205. I'd gained almost all of it back.
To say I was devastated was an understatement. I cried for a year....but, while I came close, I never gave up. I started eating sensibly, and the funny thing was....realizing I was starving myself, I did some calculations about how many calories I would need to maintain with the current exercise I was doing. The number was 2300. That freaked me out. But, I did agree to start eating 2100....and I didn't gain an ounce. In fact, I finally started losing.
The body is an amazing thing. It most definitely lets you know when it's not happy.
I'm now 191....on my way back. I'll never again be so stupid. You give me faith in people. 0 -
This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. I eat around 1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.0
-
This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. My BMR is 1300, so I eat around 900-1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.
that's a lot more than 500 calorie deficit. calorie deficit is relative to your TDEE, not BMR.
igiveup0 -
Never give up!0
-
I should say that generally I stick to 1200 calories a day and burn off 500, but I don't eat them back otherwise I'd just maintain weight and not lose. I confuse myself, sorry.0
-
I REFUSE to eat my calories back!! What's the point then?? I eat 1200 calories a day and try to burn at LEAST 400 calories a day. And I'm still breathing!0
-
This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. My BMR is 1300, so I eat around 900-1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.
BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate (the calories your organs use to function)
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (all the calories you use in a given day. These come from anything including sitting, talking, chewing, digesting, exercising, etc.)
Even if you're a sedentary individual that doesn't walk much, has a desk job, likes to watch TV all day, etc.; You're still moving around which means you burn more than your BMR.
Add in exercise and you're burning even more than that. By eating your BMR for an extended period of time, you're effectively LOWERING it further and further until even eating your previous BMR will cause you to gain weight. (This is what people refer to as Starvation Mode). Your body adapts to what you're currently doing to it. It's smart. If you're underfeeding, it'll make use of what little food it gets and start to hoard whatever it can (over time). Your bodily functions will slow to compensate (metabolism, reaction time, thinking processes, etc.). No ifs ands or buts about it.0 -
This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. My BMR is 1300, so I eat around 900-1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.
BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate (the calories your organs use to function)
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (all the calories you use in a given day. These come from anything including sitting, talking, chewing, digesting, exercising, etc.)
Even if you're a sedentary individual that doesn't walk much, has a desk job, likes to watch TV all day, etc.; You're still moving around which means you burn more than your BMR.
Add in exercise and you're burning even more than that. By eating your BMR for an extended period of time, you're effectively LOWERING it further and further until even eating your previous BMR will cause you to gain weight. (This is what people refer to as Starvation Mode). Your body adapts to what you're currently doing to it. It's smart. If you're underfeeding, it'll make use of what little food it gets and start to hoard whatever it can (over time). Your bodily functions will slow to compensate (metabolism, reaction time, thinking processes, etc.). No ifs ands or buts about it.
I edited my post, sorry. I get ahead of myself. Of course 0 -
I edited my post, sorry. I get ahead of myself. Of course
I don't mean to sound like an *kitten* so I'm sorry if it reads that way. I genuinely mean to help. It's sad when people put all this effort into losing weight only to have it backfire after a while.
Do it right from the beginning so you don't end up wasting a lot of time and damaging your body. Slow and Steady wins the race.0 -
I edited my post, sorry. I get ahead of myself. Of course
I don't mean to sound like an *kitten* so I'm sorry if it reads that way. I genuinely mean to help. It's sad when people put all this effort into losing weight only to have it backfire after a while.
Do it right from the beginning so you don't end up wasting a lot of time and damaging your body. Slow and Steady wins the race.
Exactly. It's taken me about a month and a half to lose almost 10 pounds, but its coming off slowly and for good. I had some trouble with my wording in my original post (how I wish I could delete that) but yeah. sorry. 0 -
I think it boils down to knowing that there are certain things that are healthier than others but from there it really is person to person. We know that eating lean protein and whole grains is a whole lot better for you than a fried Twinkie but aside from that who is to say. We're all different. Our bodies are function differently and because of that our nutritional needs are different. I'm not saying that medical professionals aren't smart but all of these charts we're suppose to follow are recommendations. You find your groove and I'll find mine and we'll cheer each other along the way!!!!!0
-
I REFUSE to eat my calories back!! What's the point then?? I eat 1200 calories a day and try to burn at LEAST 400 calories a day. And I'm still breathing!
wha???? :noway:0 -
You don't have to eat them back if you don't want to.
Let me explain where the thinking comes from though....
If your TDEE is 2300 and you want to lose 2lbs a week your deficit is 1000 calories.
MFP sets you at 1300.
You're already in a deficit so eating exercise cals back keeps you at that 1000 calorie deficit.
That's all it is.
This is well stated and accurate. I didn't eat back most if not all of my exercise calories for a several months and lost about 50 pounds and then stopped losing. I tried exercising harder, eating more protein and even lower calories but couldn't lose more and was feeling tired. I increased my calories so that I was eating above my goal, sometimes eating most or all but not always. I then started losing weight again and have been pretty consistent. I work out 5 times a week burning on average about 700 calories a day according to my HRM so I eat about 2000 calories a day and burn off 700 leaving me with 1,300 calorie net which about what MFP says I need to lose 2 lbs a week and it's worked well for me. I say if you aren't hungry and can do it then don't eat exercise calories back but if you're hungry or miserable then you can. If you hit a plateau down the road then you may find that increasing your calories will kick start your weight loss again like it did for me. Good luck!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 402 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 998 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions