Starting to Workout - Eating my calories???

Tarin626
Tarin626 Posts: 101 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this is asking for it but here goes :-)

I am back at the gym and am doing an hour of weight training on the machines (12x3 on 8 machines, plus floor crunches 12x3 four times a week) and cardio (brisk walking for an hour 4x/wk or doing my couch to 5K 30min program 3x/wk) and I plan to grab a cardio class a couple times a week on my Cto5k days (my gym's schedule sucks with my work schedule).

I weigh 220lbs and and still need to lose 100lbs give or take a bit with the weight of muscle gain...when I started this and was 20lbs heavier I had an assesment and was 48% body fat :-(

I'm 5'3 and 33yrs old - so with a 2lb weight loss per week my cals are at 1200.

Question: Do I eat back my calories and if yes then how many? All, some?

And for me exercise makes me hungry so this is a really important question for my success!

Replies

  • pichurria
    pichurria Posts: 11
    I weigh in the 150s...i am eating a NET calorie intake of 1100...that means i am eating more like 1400, and trying to exercise 300/day (in theory). this is based on my BMR, BMI, and goal weight.
  • pichurria
    pichurria Posts: 11
    also, i starve at 1200/day if that was all i ate and exercised on top of that.
  • kakuloo
    kakuloo Posts: 1 Member
    On my workout days, I try to keep near my normal goal...but I also allow myself to go a little over (~200 calories) I figure it's okay to be a little more lenient when my tummy is actually growling!

    If I'm just "bored' hungry, I try to distract myself. Don't eat back all the workout calories, but don't let your body starve with the need for energy too! Maybe eat a snack type food (fruit? Cheese? Jerky? Whatever fits in your diet plan) then wait a bit to see if that's all your tummy wanted. XD
  • birdieaz
    birdieaz Posts: 448 Member
    The whole eating back calories was driving nuts. Now i'm set at tdee -15% and that's what I eat regardless of whether I work out or not. However it seems you would be netting below your BMR by not eating them back so if youre using the MFP formula, then yes you should. That is how this program was designed.
  • Tarin626
    Tarin626 Posts: 101 Member
    I worked out last night and ended up eating my extra cals but I didn't feel like I ate too much that day - like i do when I go off program. Plus TOM is visting so I have to deal with cravings anyway - I guess we'll see next Mon on weigh in day :-)

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