calories and rest days

stroupette

Well hello everyone. My name is stroupette and I am new to mfp and loving it! If you wanna add me please feel free. Now onto my question... according to mfp they say I am suppose to only consume 1200 calories. If I am working out that is just fine. My problem is I know I have to have a rest day but I am having to force myself to take it because I have a real issue with going over my goal calorie intake. Do any of you have this issue and if you do how do you deal with it?

pineygirl

Today is a rest day for me since I'm not feeling well. I'm usually factor my activity level into my calorie intake and eat back exercise calories for intentional exercise. Since I spent the better par of today laying in bed and it hurts to move around a lot I'm considering my self very sedentary today and eating just around my BMR.

foleyshirley

1200 is the lowest you should eat. You should be netting 1200 at least. Which means when you exercise, you should eat those calories back so that you net 1200.

Also, 1200 is probably too low.

Lalasharni

Hi there - greetings from England!
I can't see your diary, but I wonder why you feel that 1200 calories is hard to stick to when you're not exercising. Is it because you are bored, or that you are not eating foods that sustain you well enough?
I know that when I exercise, I sometimes dont feel hungry = all those endorphins I guess. I have to make myself eat, but then feel glad I did and enjoy the food. If you work out regularly then you should earn and bank plenty of calories. the day to day for me is not that important, I go week to week and its the overall picture that matters.
Just my thoughts.
Regards
Lal x

DeanBurrows

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538943-how-to-calculate-calorie-goals-according-to-nrolfw

Here is a great thread for women and finding their calorie needs!

Quote from Fittiephd

'People seem to think that 2000 calories is like the devil. For most people, 2000 calories is the regular amount to maintain your daily weight, which is why it's the daily recommended calorie intake from the government boards etc. some people should be at 1800 if they're smaller or work a sedentary job and some people should be at 2200 or 2400 if they're bigger or work a construction or physically demanding job, it depends on what work for you. But either way 1200 is a very low amount of calories that is dangerous to ones health in almost all scenarios. Its better to just be healthy.'


So to sum.. 1200 is too low in the first place MFP is not always right with their calculations.

LorinaLynn

With only 10 pounds to lose, as per your ticker, you should have your goal set to lose a half pound a week. That in itself will likely give you more than 1200 calories.

Better still, find a site to calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and subtract 10-15% from that. Your TDEE will include your exercise calories, but you'll eat the same amount every day. Either way, you should end up close to the same amount, but for many people, it's easier to eat a fixed amount daily than having high and low days.

Janey142

I would for that 1 day let myself have a couple hundred extra calories so 1400 or make sure i have "filling and healthy" foods such as gammon. gammon fills me right up and is so low in calories! any lean meats and pad out your veg! adding extra mushrooms, peas etc really fills those gaps!

stroupette

Thank you all for replying! I am actually a very healthy eater. I was shocked when MFP said only a 1200 Cal diet cause I thought that was a lil low myself. I am a very active person. I attend a Kickboxing class 3 days a week and run 2-3 times a week. Obviously on a workout day I don't have an issue with cal. On rest days I have a real issue eating within my 1200 Cal. For some reason it really bothers me to go in the red. :0(