need some help understanding this

Dabberdoll
Dabberdoll Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I am new here and trying to understand , I was given 1200 calories a day , which I found hard to eat all of that, the reason I don't lose weight is because of my poor eating habits , now starting these new healthy eating habits , love entering the food I eat , gives me a chance to really analyze what I eat and do, My question is this I also walk 40 to 60 minutes a day, when I enter my exercise it allows me more calories am I expected to eat that much more food?

Thanks Dabberdoll

Replies

  • ilovescarymovies
    ilovescarymovies Posts: 202 Member
    you dont have to eat your exercise calories back. i never do :)
  • jamielynn020610
    jamielynn020610 Posts: 128 Member
    I try not to eat my calories back either. Like today, I won't come close since I had such a big lunch(and not a good one) I will probably not eat dinner.
  • florymonde
    florymonde Posts: 261 Member
    There's no hard and fast rules. You'll need to see what works for you.

    If you are used to eating poorly, then I would probably recommend that you eat about half of your exercise calories back, to help you learn what is a reasonable amount of healthy food for your activity level. And, if you are hungry, consider eating all of your exercise calories. Particularly on days when you are exercising for an hour or more.
  • saraedens
    saraedens Posts: 54
    I'm on 1400 calories a day and don't always eat all my calories either but always try and get at least 1200 in. Also I never eat my exercise calories!
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    First of all, 1200 calories is too few for most people. I did it for a while and lost weight, but then plateaued for 6 months until I upped my calories by 500 a day.

    If you are using MFP calculations for calories, then you should definitely be eating your exercise calories back. every time, every day, every calorie.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,272 Member
    Since you don't give your current weight or height it's hard to make any suggestions.
  • MaudeBeige
    MaudeBeige Posts: 282
    I'm yoyoing at the moment... Not good! (Well, I don't think so anyway!) Round about this time last year my eating habits were set for weight loss.

    BUT

    When I was seriously making changes and exercising I ate back some calories when I was hungry but tried to not eat back junk. I never made a big deal of eating back my calories.

    There's lots of talk here about eating at least 1200 calories. My philosopy was to eat LOADS of veg and lean protein. I regularly ate under 1200 and wasn't hungry. If I had been, I would have eaten more/differently. (Currently I'm not managing to eat breakfast - it's just the way it is but I do know that this is not a good thing for me.)

    I think it's important for you to do what's good for you and what feels right. Many people here talk about being hungry and that's just the way it is when you lose weight - it's not something that I regularly experience.

    I 'fell off the wagon' for a good few months. I half expected to PILE on the weight because of all the talk of 'starving my body' I didn't! (OK, I didn't do well but it was No time to exercise so I'm grateful now to be maintaining.

    Enjoy the journey!
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...
  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,253 Member
    First of all, 1200 calories is too few for most people. I did it for a while and lost weight, but then plateaued for 6 months until I upped my calories by 500 a day.

    If you are using MFP calculations for calories, then you should definitely be eating your exercise calories back. every time, every day, every calorie.

    Sorry but that is incorrect, depends on height, weight, gender & exercise

    there is a load of bollocks on here about starvation mode, must eat all your exercise calories etc

    If you are not hungry, in reasonable health, no eating disorder, and overweight or just fat then 1200 is fine. many in this world would love 1200 calories a day
  • Dabberdoll
    Dabberdoll Posts: 11
    Thanks everyone , your help and comments are so appreciated, I guess I need to teach myself and my body to accept food, 1200 calories is a lot for me right now , and eating good food or better then i was food is all new, lots for me to learn in this nutritional field, and just learning to navigate through this site, love all the comments and help that I am finding
    Thanks a bunch Dabberdoll
  • spangey13
    spangey13 Posts: 294
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...

    I agree!!!!
  • smilesalot1969
    smilesalot1969 Posts: 392
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...

    ^^^^^
    this
  • Jenner0785
    Jenner0785 Posts: 4 Member
    It's like WW...I don't think you need to eat them!
  • schondell
    schondell Posts: 556 Member
    1. The exercise calories burned on MFP are largely exaggerated
    2. You can chose to eat back the calories, are you hungry?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...

    I always wonder this same thing.
  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,253 Member
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...

    I always wonder this same thing.

    I sort of agree, maybe my example would help you understand?

    I just ate what i thought was healthy & homemade, but was in fact calorie loaded, like spag bol, cheese sandwiches, sweet & sour chicken with rice, ham salads,beef stew with dumplings and the like. All in good sized platefuls

    Until I started weighing & logging I never truly realised the calorific content of my normal daily diet, and i guess this may apply to many on here, we just did not realise the calories we wer chucking down our throats
  • Dabberdoll
    Dabberdoll Posts: 11
    I have absolutely no idea why anyone on this thread needs MFP when none of you seem to get hungry and cannot even manage to eat 1200 cals a day. How on earth did any of you ever even get overweight in the first place with such sparrow like appetites...

    ^^^^^
    this

    Being overweight does not always mean a person over eats, means a person as a eating disorder and not eating the proper foods, prior to deciding it was time for me to lose weight , it didn't matter what went in my mouth and when, I could go all day not eating then come 4 o'clock have a bag of chips , drank soda all day , have a normal dinner , huge plates of pasta so on and so fort, the bodies metabolism just can't function well , the body will store whatever it is given knowing all to well it might be a while before it is fed again , which causes one to gain weight and keep it on, judgement should not be put on why one is fat or not, we all have the same goal in mind and that is to become healthier, feel better about ourselves no matter how many pounds one have to lose, be it 5 or 200 or more, not trying to be rude just stating what I think
    wishing you all a healthy life style
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    First of all, 1200 calories is too few for most people. I did it for a while and lost weight, but then plateaued for 6 months until I upped my calories by 500 a day.

    If you are using MFP calculations for calories, then you should definitely be eating your exercise calories back. every time, every day, every calorie.

    Sorry but that is incorrect, depends on height, weight, gender & exercise

    there is a load of bollocks on here about starvation mode, must eat all your exercise calories etc

    If you are not hungry, in reasonable health, no eating disorder, and overweight or just fat then 1200 is fine. many in this world would love 1200 calories a day

    First of all, I never said anything about starvation mode. Unless your body fat percentage is less than something like 10%, starvation mode will not happen to you.

    1200 a day is not healthy for any person that I am aware of, but you may be right...a 10 year old should eat that much maybe (never mind - even a 10 year old 95 pound kid should eat more than 1200 per day).

    Just as an example: a 5'2" female who is absolutely sedentary; age 30, let's say; weighs 195 pounds; goal weight is 125

    This is an estimate, as are all caloric numbers unless you get your BMR tested by your doctor...

    this female should never eat below approximately 1650 calories a day in order to maintain proper organ health (see: http://www.exercise4weightloss.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html)

    Based on the TDEE method, this female should set an interim weight goal (I set 160 as the example). This female should eat 1800 calories a day until she gets close to the interim goal and then recalculate to the final goal of 125: At that point, again being absolutely sedentary, this female should a little over 1600 calories a day to get to her goal weight (and every day for the rest of her life to maintain it). remember, these are approximate numbers for an example.

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