Is anyone else WAY below their calories for the day?

well, im gonna tell you what I do because it works for me.

I dont eat my exercise calories that the site tells me to because i did it once and i DID gain weight. I work out for MAYBE one hour a day...your body really doesnt NEED to work out anymore then that. Im working with a trainer and he told me that you have to mix up your exercise routine or your body will get used to it...are you doing the SAME thing every time you work out? if so, you need to do something to break up the monotony that your muscles and body is feeling. I do this:

One day - FULL cardio, NOTHING else (thats what i did today)
the next day - 15 minutes of cardio to warm up then 30-40 minutes of upper body
the next - 15 minutes of cardio then 30-40 minutes lower body
the next - 15 minutes of cardio and then the 30 minute express room that my gym has thats a little of EVERYTHING
then i take one day off
day after resting - 30 minutes of yoga
then the last day i mix it up just to keep my body guessing....of course, it can vary with what ive done the rest of the day, whether i was working ( im a bartender at a busy sportsbar), or working with my trainer.

i find that when i do ALOT of stuff during my workout this site gives me like 1000-1500 EXTRA calories (depending on what i do) and i dont touch them. Only because from experience, i ate them once and i GAINED weight. AND, my trainer has me on a strict 1270 calorie a day regime, 6 meals a day, 200(ish) cals per meal.

for the last few days, only because i was working, ive fallen WAY below my cals...the last two nights, i only got a little over 1000 cals. so yea, ive been under plenty.

I have a fear of gaining back any weight in general lol but I typically always stay under my calorie goal for the day by at least 300 calories. I dont do it on purpose but I just get full and dont need to eat anymore. I do make it a point to never go under 1200 though. I'm still losing pretty consistantly so I dont think I'm going into starvation mode. That scares me more than going over my calories lol If you are working out alot and not eating enought your body could be hanging onto whatever you do give it and that could be why you havent been losing. As crazy as it is the more active you are the more you really should eat in order to keep fueling your body to lose. Try it out for a week and see what happens. And dont forget to drink tons of water.

And, like the previous poster, I'm going to share my experience.

I was very obese, chugging along losing tons of weight eating 1200 calories and no exercise calories. And 4.5 months into it, my weight loss screeched to a halt. About a week into the plateau, I decided to start eating more & started eating about 1400 calories & no exercise calories. 2 weeks after I started that, I started losing weight again. I lost 7 pounds in 3 weeks and my weight loss screeched to a halt again. I changed my goals on MFP & started eating my base calories (now 1330 because I switched from wanting to lose 2#/week to 1.5#/week) AND I started eating 50% of my exercise calories (that's generally an extra 150-500 calories). 3 weeks later, voila. I started losing weight again (and am continuing to lose). And, I'm actually losing at a faster pace than I have for months & months now (lost 3.8 pounds last week...).

I gotta tell you, after living on 1200 cals/day for nearly 5 months, eating 1700-1800 calories a day takes some serious work! Especially the part about making them *healthy* calories. :laugh: I eat a lot of natural peanut butter. I've also fallen in love with greek yogurt. I add granola & nuts it to increase the cals. I've pretty much added a whole extra snack in my day. I try hard to plan my day around the exercise I know I'll be doing so I'm not cramming my face at 9pm.

Anyway, while it's probably not necessary for everyone to eat 100% of their exercise calories, I do think it's a great idea to start eating some of them if you're not and you're not losing. I mean, eating less certainly not an option, right?

And also, I just wanted to point out that of COURSE if you haven't been eating much & you start eating all of your exercise calores right away, you will most likely gain weight! *At first* -- your body has to readjust. It had been coping with insufficient fuel for a while, so when you suddenly increase it, it's going to store that extra. Try giving any adjustments you make to your diet at least a month to work before you write them off. I know a month seems like an eternity when you want to wake up tomorrow at your goal weight, but our bodies need time to adjust to anything new.

I have a fear of gaining back any weight in general lol but I typically always stay under my calorie goal for the day by at least 300 calories. I dont do it on purpose but I just get full and dont need to eat anymore. I do make it a point to never go under 1200 though. I'm still losing pretty consistantly so I dont think I'm going into starvation mode. That scares me more than going over my calories lol If you are working out alot and not eating enought your body could be hanging onto whatever you do give it and that could be why you havent been losing. As crazy as it is the more active you are the more you really should eat in order to keep fueling your body to lose. Try it out for a week and see what happens. And dont forget to drink tons of water.

I think you may have a point. Maybe i should up my calories by like 500 a day for a week and see how i do? if i gain drop back down but if I lose maybe that means something,. lol. thanks!

You're welcome! Keep us updated, I'd like to see if that works for you. Good luck!