For those confused or questioning "Eating your exercise calo

re: atkins. i think modified atkins is okay. i mean, eating steaks and chesse all day is bad! duh! not all carbs are created alike.

yes, you do carry around a lot of water.

i personally prefer eating higher protein lower carb diets but by carbs i mean:

- less potatoes, pastas, bread, refined sugars

where as veggies, fruits are okay.

for example, i ate 47g of carbs today with my watermelon for breakfast. yum yum and that consisted of some serious water! i must have peed four times before i even read the morning paper! tee hee!

this is why i'm getting frustrated with low calories here. grr. i'm hunnnngrrry but things that would fill me up also make me feel like crap (ie, potatoes, a cup of pasta)

i'm tempted to start the SB diet because it's modified low carb and much better for you (from what i can tell).

Well I ate a bit more and even though I have 125 calories left, the site has stopped saying 'you're not eating enough' so I might leave it there for today because I've just eaten and am unlikely to be hungry again before bed. I put on a pound this week too, despite doing more exercise in a week than I usually do in a month So I'm feeling a bit fed up about that.

I think I have the hang of things now, and rather than follow a set plan, I think I'll just try watching the calories for a while. I know I'll naturally choose healthy food anyway, as it tends to be lower in calories and I like it, so it's not like I'll suddenly start using my calories for junk food.

Any time you eat less than 1200 calories, MFP will give you that warning...1200 is just a (very, very, very loose) guideline that assumes that pretty much any female can eat 1200 calories a day regardless of activity level and get all the micro and macronutrients she needs. :grumble: It's pretty much bunk. In any case, it's a great idea to find out just how many micronutrients you're taking in at 1100 calories. Is that enough to supply all of your energy needs? To get 100% RDA of all micronutrients? To maintain your activity level? Probably not, considering that you're an active, growing woman, which is why MFP gives you that message.

Your scale weight will fluctuate wildly based on how much water an glycogen (stored blood sugar) you're holding, how much you've eaten, how much waste you have in your bowel, etc. When you exercise, you increase your glycogen and water storage capacity, so it's not uncommon to gain a little bit of weight. Just remember to take measurements in inches, and pay closer attention to those. Weight tells you almost nothing about your body composition, whereas girth measurements give you a much better idea of what's changing.

Still waiting for scientific data.

Really not sure what data you were looking for since you didn't ask a
specific question but here are some resources that I used. Some I used for the post,
others I just find relevant.

-N Engl J Med 2003; Volume 348:2057-2058, May 22, 2003
"Diet, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Risk"
Robert O. Bonow, M.D., and Robert H. Eckel, M.D.

- mayo clinic articles
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fast-weight-loss/AN01621


Other articles and resources on line
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/physical.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1615889?dopt=Abstract
http://www.uticaod.com/archive/x1126214457

I'm not sure what scientific data you were looking for, but there was plenty in those articles, including numerous references to both university and medical organization studies.

I've said this on numerous occasions, Banks -- When someone can prove that eating your exercise calories makes you lose weight better than those who don't, not only will I do it, but I'll say you were right!

'Tis all!

I'm hesitant to jump in here but what the heck

Maybe you're misunderstanding--No one is talking about eating more than what your body burns in a day. What is being referred to here is that if someone has already cut down their caloric intake to below their daily basal metabolic rate to create a calorie deficit, then even if they don't exercise they will lost weight.

So, if you add exercise on top of that, you are creating even more of a daily caloric deficit by now burning up even more of the calories that you have eaten. Thereby, reducing the amount of caloric energy available to your body to function.

Most people seem to reduce their caloric intake to 1200 a day when trying to lose weight--even though for most people that is too large a deficit. But....if they then exercise and burn up, say, 300 calories, now they are only giving their body a total of 900 calories to function that day. And that ain't good. Too long at that low level of calories will cause problems.

Some of us, like me, who over a large amount to lose (still got over a 100 pounds to go personally) can get away with fudging on how many a day to eat and how much of our exercise calories to eat. We've got enough fat for our body to draw on for energy. BUT FOR MOST--like you who have a relatively small amount to lose, it's not advised by most doctors to ever ever ever go under 1200 a day.

Not sure if any of this makes sense.

I will tell you this--I have lost 30 pounds in a little over 2 months--I eat at least 90% of my exercise calories every day. I feel great, I'm losing weight, and I'm not starving. Proof is in the pudding, I guess. I've tried this before "your" way--by exercising the heck out of my body, eating barely 1000 calories total a day, and I starved all the time, and did bad things to my body.

Frankly, I prefer the way I'm doing it now--eating healthy, exercising, and eating most--if not all--my exercise calories.

But, do what you want when it comes down to you.

Banks, me, and many others on here have lost weight eating our exercise calories. If you disagree, fine. But don't question how others have lost weight, as long as they did it by being healthy.

People come on here to get help, support, and suggestions--and I tend to listen most to those who have been the most successful AND have done it in a healthy manner--but that's me.