HELP PLEASE!! Calorie Issues!
Options
Replies
-
I get a little over 1200 a day.. I go to the gym and burn 7 to 800 calories.. I make sure my 1200 a day is taken care of. If I ger hungry I will use some of what I burnt at the gym... Is this the correct thing to do??I never eat back what I burn at the gym
Especially if you are set to only 1200 calories a day you should be eating your exercise calories back. 1200 is very low (too low for most people) as it is let alone not eating exercise calories back. Say you eat your 1200, exercise off 700 and don't eat any of them back you would only be netting 500 calories in the day. That is not nearly enough. You have to fuel your body! I would imagine 1200 is far too low of a goal anyways.
When you don't eat you exercise calories back you risk running to high of a deficit. Too high of a deficit can cause you to lose muscle along with fat and water. Definately not a good thing to have happen as lower muscle mass means a lower metabolism.
To the OP, try switching things out that are lower calories to higher calorie version if you are having trouble hitting your goal. Doing Insanity you should be eating more than 1300 odd calories anyways. Instead of a granola bar go for a protein bar. Granola bars don't have a lot of nutrition in them. Or switch that snack out to something else. By what you said you eat in a day try swapping some things out to get some more fruits and vegetables in your diet. By the sounds of it you really only eat veggies at dinner time. Try switching your granola bar to cut up veggies with a nice dip. Or apple slices and peanut butter. Switch to regular milk in your shake if you don't have any issues with regular milk. Add some healthy fats in. Instead of pretzels with lunch have a nice salad along with your sandwich with a olive oil type dressing. You can make a great dressing with some olive oil, mustard and a bit of honey if you like honey mustard (great thing for dipping chicken into as well!).0 -
Using your height, weight & age, I calculated your BMR (calories you would burn if you never got out of bed) to be 1608. Using the Harris Benedict method to calculate the number of calories you burn in a day (i did a conservative estimate of exercise 3-5x a week) and it says you burn 2500 calories a day. If you want to lose 1 lb a week, subtract 500 so you should be consuming closer to 2000 calories a day. I know this sounds crazy. Especially since you're doing something as strenuous as insanity (i'm doing p90x) you shouldn't let your net calories (food-exercise) get below 1600. Feel free to check out my diary if you want some ideas. I suggest having 5 or 6 smaller meals so you don't feel like you're stuffing yourself. There's like a million different ways to calculate your calorie needs. I like the calculators at bmi-calculator.net
^^^ Great advice! Far too often people use MFP's number which can be too low for most people. Eating more really does help with weight loss especially when you are doing a program like Insanity.0 -
877
Calories Remaining
Goal 1230
Food 1040
Exercise -687
= Net 353
the above it for today... so I should eat the 877 that is left or the net of 353
sorry to ask the same question I am new and need all the help I can get
thanks0 -
877
Calories Remaining
Goal 1230
Food 1040
Exercise -687
= Net 353
the above it for today... so I should eat the 877 that is left or the net of 353
sorry to ask the same question I am new and need all the help I can get
thanks
defintely eat the 877 but i definitely suggest calculating your calorie needs. just go to bmi-calculator.net and start off by calculating your BMR. they have really great explanations of what everything means.0 -
OK my first point in all this is always: How do people gain weight if they struggle to meet 1200-1500 a day now?
My second point, which I think we are all guilty of when we start a weight loss regime, is the fear of eating things such as avocado, cheese, nuts etc etc.
I did WW a couple of times and it's all about low-fat. When I cam to MFP I was surprised that I could have scrambled eggs fro breakfast everyday, avocado in a salad and nuts to snack on and still lose weight.
Yay!
Fuel your body and enjoy the food!0 -
877
Calories Remaining
Goal 1230
Food 1040
Exercise -687
= Net 353
the above it for today... so I should eat the 877 that is left or the net of 353
sorry to ask the same question I am new and need all the help I can get
thanks
Yes, you should eat those calories back. If you can't eat all your exercise calories back lessen the amount of cardio you do. Weight loss has a lot to do with diet... Having too large of a deficit is not a good thing and doesn't always lead to higher losses. The only time a large deficit is ok is when you have a lot of weight to lose (more than like 50-75lbs). When you run too high of a deficit you run the risk of losing muscle in addition to water weight and fat.0 -
1200 calories is gross input and as long as you eat this then no starvation messages
Today i ate 2300 calories but did 2900 of exercise leaving me 2000 beneath target.
Swings and roundabouts as on day of no exercise will go over target
Wait to see a correlation between target weight loss and actual weight loss before jamming every last calorie in.
Balance your calories over longer period than a day
Firm believer in getting it off before the willpower expires
Good luck
What type of exercise do you do to burn 2900 calories?0 -
1200 calories is gross input and as long as you eat this then no starvation messages
Today i ate 2300 calories but did 2900 of exercise leaving me 2000 beneath target.
Swings and roundabouts as on day of no exercise will go over target
Wait to see a correlation between target weight loss and actual weight loss before jamming every last calorie in.
Balance your calories over longer period than a day
Firm believer in getting it off before the willpower expires
Good luck
What type of exercise do you do to burn 2900 calories?
I second this. Being 200lbs at 5' 5" I have to go full speed on my elliptical for a hour to burn 550 max.
You would have to workout for hours a day to burn 2900 calories. I would guess that the amounts you have calculated are not correct.0 -
I had gastric bypass 7 years ago and I have picked back up 24 lbs.. that is why I have a struggle with the 1200 calories.
thanks for everyone help0 -
I had gastric bypass 7 years ago and I have picked back up 24 lbs.. that is why I have a struggle with the 1200 calories.
thanks for everyone help
If you can't actually eat more switch to higher calorie foods. Drink protein shakes (you can sip them throughout the day)... switch to full fat milk/cheese/other dairy products, use oil when cooking, snack on nuts throughout the day, take a spoon to the peanut butter jar if you need to.0 -
OK my first point in all this is always: How do people gain weight if they struggle to meet 1200-1500 a day now?
Because these people probably ate junk that is high in calories but low in nutrition. Now that they're trying to eat healthy and nutritious food, they are finding it difficult to meet their calorie goals AND do not want to revert back to their old ways of eating.0 -
^^^^ AGREE.
I was a Dr. Pepper junkie and rarely made good choices when it came to food. When you're a fulltime student and working part time, my diet suffered. I get texts in class asking to come to work after my classes so I grab something and go. Those choices were not good choices.
I'm trying to eat healthier and lose the 40 lbs I've packed on since graduating HS (7 years ago), getting married and moving to the South - Land of the Fried everything (yes I know there are healthier options)
If I find I'm not losing weight like I want or am getting weak, I'll bump everything back up to the more fat filled version. I.e. 2% milk instead of almond milk and real peanut butter instead of PB2.
I will try bumping up my calorie intake to see if I can lose the weight..
I do eat meals throughout the day, some of those consist of snacks because I can't do "meals" all day long. I'm on the go and busy so I pack snacks.
I normally have my protein shake around 730-8am bc I'm running out the door. But maybe I'll add a 1/2 bagel or something to that
Then a snack around 11am
Then lunch around 1pm
Then workout about 2pm
Then protein shake immediately after
Then dinner (sometimes it's earlier due to night classes like around 530) but normally around 6-7.
I don't want to eat at night because you're really not supposed to eat 3 hours before you go to bed. I'm not THAT strict about it but I don't want to eat a snack at 10pm and go to bed at 1030pm. If I eat a snack it's around 8 or 9 because I normally don't go to bed til 11 or later depending how long I'm up studying.
Thank you all for your advice!!! I really appreciate it!0 -
Stop eating back your calories from your workout. Never eat more food because you "earned" it from a workout unless you are actually hungry.0
-
I haven't eaten fruit the last few days because we ran out and I haven't had a chance to run to the store. But I do normally have fruit with breakfast and as an afternoon snack!0
-
I think sometimes your body knows better than the calorie counter. I have days when I max out at around 900 calories and I've eaten well all day. I feel If I'm not hungry, I don't push it. Other days I manage to eat 1400 calories and I feel terrible about going over 1200 calories. I don't even log my exercise because I don't trust the calorie totals there.
I've started to take my food diary off of calorie counting sites and onto a Word document so that I can monitor whether or not I'm eating healthy foods... instead of obsessing over how many calories I'm getting. I'm still losing weight, but I am now much happier about food.0 -
Stop eating back your calories from your workout. Never eat more food because you "earned" it from a workout unless you are actually hungry.
The MPF formula assumes you eat them back. An excessive deficit can cause metabolic issues down the road if it is maintained for a long period of time. Unless you have >50lbs to lose it is important to at least eat your BMR (the calories you would need for organ function in a coma).0 -
I should also mention that I usually do not make 1200 calories and I work out fairly regularly. I also do not worry about eating in the evenings. I have not had my weight plateau since I've cut back on calorie counting and stopped worrying about when I eat.0
-
Isn't the reason you work out is to burn calories to loose weight? Doesn't it defeat the purpose of working out if you re-eat the calories you just burn? Just trying to understand the concept here.0
-
And for what I've seen for my BMR it's not 2500?! It's around 1600. So 500 less would be 1100 net after working out?
I actually used the formula and figured it out
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )0 -
And for what I've seen for my BMR it's not 2500?! It's around 1600. So 500 less would be 1100 net after working out?
I actually used the formula and figured it out
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
You aren't taking the 500 from your BMR, the 500 should come off your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). BMR is the absolute minimum you should net daily. Otherwise you are training your body to live on less. Which means when the weight all comes off, you'll have a much lower maintenance calorie goal.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 999 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions