Am I consuming too little calories?

Chocoholiic
Chocoholiic Posts: 1
edited January 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I've just started using MFP and logging all of my daily meals and snacks. I'm currently around 136 pounds, height is 5'4 and 18 years.

My goal is to lost 2-3 lbs per week and I currently exercise everyday for 30-45 minutes (usually burn around 200-375 calories depending on intensity of workout) with a rest day once a week.

MFP has it set to 1200 calories as my goal and when I exercise I get an extra 200-300 calories so my avg daily calorie intake is always around 1500 ish.

I don't usually eat back the calories I exercise, but I don't do it intentionally. To be honest I actually have a small appetite and on the days I sleep in really late, I'm usually a meal short as I have the other 2 and snacks and water in between.

Is it bad that I usually have around 400 (sometimes 500-600) calories remaining when I'm done logging my day? I don't want to be depriving my self of nutrients my body needs but I also can't eat those calories cause I'm just not hungry (not even enough to have a light snack!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! :smile:

Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    yes, you should make an effort to eat back all those exercise calories. a spoonful of peanut butter goes a long way.
  • haymancm
    haymancm Posts: 280 Member
    A year ago I juiced & found that after 3 weeks, I was not losing any weight. My weight had plateaued from a lack of calories, even though I was not hungry. I researched that the body needs to have over 700 calories, or it thinks it's in starvation mode.
  • smiliekiwi
    smiliekiwi Posts: 92 Member
    a spoonful of peanut butter goes straight to my hips... not that far at all....

    I seriously cannot understand eating those calories you've burnt... but hey I'm no nutritionist ..
  • Sparlingo
    Sparlingo Posts: 938 Member
    Your goals sound very aggressive for your weight/height. What's the hurry?

    Also, be careful with the MFP goals - you tell it how active you are and how much you want to lose/how fast and it spits out a number. What it can't tell you is if that number is healthy/appropriate for you.

    You should find out your BMR and your TDEE and make sure your MFP goal is NOT lower than your BMR. Try setting your activity level to something other than sedentary (very few people, especially your age, are truly sedentary), and make your goal to lose 1 lb per week. I'm 5'0" and my BMR is greater than 1300 -- 1200 cals/day would not be an appropriate goal for me (as an example).

    In terms of exercise calories, technically yes, you should eat these back. The idea is that you maintain a steady caloric deficit day to day if you eat less when you are inactive and eat more when you are active.

    What I do is eat back however many of my exercise calories I am hungry for. But I (try to) make sure I eat over my 1300 daily calories every day.

    I've been doing the above for 4 months and have been losing just fine, even on weeks where I eat back every exercise calorie I've got.

    Hope this is helpful!

    Edited to add: Your BMI is 23.3 -- right in the middle of the healthy range. That is not to say that it is unhealthy for you to lose weight, but it is to say that 2-3 lbs/week is far too aggressive of a pace. 0.5 lbs/week is a healthier goal. You don't want to lose lean body mass (LBM) by creating too great of a deficit. Go slow, and it will be easier to keep off :smile:.
  • esballet
    esballet Posts: 51 Member
    1500 calories a day seems like a completely reasonable amount to me. You could even eat a couple hundred less and still be perfectly healthy and safe, though I don't think that's necessary by any means. I never eat back my exercise calories. And if you aren't hungry, I don't see any need to force yourself to eat more than you want.
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