sorry, still confused about calorie intake! :(

cmcx3
cmcx3 Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sorry for posting so much already, and it's only my first day here! :/

alright, so when I signed up (I changed my lifestyle setting just now), it recommended that in order to lose 1lb a week, I should eat 1,330 NET calories... I think.
well, so far today, I've only eaten 747 calories. I also exercised and burned 483 calories.
so now, it says my current NET calories is only 264! yikes! and apparently, I have 1,066 calories left to eat for the day. which seems like a ridiculous amount considering it's 11pm where I live!

my question now is this... how many more calories should I eat tonight? I'll be up for a while, so I can have a few bites to eat. should I eat ALL of my calories back? or only half?

gosh, I didn't think I'd be this confused :(
please help!

Replies

  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    I'm sorry for posting so much already, and it's only my first day here! :/

    alright, so when I signed up (I changed my lifestyle setting just now), it recommended that in order to lose 1lb a week, I should eat 1,330 NET calories... I think.
    well, so far today, I've only eaten 747 calories. I also exercised and burned 483 calories.
    so now, it says my current NET calories is only 264! yikes! and apparently, I have 1,066 calories left to eat for the day. which seems like a ridiculous amount considering it's 11pm where I live!

    my question now is this... how many more calories should I eat tonight? I'll be up for a while, so I can have a few bites to eat. should I eat ALL of my calories back? or only half?

    gosh, I didn't think I'd be this confused :(
    please help!

    1330 747 - 483 264

    You should eat at least half of those calories back if you can. All if possible. And learn from this that you should plan your calories accordingly so you don't end up with a big deficit at the end of the day.
  • cmcx3
    cmcx3 Posts: 22
    so every day, regardless of exercise, I should be eating AT LEAST 1,330 calories? is that correct?
  • RhiannonLeighh
    RhiannonLeighh Posts: 46 Member
    Yes, ideally you should be eating 1330cal a day.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    You should be NETTING that many calories. If you earn extra calories through exercise, you should eat them as well so that your end calories are 1330 + any exercise calories. That's the way the system is designed to work, and that's why MFP adds calories to your daily goal when you exercise.
  • bradley8161984
    bradley8161984 Posts: 24
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    so every day, regardless of exercise, I should be eating AT LEAST 1,330 calories? is that correct?

    Why does that seem high to you?

    Do you actually have any concept of what you were eating that made you gain weight?

    Do you have any knowledge of how many calories were in the things you ate?

    Before your memory leaves you, go log some days prior to starting, trying to fill in everything you might likely have eaten, some typical days. Try to get everything in there.

    That's probably the level of calories, maybe 100 higher, than what would maintain you, with whatever level of activity you had then.

    So now how high does 1400 sound? With higher level of activity probably?
  • RhiannonLeighh
    RhiannonLeighh Posts: 46 Member
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.

    It's important to eat protein ASAP after exercising, as this makes for optimum muscle repair.
  • cmcx3
    cmcx3 Posts: 22
    I have a very, very slow metabolism from not eating a sufficient amount of calories. on top of that, I was taking medication for a year that seemed to virtually stop my metabolism, and caused me to gain 20-25lbs.
    not to mention that my physical activity decreased.
    1,330 doesn't seem that high to me. I know I should be consuming that amount of calories to sustain normal body functions and still lose weight, but on average I only eat about 700 calories a day, which is horrid.
    I was just confused about the NET calories, is all. I wasn't 100% sure that, regardless of exercise, I should be consuming 1,330 calories.

    thanks for your help, everyone!
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    If you consume less than 1,200 calories a day you are in danger of going into starvation mode!

    Sounds like you may already be there.

    Try eating food which is high in healthy fats, such as avocado and eggs (Mmm... delicious together on toast)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I have a very, very slow metabolism from not eating a sufficient amount of calories. on top of that, I was taking medication for a year that seemed to virtually stop my metabolism, and caused me to gain 20-25lbs.
    not to mention that my physical activity decreased.
    1,330 doesn't seem that high to me. I know I should be consuming that amount of calories to sustain normal body functions and still lose weight, but on average I only eat about 700 calories a day, which is horrid.
    I was just confused about the NET calories, is all. I wasn't 100% sure that, regardless of exercise, I should be consuming 1,330 calories.

    thanks for your help, everyone!

    So what's it going to take to scare you straight?

    It is horrid. Why not do a search of the forums for how many people are here doing this 3rd, 4th, 5th, or more times in their short life span, because they always did it wrong.
    Read about people that had real physical problems that they will probably never be free from because of the damage done.

    Give yourself a good clear view of your future if you don't make your mind over as to what is healthy for your body. You obviously can't trust your body's signals, so use your brain while it's still getting energy to think semi-decently, if it still is.

    Do it right, once. Hey, at least you made smart decision to select 1 lb weekly loss goal.

    And to your original question - peanut butter, 2 tablespoons.
  • kikilareggae
    kikilareggae Posts: 289 Member
    In my understanding of the way your body works, in addition to the success I've had- eat back most, if not all of your exercise calories. So just log your food and your exercise and let myfitnesspal do the math. You'll start to see/understand how it works.
  • bradley8161984
    bradley8161984 Posts: 24
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.

    It's important to eat protein ASAP after exercising, as this makes for optimum muscle repair.


    Also simple carbs. They help flush the protein into the muscles quicker. Also they replenish all the glycogen stores that you expended.
  • RhiannonLeighh
    RhiannonLeighh Posts: 46 Member
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.

    It's important to eat protein ASAP after exercising, as this makes for optimum muscle repair.


    Also simple carbs. They help flush the protein into the muscles quicker. Also they replenish all the glycogen stores that you expended.

    Don't forget the good ol' amino acids either! ;)
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    In my understanding of the way your body works, in addition to the success I've had- eat back most, if not all of your exercise calories. So just log your food and your exercise and let myfitnesspal do the math. You'll start to see/understand how it works.

    This is why I love MFP!

    It encourages me to exercise more because than I get to eat more!
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    I'm sorry for posting so much already, and it's only my first day here! :/

    alright, so when I signed up (I changed my lifestyle setting just now), it recommended that in order to lose 1lb a week, I should eat 1,330 NET calories... I think.
    well, so far today, I've only eaten 747 calories. I also exercised and burned 483 calories.
    so now, it says my current NET calories is only 264! yikes! and apparently, I have 1,066 calories left to eat for the day. which seems like a ridiculous amount considering it's 11pm where I live!

    my question now is this... how many more calories should I eat tonight? I'll be up for a while, so I can have a few bites to eat. should I eat ALL of my calories back? or only half?

    gosh, I didn't think I'd be this confused :(
    please help!

    Ideally you should be eating more. I was struggling to eat 1200 calories for awhile and I plateaued until I started being able to eat more. I have increased my goals and starting losing weight again.. and am now struggling to eat enough again LOL.

    Are you having trouble eating enough calories? I struggled a lot with that.. here's what I did:

    I started out eating that little. It's *hard* to eat enough if you are not hungry. So here's what I did to fix it. I pre-planned my meals based on what is in my kitchen. I do a ton of googling for recipes. (Also, I had to learn to cook! LOL) I do not eat low-fat or reduced fat foods. (with few exceptions due to taste preference alone) I am wary of chemicals and additives to food (they can cause all kinds of things like cravings for unhealthy foods, and sugar and diseases). I bought fresh foods that taste good, and some that i had never heard of to make cooking interesting. I packed my lunch and snacks everyday. I set an alarm to remind myself to go to lunch and to have a snack every few hours. I started out cooking only enough for 1 meal, but now cook extra and use it for lunch the next day. It was a struggle, but you will eventually get there. It took me until recently to reach my calorie goal most of the time. i still have days where i fall short, but they are less and less as I actually feel hunger again.


    I'm not in it to lose weight. I'm in it for overall health, of which being a healthy weight is paramount. How you eat depends on your nutrition goals.
  • bradley8161984
    bradley8161984 Posts: 24
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.

    It's important to eat protein ASAP after exercising, as this makes for optimum muscle repair.


    Also simple carbs. They help flush the protein into the muscles quicker. Also they replenish all the glycogen stores that you expended.

    Don't forget the good ol' amino acids either! ;)

    Haha touche.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Depending on what your exercises are you should consume a lot of what you burned from your exercises within a hour after your workout.
    Myth. The timing makes very little difference.

    It's important to eat protein ASAP after exercising, as this makes for optimum muscle repair.
    Like I already said, MYTH. I assume you've eaten sometime in the previous several hours before you exercised, so you have protein and carbs already being processed and ready to zuip right into your muscles for repair. I also assume you will be eating anytime within the following several hours after working out, which will restock what your body has already used for repair, as well as continue the repairs necessary. The post exercise anabolic window is roughly 24 hours long, and since most people tend to exercise just about every day, at just about the same time every day, you are generally ALWAYS going to be in the anabolic post exercise window. Hence, meal timing means nothing.

    If you don't believe me, you could always read Alan Aragon's explanation, he gets pretty deep into the science and biology of it.
    http://www.thespartanwarrior.com/post/18029604390/nutrienttiming
    That link contains a quote from Aragon explaining it.
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
    Like most people say, you should probably eat back to 1330 or at least half. But I understand how difficult it is to eat them back when you're an evening exerciser. Save them for the next day, or sometime in the week, don't eat too much if you're about to go to bed or don't feel like it! Save them! Your body doesn't reset every day.
  • RhiannonLeighh
    RhiannonLeighh Posts: 46 Member
    Thanks for the link. I know a lot of studies have been conducted on the issue and their results are pretty much split (I'm sure this could be figured out depending on who sponsors the studies.. But that's a topic for another post.)
    I guess it depends on why your working out.
    A body builder knows that after exercise the rate of protein synthesis is increased temporarily to compensate for muscle damage, so it would be optimum for them to have a fast absorbing shake immediately afterwards so repair can begin straight away, then ideally a meal with more protein a little later.
    I guess for the average person it's not so important to have protein immediately.
    Let us just agree the a meal with protein before and after a workout is beneficial? ;)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks for the link. I know a lot of studies have been conducted on the issue and their results are pretty much split (I'm sure this could be figured out depending on who sponsors the studies.. But that's a topic for another post.)
    I guess it depends on why your working out.
    A body builder knows that after exercise the rate of protein synthesis is increased temporarily to compensate for muscle damage, so it would be optimum for them to have a fast absorbing shake immediately afterwards so repair can begin straight away, then ideally a meal with more protein a little later.
    I guess for the average person it's not so important to have protein immediately.
    Let us just agree the a meal with protein before and after a workout is beneficial? ;)

    About the only study showing a decent advantage to meal timing was endurance cardio, when done day after day. If post workout within 30 min was a good snack of carb:protein ratio 4:1, and next meal was also, it made for improved performance the next day compared to not doing a snack or not using that ratio.
    Trying to recall, but this was multi-hour endurance cardio at pretty decent intensity, pro-cyclists, so as you mention, probably won't matter for avg person exercising.
    And then another one showed similar benefit to endurance cardio doing protein drink before bed.

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