“Exercise Calories” A POLL

Yeah, I would like to know also what the people are eating who find it difficult to get to 1200 calories! I feel like it is very hard to stay under 1200, and would like to know examples of daily diets for people who can't eat 1200-maybe I am eating the wrong foods! I exercise so I can eat more, and also exercise kills my appetite some, too.

I eat anything I want, really. I eat pizza and burritos and everything. I eat sandwiches with avocados and grilled cheese and burgers. And of course I eat plenty of veggies and lean meats and fruits, but I essentially eat whatever I feel like eating, and I still can't get over 1200 half the time.

And exercise totally kills my appetite too!

I'll make my diary public for you guys. It may not look like much, but I really am not hungry. It really is a struggle most of the time.

EDIT: As for today, I'm eating the leftovers from my burrito and black beans for dinner. I just didn't have the appetite to eat it all for lunch. (And then there's that lunchable, lol. I've been missing breakfast ever since summer break started. I'm not a breakfast person, so even though I wake up at 9:00 in the morning, I just don't feel like eating. I made myself eat something for breakfast when school was in session. I just grabbed that lunchable from the fridge before I left for the orthodontist because I knew I needed to eat something, anything even though I wasn't hungry.)

I started here at the end of April. Like many of you, I had my calories set at around 1200, and most days I didn't eat my calories back. I was often starving. By the end of May, I hadn't lost any weight.

I reset my calories to aim for a net of around 1500 calories per day. I eat almost all of my exercise calories, and some days I even go over a little. I've been doing this for 3 weeks. I've lost 3 pounds.:happy:

Seems to me, if I can continue eating MORE food and still lose weight, why mess with that? I know I'll actually stick with it once I reach my goal weight! No complaints here!

I do tend to eat most of my exercise calories, as others have mentioned if not the body goes into starvation mode. This is especially important for those who very vigorously exercise and burn thousands of calories. For a while I did not eat my exercise calories and I not only did not loose weight, but felt awful. I am a cyclist and burn over 2000 calories on longer rides and if I do not eat those calories I am not strong enough to complete rides later in the week. Also, if I haven't eaten enough leading up to a ride then I "bonk" (like hitting the wall in a marathon...your body just runs out of usable fuel and you feel weak, sick to your stomach, shaky, and just flat out gross). After one or two bonks and phone calls to my husband to come pick me and the bike up I started eating up most of the calories!

I generally do not eat the exercise calories, but if I'm hungery I will. I listen to my body and decide from there.

Same. I don't eat them usually but it's b/c I'm usually taken care of and they would only serve to give me dessert or some non-nutritional food product.

With that said, my calories are at roughly 1700 a day and yeah, you can eat all 1200 if you put a good mix of foods in your mouth. I used to be unable to eat the 1200 min back when I first started but it was b/c I was so self-conscious I what's "good" for me, that I basically only ate salad and grilled chicken.

Eat some sourdough bread, have some rice, you'll get your 1200 in... ahhh bread does taste good.

I do not eat my exercise calories and I am not losing. Since April 14 I have only lost 12 pounds. I am frustrated, but one day I ate more and I gained weight. I have had trouble losing weight since I had my first child 30 years ago. Always, I loose so slow and give up. This time I am just sticking with it and believing at some point I will lose.
linda

Hi Linda, April 14th is 10 weeks ago therefore, that is just over 1lb per week, so you have lost weight, or do you mean you lost those 12lbs and then the weight loss stopped, if that is the case, how many weeks ago did it stop?

Each to his own, I say this simply because, each and everyone of us is an individium.
You must work by trial and error-listen to your own body, once you realise what works,
feels good and healthy, then this is your way ahead.
LISTEN, to your own body within-it does know best!!!!

I rarely eat any of my exercise calories and I'm happy with the rate I'm losing.

Is it a crock? I don't know since I've never tried upping my calories to see if it increased my loss. But I'm sure so many people wouldn't be insisting it worked if there wasn't some validity to it.

I want to know what you guys eating that you can easily stay under 1200 calories as well? Mine is set at 1470 and I sometime eat my exercise calories and have my wine at night.