dr said not to eat exercise calories

Does she know that MFP calculates a deficit for you?? That it's built in to your calorie goals on this site?

I typically do not eat ALL my exercise calories (I usually have around 200 left over) and I am still losing the weight. So, not a Dr. opinion, just a person's. And I will say that I have trouble staying at the 1200 anyway. There is just not enough to fill me up during the day. I could easily stay at 1500-1700 and feel comfy. So having the workout calories helps!

I ate my exercise calories and I lost weight. If you are eating a maintenance amount of calories, that is true but if you are eating at a deficit, you should still lose.

What do the BMR calculators tell you you should be eating? We don't know your age, gender, height, activity level or weight. You could be 4'6" and weigh 70 pounds for all I know :laugh: .

That is so true. I asked a nutrition question once to my doctor and he said something to the fact that he doesn't know much about that area and that he only took a basic nutrition class.

personally, I would eat them! MFP does figure in something like a 500 calorie deficit and I doubt your doc is taking that into account. I think they do have a setting for "maintain weight" that you could check out and see the diff.
You could try it for a day or two and see how you feel. My goal is 1930 and if I eat, like, under 1500 I usually feel like crap! Excercise or not.

She basically said if I eat more than 1200 cals, regardless of exercise, I will maintain my current weight.

I find this really hard to believe, unless you're a VERY small person. I'm just shy of 5' 4" and I typically burn 1900-2300 calories/day WITHOUT EXERCISE, and I'm pretty sedentary. If I want to lose 2 pounds per week, I have to stay around 1200 calories/day, but when you exericse you burn more calories, and therefore you eat more to fuel the extra work your body is doing.

Easy example: I burn (on average) 2200/day. I eat 1200/day to have a 1000 calorie deficit (2 lbs/week)
If I exercise and burn 500 calories, that puts me at 2700 burned. If I only ate 1200, my deficit would be 1500, which I don't consider particularly healthy in the long run. My body needs more fuel when I'm working hard!

IF you accurately log calories eaten and don't overestimate calories burned, you should be able to eat back exercise calories and still lose weight. Since MFP's exercise calories tend to be a bit high, you could aim for just eating back half to be safe.

She basically said if I eat more than 1200 cals, regardless of exercise, I will maintain my current weight.

Like I said, she doesn't know anything about nutrition. I eat well over 2000 calories a day and have lost 6 pounds in the last month. Nutritional needs are based on each individual. I would have to know a lot more about you (height, weight, body fat percentage, activity level, etc.) to be able to give you a closer estimate of your calorie needs. But 1200 calories is usually only correct for someone who is 90 pounds of lean body mass and completely sedentary. I can honestly count on one hand the number of clients I've given that low of a calorie recommendation to in my 14 years in the fitness industry. And my specialty has always been weight loss, specifically for women.

My doctor said 1000 calories on days without workouts & probably about 1200 on workout days & finally is working for me whereas before I was gaining.

How come when someone says they are not or don't eat their exercise calories a bunch of people say "oh my, you must eat them you won't lose weight unless you do," and when someone says they are going to eat their exercise calories a bunch of people say "why would you do that, I don't eat mine." I posted under "I am going to eat my exercise calories" and that is what I got.

There is a lot of that on every message board. Everyone has their own information/opinions. AS individuals we need to sort through and just make our own decisions.

There is a lot of that on every message board. Everyone has their own information/opinions. AS individuals we need to sort through and just make our own decisions.

But I don't like to make my own decisions...:grumble: :grumble:

Here are some topics that explain why in pretty easy to understand terms.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I would highly recommend doing some more research, and possibly even see a nutrionist or dietician. (I don't really know which would be better in your case.) You will find everything from "eat them or you will NEVER lose another pound!" to "don't eat them or you will NEVER lose another pound!" Both statements are not quite true. Even in the dreaded "starvation mode" you still lose weight, you just lose it slower and it's harder.

Personally (and this may not work for you!), I have done all, some and none at various points.

i just finished med school.
we dont learn much about nutrition whatsoever!!! other than nutritional diseases, its really not in our curriculum. we did take biochemistry and studied exactly how foods break down. but were not dietitians. many of my own classmates were borderline obese.

im not saying hes wrong, since i actually rarely ever eat my cals back lol BUT im just informing u... doctors dont know everything!!!!

There have been many posts like this. Personally, I say it depends on the individual. Trial and error and to each their own.

However, one post by someone caught my eye and a lot of people on here put stock in what this person says. The comment was to ask a dietician. So, I did! I have a personal dietician, thanks to having Diabetes. I talked to her Tuesday and again, she said the same thing that she did a few months back: not to eat the exercise calories.
The funny thing is, before I had found this site, she had calculated my calories at 1600. MFP had put me at 1570. Not too far off, I'd say. When I talked to her Tuesday, I told her what MFP has me at now...1430. She said that was about right, perhaps 1450. (I mention the numbers because everyone says that MFP calculates a deficit. She did, too...almost identical amounts!) When I asked her about exercise and making up calories and all the calculating stuff that people keep talking about on here, she said she wouldn't eat those calories.

Like I said, to each their own and everyone is built differently. I know what works for me. I'm not starving, I have energy and my blood sugars are stable. In fact, to quote her, I'm "a very controlled Diabetic." Since I continue to lose weight and feeling better than I ever have, I'll listen to her and use this site to log numbers. Unless the guys that created this site can show me credentials, I'll put my stock in my Dietician, Diabetic nurse and Endocrinologist.

Good luck to all!!

Doctors don't know squat about nutrition. They aren't required to take but the minimum of nutrition classes (IE: What is a carb? What is a protein? blah, blah, blah). Unless they have a nutrition certification, degree, or minor with their degree, I wouldn't trust them for nutrition evaluation. Same with exercise. Doctors don't take any exercise prescription classes.

As a doc I can vouch for this. Honestly, I think at least those specializing in primary care should be required to learn how to help someone exercise and manage their weight, but instead no one talks about it after medical school and during medical school they just teach about vitamin deficiencies and such. The most we can do is quote studies on how your weight/bmi correlates to diseases and mortality. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about nutrition and exercise, but only because I educated myself on the outside like many people do. I bet the OP's doc has no idea how many calories she eats in a day herself.

I don't understand why the exercise calorie thing is so controversial. Many people don't measure their food, or don't know the calories in the food they're eating and have to chose a similar item. People also forget about a bite of this or that, and tend to overestimate calorie burn during exercise. They also tend to move less when they are exercising and dieting, decreasing the daily calories burned (wear a pedometer folks!). Therefore, unless you are not doing any if those things most people do, you will not lose as much as you expect to when you are eating every calorie you think you earned. So the question is not rather to eat your exercise calories, but whether to leave a buffer IMO. But I digress