dr said not to eat exercise calories

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 agree 100%! we were taught about vitamin deficiencies, and nutritional abnormalities. but we HONESTLY were never properly given anything about a healthy diet or a way to lose weight!

i remember going to a dr's appt with my dad (who is a diabetic) and i was telling the doc how badly my dad ate. the guy was like thats completely fine! thats what the meds are for! to regulate his blood sugar!
NOO!!!! and my dad eats the same way just because his doc justified it as reasonable.

So if I workout like I did yesterday and burn off everything I ate and put myself in the negative calories I should starve my body and not eat any of the exercise calories?

herein lies the biggest issue in my mind. I usually burn 200 calories when I exercise. Some ppl burn 1200 or 800......so that leaves you with 0 or 400 calories to run the most important engine in your life?

The only thing i know is I have been adhering to the MFP program - when I work out, I eat some/all of my calories so I always net around 1200 and I am losing. And when I was simply dieting (and starving), I wasn't.. for me, it's simple.

Easy solution. Are you losing weight and dropping inches? If so, continue what you are doing. If not, switch things up. Trial and error.

It really, really depends on your body...Everyone is different. I am eating my calories, and not losing muchj, so I think I will stop eating mine. If you are losing, don't stop doin what ur doin. If you are not losing, change something

I find it funny that this is such an issue on here, while I, on the other hand, just ate 265 calories OVER my exercise calories, lol.

LMAO MEEE TOO!!!!

:laugh:

Ooooh I just remembered this!!! When I started I balked at the 'eat your exercise cals' thought process.

I just went and changed my goal to 1 lbs a week and had 1350 to eat!! Then I exercised about 200 cals a day.

N E Way...........I really need to get back into the groove of things and this thread has my brain going in the right direction

Thanks for starting it and GOOD LUCK!!

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

That makes sense if you're about 4' 10", 100 lbs and your exercise is a ten minute walk every other day..

I remember that it takes approx 15 calories to maintain your weight, so I would be 2070 to maintain (I feel this is HIGH) but ok.....so if you eat 1200 calories a day you would have to be 80 pounds to maintain your weight. Right?

1200 is the MINIMUM>.......kind of like saying the posted speed limit is 65. that doesnt me you HAVE to go 65 mph, that is the fastest you are allowed to go. Using that then the 1200 calories suggestion is the lowest you should go before causing harm to your body.

Again, everyone is different.

IMO, it depends on what level of exercise you are doing and the duration of your exercise... I also feel its important to estimate those caloric needs AHEAD OF TIME and eat at least SOME of those calories (if it is 500+ calories you will be burning) so your body will have the fuel it needs to perform at an optimal level. In some cases, you will need to fuel your body WHILE exercising.

I sometimes go on 10 hour hikes in the mountains. I ABSOLUTELY believe i need to eat SOME of the 6000 or so calories it says i burn! Some in advance, and some as i go. Otherwise, i would completely run out of "umph" and would never get to the summit!

When i burn in the 700-900 range, i consume an extra 200-300 calories to be sure i have the fuel i need for energy, but i dont eat ALL of my calories (and have been losing at a good clip now).

Since starting MFP I've become much more aware of my carb/protien ratio: as a semi-vegetarian, i was consistently low on my protein. I try to measure what i eat and to write it down immediately.