To eat or not to eat. That is my question

Eat your food!!!!!

You should CERTAINLY eat back your exercise calories, esp. when you eat that low. I'm the same weight, eat about 1700 daily, eat back my exercise calories, and am losing weekly.

Your goal is definitely doable by November...make sure you stay consistent, that's truly the key.

About the calories-- I would have more than 1,200 or at least eat a majority of your exercise calories back. You will find the sweet spot by trial and error.

The low down: I'm 205pounds. 5' 10". 1200 calorie diet. Goal- 175pounds by November (Doable?)

Is it healthy to not eat back the calories I burn during a workout? I've hear that you don't want to eat back your calories so you can lose more pounds. I've also heard that on a 1200 calorie diet you NEED to eat them back otherwise your body shuts down.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks in advance,
Caroline

Your body won't shut down, but will adapt. Metabolic adaptation is what some people believe will happen when you are on very low calorie diets. Ultimately what can happen is that the ability to lose becomes increasingly more difficult. The best approach is to lose weight taking in the most calories you can while still being at a deficit. This gives you more room to make adjustments when plateaus occur.

I have always eaten back exercise calories, and done my best to improve my calculations. I like that I can eat more when I work harder.

I never drop to 1200 calories ... it leads to binge eating for me. But, I say if you need them ... eat them. If not, don't. Some days I'm really hungry and need the extra, others I don't. Listen to your body and just don't go hungry ... you'll be fine.

I totally agree.. If most days your 1200 calories work for you then awesome! I'm also at a 1200 cal at 196lbs and i'd say 97% of the time it's enough but of course you have hungry days..
I never eat back my calories because the point of working out is to burn the calories you take in to loose weight and inorder to loose weight you need to burn more calories a day then you take in. Just be careful and make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need!
I burn about 3000 a day and eat about 1200ish and have been loosing weight steady and feeling awesome!
Hope I helped.

Your reasoning makes no sense. Pick a deficit and run that deficit. The reason for picking a moderate deficit, rather than a really steep deficit, is that you want to actually look good at the end of the whole thing, not rush to a lower number on the scale and look like you cut corners.

Slow and steady weight loss gets the best results. 1000 cal deficits are fine at higher body fat percentages, but as you get leaner it's important to keep your wits about you.

I did 1200 and it caused binge eating because I was so hungry all the time...

Granted I'm smaller than you (5'5, starting weight 140, trying to get to 120-125, highest weight was 167), but I'm at 1400-1500 calories a day and slowly losing like I intended (.5-.8 pounds a week), and I do eat back what I exercise off, especially if I'm hungry. If not then I save them and hopefully lose more if it balances out.

The low down: I'm 205pounds. 5' 10". 1200 calorie diet. Goal- 175pounds by November (Doable?)

Is it healthy to not eat back the calories I burn during a workout? I've hear that you don't want to eat back your calories so you can lose more pounds. I've also heard that on a 1200 calorie diet you NEED to eat them back otherwise your body shuts down.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks in advance,
Caroline

Your body won't shut down, but will adapt. Metabolic adaptation is what some people believe will happen when you are on very low calorie diets. Ultimately what can happen is that the ability to lose becomes increasingly more difficult. The best approach is to lose weight taking in the most calories you can while still being at a deficit. This gives you more room to make adjustments when plateaus occur.

This. I think the problem with eating too few calories is that it's slowing down your metabolism and much much harder to maintain after. Slow is better to lose weight.

The low down: I'm 205pounds. 5' 10". 1200 calorie diet. Goal- 175pounds by November (Doable?)

Is it healthy to not eat back the calories I burn during a workout? I've hear that you don't want to eat back your calories so you can lose more pounds. I've also heard that on a 1200 calorie diet you NEED to eat them back otherwise your body shuts down.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks in advance,
Caroline

Read this and it will help explain: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

Well, your body won't just automatically shut down, but YES you need to eat more than that. Why eat 1,200 when you can eat 1,800 or more and lose fat? I'm 5'8 and weigh 161ish and have a TDEE of 2,400. So this means, I burn an average of 2,400 calories just by living my life. I'm losing slowly eating 2,200 calories a day. Yes, I eat 2,200 calories a day!!!

I lost the majority of my weight eating 1800-2000 per day. Eat the food and enjoy it. Be sure to do some kind of strength training with either weights or body weight to help maintain LBM and look better. BTW - Now, I basically eat at TDEE-10% or approx 250 calorie deficit a day. Last week, my daily calorie intake varied from 1,800 to 2,500, but averaged to 2,200 per day. When I had more to lose, I ate at a slightly deeper deficit.

I never drop to 1200 calories ... it leads to binge eating for me. But, I say if you need them ... eat them. If not, don't. Some days I'm really hungry and need the extra, others I don't. Listen to your body and just don't go hungry ... you'll be fine.

I totally agree.. If most days your 1200 calories work for you then awesome! I'm also at a 1200 cal at 196lbs and i'd say 97% of the time it's enough but of course you have hungry days..
I never eat back my calories because the point of working out is to burn the calories you take in to loose weight and inorder to loose weight you need to burn more calories a day then you take in. Just be careful and make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need!
I burn about 3000 a day and eat about 1200ish and have been loosing weight steady and feeling awesome!
Hope I helped.

Your reasoning makes no sense. Pick a deficit and run that deficit. The reason for picking a moderate deficit, rather than a really steep deficit, is that you want to actually look good at the end of the whole thing, not rush to a lower number on the scale and look like you cut corners.

Slow and steady weight loss gets the best results. 1000 cal deficits are fine at higher body fat percentages, but as you get leaner it's important to keep your wits about you.

You made no sense.. but okay..
My mom was at 300+lbs and did exactly that and lost 150lbs and got a trainer who told her that was perfect (as long as she wasn't hungry and binge eating) and its been working awesome for me and 2 other of my friends sooooooooooooooooo...........