To eat or not to eat. That is my question

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  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    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.

    Why in gods name do people eat back their exercise calories
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    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...........

    He made plenty of sense,

    90% of trainers are morons btw.

    If you are running at a 1k deficit
    your body burns 2k calories. you eat 1k calories.
    if it burns 10k calories you eat 9k calories.
  • NicoleFray
    NicoleFray Posts: 82 Member
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    k..
  • bouchie11982
    bouchie11982 Posts: 11 Member
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    We have similar stats. I am 5'9" and was 209 when I began. I started with 1200. I was losing a pound a week, but I was always hungry. After reading lots of posts on here, I upped my calories to 1500 - 1600. Surprisingly, I am still losing an average of a pound a week, but I am not hungry. I don't do a whole lot of exercise, usually just a 30 minute walk a day and some hand weight exercise, so I don't eat back exercise calories. I don't recommend the 1200 calorie route. Send me a friend request if you want. Good luck.
    To the OP, I agree with this. You need to be in a deficit, do NOT eat back the calories you burned. And go with the 1500-1600. 120 is way too low and your metabolism will start to suffer. If you are hungry at night, have some protein. No carbs because carbs are energy. You don't need that extra energy when you are asleep for 7-8 hours. That is how body fat accumulates.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    i'm having a holy crap moment. OP you must be sooooo confused with all this conflicting advice!!!!!

    I'd like to just try to lay it out for you in a way that might make some sense of what's going on here. First, there are two different ways to go about losing weight: MFP's 1200+ program, or the TDEE-20% program. They are different.

    1. MFP'S 1200 + EXERCISE CALORIES PROGRAM

    Under this program, you NET 1200 calories a day (if you are morbidly obese, MFP may set you at a higher goal. This number may be too low for some, so it's ok to set your net to 1300 or 1400 depending on where you are at- but 1200 is the general LOWEST NET CALORIE you should be aiming for per day. With this program, you need not exercise and you eat your net calorie goal (let's say 1200). You will lose doing nothing but eating that low.

    However, you should WANT to exercise because it's good for your body (lymph system, etc) and because when you lose weight without exercise, you tend to lose a combination of muscle and fat. When you exercise, the amount of muscle mass you lose is reduced. It preserves muscle mass. You EAT BACK YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES IN ORDER TO HIT YOUR NET GOAL.

    Doing this program, I lost 50 lbs. I netted 1200-1300 a day. I actually ate about 1600 a day because I logged everything- my lunchtime walk, my running, my epic surf adventures.

    2. TDEE -20%

    (my computer did a weird crash so I didn't get to finish when it posted... moving along now....)

    Under this program, you figure out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is calculated based on your weight, bf percentage, and the amount of exercise you do. It tells you how much you would need to eat to stay at the same weight given your activity levels. You include into this calculation your exercise program. This ONLY works if you are CONSISTENT with your exercise! To lose weight, you eat every day your tdee -20% (or 10% depending on how much you have to lose). You get the same allotment every day regardless of what the day is on your schedule (though personally, I'd add more to a heavy exercise day and less from a rest day to have my week avg be my net).

    I switched to this when I began lifting heavy after I reached goal. It worked perfectly until I fell off the lifting wagon and didn't adjust my eating for the change. But my avg allowance was around 1800 which, had I been consistent with my exercise, would have made me lose weight and retain muscle mass.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    in the end, my advice is if you are eating 1200 cals, you MUST EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES... because if you don't , you will not have the necessary calories to fuel your work out and maintain organ function, and you will not be receiving the proper nutrients.

    Eating at low calorie while exercising is a big no no. As another poster said, it is appropriate for people who are morbidly obese and doing so under the guidance of a medical professional. Anyone else doing it is just an ED waiting to happen. They are screwing up their metabolism and basically doing a fad diet, not a sustainable lifestyle change.
  • Loves418
    Loves418 Posts: 330 Member
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    in the end, my advice is if you are eating 1200 cals, you MUST EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES... because if you don't , you will not have the necessary calories to fuel your work out and maintain organ function, and you will not be receiving the proper nutrients.

    Eating at low calorie while exercising is a big no no. As another poster said, it is appropriate for people who are morbidly obese and doing so under the guidance of a medical professional. Anyone else doing it is just an ED waiting to happen. They are screwing up their metabolism and basically doing a fad diet, not a sustainable lifestyle change.

    Your POST rocks...I am at 1200 but I am 5ft short and I do eat back my workout calories...I have had some nice people try to help me with TDEE..not ready to take that step yet. But you gave the best advice here..

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