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nfanning65
nfanning65 Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone. I have been on MFP for about 3 weeks now and I have lost 5.7 pounds. But my question is, should I be eating the calories I burn during exercise? I am allowed 1200 a day and sometimes I burn 600-800 calories. That seems like a lot more to eat to me. I would appreciate all responses as I am new at learning how to follow a healthier lifestyle. Thanks!!

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  • janet67
    janet67 Posts: 38
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    First, welcome to the site. . .it's a good place to be.
    I've asked my trainer about this and she said as long as you stay above 1200 and get all the nutrition your body needs, it's OK not to eat all the calories, but she warned me that being too far under could send me into "starvation mode" and my body would start storing much of my intake as fat because my metabolism would slow down. . .the body is a marvelous creation and so complicated. . .it strives for balance. . .so listen to your body and watch the scales. You don't want to lose too quickly because you run the risk of losing muscle mass (the heart is a muscle too). . .a 2 pound loss a week is about right. Hope this helps.
    Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like. . .and good luck in meeting your goals.
    janet
  • moniraq
    moniraq Posts: 63 Member
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    if I had to make an educated guess for you, I would say you could eat those extra calories if you chose to but if you opted not to eat them, you would lose weight at a faster pace.

    I'm guessing this because when I was on Weight Watchers, we had the ability to earn extra "points" with exercise and we could use those points to add to our daily totals but we couldn't carry them over to the next day if we didn't use them.

    Hope this helps!
  • sanura
    sanura Posts: 459 Member
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    don't stress about it, make sure you are eating your 1200 minimum, then if you feel hungry eat some or all of you exercise calories. trying to hard to not eat them is likely to make you binge sooner or later. you will still lose weight if you stay below your total for the day.

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