CONFUSED! Please help. =)

MissEStrange22
MissEStrange22 Posts: 24
in Motivation and Support
Good day to you all you bunch of majestic unicorns!
I hope you are all having a gosh darn wonderful day!!

My question is..

I want to lose weight (shocking eh). So, like MFP recommends, I have been aiming to eat around 1260 calories a day.

I do alright at doing this when I don't excercise.

When I do exercise, I tend to allow myself to eat 200-300 calories more.

Should I be eating more/less on the days I DON'T exersice, and should i be eating more/less on the days I DO exersice?

My exercise routine basically consists of day on day off swimming, and i do about 40-50 minutes of breaststroke. I don't kill myself but i dont dordle either. On the days i don't swim, i try and do about 100 squats.

There is some conflicting advice out there.

If it helps;
I am 24
Started losing weight at 220 pounds.
I am now 199 pounds.
I am female and 5 foot 10 inches.

Thank you all in advance. xx

Replies

  • bettbett87
    bettbett87 Posts: 47 Member
    This is the way I do things but everyone is different:

    I log my exercise on MFP and it adjusts my calorie goal to account for the calories I have burned. I would say that because you are already eating a low calorie diet, if you exercise you need to eat back what you have burned off otherwise you will just get tired and your body won't be getting everything you need. I love using this as an excuse to eat more! Towards the end of the day, if I want something like peanut butter on toast, I put in some extra exercise so I can fit it in my calorie allowance!
    So, say you were to burn 300 calories on an exercise day- you would eat 1560 calories that day
    On non exercise days- you eat 1260

    Another way to do things if you can't get your head around eating more on exercise days (some people feel like it has ruined all their hard work) is to work out your BMR http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. You can then work out your basic calorie needs based on your average workout time over the week. You then eat those calorie amounts every day whether you work out or not to maintain consistently. What I have done effectively in the past is calculated my BMR at my GOAL WEIGHT and eaten at that level so that I'm only eating enough to maintain a slimmer version of myself.

    Am I making sense?
  • nfpswife
    nfpswife Posts: 63 Member
    In all honesty, it's up to you. MFP does work the calorie deficit in, but I don't always eat the workout cals back. It depends on if I'm hungry or not (which in the grand scheme of things, is what I'm going for. To eat when I'm legitimately hungry and stop when I'm full). I don't recommend you eat less than the 1200 your goal is at, but if you eat that and have 2-300 left from exercise but you're not hungry, then don't worry about it.
  • MissEStrange22
    MissEStrange22 Posts: 24
    This is the way I do things but everyone is different:

    I log my exercise on MFP and it adjusts my calorie goal to account for the calories I have burned. I would say that because you are already eating a low calorie diet, if you exercise you need to eat back what you have burned off otherwise you will just get tired and your body won't be getting everything you need. I love using this as an excuse to eat more! Towards the end of the day, if I want something like peanut butter on toast, I put in some extra exercise so I can fit it in my calorie allowance!
    So, say you were to burn 300 calories on an exercise day- you would eat 1560 calories that day
    On non exercise days- you eat 1260

    Another way to do things if you can't get your head around eating more on exercise days (some people feel like it has ruined all their hard work) is to work out your BMR http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. You can then work out your basic calorie needs based on your average workout time over the week. You then eat those calorie amounts every day whether you work out or not to maintain consistently. What I have done effectively in the past is calculated my BMR at my GOAL WEIGHT and eaten at that level so that I'm only eating enough to maintain a slimmer version of myself.

    Am I making sense?


    Yeah I think so.

    Thanks so much for the advise guys. It's good to know I'm not doing it all wrong. x
  • PinkNinjaLaura
    PinkNinjaLaura Posts: 3,202 Member
    In all honesty, it's up to you. MFP does work the calorie deficit in, but I don't always eat the workout cals back. It depends on if I'm hungry or not (which in the grand scheme of things, is what I'm going for. To eat when I'm legitimately hungry and stop when I'm full). I don't recommend you eat less than the 1200 your goal is at, but if you eat that and have 2-300 left from exercise but you're not hungry, then don't worry about it.

    This is exactly what I do.

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