1200 Calories including exercise?

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Bekarington
Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know when your reducing calories that women should eat no less than 1200 calories a day, but its that including calories burned during exercise?

So if I eat 1200 but then burn off 400, should I be eating 400 more? Or is it ok because I ate 1200 originally?
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  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    This website calculates you deficit and then gives you a target for eating. When you choose your activity level, many people say sedentary because they have a desk job. Then if you exercise, that is not accounted in your goal, so MFP "gives" you more calories to eat.

    So basically, yes, eat them back. However, I find that machines and MFP both overestimate for a lot of people, so I eat about 70% back instead of all of them. (Personally, I'd just change the calorie burned when I logged the exercise so that my daily calorie goal is actually the amount that I want to eat every day.)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I know when your reducing calories that women should eat no less than 1200 calories a day, but its that including calories burned during exercise?

    So if I eat 1200 but then burn off 400, should I be eating 400 more? Or is it ok because I ate 1200 originally?

    The MFP plan is to eat 1600 on days you burn 400. That will leave you with the same deficit as 1200 w/o the exercise, and you should lose at the same rate. I find the extra calories a good incentive to workout.
  • STC1188
    STC1188 Posts: 101 Member
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    I want to chime in and say I would not encourage a reward/punishment system with calories and exercise. That is only going to foster a sense of emotional connection with food that may create Binge-type EDs in some. I would say tailor your calorie intake around average activity (all activity throughout the day) and eat consistently regardless of if you do 300 or 400 calories worth of exercise. Otherwise you are asking for problems on top of minutae math troubles.
  • hardenedheartx
    hardenedheartx Posts: 42 Member
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    I eat some back if I'm hungry. If not, then I don't.
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
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    Eat at 80% of your TDEE and you'll be good.

    edited because I left out the important part
  • lejla2002
    lejla2002 Posts: 118 Member
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    I eat some back if I'm hungry. If not, then I don't.

    same here
  • nikkylyn
    nikkylyn Posts: 325 Member
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    I know when your reducing calories that women should eat no less than 1200 calories a day, but its that including calories burned during exercise?

    So if I eat 1200 but then burn off 400, should I be eating 400 more? Or is it ok because I ate 1200 originally?

    The MFP plan is to eat 1600 on days you burn 400. That will leave you with the same deficit as 1200 w/o the exercise, and you should lose at the same rate. I find the extra calories a good incentive to workout.

    that works for me too. Plus you get the benefits of the exercise on top of it all.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    I'd suggest you work out your TDEE and take your deficit from that, for someone with almost 200lbs to lose 1200 calories gross or net is very extreme :flowerforyou:
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
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    MFP recommends not going under 1200 calories NET (after exercise). But most sources I have read say not to EAT under 1200. I think it makes more sense to eat about the same number of calories a day. For me that is between 1200 and 1300. I would make an exception if I were going to do a marathon or an all day hike, but generally I don't eat back exercise calories.

    I think you should do what you want, and what works for you. If you find that eating 1200 calories a day makes you too hungry, then eat more as long as you are still at a deficit.
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
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    My recommend allowance was 1840 (with sedentary lifestyle selected).

    I however found myself aiming for no more than 1500 so I reduced it to that manually so I wouldn't be tempted to eat more. So far I eat approx 1500 but today for example, I've done 200 calories worth of exercise, so I've let myself eat 1700 calories.

    I'm planning to drop my target down to 1200 but I dont want to loose weight too fast (lost nrly 2 stone in 2 months so far), so I plan on doing that when my weight loss slows.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    My recommend allowance was 1840 (with sedentary lifestyle selected).

    I however found myself aiming for no more than 1500 so I reduced it to that manually so I wouldn't be tempted to eat more. So far I eat approx 1500 but today for example, I've done 200 calories worth of exercise, so I've let myself eat 1700 calories.

    I'm planning to drop my target down to 1200 but I dont want to loose weight too fast (lost nrly 2 stone in 2 months so far), so I plan on doing that when my weight loss slows.

    Why did you reduce your target goals? I'm losing steadily eating 1800-1900 calories a day, and it's fantastic because I STILL GET TO EAT FOOD. Or have a beer. Or a piece of cake. It works, just let.
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
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    I reduced it because I knew I would have to eventually and to be fair, I found it quite easy because it was naturally what I was eating anyway.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I'd suggest reading this first:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    You don't need to jump immediately down because you "eventually will have to". You need to feed your body the nutrients for what you weigh now. A moderate deficit is likely to be easier to maintain than an extreme one (personally, I had a ton of binges when I tried to eat that low). As you lose weight, MFP automatically recalculates what your target calories should be (it's either every 5 or 10lbs).
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
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    I know I dont have to jump straight down, but why not if I'm finding it so easy? Im gonna have to get used to eating less and exercising more, I may as well get used to my new life stlye! :-)
  • ddpiel
    ddpiel Posts: 52
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    I'd suggest reading this first:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    You don't need to jump immediately down because you "eventually will have to". You need to feed your body the nutrients for what you weigh now. A moderate deficit is likely to be easier to maintain than an extreme one (personally, I had a ton of binges when I tried to eat that low). As you lose weight, MFP automatically recalculates what your target calories should be (it's either every 5 or 10lbs).

    I have lost 15 lbs and MFP has not recalculated by target calories. Makes me wonder???
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I want to chime in and say I would not encourage a reward/punishment system with calories and exercise. That is only going to foster a sense of emotional connection with food that may create Binge-type EDs in some. I would say tailor your calorie intake around average activity (all activity throughout the day) and eat consistently regardless of if you do 300 or 400 calories worth of exercise. Otherwise you are asking for problems on top of minutae math troubles.

    It's not about rewards, it's about fueling your body appropriately. More activity requires more fuel. The way I look at it...I eat more to fuel the running that I love to do, I don't run to earn extra food. lol ok, sometimes I do, but what's wrong with that? Hmmm, I'd love ice cream today but I don't want to ruin my deficit? Solution? Go for a run! Why is that bad?
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
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    To be fair, though its not what I do, I don't see the problem with excising to get more food. long as its still healthy, not just junk, I don't know why that's a problem.
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
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    I just checked and my tdee is over 3000! And thats with me saying I do light exercise! That seems far too high!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I know I dont have to jump straight down, but why not if I'm finding it so easy? Im gonna have to get used to eating less and exercising more, I may as well get used to my new life stlye! :-)

    If you plan on buying a car in 2 years that is more fuel efficient and only has a 10 gallon tank of gas, would you start only filling your current car with less fuel simply because in the future your new car won't need more gas?
  • bananasyousay
    bananasyousay Posts: 26
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    First of all, just because women shouldn't go below 1200 doesn't mean you need to eat only 1200. Find out your BMR and eat that calorie amount. Most overweight people have a BMR that is WAY higher than 1200. 1200 is the daily recommended intake of a 6 year old, and is a very general guideline that is too low for most people. I'm quite thin and my BMR is still a bit above 1200. When you eat below your BMR, it slows your metabolism. Not good. As for your question about exercise calories, yes, eat back what you burn off as long as you're certain about what you've burned. If you aren't, eat back half of what whatever you're using says you may have burned.

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