I am seriously supposed to eat ALL those calories?

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BluOrchid2
BluOrchid2 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Brand Newbie. My net goal is 1200 a day. But I often exercise vigorously for an hour, and burn 720 calories. When I put that in, it says I am supposed to eat 1920 calories for the day??? I start at 1200, and eat however much I burn in exercise? Seems like I am defeating the purpose of burning off calories during my exercise! What am I missing here?

Thanks,
Blu

Replies

  • chacaruso
    chacaruso Posts: 261 Member
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    Your fine. You don't have to eat all the calories your working out. That's how you'll lose. Just stick to your 1200 and you'll be happy with the result.
  • SandraMay1982
    SandraMay1982 Posts: 328
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    just eat them if you are hungry and see how you go. if you have issues losing, you might have to eat a bit more (I find I don't eat near the 1200 and i need to eat more. ugh)

    don't stress over them at all. I mainly follow sugars and saturated fats in.
  • skinnyack
    skinnyack Posts: 683
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    read the forum posts under general weight loss at the very top- the ones with the thumb tacks. A lot of people eat back just half of their calories. I always subtract 100-200 from my total calories burned, log that number, and then base it on how hungry I am. I will definitely eat some of them, sometimes eat all of them, sometimes I'm not hungry that night but the next day I'm starving and use them then.

    Just listen to your body.
  • vkpmusic
    vkpmusic Posts: 343 Member
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    MFP automatically builds in a calorie deficit based on how much you've told it you want to lose a week. So you should eat at least some of them back so that your "net calories" are a minimum of 1200 otherwise you could slow down your metabolism over the long term.
  • Aeriel
    Aeriel Posts: 864 Member
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    Listen to your body. The calories don't HAVE to be eaten, but they are there if you need them. Some days I am not hungry after a good workout, other days I am starving.
  • DeeJayTJ
    DeeJayTJ Posts: 355 Member
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    calories are your energy, you have to replenish those calories.

    i wouldnt recommend eating 700 calories right before bed or anything, but your body could go into starvation mode if you deprive yourself of calories.

    but what do i know.
  • ginnyroxx
    ginnyroxx Posts: 763
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    i'm going to disagree with the first 2 responses here (that's how many were here when i started typing this).

    YES! MFP already calculates a deficit for you. Go to your home page - click goals - look to the right where it says "your diet profile" you'll see what it estimates you burn on a daily basis.

    Eat your exercise calories. You need to fuel your body by eating at least 1200 NET calories.
  • binary_jester
    binary_jester Posts: 3,311 Member
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    This might help clarify things:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/137562-net-calories-question
  • newnarelle
    newnarelle Posts: 40 Member
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    If you do decide to eat your exercise calories I would be careful as to how many "exercise calories" MFP records unless you have a calorie monitor. I find when I put in my exercise it overcalculates the number of calories burned by quite alot. I had MFP saying based on the number of minutes exercised with a particular exercise I should have burned approx 400 more calories than recorded on the machine (and I workout vigourously daily for anywhere up to an hour and a half with my heart rate quite often over 170).
  • rescuepete
    rescuepete Posts: 58 Member
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    This one too:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    I recommend eating them, but if you feel like you're stuffing your face, then stop.
  • SweetNSassyMimi
    SweetNSassyMimi Posts: 16
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    I am new here too and I had to same question. My nutritionist says to be on a 1500-1600 calories diet to lose weight but then this says something like 2300 for me which I know has to be over the limit...right?? If you find an answer let me know and good luck to you!
  • Sweet13_Princess
    Sweet13_Princess Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I agree. The 1200 is a minimum, but MFP is telling you since you work out so hard, you can actually eat more. That's where the bigger number comes from. There's a big debate on here on whether or not you need to eat those exercise calories. I say, if you're hungry, eat them. If not, then don't... the weight will probably come off easier!

    Shannon
  • BluOrchid2
    BluOrchid2 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you all for the help. I've tried everything else, and nothing has worked in spite of me working out like a fiend for the past six months. So I'm going to try eating as close to my calories as I can.

    The links that binary_jester and rescuepete posted were very helpful; thank you.
  • jewelzz
    jewelzz Posts: 326 Member
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    If you do not eat back the calories you have burned,your body goes into starvation mode and stores all the calories you do eat and saves them.its a vicious circle.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    Thank you all for the help. I've tried everything else, and nothing has worked in spite of me working out like a fiend for the past six months. So I'm going to try eating as close to my calories as I can.

    The links that binary_jester and rescuepete posted were very helpful; thank you.

    Sometimes stepping back and resting a little can do wonders. I have experience in that too! lol :laugh:

    About exercise calories, the big trap is to overestimate them and end up maintaining your current weight. Actually, a maintaining period isn't necessarily a bad thing at all, especially if you have had too big a calorie deficit for an extended period of time. Losing weight is really taxing on your body, however you do it, and a little pause in losing and just maintaining can give it some slack. Most of us are in this to lose weight but sacrificing your health for quick results isn't worth it!

    Anyway. When first starting to eat your exercise calories, you might see a momentary increase in your weight. Your body needs time to adjust. A month or so is what they recommend before you can say anything about the effects that a particular change in diet has. If after a month you find that you're maintaining your weight, then you can slightly drop your calories incrementally until you lose at what ever rate is appropriate for your current weight.
  • cjduckie
    cjduckie Posts: 78 Member
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    I really wonder about this minimum of 1200 calories and the whole deficit thing. I started my journey in August - at the time, I was eating an average of about 1500calories per day & working out for about 2hrs four times a week... In two months of eating and working out this way, I lost only 2lbs :(( MOST frustrating!!

    Then...at the end of September I hired a personal trainer and I have lost 21lbs in the past 2 months - the first thing my trainer did was to cut my calorie intake to 780/day on a 40% carbs 40% protein 20% fats ratio. In fact, that was why I joined MFP - it was the first calorie counter app that came up in my search on my iPhone. My trainer also put me on 45min cardio 4-5 times per week and two 60min circuit sessions with him per week. I didn't find it at all difficult to adjust my eating plan to the 780 calories per day AND I haven't ever been hungry - it's all been about eating clean & portion control.

    I have consistently lost 2-3lbs/week... which is apparently not unhealthy or losing too fast. I have a negative deficit more often than not and find that I tend to lose more when I keep my deficit negative. I've got plenty of energy, haven't had trouble concentrating at work, and haven't noticed any other negative effects. I hit a small plateau 2 weeks ago, but it only lasted for a week, and then I started losing again - albeit slower. We then shook things up a little in my diet - still the same ratio as before, and still 780 calories, but I tried the dinner for breakfast, breakfast for lunch, lunch for dinner thing and lo and behold: -4lbs at weigh in today...plateau broken!

    Is this just a case of each person being different? And different things working for different people??? Or am I in for a surprise when I finally reach my goal weight and cut back on the heavy workouts and strict eating plan?
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    @cjduckie

    I would think that you are quite short or just happen to have a remarkably slow metabolism. Your rate of weight loss would support this. if your maintenance calories are about 1600 Kcal a day, 780 would make a deficit of about 820 Kcal a day, which is probably okay if you are in the "overweight" category but I would still recommend eating closer to 1000-1100 range in this case.

    1200 Kcal is just an arbitrary number that for some reason is set as a low limit in MFP. It is a good thing though because for most of us, going lower than that means starving ourselves in short order. really short women can sometimes go lower than this though.

    A healthy deficit means eating about 500 Kcal less than you burn. This would translate to about 1 pound lost in a week. Heavier people can support larger deficits and on the other had, the closer you get to your ideal weight, the smaller the deficit, that you can healthily support, gets. I suppose, that healthy for me at the moment would mean about 300 and that's where I'm trying to aim.

    If you are much taller than 5', I would suggest some kind of medical inspection to find out your true BMR and make sure that everything is in order.. Eating too little can lower the BMR (and increase the efficiency at which fat is stored too) as the body goes into famine mode.

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