What to do about the earned calories

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liselottee
liselottee Posts: 7 Member
in Getting Started
Hello, I started for 2 weeks ago. But I dont quite understand. Shall I or Shall I not eat the earned calories?
I try to eat healthy and be good. My calorie number to eat is 1720 calories. Most days I eat about 1100 c.

I read so many things about them, eat everything, dont eat everything eat 50 % of them back
Can someone please tell me :)

What do anyone else eat for breakfast and lunch?:)

Replies

  • Sporin71
    Sporin71 Posts: 9 Member
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    Sometimes I eat them, sometimes I just let them help me stay under my total number. It really depends on what I'm doing that day.

    I'm quite big so MFP gives me 2500ish calories per day for a 2lb/wk weight loss. I've adjusted that down to 2200. I feel good at that level and the weight is coming off.

    Breakfast for me is generally a couple of eggs and little turkey sausages. Or a homemade strawberry banana smoothie. Lunch varies a lot, but I lean towards meat and veg and keep starches to a minimum. Yesterday I was on the go so it was a Bagel Sandwich from DD's (650cal). I had salad for dinner.

    As a general rule, I usually have over 1000 calories left for dinner each day, which can accommodate a wide range of foods and choices.
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
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    It's trial and error. Some eat them all back, some only eat a portion of them back. I often don't eat all of mine back because I have something festive on the weekend and MFP's exercise calories are generous (plus I don't have a heart rate monitor yet). So I like the wiggle room.

    But some days I'm HUNGRY so I'll eat them all back. You have to try and go with what feels best for yourself.

    I love my morning oatmeal. Lunches are often soups, salads or sammiches though lately I've been having scrambled egg breakfast burritos because I discovered the magic of microwaving eggs.
  • HealthySideofLife
    HealthySideofLife Posts: 80 Member
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    I've seen a variety of answers on here in relations to your question. Personally, I don't eat them all back. It's just something I feel that I don't need to do. There are people are here who swear by eating them all back, and some, like me, who just eat a certain amount. Do what feels right for you!

    As for meals, breakfast is usually either cereal with a banana or a 2-egg omelet with spinach, scallions and some mini peppers with some yogurt on the side (some of my granola sprinkled on!). And, of course, a cup of coffee =]. Lunches vary, depending if I'm home or at work. If I'm at work, it's either a salad with other things that vary. If I'm home it's a big toss up with what's in the fridge. Sometimes I'll make a sandwich, other times I'll have leftovers from last night's dinner (if there is any) and if we're really out of stuff, I'll usually put a weird array of food together just so I get satisfied haha. I need to get more creative with my food choices, though, but for now it's good enough.
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
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    If you're using MFP's estimates I would suggest to not eat more than 50-75% of what it estimates. I use a HRM and use MFP's estimate for my weight training (I've heard it's fairly accurate). For my cardio I log and eat 80% of the net cals from the HRM. I adjust the ratio as needed if I'm losing slow or fast.

    The most important thing is to eat "some" of your exercise calories, especially if you're doing intense exercise. If you dont like this method you can increase you activity level in your goal to account for the extra exercise. You need to make sure you're fueling your body.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Eat the earned calories. It is trail and error. Starting at 50% is a good place to start.

    What are your stats?

    Ht. Wt. Age. What exercise do you do?

    1100 calories is a pretty (bordering on extremely) low number for intake for an active 22 yr old female unless you're like 4ft tall. Being like "Barbie" is a pretty tough goal. To have "Barbie's" stats in real life wouldn't you need to be something like 7ft tall?

    EDIT: You have a lot of weight to lose by looking at your ticker so you could get away with the VLCD for a while, but I wouldn't recommend it IMHO. I'd aim for that number MFP gave you.
  • katylil
    katylil Posts: 223 Member
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    I follow IIFYM which calculates your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) according to your activity levels and then calculates how many you should be eating for fat loss. I eat the same amount of calories every day, whether it's a workout day or not (because that's already been taken in to account)

    It's very good and works for me :) if you google IIFYM it will take you to the website and the calculator. It also calculates your macros for you (protein, carbs, fat)
  • bradXdale
    bradXdale Posts: 399
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    Sometimes I eat them, sometimes I just let them help me stay under my total number. It really depends on what I'm doing that day.

    I'm quite big so MFP gives me 2500ish calories per day for a 2lb/wk weight loss. I've adjusted that down to 2200. I feel good at that level and the weight is coming off.

    Breakfast for me is generally a couple of eggs and little turkey sausages. Or a homemade strawberry banana smoothie. Lunch varies a lot, but I lean towards meat and veg and keep starches to a minimum. Yesterday I was on the go so it was a Bagel Sandwich from DD's (650cal). I had salad for dinner.

    As a general rule, I usually have over 1000 calories left for dinner each day, which can accommodate a wide range of foods and choices.

    You and I are exactly alike man calorie wise!
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    every BODY is different.
    personally i dont usually eat my calories ive burned unless im truly hungry.
    so if my plan is 1300 calories/day thats what i eat regardless if i workout or not.

    but thats just me. test it out one week and one week not and see how it goes and see how you feel
  • liselottee
    liselottee Posts: 7 Member
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    When I say Barbie, I dont mean what her body would be like in real and be so tall and thin that I can not walk.. I mean, Blonde , thin fit, have nice tanned skin and be beautiful :)
  • donyellemoniquex3
    donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
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    If you're hungry, eat those calories.
    If you're not hungry, save them for tomorrow.

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