Eating exercise calories?

Hi everyone- I've been doing this for about two months and have only lost 2lbs! I'm eating 1200 calories/day plus what I burn from exercise. And I'm starving!!! But the weight isn't coming off. I'm female, 5'10" , 176 lbs and size 8/10 pants. I do cardio and strength training. I have a pretty muscular build for a woman, so maybe that's why 1200 calories isn't keeping me full, but regardless I'm not losing weight. Are you guys eating the calories you burn working out? I can't imagine not, and netting less than 1200 calories, but maybe that's what I have to do.

5'10" .......1200 NET is not nearly enough. 1200 is just the lowest MFP will go (a DEFAULT)....it's based upon "I want to lose XX pounds per week"...it has nothing to do with your height. weight, age, etc.

Find your BMR .....calories your body would use if you stayed in bed 24 hours. TDEE includes activity + exercise.....that is maintenance.....you could set your goal to TDEE less a %...and not worry about logging exercise.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Jenthomas08 Your body is most likely experiencing what is called starvation mode. When your doing exercise like cardio and strength training, you need to up your calories if you want to lose weight. I know that sounds totally backwards, but think of it this way..your body needs 1200 calories a day at minimum just to function (think, breathe,etc.). When you are only eating 1200 calories total AND doing exercise, your body begins holding on to weight as a means of survival. It basically begins to store fat just so it can function, hence why you aren't dropping any weight.

For example, if you are burning on average 300 calories during exercise a day, you need to calculate your calorie needs like the following..

(I always use the sedentary lifestyle option to be on the safe side)

Current weight in pounds x 12 =
(176 x 12 = 2,112 calories needed just for maintenance)

Now subtract 300 (or whatever amount of calories you are burning on average) from 2,112 calories to achieve weight loss

2,112 - 300 = 1,812 calories

By the way, this is the Insanity method of calculating your needs, I just simply reduced the calories burned to an average amount.

Once your body knows it is getting enough calories to simply function, it will begin to drop the excess weight.

Hope that helps!!

I don't exactly add the calories back in after I exercise. I do, however, up my calorie intake moderately on heavy workout days. I budget about 1300-1400 calories per day and add in around 200 or so on days that I work out more heavily. Please remember, the calorie goals on here are just targets, not hard and fast laws of nature. I also agree with the other posters that you're probably consuming way too few calories.

As a lot of people have probably cautioned you, the calories burned calculators tend to overestimate what you actually burn. There isn't a customized option for your age + height + weight + fitness level + intensity of the exercise + temperature outside/inside + number of times you stopped to fiddle with your music + any other variable that might influence your actual workout.

My best advice would be to pay close attention where you are consuming those extra calories. A Big Mac or chocolate bar after your workout isn't nearly as good for you as fruit, veggies, or a million other options.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've lost 34 pounds so far and actually run for the first time since college, so I know what works for me at least.