Should I eat back cals even if it means eating loads??

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ginaward1990
ginaward1990 Posts: 30
in Health and Weight Loss
My calories are set at 1620 daily to lose 1lb a week.... on some days i can burn off up to 700 calories so if i eat them all back i would be eating 2300 which is higher than the recommended intake for women... I've been doing this for 2 weeks and my weight hasn't moved up or down :( should i just be eating 1600 a day and not eating back? or eating back some? Thanks

Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
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    Higher than the recommended intake for woman says who???? If you burn more calories you eat more food.. If you want to spend 1-2 hours in the gym daily doing cardio.. that is what happens.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,392 MFP Moderator
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    How are you burning 700 calories? Generally, when you exercise you want to eat back some calories as a body that burns more calories, needs more calories. The bigger question is, what is your current exercise routine?

    Also, do you have a food scale?
  • ginaward1990
    ginaward1990 Posts: 30
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    I walk quite briskly for 50 mins 5 days a week, it run for 30 mins 3 days a week and lift weights 3 times but i don't log my weight lifting. I have a hrm so I know the calories im logging are fairly accurate.
    I get the whole deficit thing and I've been trying to stick to MFP as best i can but I feel like im over eating and when the scale doesn't move i dont know what to do? Yes i have a food scale that i use all the time.
  • ginaward1990
    ginaward1990 Posts: 30
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    The government suggests that the average woman should eat around 2000 a day.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,392 MFP Moderator
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    I walk quite briskly for 50 mins 5 days a week, it run for 30 mins 3 days a week and lift weights 3 times but i don't log my weight lifting. I have a hrm so I know the calories im logging are fairly accurate.
    I get the whole deficit thing and I've been trying to stick to MFP as best i can but I feel like im over eating and when the scale doesn't move i dont know what to do? Yes i have a food scale that i use all the time.

    your HRM will not be accurate unless you are doing intense steady state cardio. Those figures would compete with me as a male doing HIIT style cardio for 60 minutes. Honestly, when you workout, i would add another 200-300 calories a day.


    For a data point, most women I know, maintain at 2100-2500 calories. That is with the assumption they workout 6 hours a week.
  • Archerychickge
    Archerychickge Posts: 606 Member
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    I don't eat the extra calories I burn with exercise and have lost 42+ pounds since January 8th. Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. If you are hungry then eat, if you are not, then don't. Make sure you get a good balanced diet, not just random calories. Take a multivitamin too. Protien is your friend as is fiber. Keep those things in balance and get as much of your vitamin/mineral intake as you can from your food before the multivitamin.

    Good luck!
  • ginaward1990
    ginaward1990 Posts: 30
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    Thanks guys, I will just have to trial and error it until it works! x
  • AllieMarie2244
    AllieMarie2244 Posts: 106 Member
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    you are over eating
    not really.. not like you are eating tons of crappy food

    but if your total for the day is supposed to be 1600 then that's the TOTAL for the day

    eat around 1000 from the start of the day before the gym
    then after the gym have a 600 calorie meal (chicken veggies rice etc)

    and then see the lbs come off

    you basically burn off all these calories only to immediately replace them. of course you're not losing weight
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
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    you are over eating
    not really.. not like you are eating tons of crappy food

    but if your total for the day is supposed to be 1600 then that's the TOTAL for the day

    eat around 1000 from the start of the day before the gym
    then after the gym have a 600 calorie meal (chicken veggies rice etc)

    and then see the lbs come off

    you basically burn off all these calories only to immediately replace them. of course you're not losing weight

    Wrong. The deficit is built into the 1600. So she just needs to NET that amount (1600 + exercise calories) to lose a lb a week, assuming that her TDEE without exercise is approximately 2100.

    OP, I think you should eat more on workout days, the only problem is that HRM may not be that accurate. For me a 50 minute walk only burns about 175 calories and a 30 min run about 300...so just make sure that youre not overestimating your workout cals. But definitely eat some back.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,392 MFP Moderator
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    Thanks guys, I will just have to trial and error it until it works! x

    In all honest, if you are working out 6 hours a week, set your account to active and not worry about exercise calories. This is essentially the TDEE method and it works for a ton of people. And it's a lot easy to eat the same calorie goal everyday than trying to catch up to the exercise calorie game, IMO.

    And if you haven't lost weight or gained by eating 2300 calories a day, it means your average maintenance calories is 2300. This is useful when you want to stop losing weight. I suspect if you up your activity level, it will put you around 1850-1900 which is about a 20% reduction from TDEE.

    Now the question is, how many grams of protein are you eating and how much do you weigh?
  • tattsb4u
    tattsb4u Posts: 30
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    I don't eat back my calories....if I am super hungry after a workout or at night I may have something healthy...but I do not make it a goal to eat them back.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Hunger is not always a good indicator of what your body needs....I can feel full on 1200 somedays but ensure I eat more as I know I will suffer the next couple if I don't.

    My calorie goal is 1700...and I lose on average 3/4lb a week...using the TDEE method...with MFP eat back 50-75% of those calories to fuel your next workout.

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