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Calorie Intake and Exercise

thenk83
thenk83 Posts: 22 Member
edited February 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question about my calorie intake and calories burned. I'm allowed 1770 calories a day per MFP for 2lbs a week. On days like today my breakfast was 210 calories (whole wheat toast with some peanut butter and apples.) My lunch was about 210 calories (a 10oz fruit bowl with a sugar free chocolate pudding.) My snacks are wheat thins and peanut butter as it's really the only thing that keeps me feeling content in between meals. Sometimes I do this twice a day sometimes I forget. Either way it equates to about 320 calories per snack. Dinner usually consists of maybe 330-400 calories. Now here comes the exercise... I run 2 miles for about 20 minutes during my work break. Runkeeper says I usually burn 350-400 calories. I walk 2-3 miles for 45-60 minutes minutes to 1 hour after work. Runkeeper says I burn about 400+ calories. Not to mention I still try to get 12,000 steps throughout the day. Usually I'm at 14,000 steps by the time I go to bed. I drink a lot of water to feel full too.

So generally by the end of the day I've generally ate 1300-1500 calories roughly. But I've burned like 700 calories from the exercise. I'm generally never hungry and generally very content. Sometimes eating more calories makes me feel fuller and I don't like the feeling. Am I hurting myself and hindering my weight loss? Should I force myself to eat more calories to be around the 1700 mark? Am I counting the calories all wrong? Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    You'll regret your current approach. Check this out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Do what it says.
  • thenk83
    thenk83 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks, I'll read it. Much appreciated. :)
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
    There's very little anyone can tell you that isn't in that link. It's VERY comprehensive.

    But the bottom line is, you should definitely be eating back your exercise calories. 1700 is a low goal... I'm losing weight on 1700 NET calories a day, and I was only 135lbs to begin with. I see from your ticker you have less than 50lbs to lose and I generally wouldn't recommend you try to lose at 2lb/week, so if you're going to do that you definitely have to eat back what you burn. You don't want to lose too much lean body mass or otherwise fatigue yourself!
  • dsb188
    dsb188 Posts: 121 Member
    I've learned to eat most of my calories if I excercise I have alot left over but if i don't eat enough i don't lose weight. So at one point I had 2353 and I would eat 1800. Times i would eat under 1400 I wouldn't lose weight but that was my body. I don't think its a general across the board so you may have to play around it.
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