A little confused about calorie intake deficits when exercis

DawniesLife · January 2011

Okay, so, according to MFP my goal for calories each day is 1200. I am 5 foot 3, 201 lbs and I am not currently employed outside the home, so I lead [besides exercising] a sedentary lifestyle of working online a bit, blogging, watching movies, etc. I am serious about losing weight and getting healthy so instead of just guessing, I want others opinions. With the exception of yesterday [I was ill] I have of course had to problems eating 1200 calories a day, it is a major lifestyle adjustment, I'm used to eating that amount in one meal [a little embarrassed to admit that] but I am able to stay right at 1200 calories, or a little more when I exercise a day.

Speaking of exercising, that is important to me to start doing again. For reasons of getting back into shape and for helping control anxiety and depression that I suffer from and for all around health, helping with weight loss would just be an added perk for exercising.

I guess what I am confused about is on the days that I exercise, lets say I burn 400 calories that day, do I really have to eat those 400 calories I burned while exercising? I have read topics on starvation mode, etc, but I am still confused.

There seems to be a lot of varying opinions on eating your calories you burned or not eating them. I just really want to do this the right way, so I would appreciate any input. I am still adjusting to eating the right foods [my food diary is public and I record everything I intake] but I am learning each and every day a bit more and just wanted some opinions from others. Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Mindful_Trent · January 2011

You are supposed to eat exercise calories. It's important to keep your calorie deficit from being too big - bigger is not always better.

This post is a great overview of calorie deficits - please read it! It will probably address most of your questions.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/69708-calorie-deficit-for-dummies-a-little-long

kaylou · January 2011

I currently eat 1/2 of my burned calories when trying to lose....once I am in maintence mode I eat all the calories I burn.
Good Luck! You can do it!

angiesteele · January 2011

My goal is to eat about half of my excercise calories. I have a problem of going over (many days) but that is changing with the new year.

gnrshelton · January 2011

There is already a deficit built into your 1200 calories. So in reality you don't need to eat all of them back. i can't remember exactly what the deficit is..I think its about 90 calories a day. If you eat back about 2/3 of what you exercise you will be okay. But I wouldn't stress over it. just do your best. Sometimes variation in calories and exercise is the best way to lose. Some days more some days less. Just do something rather than nothing.

mama22girlz · January 2011

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. I don't feel my body will go into starvation mode if once and a while I'm really under because of exercise. I eat my basic allowed calories per day and then sometimes I eat back half my exercise calories, sometimes I eat back all of them, and some days if I'm not hungry I don't eat many of them at all. I'm not going to eat for the sake of eating just because I have the extra calorie room. I think if you worked out hard every day and didn't eat any back then that would be a problem. But as long as you eat some and the remainder isn't HUGE everytime I wouldn't worry.

DawniesLife · January 2011

Thanks for all of the quick responses! I appreciate all of the links and everyones outlooks on it! It amazes me how supportive everyone here is and full of information and helpful tips and advice!

PJilly · January 2011

Speaking of exercising, that is important to me to start doing again. For reasons of getting back into shape and for helping control anxiety and depression that I suffer from and for all around health, helping with weight loss would just be an added perk for exercising.

I guess what I am confused about is on the days that I exercise, lets say I burn 400 calories that day, do I really have to eat those 400 calories I burned while exercising? I have read topics on starvation mode, etc, but I am still confused.

I love your reasons for exercising, which I think is all the more reason to eat your exercise calories. I always eat mine, and I find it provides ongoing incentive to work out when I may not really feel like it. I know if I don't work out, I don't get those extra calories. I don't know about you, but I really love food, and that gets me moving every time! :happy:

RMinVA · January 2011

Here's the thing....everyone is different.

When you are starting out and have large amounts of weight to lose, you can probably eat your exercise calories and still lose weight. Whatever you do, make sure you stick to the 1200 minimum. You will probably have to play around with it to find your "sweet spot" for weight loss. A good place to start would be to split the difference: eat half your exercise calories and see how you do.

I have read several articles that say unless you are engaging in intense cardio activity for a duration of more than an hour, it is not necessary to eat any differently than you nomally would (i.e. don't "carb up" or "eat" exercise calories), especially if you are trying to lose weight. I am a runner and after watching the scale go backwards this year, I have come to the conclusion that on most days, I cannot eat my exercise calories and still lose weight. I will only do it if my long runs are in the 8+ mile range. And that is usually only 1 day a week....maybe 2 if I am training for a race.

DawniesLife · January 2011

Speaking of exercising, that is important to me to start doing again. For reasons of getting back into shape and for helping control anxiety and depression that I suffer from and for all around health, helping with weight loss would just be an added perk for exercising.

I guess what I am confused about is on the days that I exercise, lets say I burn 400 calories that day, do I really have to eat those 400 calories I burned while exercising? I have read topics on starvation mode, etc, but I am still confused.

I love your reasons for exercising, which I think is all the more reason to eat your exercise calories. I always eat mine, and I find it provides ongoing incentive to work out when I may not really feel like it. I know if I don't work out, I don't get those extra calories. I don't know about you, but I really love food, and that gets me moving every time! :happy:

Thanks

. But see, 99% of the time I'm not exercising to eat more calories. I actually just thought about getting some more exercise in by doing some dancing, but then I thought , oh no then I'll have to eat more calories! LOL how awful is that?

DawniesLife · January 2011

Here's the thing....everyone is different.

When you are starting out and have large amounts of weight to lose, you can probably eat your exercise calories and still lose weight. Whatever you do, make sure you stick to the 1200 minimum. You will probably have to play around with it to find your "sweet spot" for weight loss. A good place to start would be to split the difference: eat half your exercise calories and see how you do.

I have read several articles that say unless you are engaging in intense cardio activity for a duration of more than an hour, it is not necessary to eat any differently than you nomally would (i.e. don't "carb up" or "eat" exercise calories), especially if you are trying to lose weight. I am a runner and after watching the scale go backwards this year, I have come to the conclusion that on most days, I cannot eat my exercise calories and still lose weight. I will only do it if my long runs are in the 8+ mile range. And that is usually only 1 day a week....maybe 2 if I am training for a race.

I think that may be a good goal for me to start with, to eat 1/2 of my calories I burn and play around with it to see where I need to be. I used to be an athlete, I played soccer my entire life until I went away to college, became depressed and then went on depression medication and gained 100 pounds in a year. Literally. So my whole life, I never worried about my weight because I was so active as long as I made reasonable food choices, I was fine. But after those 100 pounds, it just went down hill, I became more depressed because of the weight and ended up gaining more. At 18 I was 108 pounds and by 19 I was about 210. By 21 I jumped up to about 250 and by 23 I was back down to 230 and here I am at 25 down to 201 and finally ready to make to commitment to get back into shape, to lose the weight to feel good. I noticed for the first time in a long time today that I can touch my toes when I bend over. It made me feel really good about myself, because I remember a time when I couldn't anymore. So, here I am rambling again, and unsure what my point was to begin with but I appreciate your input, and agree with a lot of what you said.

Mindful_Trent · January 2011

Here's the thing....everyone is different.

When you are starting out and have large amounts of weight to lose, you can probably eat your exercise calories and still lose weight. Whatever you do, make sure you stick to the 1200 minimum. You will probably have to play around with it to find your "sweet spot" for weight loss. A good place to start would be to split the difference: eat half your exercise calories and see how you do.

I have read several articles that say unless you are engaging in intense cardio activity for a duration of more than an hour, it is not necessary to eat any differently than you nomally would (i.e. don't "carb up" or "eat" exercise calories), especially if you are trying to lose weight. I am a runner and after watching the scale go backwards this year, I have come to the conclusion that on most days, I cannot eat my exercise calories and still lose weight. I will only do it if my long runs are in the 8+ mile range. And that is usually only 1 day a week....maybe 2 if I am training for a race.

If you are accurately tracking what you've eaten AND accurately estimating what you've burned, you CAN eat your exercise calories and lose weight, assuming your goal before exercise is set to lose weight. It's mathmatical fact. The problem is, many people estimate things inaccurately. Take a look at this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/117726-eating-exercise-cals-slowing-your-weight-loss-read-this

sugarbeans · January 2011

I try to Eat most of my exercise calories.. what has ME confused though is on days where I'm already maxed out on protein. For example last night I had 136 calories extra to burn after hitting the gym again. However the only thing I had left on my plan was for carbs. so Do I eat all carbs when my body is craving protein or do I just suck it up and go over more on the protein count.

Mindful_Trent · January 2011

I try to Eat most of my exercise calories.. what has ME confused though is on days where I'm already maxed out on protein. For example last night I had 136 calories extra to burn after hitting the gym again. However the only thing I had left on my plan was for carbs. so Do I eat all carbs when my body is craving protein or do I just suck it up and go over more on the protein count.

MFP's protein default (15%) is pretty low. Going over this is not a problem. I eat 30% protein most days (100-130g). Excessively high protein for an extended period can cause problems, especially for people with kidney problems (it's hard on your kidneys) but a healthy individual should be fine consuming protein anywhere from 15-30%.

RMinVA · January 2011

Here's the thing....everyone is different.

When you are starting out and have large amounts of weight to lose, you can probably eat your exercise calories and still lose weight. Whatever you do, make sure you stick to the 1200 minimum. You will probably have to play around with it to find your "sweet spot" for weight loss. A good place to start would be to split the difference: eat half your exercise calories and see how you do.

I have read several articles that say unless you are engaging in intense cardio activity for a duration of more than an hour, it is not necessary to eat any differently than you nomally would (i.e. don't "carb up" or "eat" exercise calories), especially if you are trying to lose weight. I am a runner and after watching the scale go backwards this year, I have come to the conclusion that on most days, I cannot eat my exercise calories and still lose weight. I will only do it if my long runs are in the 8+ mile range. And that is usually only 1 day a week....maybe 2 if I am training for a race.

If you are accurately tracking what you've eaten AND accurately estimating what you've burned, you CAN eat your exercise calories and lose weight, assuming your goal before exercise is set to lose weight. It's mathmatical fact. The problem is, many people estimate things inaccurately. Take a look at this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/117726-eating-exercise-cals-slowing-your-weight-loss-read-this

I repeat the first line of my post, everyone is different. I have been @ this for 4 years now, and have successfully maintained a 50# weight loss for over 2 years now. I know the pitfalls of accurately tracking food, exercise, etc. I also know that the sweet spot for me, for the most part, is 1400-1600 calories. If I eat my exercise calories on a regular basis, that puts me up to 1800 - 2000 cals a day, and I will not lose weight. I stopped eating my exercise calories @ the beginning of the year, and have already lost 3#.

A little confused about calorie intake deficits when exercis

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