Need advice-Calories/Eating back after exercise

kerij313
kerij313 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello from a newbie!

I am beginning my second week with MFP and need some advice on what my daily calorie goal should be. My starting weight was 179.4 and my goal is 140. Last week I stuck to a 1200cal diet and ate back most of my calories burned exercising. I lost 1lb. By the end of the week I was VERY fatigued. Not necessarily starving hungry, just exhausted.

I have been reading a lot of posts that are against the 1200cal diet, and want to make sure I am eating enough. I am sedentary all day, (desk job+student), with the exception of 30-50 minute workouts 4-5 times a week. I do push myself hard during the workouts and want to build muscle.

A little background if this helps- I am hypothyroid and find it very difficult to lose weight. In the past I have lost weight by keeping a very low cal-restricted diet, but never really have exercised consistently. I want to make sure I am eating enough to maintain/build muscle, but still keep a healthy deficit.

What are your suggestions for a daily calorie goal? Also, if I up my daily cal goal, do you recommend eating back the cals I burn off from exercising or not? Thank you for any and all advice!

Replies

  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Change your activity level to “Lightly Active” and eat back at least half of your exercise calories because 1200 calories are too low for the amount to exercising you are doing.

    Here is a great place to get started:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    While you are losing weight, you are not going to build muscle. Instead, you will lose muscle mass so adding strength training is advisable in order to preserve muscle mass.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1400 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    Allan
  • staceymercer17
    staceymercer17 Posts: 11 Member
    Hello from a newbie!

    I am beginning my second week with MFP and need some advice on what my daily calorie goal should be. My starting weight was 179.4 and my goal is 140. Last week I stuck to a 1200cal diet and ate back most of my calories burned exercising. I lost 1lb. By the end of the week I was VERY fatigued. Not necessarily starving hungry, just exhausted.

    I have been reading a lot of posts that are against the 1200cal diet, and want to make sure I am eating enough. I am sedentary all day, (desk job+student), with the exception of 30-50 minute workouts 4-5 times a week. I do push myself hard during the workouts and want to build muscle.

    A little background if this helps- I am hypothyroid and find it very difficult to lose weight. In the past I have lost weight by keeping a very low cal-restricted diet, but never really have exercised consistently. I want to make sure I am eating enough to maintain/build muscle, but still keep a healthy deficit.

    What are your suggestions for a daily calorie goal? Also, if I up my daily cal goal, do you recommend eating back the cals I burn off from exercising or not? Thank you for any and all advice!

    This is slightly off topic but holy cow, you certainly sound like me! I also have a desk job, and workout 4-5 times a week. We weigh about the same and have the same goal of 140 pounds. I am also hypothyroid. Here if you want to talk/exchange advice/etc! Good luck!

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