Calories and weight loss

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lucymarshall1992
lucymarshall1992 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi ...
I'm in need of some help here cos I'm totally confused :/ I've got a calorie limit of 1200 per day which I can manage fine apart from weekends where I may go over by a few hundred but usually I maintain the 1200 per day. I exercise by walking between 4-6 miles 3 times a week. I don't eat the calories I've burnt off back again.. And I've just read some stuff on the internet that I'm meant to eat those back. I'm not really losing weight and ideally I want 2 stone off by September. I'm five foot ten, female and in weigh 12 stone 6

Any help and advice I really will appreciate

Replies

  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    The key is to meet your body's nutrients level in order to achieve and maintain good health. Otherwise, eating too little will affect your metabolism, workouts, and your health will suffer. You shouldn't eat until you puke but just make sure you are meeting your macros (carbs, fat, protein) and properly fueling your workouts. For the amount of exercising you are doing, 1200 seems on the low side.
  • xero2099
    xero2099 Posts: 49 Member
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    with exercise it gives you a bit of a surplus so it would be 1200 + whatever the exercise is you may not be eating enough so you go into starvation mode
  • mamaleftwich
    mamaleftwich Posts: 256 Member
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    What are Net Calories?



    We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:

    Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories

    This means that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.



    Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising. We do not recommend that any member consume fewer than 1200 net calories on any given day
  • lucymarshall1992
    lucymarshall1992 Posts: 3
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    So does it look like I need to up my calorie intake? I have a pretty sedentary lifestyle I work in an office Monday to Friday so I'm not really burning many cals throughout the day which is why I've started walking on an evening. I'm so confused by all this as I spoke to a personal trainer who said 1200 cals a day will destroy my body, and to lose weight I need to eat more than that. I also read that if your in a coma they feed you 1250 cals per day just to keep u alive, therefore 1200 isn't enough and then exercise on top :/ really confused haha :( x
  • christinasmarr
    christinasmarr Posts: 1
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    Personally, I feel you're eating too few calories. Your post hit very close to home for me. At just under 5'3, I'm much shorter than you. But MyFitnessPal initially had me at around 1200 calories a day, too. I workout quite heavily...1-2 hrs a day, 5 days a week of intense training. In 2 1/2 months I only dropped around 4 pounds (although my weight fluctuated terribly), I was always extremely exhausted, and was getting so burnt-out at the gym. I started questioning whether the amount of calories MyFitnessPal was allowing me were actually right for my body. I was also questioning whether or not I was supposed to be eating back those extra calories I was burning off during my workouts. I did a great deal of reading and research, and came across a posting (on myfitnesspal, I think) that mentioned a website called if it fits your macros (www.iifym.com). I went to the site and did a great deal more reading. Between this site and others, I learned that I wasn't consuming nearly the calories or nutrients each day that my body needed. Between iifym.com's articles and calculators in particular, I gained a much better understanding of how all this exercise, weight loss/gain/maintenance, calorie and nutrient balance, and etc work. 11 days ago I changed my calories and macronutrient numbers in myfitnesspal to meet what the calculators at iifym.com said I should be consuming (which is just over 1,600 calories a day), and suddenly I am losing weight consistently (about 5 lbs more down since making the change), and the major fluctuation on the scale has stopped. More importantly, I feel so much better! I would highly suggest you check out iifym.com to help educate yourself further and to see what their calculators say you should be consuming. Also, to help with your question about eating back calories burned, here is an article that really helped me. Go to http://iifym.com/do-i-add-back-calories-i-burn-during-exercise/

    GOOD LUCK!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Yes, MFP is designed for you to eat back the extra calories you burn through exercise (that's why it adds them to your goal after you log your workouts). But, this has less to do with losing weight faster and more to do with general health and sustainability. Large calorie deficits can be hard on the body and it's tough to get adequate vitamins, minerals, fat, protein, etc. into your diet when you're eating so little.

    MFP sets a calorie goal for you without taking any of your planned exercise into account. Basically, it doesn't trust you to do your workouts until you've actually logged them. This goal has the deficit that you need to lose weight already built into it. When you exercise, you make that deficit larger, possibly larger than your body wants to handle safely. So MFP adds calories back to your goal to bring you up to the original, safer calorie deficit.

    Now, is that why you're not losing weight? Maybe but probably not. Starvation mode as it's commonly used on these forums is not really what people think it is. It would take a very long time at a very low calorie level to see a big slowdown of your metabolism.

    You don't mention if you're losing slower than you'd like or not at all. Keep in mind that weight loss is not linear. There are going to be days and weeks without any loss, especially if you're recently started or increased your exercise routine, are nearing your TOM, or have other water weight issues going on.

    Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by a whole lot when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is always going to be the most accurate.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

    And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.
  • jeniferferguson1
    jeniferferguson1 Posts: 1
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    I am 5.8 and I weight 134 lbs. I want to just lose a few lbs and really tone up and tighten by building lean muscle. I am in a program currently with a trainer who does cardio training mixed with weight training. I do this 5 days a week. It's intense. I keep a food journal that I pass into him and he was mad at me because I was not eating enough! But MFP tells me I need to only have 1200 per day ... so I am confused. He told me to be eating at least 1800 calories per day. Right now, I am not losing anything at 1200,... so I am confused why eating more will help me? Anyone know anything about this?
  • lucymarshall1992
    lucymarshall1992 Posts: 3
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    thanks for all the feedback guys, I really appreciate it.

    seems im not massively educated about this lol....

    looks like im not eating enough calories and at 1200 cals per day, and also ive just joined the gym and plan on going three-four times a week, it doesn't seem enough to be eating, so I think I may up my calories and see how I feel.. it seems very backwards though as im not losing a greatdeal of weight at 1200 so my mind is telling me that upping my calories is going to do more harm than good, but I guess im wrong!! also, I went to the gym last night and did 20 mins on the cross trainer, my heart rate was (maximum) 190 bpm, is this too high? Im worried this is a dangerous amount of beats... and I wasn't even going that fast I maintained a steady pace on a very low level... the easiest level! I know im unfit but this seems very high, could be wrong though haha :)

    thanks guys xxx
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I am 5.8 and I weight 134 lbs. I want to just lose a few lbs and really tone up and tighten by building lean muscle. I am in a program currently with a trainer who does cardio training mixed with weight training. I do this 5 days a week. It's intense. I keep a food journal that I pass into him and he was mad at me because I was not eating enough! But MFP tells me I need to only have 1200 per day ... so I am confused. He told me to be eating at least 1800 calories per day. Right now, I am not losing anything at 1200,... so I am confused why eating more will help me? Anyone know anything about this?

    How long have you been counting at 1200 per day? Weight loss is not linear and sometimes it just takes a while for your efforts to show up as a reduced number on the scale. After about six weeks, you should generally see a drop, though.

    Now the lowest calories MFP will give you is 1200. MFP also assumes that you will log and eat back any exercise calories to properly fuel your body. The 1200 # was reached without taking exercise into consideration at all, so any calories earned from exercise can and should be eaten. I'm guessing the trainer doesn't want you feeling weak or passing out during your sessions

    So MFP probably gave you 1200 calories due to your plugging in 2 lbs per week as your weekly loss target. Plugging in your numbers, 1210 calories would have you lose 1 lb per week, 1460 .5 lb per week. Adding in your exercise, I could see you losing anywhere from .5 lb to 1 lb per week on a flat 1800 calories per day (no extra exercise calories added in). I think your trainer's suggestion is reasonable, and if you want you can manually adjust your account to a custom 1800 calorie per day goal and not add in exercise calories. If you still want to log your exercise, you can do like many and just log it as "1" calorie burned

    All that said if you're not losing weight and have been counting calories for a couple months, you may not be in a deficit. Do you have and use a food scale for ALL items except freely pouring liquids such as milk? Read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1296011-calorie-counting-101
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    thanks for all the feedback guys, I really appreciate it.

    seems im not massively educated about this lol....

    looks like im not eating enough calories and at 1200 cals per day, and also ive just joined the gym and plan on going three-four times a week, it doesn't seem enough to be eating, so I think I may up my calories and see how I feel.. it seems very backwards though as im not losing a greatdeal of weight at 1200 so my mind is telling me that upping my calories is going to do more harm than good, but I guess im wrong!! also, I went to the gym last night and did 20 mins on the cross trainer, my heart rate was (maximum) 190 bpm, is this too high? Im worried this is a dangerous amount of beats... and I wasn't even going that fast I maintained a steady pace on a very low level... the easiest level! I know im unfit but this seems very high, could be wrong though haha :)

    thanks guys xxx

    I've hit 190 but I was going full pelt. Also some of us just have naturally high heart rates, and also if you're relatively unfit, your heart rate may spike more in response to exercise. That said if you're concerned about this, be sure and mention it to your doctor on your next visit.

    You could stand to eat more than 1200 calories, but you definitely also want to verify that you're actually eating that amount. You wouldn't want to not fuel a bunch of extra activity, but first you need to be sure you weren't already eating 2000 calories a day. Read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1296011-calorie-counting-101

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