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Eating back exercise at 1200 cals/day

CarrieByrnes
CarrieByrnes Posts: 1
edited February 26 in Health and Weight Loss
I know there's the whole debate where some people say you should and others say you shouldn't eat back your exercise calories, or some people who moderate and eat half back etc.

But what if you're eating 1200 a day and exercise brings you below (coz that's the generally established 'minimum calories per day'. Is it okay because you're still getting the nutrients your body needs and will just burn your fat, or does your body need more energy to function properly and stay healthy?

I ask this because I'm incredibly short my maintenance calorie limit is 1350, so eating at 1200 isn't that big of a difference.

So yeah... Do you have to eat back all your exercise calories if you're on a 1200 cals/day plan?

Replies

  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    At 1200 calories, you should eat back a portion in order to meet your body's required level of nutrients and properly fuel your exercise and workouts. Look up calorie dense foods for some ideas.
  • chrissyrenee1029
    chrissyrenee1029 Posts: 358 Member
    I try to each back at least 1/2 of them. If I'm hungry, I'll eat them all back. It just depends on how I'm feeling that day.
  • trinacrick
    trinacrick Posts: 41
    There are lots of opinions on this subject. I am pretty new to MFP so I am still figuring out what works best for me. You kind of have to play around with it as there is more to it than a number on the scale to measure your success. I find that also keeping track of how I am feeling --- my mood, my energy levels
    is giving me a good idea of how much of a deficit I can deal with on workout days.

    I need enough to fuel a workout AND not be dragging my *kitten* the rest of the day, but I normally do not eat all of my exercise calories back. I tend to go over on rest days.

    I look at the big picture, not just 24 hour periods, so I try to keep in a deficit for the week and I also try not to eat too many calories at one meal on any given day (really hard for me on Happy Hour Fridays!).

    Good luck!
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