Calories/Exercise

amandakaye97
amandakaye97 Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok ladies and gents...:D I have been on this site for many years but really never understood fully the calorie intake. Ok so I get so many calories a day to lose 2lbs a week. If I exercise I get even more calories. My question is do I need to eat those extra calories or stay with the original amount to lose weight? Say I get 1300 but if I exercise it jumps to 1700. Do I need to just eat the 1300 to lose the most, or do I need to eat all 1700 to lose the most??? Please reply when you can. Thanks!

Amanda

Replies

  • madimurrell12
    madimurrell12 Posts: 29
    Long answer: Depends really. Depends if you want to be healthy or want to lose weight really quickly which is mostly muscle.
    Do you want to have energy? Be able to continue your work outs? If so then you should definitely eat back your calories. MFP has already set you at a deficit, exercise is on TOP of that, so essentially if you're burning say 400 calories and only eating 1300 then your body will only have 900 to keep you alive, which obviously isn't enough.

    Short answer: Eat back your exercise calories.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Agree with the above, but with a caveat. Some of the calorie burn numbers are overestimates so if you want to be careful, eat back at least half.

    Also, I see on your profile that you have PCOS so just a heads up - for support, there is a group under the Community section for that.
  • amandakaye97
    amandakaye97 Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks!! I do want to lose weight, but get healthy too. I don't expect the quick fix. I just want to at least get 2lbs a week if I possibly can. More would be great, but this is a long term thing so I will be patient. :D Thanks for your reply!
  • amandakaye97
    amandakaye97 Posts: 4 Member
    WOW, Minnie Main you have done awesome. I was seeing your starting weight and where you are now. Any pointers??? I have just started walking 3 weeks ago and walking 3-6 miles a day. That seems to be working pretty well for me. I am at the weight you started at, well lost 10 but anyway close. How long has it taken you to get where you are?
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Sure! Pointers - Log as accurately and consistently as possible. Don't "diet", just eat what you like but in smaller portions or healthier alternatives (leaner meats, low fat, etc) and allow treats now and then. Try to be active, if for no other reason than to give you some wiggle room in your calories. :)

    Walking is a great start and that's a good distance. Eventually if you want to do more, think about adding in running intervals.

    I lost about 60 pounds the first year, gained a bit back over the holidays, found MFP and lost another 30-40 then next two years and have pretty much maintained since then with some slight, slow losses. I haven't been logging much this year but am still active and try to eat right most of the time. I'll get back to it next month after all the summer craziness is over.

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