Question about calories

rh091
rh091 Posts: 100 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I understand that under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode. My goal is 1400 calls a day for a 2lb a week loss, as I am looking to lose just under 100lbs. My question is if I have eaten 1756 calories for the day but my net calories from exercise falls below 1200 does the same result occur? Essentially, do I need to eat back all my calories from exercise?

Replies

  • rh091
    rh091 Posts: 100 Member
    Bump
  • rh091
    rh091 Posts: 100 Member
    bump
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I understand that under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode. My goal is 1400 calls a day for a 2lb a week loss, as I am looking to lose just under 100lbs. My question is if I have eaten 1756 calories for the day but my net calories from exercise falls below 1200 does the same result occur? Essentially, do I need to eat back all my calories from exercise?

    Starvation mode is grossly exaggerated. 1200 is based more upon nutrition. It's really difficult to meet RDA's on less.

    2 pounds a week is fine if you have > 75 pounds to lose.

    Re: eating back exercise calories. This helps fuel your workouts & prevents the deficit from becoming too large. Because you have a ways to go....don't worry so much about eating back every calorie. Closer to goal your body will have far less reserves.

    How did you come up with your calorie burns? Many MFP users eat back 50-75% because MFP and many machines give "generous" calorie burn estimates. If you start to feel run down or tired....eat more. If weight loss stalls, eat less.
  • rh091
    rh091 Posts: 100 Member
    I understand that under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode. My goal is 1400 calls a day for a 2lb a week loss, as I am looking to lose just under 100lbs. My question is if I have eaten 1756 calories for the day but my net calories from exercise falls below 1200 does the same result occur? Essentially, do I need to eat back all my calories from exercise?

    Starvation mode is grossly exaggerated. 1200 is based more upon nutrition. It's really difficult to meet RDA's on less.

    2 pounds a week is fine if you have > 75 pounds to lose.

    Re: eating back exercise calories. This helps fuel your workouts & prevents the deficit from becoming too large. Because you have a ways to go....don't worry so much about eating back every calorie. Closer to goal your body will have far less reserves.

    How did you come up with your calorie burns? Many MFP users eat back 50-75% because MFP and many machines give "generous" calorie burn estimates. If you start to feel run down or tired....eat more. If weight loss stalls, eat less.

    Thanks! So basically its okay not to eat back all your calories as long as your eating a healthy amount of food and getting all the nutrients you need? I'm using fitbit calorie adjustments to track my activity. It fluctuates throughout the day based on its projection but by the end of the day it seems to be fairly accurate. ex. yesterday it gave me 730 cals burned. I was on the eliptical for 40 mins at moderate intensity, did a 20 min circuit strength training (which doesnt log on fitbit obviously becuase its a step counter but I dont log it extra to average out any inconsistencies), and I also walked a fair bit to get places, probably around 30-40 mins. I did almost 15000 steps. I think this should be fairly accurately reflected in the adjustment?
  • rh091
    rh091 Posts: 100 Member
    Bump
  • nicolemviolette
    nicolemviolette Posts: 105 Member
    MFP tends to overestimate our calories burned, so I would either only put yourself in for HALF the calories burned (that MFP gives you) OR only eat back half of what you supposbly burned.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    This link will help you with your goals and the best way to go about it

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=guide+to+sexypants&page=1#posts-18361594
  • RET68
    RET68 Posts: 88
    Why does MFP overstate the calories burned? I was wondering about that. Another site said I needed 2 hours of water aerobics for 500 calories and MFP gives me that for 1 hour. Which is true? BTW I also have around 100 pounds to lose. One doctor says go really slow few pounds a month don't stress the liver. Another one says 800 calories a day is fine at your age? How did you decide on two pounds a week. That's what I'm shooting for, as well. : )
  • spideywebb77
    spideywebb77 Posts: 126 Member
    Why does MFP overstate the calories burned? I was wondering about that. Another site said I needed 2 hours of water aerobics for 500 calories and MFP gives me that for 1 hour. Which is true? BTW I also have around 100 pounds to lose. One doctor says go really slow few pounds a month don't stress the liver. Another one says 800 calories a day is fine at your age? How did you decide on two pounds a week. That's what I'm shooting for, as well. : )

    The amount of calories that you burn are going to be more dependant on how hard you work AND how long. Saying that everyone will burn 500 calories in one hour for this exercise would be a guess at best. For most things I use a heart rate monitor to determine how much I have burned. The higher my heartrate average the more calores per minute I burn. But if I don't push and slack off then I may burn as little as 1/2 what I normally do.
  • kevinfishers
    kevinfishers Posts: 15
    I understand that under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode. My goal is 1400 calls a day for a 2lb a week loss, as I am looking to lose just under 100lbs. My question is if I have eaten 1756 calories for the day but my net calories from exercise falls below 1200 does the same result occur? Essentially, do I need to eat back all my calories from exercise?

    Starvation mode is grossly exaggerated. 1200 is based more upon nutrition. It's really difficult to meet RDA's on less.

    2 pounds a week is fine if you have > 75 pounds to lose.

    Re: eating back exercise calories. This helps fuel your workouts & prevents the deficit from becoming too large. Because you have a ways to go....don't worry so much about eating back every calorie. Closer to goal your body will have far less reserves.

    How did you come up with your calorie burns? Many MFP users eat back 50-75% because MFP and many machines give "generous" calorie burn estimates. If you start to feel run down or tired....eat more. If weight loss stalls, eat less.

    This guy^ couldn't have said it better myself, there's been multiple studies done on starvation mode and it largely affects people who are already at very low bodyfat percentages like less than 6%, and in order to get to starvation mode while just on a restricted diet you'd have to be below 6 percent body fat and do intensive daily exercise, burning an excess of 2000-3000 calories a day while eating like 1200 calories. That being said it's still important to not go below a minimum amount of calories for general health purposes however 'minimum' calories is just a relative generalized term obviously some people can function & lose weight with no health effects that go below 1200 calories it all depends on your body type among other factors.

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