OMG! They're right

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tara3103
tara3103 Posts: 107
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, so I have been losing about 2-3 lbs per week, but last week I was lucky to get 1 lb. After being so frustrated and trying to figure out why, I started searching the forums and kept seeing this whole issue with not eating enough calories. I went back to last week when I only lost 1 lb and this was my net calories:

Mon-306
Tue 1039
Wed 889
Thur 969
Fri 967

I found it so hard to eat the exercise calories back, I thought I would gain weight! Obviously, I was wrong. The weeks I was losing 2-3 lbs, I was netting around 1200-1300 a day! Why oh why can I be so smart, yet so dumb when it comes to this health stuff! So, anyone in the same boat....please eat back your calories, doesn't have to be all, just try to net at least 1200!

Replies

  • Tyates1002
    Tyates1002 Posts: 4
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    That is so true. I am a WW lifetime member and one of the rules is you have to eat all your points and even use some of your activity and extra points to lose weight. If you don;t eat enough calories then you're body thinks it starving and begins storing fat. You have to eat to lose...Who knew? LOL You just have to eat the right things.
  • ShannonWinger
    ShannonWinger Posts: 309 Member
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    My husband was having that problem. He would eat breakfast (sometimes) then go to work all day and let himself get so wrapped up in work he wouldn't eat. He'd come home ravenously hungry and eat whatever. Not only was he not eating enough but he wasn't eating the right things. He felt horrible and was steadily gaining weight. Since making an effort to eat cleaner and more often he has started to drop weight. He's still having a hard time eating enough calories during the day but at least he's on the right track now. I wish I had a hard time eating enough calories. I usually end up going over. :(

    You most definitely weren't eating enough.
  • jgurrath
    jgurrath Posts: 1
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    I am in the same boat with you!! I was getting frustrated and at a standstill in weight-loss so I went back and reviewed my intake - yep I need to take in more calories as well. I am simply experimenting with the right calories to intake vs. empty calories.
    I am very Thankful for your post since my frustrations were about to get the best of me and it is nice to not be alone :)
    I wish you all the best!!!!
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    back in april when i first started trying to lose weight,I was tracking all my calories and exercise on paper i never ate my exersise calories so my net would be 800 to 1000if that.but i still lost weight pretty rapidly from april to august 2010 I went from 230 lb to 197.now i wonder if it would have been more if i ate more lol
  • shannieboo
    shannieboo Posts: 144 Member
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    This is so true, I hit a stall because of the same thing :)
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
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    Hi guys,

    I've been really confused about the whole net calories thing since I started on MFP. I always have 350 - 600 kcal left after I've had dinner and I always think how I'm going to eat all of it back! So I've just been leaving it. My net calories has been somewhere between 700 -900 and everytime when I complete my food diary, I always get a notification that I'm not eating enough...but I'm always eating! I don't eat anything low fat, I eat brown rice, I eat eggs, lots of protein, cook with olive oil, wholemeal bread, etc. I really don't know how else I'm suppose to add more calories..should I work out less?? But I'm not even exercising that much...

    I am really worried that my body is just storing fat..but if I'm not hungry...what should I do...? Do I just keep eating and logging till I get 1200 net calories?
  • MandiPandi757
    MandiPandi757 Posts: 28 Member
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    You should always strive to get atleast 1200 calories a day, especially if your a woman. Eating too few calories, under 1200, will send your body into starvation mode thus lowering your metabolism causing you to not lose weight at all and possibly start gaining weight. You don't have to eat your excercise calories back and really you shouldn't. Set your goal on MFP for total of 1200-1500 calories per day. You can manually change your goal. Your body needs those calories to burn while your working out. Food = fuel. I hope this helps. Looking at your Mondays caloric intake, I can't believe you were still functioning with only 306 calories that day. Remember this is a lifestyle change. You don't want to fall back into bad habits, because that's what got you into this mess in the first place. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Good Luck! You can do this! :wink:
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
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    You should always strive to get atleast 1200 calories a day, especially if your a woman. Eating too few calories, under 1200, will send your body into starvation mode thus lowering your metabolism causing you to not lose weight at all and possibly start gaining weight. You don't have to eat your excercise calories back and really you shouldn't. Set your goal on MFP for total of 1200-1500 calories per day. You can manually change your goal. Your body needs those calories to burn while your working out. Food = fuel. I hope this helps. Looking at your Mondays caloric intake, I can't believe you were still functioning with only 306 calories that day. Remember this is a lifestyle change. You don't want to fall back into bad habits, because that's what got you into this mess in the first place. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Good Luck! You can do this! :wink:

    So the net calories should always be as close to 1200 as possible? Is it okay to eat those calories late at night past 8pm?
  • jabberwockgee
    jabberwockgee Posts: 49 Member
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    You should always strive to get atleast 1200 calories a day, especially if your a woman. Eating too few calories, under 1200, will send your body into starvation mode thus lowering your metabolism causing you to not lose weight at all and possibly start gaining weight. You don't have to eat your excercise calories back and really you shouldn't. Set your goal on MFP for total of 1200-1500 calories per day. You can manually change your goal. Your body needs those calories to burn while your working out. Food = fuel. I hope this helps. Looking at your Mondays caloric intake, I can't believe you were still functioning with only 306 calories that day. Remember this is a lifestyle change. You don't want to fall back into bad habits, because that's what got you into this mess in the first place. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Good Luck! You can do this! :wink:

    You should eat at least part of your calories lost from exercise. If you work out at the gym all day and lose 1200 calories and only eat 1200 calories, your body will think it's starving, even though you ate 1200 calories.

    You don't necessarily have to eat them all back that day, since your 'calories lost' can be stretched out over several hours. This may also not be an issue if you only do it once a week or something, but if you never eat back your exercise calories and you work out a significant amount every day (like losing more than 200 calories) then I don't think that's a great idea.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    nevermind on this lol
  • kgarvey66
    kgarvey66 Posts: 17
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    I was little confused , but to read your infor now I dont feel so bad, that I did the samething,I am losing inches but the weight I am having more trouble with.. I feel I shouldn't go over the net cal...am I right.... you got to love this site....

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