Q. For people on 1200Kcal a day and exercising

In a nutshell yes you do need to eat back your exercise calories.

1200 cals will help you lose weight without exercise - if you are working out you need to eat those extra cals to keep yourself at 1200 per day.

This is my understanding (although I have not been here that long)

Also I only really log my proper work outs and eat back those calories. I walk 40 minuts per day (only slowly though) and tend not to log that as it is part of my pre-weightloss routine.

I lost 2lbs week one, will see how I get on this week before I decide if I need to log my daily walking etc..

But burning up to 500 cals (5 times per week) def means - IMO at least - you should be eating back cals to keep you at 1200!

hi
I do eat my exercise calories BUT not the number MFP gives, my HRM offers me at best half of the calories as MFP so I do eat those,
find out what workd for you, good luck!

You'll get lots of different opinions on this site about eating exercise calories or not. You have to find out what works for you. I tend to find that if I eat more than half of my exercise cals I don't loose.

I would agree with you Kate. I've read quite a few threads on this subject and the general opinion seems to be see what works best for you. Some people swear by eating them all, others stick to their 1200 calories and don't eat exercise calories. A case of no easy answer - just experiment with what works for you. Personally, I use my exercise calories as a buffer. I use a portion of them but never all of them. Pre diet I would eat and eat and eat. Since logging my 1200 calories a day sometimes I've struggled to eat them all and haven't felt hungry which has really surprised me!

Netty

I have been eating my exercise calories back... I think it is A) Healthier
it encourages me to exercise daily so that I can eat more, I struggle sticking to 1200 calories/day, I love my food! I eat back healthy calories generally.
C) Im still losing slowely and building muscle. my shape is changing! wieght is just a number.
D) It keeps me on the wagon so to speak....stops me binging because I am too hungry.

Of course it is personal and what works for you! Good luck
I too only have 7-9 lbs to lose and even that is debatable, need to lone thighs and buttocks....if I tone with no weight loss thats fine by me x

I was always told to eat my exercise cals but find on times that I can't and I don't intend to force my self. if you go on to the community pages heading diet and weight loss help there are some posts with thumb tacks I'm told they are written by the creators one says newbies read me and there is an interesting article about someone who only ate 700 cals a day and was obese there is also one headed newbies read me pt 2 that will explain about exercise and eating your cals x

IMO I say you should at least eat half of your exercise cal. A few weeks ago I was working out and logging everything on here and I could not figure out why I was not losing the weight, but I did notice that it would always tell me I was eating too few cals. Anyways, I was putting my body into starvation mode, not realizing it and therefore even though I was doing everything right, I thought, I was not losing the weight. I was so frustrated. Finally I decided to try hard to eat my cal so that I wouldn't get that message, and wouldn't you know I have finally lost 2 lbs and counting (since I only log in my weight once a week)!

So for me, I do zumba 3 times a weeks for 1 hr at night so I do a protein shake or something similar, since I am normally not hungry after a workout and then it's super hectic once I get home since it's bedtime routines, clean up...you know. So instead of skipping that meal I do a shake which gives me the calories I need and I eat sensibly in the day (also on the 1200cal/day) so in the end I tend to eat most of my cals before my workout and with zumba I burn about 800-1200 cal, so the shake gives me the added cals I hope all this makes sense. This is what I have found finally got my body and that scale moving :P Good luck!

I work out 4 days a week and I log all my workouts but I only eat my calorie burn for my saturday workout so that I can go out to dinner and have a drink with my family and not feel guilty. That has worked out for me so far. Good luck.

I used to eat back my calories but I am now trying to log in my exercise in at the end of the day before I go to bed so that I don't feel "entitled" to a cheeseburger. Maybe do a couple of months of giving yourself the option to eat the burned off calories and another couple months where you don't and see how you feel.
Keep us posted on what you found worked for you!

you should eat them back. your target is 1200 NET per day, 1200 total intake per day. So if you go ahead and eat 1200, then burn 800 at the gym, then your NET is 400...sure, you'll lose weight, but it will slow down, and it will be muscle no doubt (or atleast a decent % will be muscle)...your body will enter starvation mode. and you'll be left wondering why.

Nutrient timing is also as important as NET caloric intake. Spread your meals right you not already are (im assuming you are, so ignore?). eating every 3 hours is pretty optimal in my opinion. and getting a good balance in each meal.

If your exercising in the mornings, getting the food right is quite easy really.
Eat > take your 1200 cal's plus your exercise cal's (500 or whatever) = 1700. and split that up into 5 or 6 meals.
Do this, and you will shred weight like its going out of fashion. You'll be lighting a furnace (your metabo!), and it wont stop until youi stop following your plan. You'll eventually find you can up your NET to 1300 or even 1400 and still continue to lose fat.

dont beleive me? I eat 2400 NET per day, and my weight does not move.
I drop to 2100, and it will move 1lb per week if i want it too. 2100 NET!!!
I only weigh 181lbs.

Conclusion: IT IS NOT HEALTHY TO GET 400 NET cals per day. It just isnt.

Depends on what works for you. Try 1200 with exercise and if you lose, great. If you're not losing, try eating some of your exercise calories. Everyone's different.

I put it this way. if you are not eating your exercise calories and you are not losing weight you need to start since you've thrown your body into starvation mode. You need to be aware that when you do you might gain a little weight before you start losing again but that's to be expected and a normal part of the process of your metabolism starting up again.

I am very much for you eating as many of your exercise calories as you want. Despite the people on here talking about how they lose weight when they don't, if you go and read the links in the newbies post at the top of the forum it tells you why you should eat them.
Very short version - you will lose weight if you don't eat them HOWEVER you're probably going to put it all back on and then some when you stop counting calories.
The threads are much more in depth and worth the time it takes to read them.

I don't advocate eating them if you're not hungry however. Only if you are. Number one rule is you should never starve your self. Your body knows how much it wants to eat. You've just got to learn what, when to feed it and when to stop.

One thing I haven't read through some of these posts....change your exercising habits. it sounds like you hit a plateau. Choose a new exercise, the intensity of current work outs, etc. Try interval training-jog a little, sprint a little, jog, sprint, etc to help your metabolism. The slow/fast routine can be done walking, running, biking, elliptical(izing), etc.

You definitely need to eat at least some of you exercise calories back.

Calories are what your body uses for fuel, when you're exercising you're burning more fuel and your body needs to get that from somewhere. Sure for a while it'll take it from your fat stores but after a bit it starts to look for ways to cut back on the energy it burns, and that means your body works less effeciently.

You can read my blog post here for more information.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/aeryn69/view/the-great-calorie-misconception-64913