Starvation mode.. eating back calories... not getting it! :S

MFP gives you a caloric deficit to meet your weekly weight loss goal. If your goal it to lose 2 lbs/week your daily deficit is 1000. If you exercise and burn 400 calories your deficit is now 1400 (1000+400), since your goal is a 1000 cal deficit MFP adds back the400 cals to keep your deficit at 1000 cals/day in order to meet your goal of 2 lbs/week.

If your caloric deficit gets to large (according to MFP over 1000 is too large) you may hit a plateau and stop losing fat, and possibly burn muscle instead, which would further slow your metabolism down. So your 1800 cals are based on your weekly goal, to keep your deficit the same whether you workout or not, you must eat the calories you burn through exercise.

Here's a great site for you to figure your calorie needs

http://www.h3daily.com/nutrition/caloric-intake-worksheets/

I think this is the most on target (agrees with bmr, etc)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition


Read this! read all four links! it will help you... one of them gives you insight as to why you eat your exercise calories. Follow it! it works!

Spread your calories through many small meals through out the day. I know you have heard this before. Me, I eat 200 cal at 8:00, 150 cal at 10:00, 350 cal lunch, 150 cal 3:00 snack and 350 - 400 cal dinner, leaving me a few calories in the evening (total cals 1400-1500 /day for me). SO, 6 meals a day, not going over 400 - 500 calories in a single sitting (too many calories AT ONCE, and you body has not choice but to store it!). I have no idea what eating back you calories is either. Just don't eat too little, and if you eat too much every once in awhile, I don't think that sets you back! good luck!

Short answer - MFP gives you the alloted calorie deficit to lose X amount of pounds per week already factored in, i.e. 500 calorie deficit per day x 7 days = 3500 net deficit calories = 1 lb of weight loss per week. Exercise adds calories to eat back which will still give you a 500 calorie deficit for the day. The option to eat none/some/all of those extra calories from exercise then becomes the greatest topic discussion of life on these boards.

I will now allow the rest of the community to jump on this topic because I know they will. You have been forewarned. Ultimately, it's your choice. Just make an informed decision and do what feels right to you.

Hi,

Sorry to hear you are so confused. I know that it is very hard to understand since one says one thing and the other says another. I studied in Phys. Ed. and the one thing that I learned was that your minimum intake of calories should never fall below 1000 calories why because your body starts to go in starvation mode; metabolism slows down and your body will keep the fat as storage. Not really what you are looking for, huh! So if you can eat up to 1800/day, I would say keep you calories at approx between 1200 and 1500. This way you won't fall in the starvation mode. Also, make sure that if you exercise lots to eat protein to insure your muscles gets enough nutrients in order to rebuilt. Remember, more muscles, more your metabolism works harder, more you loose. This site is really awesome to help you achieve your goal.

Hope this helps and hope I didn't confuse you even more.

Starvation mode doesnt usually occur until you eat less than 1200 calories a day.

Everyone's body is different, some people need more calories than others. For some people, 1200 calories a day is not enough and can cause your metabolism to slow down.

Eating your exercise calories is a good idea because MFP already gives you a calorie deficit based on your desired weekly weight loss. I've always eaten all my exercise calories and it hasn't hindered my weight loss one bit.

I'm having a hard time EATING back my calories. It's like heathly food keeps me fuller and I tend to naturally eat less. Any tips for increasing my calorie intake?

If you look at your diet profile, you'll see that myfitnesspal automatically puts your daily goal at a calorie deficit if you indicated you wanted to lose weight. Commonly, most people want to lose 1-2 lbs per week, which is considered safe weight loss for an adult. Initially, more can occur with increased activity but most often it's because people aren't closely tracking food and their intake can't keep up. That sends the body into starvation mode, meaning the body needs to store all necessary nutrients. Probably through your research you understand that. To burn off a single pound, you have to burn 3,500 calories, so you want a daily calorie deficit of 500-1000 calories, which again myfitnesspal does for you. The reason you "eat your calories back" is because myfitnesspal doesn't account for your daily activity outside of what you put into your profile. Also, eating below 1,200 calories a day isn't considered healthy unless instructed so by a physician and is usually closely monitored due to possible nutrient deficiencies that can occur. The reason we eat our calories back is to insure healthy weight loss that is sustainable over a lifetime; in other words, a lifestyle change. Your sustaining weight diet is different than your weight loss diet because you don't need such a calorie difference. This is when the exercise comes more into play.