Why does my calorie go up sometimes

buchmansrus
buchmansrus Posts: 34 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I thought my caloric goal was gonna be 1200 calories everyday but the other day it went up to 2000 calories then back down, and today instead of 1200 calories it added another 400 calories because I worked out on the treadmill.

Do I have to eat the goal? or just make sure I stay under the goal?

Replies

  • jen31889
    jen31889 Posts: 121
    That has been a long debated question. Some say to eat back your exercise calories, some say don't. There are benefits each way.
  • Tiffany1111
    Tiffany1111 Posts: 17 Member
    It is definitely eat to the goal, you are supposed to get to a balance of 1200. It makes sense because the more energy you expel the more energy you need to take in. So days where you don't expel a lot of energy you take in less energy (aka. calories).
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Have look at the "newbies read this" topic at the top of this section and you'll see that there is a lot of discussion around this.
    I think it is important to remember that MFP has calculated a calorie deficit for you when you it calculates your calories for the day, so when you eat your exercise cals you still have enough of a deficit to lose weight.
    Pay attention to your NET calories.
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
    It goes up, because Fitness Pal wants you to eat back any calories you burn off via exercise.

    There's an ongoing argument about whether or not to eat exercise calories. I've found that I DON'T lose weight if I have too many leftover calories at the end of the day. It sounds nuts, but for some people (like me), eating those exercise calories is key to losing weight and maintaining a steady weight loss. Why? Because otherwise our bodies freak out, our metabolisms slow, and weight loss stops.

    Listen to your body. Do you feel hungry, shaky, or faint? Do you feel as if you're depriving yourself? If so, I'd eat the exercise calories.

    Plus, at 1200 calories a day (which is a very low calorie goal), you have to be careful when it comes to exercise. Some people are comfortable on extremely low calorie diets, but others have a harder time.
  • ITTYbitty04
    ITTYbitty04 Posts: 75 Member
    I have had the same question myself! and I usually play it by ear as to weather I eat the extra exercise calories or not. If I'm feeling hungry I eat a few extra but I never eat the total that I have burned. I look at it as a waste if I do because it takes a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories to lose 1lb of fat, so if I always eat up what I have burned I feel as if I won't see the weight loss that I want.

    I had my best weight loss of 4.1lbs in one week because I burned off around 8,000 calories from exercise! I didn't feel hungry because I ate alot of veggies and spaced my meals out.

    hope this helps you, but in the end everybody's body is different and will tell us if we need those extra calories added back!
  • buchmansrus
    buchmansrus Posts: 34 Member
    Thank you everybody for all your help. I appreciate it alot. :)
This discussion has been closed.

Categories