DO I REALLY EAT ALL OF MY CALORIES BURNED??

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earthtorachel
earthtorachel Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! So like most of you here, I have weight to lose and have tried everything. Was searching for a good phone app that lets me log my food, exercise and shows me my daily deficit. Found MFP and wow, wasn't expecting this brain explosion...

I AM SUPPOSED TO EAT BACK THE CALORIES THAT I BURN FROM EXERCISE. Really????? This goes against everything I was ever taught, read, told about weight loss. But it makes sense. I mean, finally there is a logical reason why I work harder than my personal trainer but am still 50 lbs overweight. Burn more than you consume, eat less, exercise more. That's what I have been doing and even paying for through diet programs and personal trainers.

I have been doing MFP for 5 days now. I am not starving but I am struggling with feeling like I am also canceling out my exercise efforts by eating back calories I am burning. I am struggling with the concept but am following it.

So what I am looking for is validation that I am doing this right. I've read all the sticky threads on this and I get it but I would like specific input on my personal MFP goals so that I know from those of you who it is working for that I am doing it right. I really don't want yet another program to fail.

My calories are set to 1490 a day to lose 1 1/2 lbs a week. I'm 5'8 and 206lbs. I exercise 6-7 days a week, 90 mins at the gym where I burn about 1100 calories (this is my only "me time" with three kids and my own business, this time makes me happy and i wont give it up) and I am going to be adding Turbofire starting next week. I travel two weekends a month which makes any exercise difficult so when I am home, I work hard.

Despite all of that hard work, I still have 50 lbs to lose and it doesnt want to budge.

So with that information, if I exercise, I am supposed to eat all of those calories back? I know some of you eat them all back and others eat only a portion of them back but this is where I get lost.

In order to lose weight steadily, what should I be looking for on a daily basis on my app?

Should be Calories Remaining be 0 and my Net equal to my Goal? I've been averaging about 600 calories remaining and I am afraid my body is in starvation mode.

Any help would be appreciated. Sorry this is so long! I am just so sick of failing. I want all this hard work to pay off already. Thanks!

Replies

  • mpdes
    mpdes Posts: 40
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    Hi!
    I think somehow we are all different, and so are our bodies. Maybe you should experiment what works for you. For some, they have to bump their calories intake and eat all of them, others a portion of it and another group they just won't eat any of them. I find it's working better for me when I don't eat all of my calories. If i'm hungry i'll eat them, but not all the time. I believe you should just take into consideration not going under the amount of calories needed to go through the day. If it's 1200, just don't go under.

    We forget quite often that our bodies talk to us, if you're hungry eat, if you're full stop. This should be rule #1 :wink:
  • earthtorachel
    earthtorachel Posts: 21
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    Thanks for replying mpdes! only i am still confused here, if my bmr is 1,658 calories/day and MFP set my calories to 1490/day to lose 1 1/2 lbs a week, then i am under the base calories by default yet I am not supposed to go under that? On days I exercise I am not too worried about it bc I will be burning way over that and will eat back about half of it but on days I travel, i don't usually have the energy to go to the gym after long travel days and time changes so am I supposed to eat at least my BMR calories or the 1490 MFP set for me as a daily goal? I am so confused! lol
  • w_sanford
    w_sanford Posts: 25 Member
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    Hi!

    I would say, eat your 1490 cal/day. BMR is how many calories you would burn if you just laid in bed all day...basically a sedentary lifestyle. MFP probably recommended 1490 a day assuming that a few days out of the week you do not workout.

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