Do you eat all your suggested calories?

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2

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  • mcibty
    mcibty Posts: 1,252 Member
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    Rockin2014 wrote: »
    No. I don't eat my exercise calories back. I've been losing 2 pounds weekly.

    Um, why not?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    MCIBTY wrote: »
    Rockin2014 wrote: »
    No. I don't eat my exercise calories back. I've been losing 2 pounds weekly.

    Um, why not?

    probably quicker weight loss.

    Speaking for myself, it irks me to do all that exercise only to eat all that hard work back.

  • otheliemoor
    otheliemoor Posts: 50 Member
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    I'm doing it a little differently. I've got my calorie goal set to maintenance and don't eat above that, but depending on the day I eat everything from 400 under to maintenance, if I eat back exercise calories depends on if I'm hungry after exercising.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    You bet I do.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    You bet I do.
  • ArkMom35
    ArkMom35 Posts: 225 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Absolutely! I eat to my goal and then eat 50-75% of my exercise calories too.
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Yep, i eat back all of my exercise cals (plus i use a Heart Rate Monitor to make sure the cals i burn are accurate).
    I have a big appetite, so have to eat them all back to ensure i have decent sized meals.
    I've never been able to "eat like a Bird" (Lol) and to me, that's what 1200 cals feels like.
    I haven't got much to lose, but i've lost 1lb a week so far (after 2 weeks).
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I don't, and never have, eaten back any exercise calories.

    For a long time, it was very rare that I'd eat as much as the "target" calories. As I've gotten closer to my initial goal weight, I've eaten much more consistently and very close to my target calories so that I can get a feel about where maintenance calories would be for me.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited April 2015
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    kimsko2010 wrote: »
    Do people eat all the recommended daily calories and lose weight? Seems like a lot. Curious what your experience has been!

    So I'm going to do what I hate when other people do, but I'm going to answer your question with a question.

    Your profile says you love to eat, but maintenance has gotten harder for you over the years. Plus you have put in you want to lose 38 lbs, approx. If that's the case, and you think your recommended daily calories is a lot (which MFP will auto calculate a deficit for you) then how did you get to a point where you feel you need to lose 38 lbs? Maybe you don't realize the caloric values in what you're eating now, but when you look at it 1,400 1,600 1,800 etc calories can be a lot of food - depending on how you spend you calories - or it can be very little food.

    It's not a lot of calories - it's just enough for you and what you need. If you really feel you cannot eat the calories needed to lose weight because it's too much then I think you're probably eating more than you think you are because that number of calories is based on the stats you put into MFP, and is based on a deficit your stats would need to lose weight which mathematically is less than the calories you've been consuming to be at a point where you want to lose 38 lbs.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
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    Yes!
  • spoonyspork
    spoonyspork Posts: 238 Member
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    No. I make sure I meet most of my nutritional needs (mainly: always at least 100% on the protein and at least 90-100% of fats and carbs) on whatever I feel like eating for the day and 'bank' the rest in case of weekend partying or having a really 'hungry' day. If weekend partying doesn't happen then I just drop more weight that week!

    I do make sure to net at least 1200, though I don't eat back my exercise calories except to net at least that, and make sure I go over 100% on carbs, fats, and proteins days I do exercise.

    I'm very close to maintenance now but have been doing it this way all along. Still averaging ~1.5 lb/wk loss (not still losing 1.5/wk consistently -- the average just continues to be that because it was a LOT more in the beginning and a LOT less now).
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    MCIBTY wrote: »
    Rockin2014 wrote: »
    No. I don't eat my exercise calories back. I've been losing 2 pounds weekly.

    Um, why not?

    probably quicker weight loss.

    Speaking for myself, it irks me to do all that exercise only to eat all that hard work back.

    I don't exercise for calorie burn. Example: I do strength training to keep as much lean muscle as I can while eating at a deficit. If I increase my deficit too much (not eating back any calories) then the hard work of strength training is defeated....it's like working out to increase muscle loss.

    OP - we all have different goals. Bottom line, pick numbers that are sustainable for you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    why wouldn't I? that calorie goal is a deficit based on the stats I put in...provided you put your information in accurately, I don't know why you wouldn't.

    what do you think is a lot? I lose weight easily on 2300 - 2500 calories per day...I need around 3000 to maintain. Most women who do just light exercise a few days per week can maintain around 2000 calories per day.

    "A lot" is always going to be relative...your caloric needs vary depending on stats and activity.
  • brightsideofpink
    brightsideofpink Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I think the only time I didn't is when I had the stomach flu. Because stomach flu.

    Otherwise, every single delicious one of them. 60 lbs gone in 48 weeks.

    I should note that I spent a great amount of time examining what the appropriate deficit was for my goals, and how to get there. I carefully weigh and log. I set my goal for a reason. Changing the inputs changes the output, and as I said, I chose that output with careful consideration.
  • Britxclarity
    Britxclarity Posts: 235 Member
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    I don't eat all of my mfp calories it gave me 2920.. When night time rolls around I usually have 1500 or more still left over. It worries me that I am doing it wrong? Should I be trying to reach 2920 everything? Granted I know before I could easily eat over 2920 in a day just by buying combo meals at fast food places and such..
    But since I'm trying to eat clean and actually consider what I put in my mouth.. I can't reach up to that number cause at the end of the night I'm full.

    All of this stuff is confusing I'm scared that since I'm not in taking the 2920 that Im slowing down the weight I could be losing weekly. And also my excersise that I do definitely does not burn a lot of calories for what I'm in taking for example: yesterday I used about 1600+ of my Calories but I only burned 478 of them while excesising for 23 minutes
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    kayfaei wrote: »
    I don't eat all of my mfp calories it gave me 2920.. When night time rolls around I usually have 1500 or more still left over. It worries me that I am doing it wrong? Should I be trying to reach 2920 everything? Granted I know before I could easily eat over 2920 in a day just by buying combo meals at fast food places and such..
    But since I'm trying to eat clean and actually consider what I put in my mouth.. I can't reach up to that number cause at the end of the night I'm full.

    All of this stuff is confusing I'm scared that since I'm not in taking the 2920 that Im slowing down the weight I could be losing weekly. And also my excersise that I do definitely does not burn a lot of calories for what I'm in taking for example: yesterday I used about 1600+ of my Calories but I only burned 478 of them while excesising for 23 minutes

    So what weight loss goal did you select?

    Like if 2 lbs weekly, that 2920 is already 1000 below what you burned in the day, and you missed it by another 1500, so eating well under 1/2 what you are burning.
    Body won't like that for long.
    Bigger is not better.

    But, what exercise did you do burning 478 cal in 23 min?
    That's actually very high - so either little to lose and very fit and very intense workout, or a lot to lose and fit and pretty decent workout.
  • Rockin2014
    Rockin2014 Posts: 196 Member
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    MCIBTY wrote: »
    Rockin2014 wrote: »
    No. I don't eat my exercise calories back. I've been losing 2 pounds weekly.

    Um, why not?

    Because I'm not hungry, my energy levels are great and I can't see why I should eat them just to eat them?
  • Britxclarity
    Britxclarity Posts: 235 Member
    edited April 2015
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    heybales wrote: »
    kayfaei wrote: »
    I don't eat all of my mfp calories it gave me 2920.. When night time rolls around I usually have 1500 or more still left over. It worries me that I am doing it wrong? Should I be trying to reach 2920 everything? Granted I know before I could easily eat over 2920 in a day just by buying combo meals at fast food places and such..
    But since I'm trying to eat clean and actually consider what I put in my mouth.. I can't reach up to that number cause at the end of the night I'm full.

    All of this stuff is confusing I'm scared that since I'm not in taking the 2920 that Im slowing down the weight I could be losing weekly. And also my excersise that I do definitely does not burn a lot of calories for what I'm in taking for example: yesterday I used about 1600+ of my Calories but I only burned 478 of them while excesising for 23 minutes

    So what weight loss goal did you select?

    Like if 2 lbs weekly, that 2920 is already 1000 below what you burned in the day, and you missed it by another 1500, so eating well under 1/2 what you are burning.
    Body won't like that for long.
    Bigger is not better.

    But, what exercise did you do burning 478 cal in 23 min?
    That's actually very high - so either little to lose and very fit and very intense workout, or a lot to lose and fit and pretty decent workout.

    I'm sorry you lost me a little - the weight loss goal? If you are asking my goal weight I set it to 173. But I a in the very low 400s if that helps.. The excersise I chose always is aerobic general. I use a treadmill and a galzelle or however you spell it
    And sorry op didn't mean to hijack your thread just hope I am doing this correctly
  • jcox147125
    jcox147125 Posts: 11 Member
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    I do but I have a fitbit so I feel its a bit more accurate for exercise burns than general tracking on MFP. Sometimes I will leave a couple hundred calories on active days as a buffer for my less active days though!
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    I eat all the calories.

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