Exercise and minimum calories

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catie224
catie224 Posts: 50
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! I'm writing because I'm concerned about having the right about of calories in relation to exercise. I have my daily intake set to 1200 calories, but usually work out for at least 30 mins a day, which adds an extra 300 calories. Does this mean that going below the new 1500 total will be putting my body into starvation mode? Sometimes I don't feel hungry enough to reach what is listed as my daily total (especially with longer workoutss). Help?!? Thanks!

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  • dcmr
    dcmr Posts: 2
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    I wish I had that problem. I, too, have a daily goal of 1,200, and workout 30 minutes a day. I almost always eat the extra calories. I would love to hear the advice of others.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    The 1200 calories is the minimum amount of calories women should eat in a day. If you workout and burn 300 calories but then don't eat the 300 calories back -- you're really only eating 900 calories. That isn't enough calories and after doing that long term it'll put you into starvation mode and/or will mess with your metabolism. By eating back the 300 calories, you aren't really eating 1500 calories because you're burning 300 of those calories.

    1200 (calories you're eating) -300 (exercise calories burned) = 900 (net after working out) + 300 (eating back) = 1200 total So while it SAYS you're eating 1500 -- you're really only eating 1200 because you burned those other 300 calories during exercise.
  • larisadixon
    larisadixon Posts: 201 Member
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    i say listen to how your body feels. some do and some dont eat them back. you have to figure out what works best for you. good luck
  • nikkkicp
    nikkkicp Posts: 9 Member
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    The 1200 calorie minimum is there so you can get the proper nutrients from food into your body. If you eat the 1200 calories, burn 300 calories, and then do not eat the extra 300 calories then your body will not go into starvation mode, because your metabolism is still working from the workout. Hope this helps!!!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I really don't know if it will put you into starvation mode, it's a terrible term and gets thown around way too much!.
    The way I prefer to look at it is that when you are exercising you need to give your body good fuel to work with.
    If you eat those exercise calories you still have the same calorie deficit that MFP gave you, so as long as you are logging pretty accurately you should lose weight.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Yes, you are intended to eat them, and not eating them may negatively impact your weight loss and your health. You want your Net (on home page) to be at least 1200 each day.

    Here are some threads to read that discuss this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    well that would depend on how much you have to shed but on 1200 a day I would recommend eating them back, all of them. MFP has you setup to lose the weight without any exercise at all, so not eating them back will hinder the muscle recovery which in turn will help you burn more fat.

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