Goal 1200 calories...Net Total

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Jbugfit2011
Jbugfit2011 Posts: 105
in Food and Nutrition
My calorie goal is 1200 a day. I have been exercising 4-5 days a week. Each session burns approx 500. With that said it brings my calorie intake up. She I be focusing on my original goal of 1200 or and I suppose to eat to reach the new goal after I have burned calories through fitness. Also I have been eating whatever I want just staying within the 1200 calorie range. Any advice would be really helpful.

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  • DKev
    DKev Posts: 266 Member
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    You should at least partially eat back your exercise calorie burn.
  • sister_bear
    sister_bear Posts: 529 Member
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    There's lengthy debate on this topic. Some will say yes and some will say no and I'll let them tell you their experiences.

    Mine has been that if I feel like I need to eat more, I eat it. If I don't feel like I need to eat more, I don't. I let my body tell me.
  • kirstyfromscotland
    kirstyfromscotland Posts: 555 Member
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    i have been wondering this 2 beacuse sometimes it says i am eating 2 few cals but b4 my work out i was not very much under, lets hope we get sum good advice.x
  • JFoster26
    JFoster26 Posts: 13
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    I have a very similar routine going and I had the same question. I've been trying to figure that one out myself, so I think I'll just be a 'thread stalker' and find out with you! =)
  • Terri_39
    Terri_39 Posts: 122
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    You kind of just need to get to know your body. If eating back your calories doesn't work then try not eating them back. It's a learning process and it won't happen instantly but you will get to know what works for you and what doesn't. Everyone is different.
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    Eat em back. Yes. Do it.
  • steph19812008
    steph19812008 Posts: 7
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    I generally do eat mine back. I tend to do my exercise in the evenings and i find it gives me a little bit more motivation to burn off more because I can look forward to having something decent when I get home. I've been doing it for around 2 months and am happy with the way my weight loss is going.
  • Lindz8afish
    Lindz8afish Posts: 342 Member
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    From my experience, I have almost always eaten majority of them back. I never had very good luck keeping my calories at 1200 before working out. My max calories is 1500, then if I burn 500 calories I try to eat around 80% of that back. MFP already calculates a loss between what you burn doing normal activity and your calorie intake, so that is why it adjusts to give you more calories when you workout. In my opinion (I'm no expert) my metabolism slowed way down when I ate just 1200 calories.

    Also, be careful what you eat.. whole, non-processed foods will do you a lot more good than processed foods. And drink lots of water. Water helps with sodium retention and sort of flushes your system out. Hope that helps clear up some confusion. It took me a long time to understand the eat more, lose more concept. But I feel great and I actually don't want a lot of junk anymore :)
  • Angela4Health
    Angela4Health Posts: 1,319 Member
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    Eat em back. Yes. Do it.
    ^^^ this! eat em back, all of em!
  • misssmiles
    misssmiles Posts: 207 Member
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    eat what your body tells you it needs... nothing more
  • kensky
    kensky Posts: 472 Member
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    Your net should be no less than 1200 calories.
  • teryx07
    teryx07 Posts: 1
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    Originally MFP told me I should be eating 1200 cal/day (I want to lose about 10 pounds but don't want to do it too quickly and gain it all back). I did this for a couple days and knew it was not sustainable. I calculated my BMR at 1300-1400 and generally work out twice a week (exercise class) plus a walk once or twice a week plus working around our property on the weekends. After I entered exercise for the first time and saw it bump up my daily alotted calories by 250 I decided not to count exercise with MFP at all. Here's the main issue: I don't want to get in the habit of thinking, "I worked out; I get to eat more." Someday when I stop tracking calories it will be way too easy to eat more crap instead of more good stuff, especially because a hard workout makes you hungry! (I actually read an interesting article on this at cnn.com a few weeks ago....) I opted to bump my calories per day to 1500 (figured I burn at least 100-200 being at work, walking to/from my car, taking the stairs, walking to lunch, etc.) and I think of any exercise I do as a "bonus" calorie-burner. This way I'm not so limited by minimal calories and my MFP allowance doesn't vary based on activity level for the day. I've lost 5 pounds in three weeks (138 --> 133). I feel this loosey-goosey method will be sustainable for me for a long time, even after I hit my goal.

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