Confused???

I have the same questions

Yes! Eat your exercise calories!

Also - there's a lot to be said for doing your research and checking out online health magazines.

Women's Health is accessible online
Men's Health is also accessible.

Prevention is a good source
MSNBC.com also has some hints and tips from time-to-time.

Welcome. Congratulations on wanting to take control of your life! Here's the easiest way to look at it. You need to reduce your caloric intake by 3500 calories per week to lose 1 pound. Based on your height and weight, your body naturally uses X amount of calories. Then you have any additional activity your body engages in that burns more calories. So anything above that amount you are consuming will add up and you gain weight.

So if you are burning 1700 calories per day (let's say), then you need to consume 1200 per day for a week to lose 1 pound. That creates a weekly deficit of 3500 calories. Now if you exercise, you can do one of two things. You can eat those calories and remain at your consistent 1 pound per week loss or you can stick to your same daily calorie limit and lose even more each week. It is up to you, and there is no right or wrong answer. However, just remember you don't want to lose too much weight too quickly. Slow and consistent is better.

As for what you are eating, again it is your preference. You can eat more nutritious food and be as healthy as you can be, or you can eat garbage and keep it within the limits of what you are proportioned. I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that the healthier you eat, the better. However, don't set standards you won't be able to commit to. If you have that one thing you just know you need to have everyday to keep you on track the rest of the day, DO IT! Allow yourself some pleasures, but be relatively strict everywhere else. Hope that helps!

I am new and trying to sort and process all this great info! I have recently, last 2 years gained about 30/35 lbs. The weight has started to affect my social, work, and family life. I am comitted to winning this battle of bulge. With that said I want to make sure that I am doing all that I can to be successful! 1200 calories a
day enough? Should I eat my exercise calories? Is what I'm eating ok as long as I'm within my daily calories, fat, carb, and protein allowances? I am so appreciative of this site and so encouraged by the many success stories! You guys make me feel like I can do it!:laugh:

HEY! hopefully i have some ANSWERS

1. Welcome to MFP! read the posts for newbies It will help you get an understanding of how this works.
2. It sounds like your goals/situation were the same as mine as when I first started, so add me as a friend!
3. what are your stats now? So i can answer your question about 1200 cals enough. For now, do a few weeks with that.. see how it goes.. see if you can tolerate that for a while, see what results you get in a few weeks..
4. They need to have a banner running across the screen every time you log in that says - EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES!! Because MFP gives you a daily deficit to lose weight without exercise. Now, of course the benefits of exercise are amazing anyways. But, if you exercise.. log it.. and you can eat more and still lose the weight. (since MFP already gave you your deficit)
5. Some people do whatever works for me. Some people eat clean (healthful foods/veggies/fruits/whole grains...and no junk food) and that works for them. Some people eat whatever they want.. but keep it in portion control. Personally, I do a little bit of both. I do choose healthy foods most of the time. but I love to splurge and If i want to have ice cream everyday for a week straight, i just make sure you budget my calories within my range. BUT ALSO, once you get used to eating healthier choices and such, you realize that you feel much better because you are getting the nutrients you needs and blah blah blah! LOL. which is true. I recently increased my proteins and I saw a major difference in the way I felt. (not hungry at night anymore...)

*good luck!

*if I am confusing (some people say I am) lol.. then DEFINITELY read the posts for newbies at the beginning of the forums.

anyone have any thing to say why I haven't lost any weight but 1lb:flowerforyou:

anyone have any thing to say why I haven't lost any weight but 1lb:flowerforyou:

give it time - who knows? next week, you might loss 2. Healthy weight loss is slow.. (and i'm impatient about it !! haha.) But its the way to go. how close are you to your goal/healthy weight? If you are close, then it's harder to lose weight the closer you get to your goal.

other suggestions:
reevaluate everything... are you measuring portions correctly? overestimating calories burned during exercise? unrealistic goals?

Just a few! Good luck with everything and i hope you get over this rut!

Still another question- they lower your calories after 10lbs even if you were started on 1200! I don't think it would be healthy nor could function on 700 calories.

Yes, they lower your calories every so often, but it isn't that drastic. It's more like 20-30 per day or 150-200 per week difference. No need to stress. You will never be restricted to that low of calories.