Calories and Exercise

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Ok, new person question. My dairy says that I am under my calorie count for the day and that I may be starving myself. I am constantly eating/snacking but my calorie loss from my daily workouts totals 300-500 calories. Do I need to eat even more to replace the calories lost from working out? I don't know if my stomach can take it! lol Any help would be greatly appreciated! :) Thanks!

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  • Aggelakis
    Aggelakis Posts: 1
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    Can you either a) post an example of your calorie intake for the day (broken up by meals/snacks, not just the total), or b) open up your food journal to external viewers so that we can see if you're inputting incorrectly? Cos if you don't feel sick/tired/run down, AND you have enough energy to workout for 300-500 calories a day, it seems like you're not logging properly.

    AND YES! You do need to eat more to account for calorie "loss" by exercise. This is your body acting above "normal", which takes more calories to maintain.

    But keep in mind that the journal is only "guessing" - you are the one that has the final judgment: do you FEEL good? Do you FEEL full? Then you're probably doing it right.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    dont believe it.

    go on what your body tells you and how you feel..everyone is different and everyone responds differently to 'dieting'. there are NO set fast rules for this.
  • biznurse
    biznurse Posts: 81
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    My rule of thumb is to eat at least half of the calories I burn....

    I go by BMI so need about 2000 cal daily for healthy weight loss, but think about this. Your body needs a certain amount of energy (calories) to do all of the normal functions. When you have less calories there than needed.... SOMETHING gets hurt....

    You'd not put water in your car and expect it to run at top speed. Put Premium Gas as in proper nutrition in your body with a balance of exercise and you will do well!! HUGS!! Linda/RN
  • kroman911
    kroman911 Posts: 11
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    Thanks for the input. I usually replace about 1/2 of the calories that I burn working out, but it depends on what time of day I work out as well. The only thing I have noticed is that I feel a little more tired than usual, not sure if that's attributed to my swing shift or malnutrition, could be a little of both. I think for that, I will eat a little bit more with my meals to replace the nutrition that I have lost throughout the day and put a little more meat in my diet, that seems to be lacking lately.
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    Are you eating to enough?

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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


    This is just a part of it! please read the link above


    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677



    Good luck on your journey