Daily calorie goal vs. Calorie goal plus calories burned

zombierockstar69
zombierockstar69 Posts: 23
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
My set daily calorie goal is 1600, but when I reach or exceed my daily calories to burn goal it adds on to the 1600. Is it healthy or unhealthy to add more calories to my diet when it's gone above my daily calorie goal???

PS Hope this wasn't confusing (=

Replies

  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
    it adds calories to your day because of your exercise (I'm assuming, at least). You are technically supposed to eat them back, but I honestly never did, at least not ALL of them.
  • MrsRobertson1005
    MrsRobertson1005 Posts: 552 Member
    It has it set to where at 1600 calories a day you will reach your goal. If you have less after you burn it is ok as long as its over 1200.. but if you consume too little it might slow down your metabolism and thus your weight loss
    Sometimes I eat mine back, sometimes i don't just depends
  • 6heatherb6
    6heatherb6 Posts: 469 Member
    I don't usually eat my exercise calories either...'they' say you should but I don't think so...maybe when on maintenance but not when you are trying to loose weight...unless you start doing marathons etc...
    All the very best:flowerforyou:
  • leslieanned
    leslieanned Posts: 17
    OOOOHHHH! i get it now! ok so as long as it meets or exceeds 1200 calories im ok? do u know if its still 1200 calories if my daily goal is currently more than 1600??
  • leslieanned
    leslieanned Posts: 17
    i dont see any marathons in my future. lol ( i hate running, more of a fast walker my self) lol thank you for your input!!
  • gothicprophet
    gothicprophet Posts: 189
    The 1200 cal/day threshold is to keep yourself out of "starvation mode" - which is where your body will put pretty much everything you eat into storage (fat).

    If MFP is recommending you eat 1600 cal/day to get to your desired goal, I believe that's 1600 cal/day without any exercise but I could be wrong.
  • blisterpeanuts
    blisterpeanuts Posts: 67 Member
    I've been eating most of my exercise calories and so far it doesn't seem to have slowed down my weight loss at all.

    It's so nice to know I have an extra 500-600 calories. It's like finding free money on the sidewalk! I like to work out a lot early in the A.M. if I know I'm going out to eat, or to a function where they'll have fattening hors d'oevres and desserts and stuff, and I just keep on losing weight.

    I have read on other dieting websites that some people advise eating half of their exercise calories. I don't know, it all probably depends on your particular physiology and what works for you.

    It's hard to imagine, though, that I'm going to go into starvation mode after one of my weekend marathon 1200 calorie workouts, when I'm eating maybe 600 or 700 calories above my baseline. Mathematically, yes, I'm short 500 cals, but realistically--come on, after eating grilled chicken over a large vinegar-and-oil salad, plus sweet potato fries, plus a couple of ice cream sandwiches?
    :)
  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
    I don't eat my calories back either. Mentally I feel like it defeats the purpose of sticking to a strict diet and exercising to lose weight. The more I exercise the more I should lose is my logic, why would I then want to eat back the calories I just burned off? To me that makes sense if you are trying to maintain, but with 30+ lbs to lose I need the calorie deficit to be as large as it can be! My favorite most exhilirating days are when I eat at or just under the 1200 calories and work out for an hour or more buring 1000+ calories. As long as I don't go into starvation mode I feel like the 1200 calories a day intake is adequate for me.
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