working out vs starvation mode

Thats what I don't understand either! Let me know if you figure it out

-Danielle

I'm in the same boat you are...with my workouts I burn around 1000-1200 daily...and I never come anywhere close to consuming those calories plus the 1500 I'm supposed to be netting daily for my 500 calorie deficit. I think in order to keep the metabolism going as strong as possible...you have to be as close as you can to getting your net calorie goal daily.
For some of us that means eating double what we usually do! I struggle with it, I never come anywhere close.

Okay i am totally with you guys!! I haven't lost a single pound (in fact i think i have gained a few) since christmas....which is when i got a treadmill, so i have been going to the gym and running EVERY day, it is SO discouraging!! My workouts have gotten much more intense, and i read everything about eating the extra cal. so i did and still didn't lose anything! Plus i felt sick because i was eating like 2500 cal!!! I eat totally healthy, fresh foods 99% of the time so what gives????

If you're only burning a couple hundred calories while working out, it's not going to make a huge difference if you don't eat them, but when you're burning 700 -1000 calories a day, you should definitely be eating some of them, at the very least.

Take into consideration that the site gives you a 500 calorie deficit already, meaning the calories it tells you to eat before exercise calories is already 500 under what you need to maintain your weight. Add to that the 700-1000 calories you're burning, that's 1200 - 1500 less than you need, which could definitely put your body into starvation mode.

I'd reccomend that you eat so you don't feel hungry. Don't force yourself to eat them all if you're not hungry, but definitely try to eat some of those calories you're burning off, you'll still be putting a lot less calories in than you need/are putting out. You'll still lose a lot of weight, but without it being risky.

Hope that's helpful.

This site offers you general guidelines to losing weight in a healthy manner and it should be consider just that, "a guideline." so I have to disagree with eating to the limit accumulated to the level you work out to achieve a balance in your health.

It's been my personal experience that you eat to the level you originally targeted prior to working out. You only add a little more calories to your intake if you find yourself hungry between meals.

If you eat only to the level you originally targeted (prior to working out) depending on your body fat you should see the weight drop off pretty steadily and it won't be "starvation" providing your not making yourself exist past the hunger pains.

I'll use myself as a prime example. I started getting my act together on the 2nd of Jan with a goal of getting myself from 235.5 pounds back down to 180. My calorie goal was set to lose no more than 2lbs each week my daily calorie intake is supposed to be 1570 before exercising and with exercise I'm supposed to eat to 2100 calories. Very few times have I felt hungry between my eating plan schedule and I spread it out over the day and in between meals. I've managed to drop nearly 25lbs since I started, much more than 2lbs a week, by doing this and I can only assume that my body fat was a lot higher than I even realized.

The computer program has twice now asked me if I wanted to alter my goals and habits and I've declined.... so far.

I sincerely believe that the key to success here is to manage your calorie intake based on your body's demand for food and not because a computer program tells you to eat more.

Well my daily goal is around 1660 daily but I am eating my 3 meals and 3 snacks and I have not mananged to eat the complete 1660 yet and I have not even began to work out. I have saw some progress but along with the calorie counting I am following the South Beach regimen to make sure my body is getting what it needs.

But for thoes of you who are confused about this whole calorie thing just drink a protien shake or bar to make sure you do not go into starvation mode. Like many posted it does not make since to burn them just to eat them because the goal is to loose the weight to consume less calories.

You only get the starvation message if you eat UNDER your minimum calories...i.e. 1200 calories. If you eat 1100, you get the message. If you eat 1200, you don't get the message.

If you eat 1200 and burn 1200, you don't get the message.

If you eat 1100 and burn 700, you get the message