1200 calorie intake + working out

ElleBellesTheoBear
ElleBellesTheoBear Posts: 67 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm on a 1200 calorie daily intake which I'm finding easy and I'm not hungry all the time... mainly just before bed and when I wake up (which isn't like starving more like I could do with a snack)

My question is, recently I have been going to the gym 4x a week alongside daily walks etc... so I getting an allowance for my exercise. The weight isn't falling off me? I'm actually loosing maybe 1-2 lbs a week..... should I be eating some or all of the calories back? Even tho everything what I'm doing is still a healthy weightloss amount of 1-2lbs a week?

Replies

  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    1-2 pounds a week aint a bad haul. It's also not healthy to lose weight too quickly.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    saraht4392 wrote: »
    I'm actually loosing maybe 1-2 lbs a week

    One to two pounds is fine. Anything more than two pounds is not such a good idea unless under supervision of a doctor.

    Losing weight does not happen over night and patience is as important as monitoring your calorie intake and burn.
  • chakug
    chakug Posts: 28 Member
    saraht4392 wrote: »
    I'm on a 1200 calorie daily intake which I'm finding easy and I'm not hungry all the time... mainly just before bed and when I wake up (which isn't like starving more like I could do with a snack)

    My question is, recently I have been going to the gym 4x a week alongside daily walks etc... so I getting an allowance for my exercise. The weight isn't falling off me? I'm actually loosing maybe 1-2 lbs a week..... should I be eating some or all of the calories back? Even tho everything what I'm doing is still a healthy weightloss amount of 1-2lbs a week?

    i was eating 1200 calories in first two months of my diet and i lost 25 pounds. I didn't feel too hungry on most of the days, little snacks helped. Now that i am burning more calories from exercise (700-800 calories ) and also added strength training I have increased my intake to 1400-1500 calories and Im never hungry
  • JuliaPantleo
    JuliaPantleo Posts: 1 Member
    I'm no doctor, but I would work on trying to eat some of those calories back. If you deficit too much, then your body can go into starvation mode, and try to cling onto that unwanted fat.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    JuliaPantleo wrote: »
    I'm no doctor, but I would work on trying to eat some of those calories back. If you deficit too much, then your body can go into starvation mode, and try to cling onto that unwanted fat.

    Nope. Starvation mode doesn't work that way.

    OP, the way MFP is set up you're meant to eat the exercise calories back. How much do you have to lose?
  • ElleBellesTheoBear
    ElleBellesTheoBear Posts: 67 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    JuliaPantleo wrote: »
    I'm no doctor, but I would work on trying to eat some of those calories back. If you deficit too much, then your body can go into starvation mode, and try to cling onto that unwanted fat.

    Nope. Starvation mode doesn't work that way.

    OP, the way MFP is set up you're meant to eat the exercise calories back. How much do you have to lose?

    I'm looking to be 120-140lbs (depending on how I feel at that point) so around 50-70lbs . I do want to do this the healthy way and I know it's going to my a life long journey to maintain the healthy lifestyle. I don't expect it to fall off (I actually very much agree with everyone with regards to that :smile: )

    I'm more so wondering, if I'm loosing that weight slow and steady should I maintain what I'm doing or should I be eating those calories back that's my workouts are adding :-). Im giving myself 9-10 months as a goal to loose it then it will be more about maintaining.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    saraht4392 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    JuliaPantleo wrote: »
    I'm no doctor, but I would work on trying to eat some of those calories back. If you deficit too much, then your body can go into starvation mode, and try to cling onto that unwanted fat.

    Nope. Starvation mode doesn't work that way.

    OP, the way MFP is set up you're meant to eat the exercise calories back. How much do you have to lose?

    I'm looking to be 120-140lbs (depending on how I feel at that point) so around 50-70lbs . I do want to do this the healthy way and I know it's going to my a life long journey to maintain the healthy lifestyle. I don't expect it to fall off (I actually very much agree with everyone with regards to that :smile: )

    I'm more so wondering, if I'm loosing that weight slow and steady should I maintain what I'm doing or should I be eating those calories back that's my workouts are adding :-). Im giving myself 9-10 months as a goal to loose it then it will be more about maintaining.

    If your your net calories are above a safe lower limit, I wouldn't eat them back unless you want to....like if you are hungry or that sweet *kitten* piece of cake is calling your name. I don't eat them back for the sake of eating the back.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    chakug wrote: »
    saraht4392 wrote: »
    I'm on a 1200 calorie daily intake which I'm finding easy and I'm not hungry all the time... mainly just before bed and when I wake up (which isn't like starving more like I could do with a snack)

    My question is, recently I have been going to the gym 4x a week alongside daily walks etc... so I getting an allowance for my exercise. The weight isn't falling off me? I'm actually loosing maybe 1-2 lbs a week..... should I be eating some or all of the calories back? Even tho everything what I'm doing is still a healthy weightloss amount of 1-2lbs a week?

    i was eating 1200 calories in first two months of my diet and i lost 25 pounds. I didn't feel too hungry on most of the days, little snacks helped. Now that i am burning more calories from exercise (700-800 calories ) and also added strength training I have increased my intake to 1400-1500 calories and Im never hungry

    males should not eat below 1500 net calories a day unless under the supervision of a doctor.you dont get enough of the right nutrients eating less than that.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    saraht4392 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    JuliaPantleo wrote: »
    I'm no doctor, but I would work on trying to eat some of those calories back. If you deficit too much, then your body can go into starvation mode, and try to cling onto that unwanted fat.

    Nope. Starvation mode doesn't work that way.

    OP, the way MFP is set up you're meant to eat the exercise calories back. How much do you have to lose?

    I'm looking to be 120-140lbs (depending on how I feel at that point) so around 50-70lbs . I do want to do this the healthy way and I know it's going to my a life long journey to maintain the healthy lifestyle. I don't expect it to fall off (I actually very much agree with everyone with regards to that :smile: )

    I'm more so wondering, if I'm loosing that weight slow and steady should I maintain what I'm doing or should I be eating those calories back that's my workouts are adding :-). Im giving myself 9-10 months as a goal to loose it then it will be more about maintaining.

    As a rough rule of thumb, strive to not lose more than 1% of your bodyweight weekly. Even that could be too much as you get closer to goal. Once you get to maybe 25 pounds above goal, you probably don't want to be losing more than 1 pound per week, and at 10-15 pounds to go, not more than 0.5 pound per week. Slower than that is always fine, and can give you better practice about how you can eat once you reach maintenance.

    It's absolutely true that MFP's calculations are designed with the idea that you should eat back exercise calories, but your actual, personal weight loss rate is the very best guide (better than MFP's estimates) to what calorie deficit your combination of eating & exercise is truly producing.

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