Newbie needs help

missvivian
missvivian Posts: 4
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

Today is day 2 on myfitnesspal. I'm confused about how many calories I should be consuming. I set my goal at 1,100 calories. I earned 270 calories in exercise so it says that my daily goal was 1,370. I consumed 1,169 (which, without exercise exceeded my allotted 1,100 calories) and saw the message that I ate too few calories and may be putting my body into starvation mode.

So does this mean that I need to consume all my earned exercise calories? I thought consuming my allotted calories and then earning exercise calories was good and would help me lose faster. How do I lose while consuming what I earned in exercise?

I hope this makes sense! Thanks!

Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    This site sets you up with a calories deficit based on your weight loss goal (1/lb a week is the best goal, so 500 calories burned more a day than eaten). This deficit exists if you exercise or not. When you exercise it will tell you to eat more in order to maintain the set deficit.
  • missvivian
    missvivian Posts: 4
    So it's recommended I eat all of what I earned in exercise?
  • mama_mia3
    mama_mia3 Posts: 66
    question. did you set your calorie goal yourself? i'm almost wondering if that might be a bit too low? but idk... If MFP figured that for you then I guess its okay ...afterall, you are only 100 below my goal of 1200 and MFP set that for me!! It's always a big debate on the forum as to eat or not eat your exercise calories. My advice is to trust your body. If you're hungry after a workout - EAT! Just be smart about it. I only log the exercise that gets my heart pumping. I try to eat at least 50-75% of them back, but I'm usually pretty hungry after a good sweat fest...sometimes I'm not. Lots of ppl will be either "pro-eat" or "anti-eat" but Im pretty firm on listening to my body.

    The 'warning' at the bottom.... i get that alot. I eat alot of fresh vegetables.. MFP goes off numbers only. it doesnt look at the kinds of foods your eating or that you eating 6 small meals a day, so if you're eating clean i wouldnt worry too much about it.
  • missvivian
    missvivian Posts: 4
    Thanks for the information! Yes, i originally manually set my goal at 1,100. I changed it to the recommended 1,200 and didn't get that warning even though I didn't eat all my earned calories. But you're right, sometimes, I can go without being hungry and other days, after a good workout, I'm starving. So going forward, I will listen to my body.
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