Calories

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rluxie
rluxie Posts: 18 Member
in Introduce Yourself
So today I mowed the lawn and did my regular daily workout at Curves. Now my calorie intake has jumped from 1200 for the day to over 2100 for my exercise. Do I have to eat more? Can't I just have a deficit in calories in calories out? That part is a little confusing. It's not like I'm going to mow the lawn again tomorrow.

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  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
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    Lots of varying opinions on this one..... MFP is designed so that your net calories should be 1200 per day. That is food minus exercise = net. Lots of people eat their exercise calories burned back and lots don't. Lots of opinions on this one...just search the forums for "eating exercise calories". Do what works for you. Eat some more calories if you are hungry, if not hungry then don't. But that is just one opinion.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    one day here or there you will be alright, but if you have too large of a deficit over a number of days or weeks you will end up losing muscle, and slow your metabolism down.

    And remember, hunger is not a good indication of nutritional requirements.
  • jen_marie_1976
    jen_marie_1976 Posts: 41
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    I never eat my calories earned from exersize, im trying to lose weight not maintain it right now....
  • linzmarie316
    linzmarie316 Posts: 52
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    Those are your exercise calories, you are supposed to eat them. It will go back to 1200 tomorrow until you enter in your exercises for tomorrow. MFP already has a deficit built in, so you're supposed to eat your exercise calories to keep your body fueled and keep you from going into starvation mode. :)
  • kappy_hollowell
    kappy_hollowell Posts: 399
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    Lots of varying opinions on this one..... MFP is designed so that your net calories should be 1200 per day. That is food minus exercise = net. Lots of people eat their exercise calories burned back and lots don't. Lots of opinions on this one...just search the forums for "eating exercise calories". Do what works for you. Eat some more calories if you are hungry, if not hungry then don't. But that is just one opinion.

    Great advice. Some say yes, some say no. It just depends on you.

    I try to eat 1500/day regardless of what MFP says I have left. That's a 29% deficit from my maintenance. My maintenance calories would be 2100/day. so if I eat 1500, that's 600 off of my maintenance or 29%, which is a good number to shoot for! I hope that helps.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I never eat my calories earned from exersize, im trying to lose weight not maintain it right now....

    You will not gian by eating them, you will lose by eating them, in fact it is the only way to actually meet your weekly target caloric deficit. When you signed up for MFP it gave you an intake based on your weekly weight loss goal (500 cal deficit for a 1 lb weight loss) When you exercise you increase that deficit so if you burn 400, your deficit is not 900 (400+500) and if you want to meet your goal you must eat those 400 back to get your deficit at your target of 500 cals/day (900-400)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Lots of varying opinions on this one..... MFP is designed so that your net calories should be 1200 per day. That is food minus exercise = net. Lots of people eat their exercise calories burned back and lots don't. Lots of opinions on this one...just search the forums for "eating exercise calories". Do what works for you. Eat some more calories if you are hungry, if not hungry then don't. But that is just one opinion.

    Great advice. Some say yes, some say no. It just depends on you.

    I try to eat 1500/day regardless of what MFP says I have left. That's a 29% deficit from my maintenance. My maintenance calories would be 2100/day. so if I eat 1500, that's 600 off of my maintenance or 29%, which is a good number to shoot for! I hope that helps.

    Yes but if you workout and burn another 400 your deficit would then be 1000 (600+400) becuase for that day your maintenance would increase to 2500 (2100+400) so to keep you at your 600 cal deficit you would have to eat 2100 (2500-400)
  • anita1939
    anita1939 Posts: 13
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    Hi;
    I wish they would not do it that way and list the exercise separately
    I just deduct it from my Cal's it is the deficit that I am after. I will stick to my 1200 give or take and the deficit is a bonus to loosing.:flowerforyou:
  • rluxie
    rluxie Posts: 18 Member
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    Unfortunately I have been trying to lose weight for 3 years. As my profile says I am not an overeater and I am not inactive. I walked 3 miles a day 5 days a week for 13 weeks and gained 8 lbs. This was an increase in activity level for me as I had just retired from teaching for 20 years. I was devastated. My doctor told me I was over 50 get use to it.

    I think Eric is on the money here and have been afraid that I am not eating enough and therefore my body is in constant starvation mode. As a kid I could eat anything and barely gain a pound. My troubles started 10 years ago when I was put into menopause due to a tumor on both ovaries over two years. Thank God both were benign but the ovaries were removed to prove that.

    So I just want to thank everyone again for their input here. But I am going to eat up and hopefully trim down. :flowerforyou:
  • rluxie
    rluxie Posts: 18 Member
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    oh and I fired my doctor in June.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    deadhorse.gif
    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    Yes, eat them, otherwise you aren't consuming enough.

    If your car gets 300 miles on a tank of gas, and you fill it up and drive 50 miles extra, you don't expect to still drive 300 miles without putting more gas in it do you? Your body works the same way, you need so many calories a day to function, and if you burn extra above and beyond that, you need to eat them in order to fuel yourself properly.

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