Meeting Calorie Requirements (Vegan)

jesswallace
jesswallace Posts: 2
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Today is my first day using myfitnesspal. I have found a true joy from working out and going to the gym in the past few months, but I had gained some weight last summer. I am using this website to keep myself aware of how much I eat and the control my portions. I have logged the food I ate today and the exercise I will be doing once I leave work. The calorie calculator is saying that I need to consume 2,030 calories with my exercise included.

My goal is to lose weight and 'weight loss calculator' suggested I eat 1,200 calories a day. I do not understand why I am supposed to now eat 2,030 calories today, nor do I think I can eat another 1,084 calories today (although I am probably under estimating myself!)

What happens if I do not eat as many calories as it tells me to? Will I still loose weight? On days that I do not work out, will it readjust my calorie intake?

Any help and advice on how to use the site would be greatly appreciated! I am glad to have a community of people who are interested in eating well and staying fit and healthy.

Also, any vegans!?!?!?

Ciao,
Jessica

Replies

  • luminescence
    luminescence Posts: 21 Member
    I'm vegetarian. Hello!

    Eating those extra exercise calories will help you, so you won't plateau in the future. It will also made your body consume 1200 NET calories, which your body needs to survive. Otherwise, your body could end up going into starvation mode and start storing fat.

    Good luck!
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    You probably set your "goal" to lose 2 pounds a week -- MFP will never give you somethig lower than 1200 and usually that is still too low. Without knowing more about it though, its hard to guess what you should be doing. (height, weight, gender, goal weight, activity level are all factors)
  • Mommyof3loves
    Mommyof3loves Posts: 276
    are you getting the extra calories from working out? Because it does add that to your caloric intake for the day.
  • Doomfrog
    Doomfrog Posts: 79
    Hi there! I have mine set at 1200 calories per day for 2 pounds per week. I always aim to eat back half of my exercise calories on top of my 1200 calories. Sometimes it is hard because I work out pretty hard and can't eat enough calories without eating crap. I've been at this for a month and suspect I'm PROBABLY not eating enough on some days, so I'm just kind of messing around with my intake and seeing what works. On some days, I think I feel the way I feel due to a lack of nutrients and not necessarily a lack of food.

    I'm not a vegan, though I do occasionally go meat free for a while. I found that veganism did not work with my constitution, but that could have been due to lack of education at the young age I tried it. I do experiment frequently with vegan baked goods! I moved to Florida from Portland, OR, and fancy myself to be a bit of a baker, so I got an "I can do better than that!" bug up my butt. Although, Vegan Magic Cookie bars aren't not exactly conducive to my current journey. :)
  • middlemask
    middlemask Posts: 9
    It sounds like you exercise a lot! Which is great, but this is why you are being told to eat more. You are easily going to burn off those extra calories and if you only eat 1200 when you exercise that can be very dangerous you will send your body into starvation mode and you won't lose weight as quickly or in a healthy way. I would probably eat 1300 on days when you don't exercise and eat the recommend calories on days you do. Just to be safe. You will lose weight this way I promise!
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
    Vegan here! :flowerforyou:

    I'm not sure what to tell you about the calories. If you earned them with exercise, I recommend that you eat a least some of them, because your body needs the fuel for working out!

    My net is set to lose a half pound a week (1530 net calories) and I usually earn about 500 exercise calories, but rarely do I eat all 2030. Usually I end up eating around 1800, but I will eat all of them if I'm really hungry!
  • squeak1989
    squeak1989 Posts: 29
    Vegan here! - well mostly. After 5 years of strict veganism I've fallen into to temptation a few times over the last 6 months which I feel very guilty about.

    The extra calories are due to exercise and relative to however much you burn through exercise per day so that you always maintain a net calorie intake of 1200cals. That being said alot of people on here seem to disagree exactly whether you should eat back all your exercise calories or if not how many to avoid your body going into starvation mode.

    As for eating vegan, when home cooking I used to find it quite hard to eat up to my calorie allowance. I guess because the sheer amount of vegetables you can include in your meals for your calories kept me full up but when eating unhealthy convience food I can go way over because my only option is carbohydrate rich foods. People have suggested eating nuts if you need to make up alot of calories but without getting too full up.
  • FaithsVegWorkout
    FaithsVegWorkout Posts: 471
    I cook and eat vegan most of the time (except yogurt for breakfast) because my husband is vegan. I find the days I amp up my carbs or nuts or oils, I'm fine calorie-wise.
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