Anyone still lose 2 lbs/week and eat...

Debs, there's all sorts of answers to that. Bear in mind that weight loss is 80% diet, exercise doesn't make a huge contribution from that point of view. BUT it contributes MASSIVELY to overall health, which should be the main goal of losing weight, not just getting into skinny jeans. Exercise will help change your body composition, lowering your body fat so you're not "skinny fat", and increasing your metabolism so you're still torching calories while watching the X Factor.

And the thing that appeals to most of us is it's very hard to stick to a reduced calorie diet. Being able to eat more but still remain at a calorie deficit that will enable us to lose a target amount every week is a HUGE benefit of the way MFP works over other programmes, and the reason it's the only one many of us have stuck with far longer than more traditional approaches.

Thanks Berry. So when MFP tells me I have 588 cals remaining after I've entered my exercise, I do actually have that amount left and I should eat it? I like to save any cals remaining for the weekend.
Does this mean I can do less exercise? Can I stay home and eat less? Nah that wouldn't happen. I'd get bored and eat more.
xx

I'm already very close to my target weight (a kilo to go that just won't budge) and simply can't NOT eat my exercise calories back. My body seems to know very well how much it wants and if I don't eat at least 1600 calories a day, I feel horribly deprived and am so hungry at night I can't sleep. I could never keep that up. Ergo I work out to earn those extra 400 calories I need a day and eat back every single one. Been able to keep that up for four months now and I'm almost there.

So eating them all back works just fine for me. I might even have to eat a little more to lose that very last kilo... But even if I don't and just stay where I am, I'll be happy with myself.

robin yes i had the lap-band surgery and yes i was under the care of a dr. and a nutritionist. i didn't go into those details because my point was that our situations are not all the same so our approaches do not have to be the same. i guess mfp "has a program" but it is also a calculator tool and support group. there is no law that says everyone has to use it the same way. as your friend on here, i see how you police the forums looking for people who do not "follow the plan" and i find that you are often very condescending to those who for whatever reason do not approach it the way you believe they should approach it (for example CAPLOCKING WORDS for emphasis). mfp does not in anyway in your diary specifically say your goal is to eat exactly your calorie goal and in fact when you come in under it it posts a rather congratulatory message in your feed. you seem to believe it is somehow clear that you are "required" to eat all your allotted calories however it is not.

personally, if i was answering a question someone asked me in a forum on here i would be quite put off if i got a response in the tone you used with this poster. that is why i stepped in to put in my two cents. again, we are free to use the tool mfp as we wish, there is no law that says it needs to be used in a specific way. personally, my nutritionist told me that all these theories about "starvation mode" are greatly misunderstood and overblown. why can't those of us who haven't "bought into it" the way you have freely post our opinions without being treated as "heretics"?

If you plan on eating your exercise calories back, just make sure your counts are ACCURATE. If you are relying on estimates of exercise calories...like from MFP's database, or from the treadmill machine you are running on, etc... then you are relying on numbers that are, at best, wild guesses. Generally, wild guesses that are going to be substantially higher than what you actually burned. If so: eating back your exercise calories just means eating away at your calorie deficit.

Buy a good heart rate monitor first, IMO, and use it.

personally, I never eat them all back. Rarely eat any of them back. Working great for me, but YMMV. Every body is different.

I don't eat all mine back but I try to maintain a net of 1200. MFP allows me just over 1400 a day, so most days it's not in the green by more than 200 if I can help it!

well then you should eat 200 more per day.

It's not "MFP allows me to go up to..."
It's "My goal to REACH DAILY is...."

There is a built-in deficit IN your goal already. You should NOT be increasing it more.
If they say to NET "just over 1400" then NET JUST OVER 1400!!!! It's that simple. Why are you "trying to maintain a net of 1200"?!?! That is not your recommended goal.

:noway:

Sorry but I am honestly DUMBFOUNDED by people who think they can achieve their goals in a healthy manner while eating 1200 calories.
1200 is the BARE MINIMUM healthy amount. Why push it, go with the healthy goal given to you.

Maybe I should have explained a little more - because clearly according to you I'm doing it all wrong.

I started off eating all my exercise calories back (measured using a HRM with a chest strap, so fairly accurate) and didn't lose anywhere near 2lb per week. So I have tweaked and tweaked until I came to this solution which WORKS FOR ME at the moment. Once it stops working, believe me, I'll change it up. I don't see the point in eating extra food if I'm not hungry. If I am hungry though, I'll happily eat everything available to me in MFP's allowance.

I just thought I'd give someone an insight into WHAT WORKS FOR ME AT THE MOMENT. Thanks for shooting me down.

Good for you! Just do what works for you and your body and you will be fine. I'll never understand why people think that weight loss is a one-size-fits-all cookie cutter approach. I understand that science is science, but people forget about genetics sometimes and how that can factor in to what you have to do. Don't let anyone get you down!

I AM NEW TO THIS. WHAT ARE EXERCISE CALORIES?

Exercise calories are the calories that you burn while you exercise. You should eat most of them back each day for continued sustainable fat loss.

I don't eat all mine back but I try to maintain a net of 1200. MFP allows me just over 1400 a day, so most days it's not in the green by more than 200 if I can help it!

well then you should eat 200 more per day.

It's not "MFP allows me to go up to..."
It's "My goal to REACH DAILY is...."

There is a built-in deficit IN your goal already. You should NOT be increasing it more.
If they say to NET "just over 1400" then NET JUST OVER 1400!!!! It's that simple. Why are you "trying to maintain a net of 1200"?!?! That is not your recommended goal.

:noway:

Sorry but I am honestly DUMBFOUNDED by people who think they can achieve their goals in a healthy manner while eating 1200 calories.
1200 is the BARE MINIMUM healthy amount. Why push it, go with the healthy goal given to you.

Maybe I should have explained a little more - because clearly according to you I'm doing it all wrong.

I started off eating all my exercise calories back (measured using a HRM with a chest strap, so fairly accurate) and didn't lose anywhere near 2lb per week. So I have tweaked and tweaked until I came to this solution which WORKS FOR ME at the moment. Once it stops working, believe me, I'll change it up. I don't see the point in eating extra food if I'm not hungry. If I am hungry though, I'll happily eat everything available to me in MFP's allowance.

I just thought I'd give someone an insight into WHAT WORKS FOR ME AT THE MOMENT. Thanks for shooting me down.

i've got your back!

I've got your back too!

I just have to say... I have read several comments made by Robin and all of them are rude snotty miss know it all comments. It is such bull ish! I have wanted to say something for months now. It's perfectly fine to give your advice and tell people the way you do things, but it is so wrong to tell people you are dumbfounded by them! NO one deserves to be attacked when leaving a comment. Thats what this site is about to get feedback not to get DIE HARD MFP freaks, freaking the freak out on you!! WTH?? Take a chill pill Robin! What works for you DOES NOT work for everyone else geeeeesh!

lol. now i am feeling a little guilty because robin has been a good mfp friend of mine for a long time and i only found this topic because she is in my newsfeed. i do see that i am not alone in picking up on the somewhat condescending tone of the post. that was why i commented. otherwise i would have probably kept my trap shut. but just as you said you admire what i have accomplished robin i admire you and your journey too.

Hey Jason! Robin is my friend too. Well.... I don't know for how much longer lol but I'm not sure Robin knows how rude she is coming across. I just feel sorry for the people that she trys to make feel stupid. Its just so wrong! I also admire her for her accomplishments and get a great deal of motivation from her.