Calorie deficit
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Ashlove5
Posts: 152 Member
So my calorie deficit has dropped down to 1,260 to loose 2 pounds a week and eating this much wouldn’t really keep me full plus i try to avoid using my excercise and activity calories which gives me 400 extra calories. Should i eat some of these extra calories to keep my self fuller ?
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Replies
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Yes, you should eat back your exercise calories. 1200 calories is the minimum calorie in-take for females. So you need to net above 1200 just to meet your basic nutritional needs. MFP is giving you 1260 as what you need to eat to lose 2 lbs a week, the 400 exercise calories you have create an even bigger (and generally unhealthy) deficit. Eating them back will not prevent you from losing weight.
You may also want to consider setting a less aggressive goal. Getting to your goal weight faster sounds great but if you get there in a way that isn't sustainable then you are just going to gain the weight back. Losing more slowly but in a more sustainable way sets you up for long term success.8 -
MFP intends you to eat back your exercise calories assuming they are calculated accurately.5
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Sometimes people on this site say eating back those calories can make them gain weight or sometimes the calories MyFitnessPal gives are inaccurateRunning2Fit wrote: »Yes, you should eat back your exercise calories. 1200 calories is the minimum calorie in-take for females. So you need to net above 1200 just to meet your basic nutritional needs. MFP is giving you 1260 as what you need to eat to lose 2 lbs a week, the 400 exercise calories you have create an even bigger (and generally unhealthy) deficit. Eating them back will not prevent you from losing weight.
You may also want to consider setting a less aggressive goal. Getting to your goal weight faster sounds great but if you get there in a way that isn't sustainable then you are just going to gain the weight back. Losing more slowly but in a more sustainable way sets you up for long term success.
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Hey there! MFP was designed for you to eat your exercise calories back. So, essentially, yes - you should eat them; otherwise you could be severely under-eating.
Depending on how your exercise calories are getting recorded, the accuracy could be off some or a lot; so everyone has a different preference on whether they eat all of them back or simply around 50%. The best thing to do is track how many exercise calories you are eating back and compare it to your weight loss. If you are losing more than 2lbs/week eating half your exercise calories back based upon your set weight loss goal per week, then you should be eating more of your exercise calories.
It'll take a few weeks to work out the kinks, but you definitely don't want to be under-eating. Depending on your stats, you could be setting your weight loss goal to 1lb per week and get a few more extra calories in, so you don't feel quite so famished. Your goal of 2lb a week sounds like it could possibly be too aggressive if you are constantly hungry.
Good luck!6 -
If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?4
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I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
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Sometimes people on this site say eating back those calories can make them gain weight or sometimes the calories MyFitnessPal gives are inaccurateRunning2Fit wrote: »Yes, you should eat back your exercise calories. 1200 calories is the minimum calorie in-take for females. So you need to net above 1200 just to meet your basic nutritional needs. MFP is giving you 1260 as what you need to eat to lose 2 lbs a week, the 400 exercise calories you have create an even bigger (and generally unhealthy) deficit. Eating them back will not prevent you from losing weight.
You may also want to consider setting a less aggressive goal. Getting to your goal weight faster sounds great but if you get there in a way that isn't sustainable then you are just going to gain the weight back. Losing more slowly but in a more sustainable way sets you up for long term success.
There can be a process of trial and error figuring out how accurate (or inaccurate) MFP's calories are. But if you are exercising, especially with such a low calorie goal, then you need to eat back the calories you burned. But even if you ate back all 400 calories you would absolutely not gain weight, even if MFP is wrong because eating 1260 puts you into a 1000 calorie deficit. It would just slow your weight loss, which as I explained in my first post probably isn't a bad thing.2 -
Thank you for the positive advice ❤️❤️Running2Fit wrote: »
Sometimes people on this site say eating back those calories can make them gain weight or sometimes the calories MyFitnessPal gives are inaccurateRunning2Fit wrote: »Yes, you should eat back your exercise calories. 1200 calories is the minimum calorie in-take for females. So you need to net above 1200 just to meet your basic nutritional needs. MFP is giving you 1260 as what you need to eat to lose 2 lbs a week, the 400 exercise calories you have create an even bigger (and generally unhealthy) deficit. Eating them back will not prevent you from losing weight.
You may also want to consider setting a less aggressive goal. Getting to your goal weight faster sounds great but if you get there in a way that isn't sustainable then you are just going to gain the weight back. Losing more slowly but in a more sustainable way sets you up for long term success.
There can be a process of trial and error figuring out how accurate (or inaccurate) MFP's calories are. But if you are exercising, especially with such a low calorie goal, then you need to eat back the calories you burned. But even if you ate back all 400 calories you would absolutely not gain weight, even if MFP is wrong because eating 1260 puts you into a 1000 calorie deficit. It would just slow your weight loss, which as I explained in my first post probably isn't a bad thing.
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So my calorie deficit has dropped down to 1,260 to loose 2 pounds a week and eating this much wouldn’t really keep me full plus i try to avoid using my excercise and activity calories which gives me 400 extra calories. Should i eat some of these extra calories to keep my self fuller ?
Just to be clear, 1260 isn’t your deficit, it’s the calories you need to put you in a 1000 calorie deficit per day (which is your deficit if you chose losing 2 lbs/week).
What are your stats (height, weight, weight goal)? As someone else mentioned above, you might want to change your goal to losing 1.5 lbs or even a pound to give you some extra calories. And yes, definitely eat those exercise calories. Mfp is designed for you to eat them.3 -
At 184 it is definitely time to decrease your deficit and set MFP to lose 1.5 lbs per week which will give you a base daily calorie goal of 1510. You are still meant to eat back a portion of your exercise calories. Many people start with half and then adjust up or down depending on their actual rate of loss which is normally assessed after about 6 weeks for a woman and 3 weeks for a man.
This adjustment should be more comfortable for you and more importantly a safer rate of loss that will help preserve muscle and only use fat reserves.5 -
I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
2lbs isn't an appropriate goal for you at this stage. Drop it down to 1lb/week and eat to the number MFP gives you. Eat back a portion of your exercise calories to start, and go from there. Some people do half, some do a little less. But that is extra exercise you're asking your body to do and you do have to fuel it.6 -
I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
Ah, apologies, I missed this before I posted above. Then, yes, I would definitely say to decrease your deficit to 1.5 or even 1 pound/week.
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Enjoy living. Eat your exercise calories.
Consider changing your weight loss goal to losing 1 or 1.5 lb per week.
That way you get to enjoy living even more.4 -
I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
I started at your height and similar weight (183) . . . and 59 years old.
When I started,1200 calories was too low for me, even when I ate back my exercise calories (all of them). I admit that I'm mysteriously good at burning calories for a woman my age, but even so, I'd encourage you to at least eat back a substantial portion of your exercise calories for 4-6 weeks.
Two pounds a week is a risky loss rate at your current weight anyway. It would be reasonable to go slower. It took me less than a year to get down to my current weight (I was 135 pounds this morning - I've been maintaining a healthy weight for about 3 years now, currently age 63). I accidentally lost too fast briefly (around that 2 pounds a week level) because MFP underestimated my calorie needs. I got weak and fatigued, and even though I corrected very quickly, it took several weeks to recover. You don't want that.
Losing more slowly would be a more reasonable thing, in terms of health risks, and it would be more sustainable (thus more likely to be successful).
One way or another, it would be a good plan to eat more, if you ask me.2 -
I was going to wait till i was Atleast 170 to lower my weight loss pace but 1.5 pounds a week seems like a good pace thank you !
I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
I started at your height and similar weight (183) . . . and 59 years old.
When I started,1200 calories was too low for me, even when I ate back my exercise calories (all of them). I admit that I'm mysteriously good at burning calories for a woman my age, but even so, I'd encourage you to at least eat back a substantial portion of your exercise calories for 4-6 weeks.
Two pounds a week is a risky loss rate at your current weight anyway. It would be reasonable to go slower. It took me less than a year to get down to my current weight (I was 135 pounds this morning - I've been maintaining a healthy weight for about 3 years now, currently age 63). I accidentally lost too fast briefly (around that 2 pounds a week level) because MFP underestimated my calorie needs. I got weak and fatigued, and even though I corrected very quickly, it took several weeks to recover. You don't want that.
Losing more slowly would be a more reasonable thing, in terms of health risks, and it would be more sustainable (thus more likely to be successful).
One way or another, it would be a good plan to eat more, if you ask me.
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I love the way you think !JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Enjoy living. Eat your exercise calories.
Consider changing your weight loss goal to losing 1 or 1.5 lb per week.
That way you get to enjoy living even more.
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Thank you for the advice !! ❤️witchaywoman81 wrote: »
I weight around 184 i think and I’m tryna get down to 138 and my height is 5’5If you are set to lose 2 lbs per week and you ignore an additional 400 calories per day that you should be eating at least half of you should be losing around 2.5 lbs per week which is likely too aggressive. Chances are 2 lbs per week is too aggressive too. How much do you have left to lose?
Ah, apologies, I missed this before I posted above. Then, yes, I would definitely say to decrease your deficit to 1.5 or even 1 pound/week.
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