New member with a question

Hi Kristin.

Welcome to MFP. Everything I've heard and read says, yes, you should. Jillian/Biggest Loser says the same thing on her radio show too.

Hi I just started MFP and had a question about the exercise calories. My daily calorie allowance is 1200 calories. If I burn say 400 calories working out do I need to be eating those calories in addition to my 1200 daily calories (or a portion of them?). I guess I always assumed that to lose weight I shouldn't be eating those calories, however I started reading some posts about the body going into starvation mode and now I just don't know Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi, and welcome. Hopefully this will answer your question.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Welcome Kristin! Eat your exercise calories... but once I stop losing weight I give myself a jumpstart and don't eat my exercise calories for 2 days... then back to eating them. No matter what you do if you continue the same routine your body adjusts and will slow down on losing weight. Nutritionists say to confuse your body and change up your calories, exercise routine and you food menu. Good luck and be well! Salute! :drinker:

Eat them. you need your total daily intake to be more than 1200 calories (calories eaten - calories burned) if you go below the 1200 you risk going into starvation mode.

I eat 1300 to 1400 calories on the days I don't exercise and 1600 to 1800 on the days I do. Your body needs those calories to refuel and rebuild.

You are exercising to make your body healthier, look at eating the calories as a bonus.

My personal trainer told me not to eat my exercise calories back.

That's fine if consume enough calories that your body is still going to get 1200 calories after you exercise. Like I mentioned before, if your calories consumed less the calories burned is less than 1200 you will probably go into starvation mode and your loss will slow down greatly. You may be fine for a couple of weeks, but after a while things will stand still. I was losing weight eating 1200 a day plus my exercise calories, then it stopped, and nothing would budge my weight except for eating more. Once I upped my calories to 1400 a day + exercise calories I started losing again.

I was not eating my cals in the beginning and stuck to just my cals alotted and maybe a little over and lost, when I started eating my cals I had no results, there are several studies and opinions on this subject including those here. Personally I eat when I want and watch what I eat and as I mentioned rarely go over....I am set at 1300 cals for the day.

Not eating them is working consistanly for me.


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I think we have to agree at this point in this discussion that its very individual. I think it is safe to say that there is an equal amount of us here who DO eat them as DON'T. Each person has to decide what works for them.

Loss since Jan 30th

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