New here and confused...Help! :)

Options
bela21
bela21 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone! Im new to the whole diet and excerise thing and trying to understand everything...

Basically, I'm working out doing 1 hour of cardio, 6 days per week. I am doing Mel B's totally fit

I'm keeping my diet to the reccomended 1200 calories per day and when I enter all my daily stuff in, I end up with a deficit of 500-600

Is this what i should have? Should i be eating more? Less?

Ive been doing this for about 1 week now, and although i feel hungry throughout the day..i can control it with water so im happy with this amount.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated....Thanks! :)

Replies

  • channa007
    channa007 Posts: 419 Member
    Options
    Most would agree that you're supposed to eat the calories you burn off.
  • willdbill0712
    willdbill0712 Posts: 83 Member
    Options
    Depends on exactly what you are eating that makes up those calories.

    Are you eating 3 meals a day or 5-6 smaller ones? Everyone is different, but eating 5-6 times a day with a good amount of protein helps me stay full along with constantly drinking water.

    Many will tell you that eating back 1/2 of your exercise calories will help with overall weight loss.
  • Nicholec2003
    Nicholec2003 Posts: 158 Member
    Options
    you should be eating at least your 1200 daily calories. That daily goal already includes a deficit that is set by MFP so, you also should be eating your exercise calories too. I had trouble to with understanding how eating more actually made me lose more in the end, but it is working so far.
  • laceyfowler
    laceyfowler Posts: 127 Member
    Options
    Hi Hollie, welcome! The reason that your target Net calories for the day is 1200 is because your body usually needs around 1800 (depending on lifestyle, can be more or less) to maintain it's current weight, so consuming 1200 means you're "losing" 600 calories a day.
    When you work out, your body is using up even more calories, and it is very important to feed your body enough that it is not starving. What you should aim to do is consume 1200 calories that are not burned through exercise every day. So yup, if you burned 400 calories exercising, you should consume about 400 calories more. Don't worry, you'll still lose weight doing this!
    If you consume too few calories (even by burning them off with exercise and not replacing them) your body can think that it's starving... you don't want that, because then your body holds on to every calorie/fat for dear life, thinking that you need to stockpile. So remember, replace the calories that you burn off so that your net total calories consumed for the day (total calories eaten minus total calories burned) is 1200.
    Oh, and kudos on drinking all the water - that's great for your body and definitely helps stave off the hunger!
  • hyde1977
    hyde1977 Posts: 476 Member
    Options
    Your body is looking for fuel! You should be "netting" 1200 calories per day- so if you are eatting 1200 and then burning 600 you are only netting 600- for the first week or 2 you will/should lose weight but then you will get really hungry....

    Hard topic as we all have our opnions and not many of us are professionals! :-)

    For me, I started to get hungry and water worked for a bit but your body will need the fuel to help it run-

    I would try to eat some if not all your exercise calories back- again its a personal choice so its hard to help with answering that for what you want to do to your body!
  • Nicholec2003
    Nicholec2003 Posts: 158 Member
    Options
    Here's a link to a question I posted a while back. Hope it helps! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/321363-calorie-confused
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    Options
    everyone is different of course, but what everyone else said, you need to eat a little more, because your body needs something to burn. you don't have to re-eat ALL of your calories, but at least half.

    i'll take it a little further... you may need to excersise one day less a week, and even change up your routine. your body can get used to a work out. i'm sure you end most days saying to yourself "that was fun." you should be saying "that was grueling!!!" but in a good way. try biking, or swimming for a recovery day work out. low impact and good cardio.
  • ewejewel
    ewejewel Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    Hi and welcome...

    To answer your question about staying within your calories (1200) but having a deficit of 500-600 at the end of the day...do you burn the 5-600 calories and then don't eat them? Because otherwise you are eating way too few calories and soon you are going to feel more than hungry, your body will lack other essential nutrients (like potassium) that will cause muscle cramping...also, your body will go into starvation mode and that also makes weight loss more difficult..causing you to feel more frustrated. Drinking water is a great start, especially drinking a glass half an hour before eating...and eat slowly, enjoy your food...it takes a half hour for the message to get to the brain that you are full, and by that point you may have already over eaten.

    These are just tips I have picked up in the short time I have been on MFP...I hope I have been helpful and it's not information overload.
  • fionat29
    fionat29 Posts: 717 Member
    Options
    MFP builds in a deficit so you should really eat some of your exercise calories back, having said that, i don't always, and it seems to work for me. On the other hand though, if I feel like drinking some wine with cheese and crackers, then exercising means I can, without feeling terribly guilty. Lol!!
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    Options
    The general consensus here is that you need to eat your recommended calories or you may push your body into starvation mode which will make it harder to lose weight.

    Steve
  • bela21
    bela21 Posts: 2
    Options
    Thank you SOOOOOOOO much everyone for clearing that up!!

    I've been googling like crazy trying to figure it out, and got nowhere.

    ewejewel- Yes Ive been burning the 500-600 and not eating them...i thought thats what i was supposed to do. Oops!

    engineman- During the workout Its really hard, but after, your right! I always say "Ok that wasnt that bad" So maybe I need to push myself a little harder....


    Thanks everyone for the help and the welcomes...I can tell already, this site is going to be a huge help for me! :)

Categories