Is it ok to NOT eat back exercise calories at 1200 cals?
_Kelly_3000
Posts: 45 Member
Hello everyone!
I’m just starting back after years of bad habits and want to lose 60 lbs. I’m 5’2”, 185 lbs, and work a desk job.
I need advice on working out. For those who had a lot to lose, like me, how did you start with working out? Did you set your calorie goal at a deficit, workout, and NOT eat those calorie burns back? And if you didn’t eat them back, did you continue to lose weight consistently? Or, did you only diet? I feel “unhealthy” sitting all day and so I’d like to incorporate working out into my routine. But I don’t see the point in eating back exercise calories if you need to lose weight and have layers of fat (like me haha).
Mfp suggests I consume 1300 calories a day (for a 1 lb weight loss with no exercise), or 1200 calories a day for a 2 lb weight loss (per week).
Years ago, I knew nothing about calorie counting and how important it was for weight loss. So I guessed at it and ate 1500 calories a day AND worked out daily. And I lost weight! But of course, I was young too. Now here I am 15 years later (at age 44) and I’m not sure that’ll still work LOL.
I would like to do both cardio and weights. Should I stick to the 1200 calories? I don’t know - is that ok from the start? Any recommendations?
Thanks for reading LOL & TIA for any advice! 🤗
I’m just starting back after years of bad habits and want to lose 60 lbs. I’m 5’2”, 185 lbs, and work a desk job.
I need advice on working out. For those who had a lot to lose, like me, how did you start with working out? Did you set your calorie goal at a deficit, workout, and NOT eat those calorie burns back? And if you didn’t eat them back, did you continue to lose weight consistently? Or, did you only diet? I feel “unhealthy” sitting all day and so I’d like to incorporate working out into my routine. But I don’t see the point in eating back exercise calories if you need to lose weight and have layers of fat (like me haha).
Mfp suggests I consume 1300 calories a day (for a 1 lb weight loss with no exercise), or 1200 calories a day for a 2 lb weight loss (per week).
Years ago, I knew nothing about calorie counting and how important it was for weight loss. So I guessed at it and ate 1500 calories a day AND worked out daily. And I lost weight! But of course, I was young too. Now here I am 15 years later (at age 44) and I’m not sure that’ll still work LOL.
I would like to do both cardio and weights. Should I stick to the 1200 calories? I don’t know - is that ok from the start? Any recommendations?
Thanks for reading LOL & TIA for any advice! 🤗
0
Replies
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I'm going to start with some math:
- if MFP gives you 1300 calories to lose at a rate of 1lb per week, 1200 calories does not correspond to a weight loss rate of 2lbs per week: MFP will never give a calorie goal lower than 1200 calories to women, to ensure adequate nutrition. A rate of 2lbs per week would require eating 800 calories a day, which is waaaay too low for adequate nutrition
- generally speaking, a weight loss rate of 0.5-1% of your bodyweight per week is recommended - a rate of 2lbs would be too aggressive
Personally, I feel weight loss is about losing weight while eating 'as much as possible'. I know there is the temptation to want to lose fast, but you risk losing muscle mass and risk just giving up because you're miserable and then gaining it all back.
By not eating back exercise calories, you would be making your calorie deficit bigger, which I don't think is a sustainable option. For strength training it wouldn't be as bad perhaps (it doesn't burn a lot of calories) but I wouldn't recommend doing cardio without eating back (a sensible estimate of) those calories.12 -
For perspective my total weight loss was 64lbs.
It took 15 months.
Absolutely do not eat 1200 calories and not eat your exercise calories back. 1200 NET (as in 1200+ whatever exercise calories) is about as low as you can safely go.
I, personally, can't manage that for more than a day or two and don't try.5 -
The difference in your age has zero to do with it - your metabolism has not magically changed in that timeframe.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34385400/
As others have said, YES definitely eat back your exercise calories if you're going as low as 1200/day. It's great that you want to get healthier and not be so sedentary, but doing it in a completely unsustainable and unhealthy way isn't going to do you any favors.10 -
I would try 1300 calories a day first. If you find that doable, then you could try to drop down to 1200 (but you definitely shouldn't go lower than that). The most important thing is that it is sustainable for you so that you can stick with it.
At either rate, I would also eat back the calories you spent with exercise. Just be warned that a lot of exercise equipment over estimates how many calories have actually been burned. I tend to look up online what the average calorie burn rates are like for the cardio exercises I do, and then only eat back half of that. I don't worry too much about eating back any calories I burn when strength training just because I don't burn a lot of calories with that.
Hope this helps!3 -
It's all about sustainability. Eat too little and you aren't likely to stick with it in the long term. MFPs calorie goals have a built in deficit that, assuming that your logging is accurate (people tend to underestimate consumption and most cardio machines / HRMs overestimate expenditure) you'll lose fat over time.
My suggestion is to eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories and see what happens. If you're losing weight at the desired rate keep going, if not adjust.5 -
Coincidentally, I started out around your weight (I was 183), and lost about the amount you're shooting for (in my case, around 58 pounds, +/-, depending on what day you ask, though I'm a little taller at 5'5").
MFP estimated 1200 calorie daily for me to lose at a reasonably sensible rate, because unlike you I'm almost close to nearly actually old (59-60 at the time of loss, now 66 next week), not a mere 44-year-old youth like yourself. 😉
I ate the 1200, *plus* all my carefully-estimated exercise calories. I felt fine, energetic, not hungry . . . until suddenly, I didn't. I hit a wall: I got weak and fatigued, took several weeks to recover normal energy and strength, despite correcting intake quickly. No one needs that.
Undereating is a bad idea. It can be counterproductive (causes fatigue so lowered calorie expenditure, can add water weight through stress, increases health risks, makes it hard to stay the course long enough to lose a meaningful amount of weight, and more). Fast weight loss can backfire, turn out to be slower than moderate loss, once oopsies and breaks and such are taken into account.
Picking an aggressive weight loss target (like 2 pounds a week), then exercising and not fueling that (effectively targeting even faster weight loss): Not a great plan, IMO. Risky.
In less than a year, I lost the 58 pounds. I put a priority on experimenting, figuring out habits I could sustain long term to stay at a healthy weight. 6+ years since loss, I'm still at a healthy weight - after around 30 previous years of overweight/obesity, BTW - so that worked out OK, for me. YMMV.
Figure out an activity routine (exercise, sure, but not *just* exercise) that you enjoy well enough to keep it up, that fits into your life with enough time/energy left for other important things (family, job, other hobbies, etc.). Do a similar thing with eating, figure out a good balance of enjoyable, appropriate calories, decent nutrition, practicality. I endorse that idea of 0.5-1% of current weight as an average weekly *maximum* loss rate . . . with a bias toward the lower end of that, especially as you get lighter.
If someone has a slow loss rate goal, like half a pound a week, and does relatively little exercise, such as 100 to *maybe* 200 calories on average daily, it's probably OK not to eat back exercise calories, in most cases. If someone has an aggressive (fast) loss goal like 2 pounds a week, does a bunch of exercise on top of that, eats back zero exercise calories, that's high risk. In between, it's a question of how much health risk one enjoys in one's life, really.
Are bad things guaranteed to happen if very aggressive? No, of course not. But the chances are higher that they will.
Best wishes for long-term success!10 -
Short answer: No.
Long answer: see Ann's post. But to add more anecdata, I'm also 5'3" on my best day, I have a desk job, and I've lost 50 lbs in a year, eating almost double that. I'm not a super-athlete or anything (in fact, I have at least another 50 lbs still to lose, possibly more), though I do some mild-to-moderate exercise 7 days a week - lately that's been mostly walking, because I'm participating in a challenge where steps per day is one of the metrics, but I also play Ring Fit Adventure (which is basically Pilates: The Video Game), I've done some simple Youtube strength/cardio/yoga workouts, and I dabble with weightlifting. MFP gave me a budget of about 1800 calories when I started (5'3", 250lb, Sedentary), and I ate back my exercise calories. Once I had that daily exercise habit established and had some good data from my diary and weigh-ins, I used a TDEE calculator to override the guided setup here. Now I have a calorie budget that accounts for my activity without having to log my exercise, so I'm by default eating back my exercise calories, since those are figured into my goal for the day. I would also literally chew off my own arm if I cut to 1200 - I'll be the first person to admit I absolutely exercise so I can eat more, but over the past year of exercising I have actually come to enjoy it intrinsically as well. Getting to eat more is now a bonus.4 -
Thank you so much everyone for these wonderfully thought out replies and links! You made me realize that in order to lose 60 lbs, I have to be realistic about how long that’s going to take and in order to get there - I need to be consistent and stick to it. I know me. If I’m starving all day, I will never last long enough to reach goal. Appreciate your kind advice guys!!! 🤗🤗🤗15
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I strongly disagree with those promoting calorie restriction or calorie in-calorie out (CICO). There are reasons CICO doesn't work well and why the weight always creeps back up. There is copious amount of research and data that prove calorie restriction and exercise is not an effective weight loss program for long term health and weight loss. The most obvious and public proof is The Biggest Loser. Why do the contestants all gain the weight back? Because CICO does NOT work in the long term.
(I'm not saying everyone should do what I did, but I lost 50+ pounds in less than 3 months and I am much, much healthier now than I was before.)
Eat full meals and try to consume only water or fasting safe nutrients in between the full meals. The longer you can go between meals the better. If you can eat during an 8 hr period and fast for 16 (16/8 fast), then you will start to see the benefits quickly. As you begin to realize how easy fasting can be, then you can start expanding the window. 20/4 is even better. Extended fasting beyond 24 is even better for most people with the only exceptions being people with certain pre-existing health issues.
Eat LCHF menus, keto menus, paleo menus; any menus with low carb, high fat, high protein. This will increase the likelihood of accomplishing weight loss goals and to KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF!
It is very important to remember to eat until you are full. Calorie restriction forces the body's metabolism to down regulate. This is why you always put the weight back on when you stop. If you eat a full meal, then the body doesn't down regulate your glucose metabolism. When you eat nothing, the body does not down regulate the glucose metabolism, but instead switches to a primarily ketone metabolism (ketosis). This is why the weight loss is so much easier to maintain after fasting. The body is not upregulating your metabolism when you stop fasting. Instead, the body just switches back to a primarily glucose metabolism.
Exercise is not necessary, and heavy exercise or aerobic exercise is detrimental to your weight loss goals. If you exercise while fasting, you should only do light and anaerobic exercises. During my 50 lbs weight loss, I had minimal to no exercise for the entire 3 months. I did this as an experiment to see if it could really be done with exercise, and it is true! An MD friend of mine has dropped 70 lbs in about 3 months. (It is worth noting here that most doctors call fasting "starvation" and say it is bad for you because that is what they were taught. Most MDs are entirely unfamiliar with autophagy. There are very few medical schools in the United States were doctors learn about autophagy. You should still check with your doctor about fasting if you have any existing health issues, but be prepared for him to say it is bad.
Start with intermittent fasting or if you have already fasted for at least 24 hours than look into extended fasting. While the weight loss benefits of intermittent and extended fasting are fairly similar, the health differences are tremendous. There are health benefits that occur in the human body beyond 72 hours of fasting that are unparalleled by any other natural physiological process or any drug every found in nature or created by man.1 -
I strongly disagree with those promoting calorie restriction or calorie in-calorie out (CICO). There are reasons CICO doesn't work well and why the weight always creeps back up. There is copious amount of research and data that prove calorie restriction and exercise is not an effective weight loss program for long term health and weight loss. The most obvious and public proof is The Biggest Loser. Why do the contestants all gain the weight back? Because CICO does NOT work in the long term.
(I'm not saying everyone should do what I did, but I lost 50+ pounds in less than 3 months and I am much, much healthier now than I was before.)
Eat full meals and try to consume only water or fasting safe nutrients in between the full meals. The longer you can go between meals the better. If you can eat during an 8 hr period and fast for 16 (16/8 fast), then you will start to see the benefits quickly. As you begin to realize how easy fasting can be, then you can start expanding the window. 20/4 is even better. Extended fasting beyond 24 is even better for most people with the only exceptions being people with certain pre-existing health issues.
Eat LCHF menus, keto menus, paleo menus; any menus with low carb, high fat, high protein. This will increase the likelihood of accomplishing weight loss goals and to KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF!
It is very important to remember to eat until you are full. Calorie restriction forces the body's metabolism to down regulate. This is why you always put the weight back on when you stop. If you eat a full meal, then the body doesn't down regulate your glucose metabolism. When you eat nothing, the body does not down regulate the glucose metabolism, but instead switches to a primarily ketone metabolism (ketosis). This is why the weight loss is so much easier to maintain after fasting. The body is not upregulating your metabolism when you stop fasting. Instead, the body just switches back to a primarily glucose metabolism.
Exercise is not necessary, and heavy exercise or aerobic exercise is detrimental to your weight loss goals. If you exercise while fasting, you should only do light and anaerobic exercises. During my 50 lbs weight loss, I had minimal to no exercise for the entire 3 months. I did this as an experiment to see if it could really be done with exercise, and it is true! An MD friend of mine has dropped 70 lbs in about 3 months. (It is worth noting here that most doctors call fasting "starvation" and say it is bad for you because that is what they were taught. Most MDs are entirely unfamiliar with autophagy. There are very few medical schools in the United States were doctors learn about autophagy. You should still check with your doctor about fasting if you have any existing health issues, but be prepared for him to say it is bad.
Start with intermittent fasting or if you have already fasted for at least 24 hours than look into extended fasting. While the weight loss benefits of intermittent and extended fasting are fairly similar, the health differences are tremendous. There are health benefits that occur in the human body beyond 72 hours of fasting that are unparalleled by any other natural physiological process or any drug every found in nature or created by man.
What the Biggest Loser proves is that doing extreme and unsustainable things is extreme and unsustainable.
I'm only a baby maintainer compared to some people here, but I lost nearly 1/3 of my body weight via simple calorie counting (no big changes in eating style), and have been maintaining a healthy weight for 6+ years now (after several previous *decades* of overweight/obesity). It's been pretty easy, so far. I eat close to 50% carbs, moderate fat, relatively high protein now, and did during weight loss as well. I don't fast (other than colonoscopy prep once a decade or so 😆), and eat when I like, from shortly after I get up in the morning, to often right before bedtime.
I'd hate to think that all of that has "downregulated my metabolism", because my calorie needs to maintain, even before considering exercise, are 25-30% *higher* than MFP and similar calculators predict for my demographic characteristics. If this is a "downregulated metabolism", I'm not sure I could load in all the food I'd need if not "downregulated": I'm not that big a person, hovering at around BMI 20-21.
I'm genuinely and sincerely happy for you that you've found a way to lose weight and keep it off that works well for you, but I'm quite certain that you're believing some things to be physiological and universal that aren't necessarily so. 🤷♀️14 -
Jshug00 - congrats on your weight loss! And thank you for your detailed reply! That’s awesome and I’m happy to hear you are feeling healthy and enjoying your new way of eating!
I have tried fasting in the past, along with low carb/keto. I did lose weight, however, it was not sustainable for me. And when I remind myself that I won’t lose 60 lbs in a month, I remember that it will take some time. And because it will take some time, I have to do something that is not too strict, isn’t time consuming, etc. I have a habit of getting all excited to do keto on Monday, lol, go all crazy buying meat and veggies and then giving up on day #3, getting frustrated with myself, then eating like a pig for weeks because I “can’t do it”. I think the easier it is for me, the better I will stick to it. I wish you continued success! :-)4 -
AnnPT77- so happy you have found what works for you! It’s awesome to hear that you’ve been able to maintain your loss and that you aren’t miserable! 😉 congrats to you!! ☀️🤗 and thanks for your advice!!3
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Hi Kelly, I am also 5'3" and started at 197 lbs. After 30 years of unsuccessful dieting, I started intermittent fasting. I stop eating at 7pm which eliminates all the evening snacking and have my morning coffee x2, go to pilates class from 930-1030 and have brunch at 11am. It gives me a fasting window of 16+ hours and fits with my retired lifestyle. I have lost 30 pounds in about 40 weeks. I am slowly eliminating processed foods, juices, sodas etc. My fitness pal is super at giving an overview of what you are eating and for me it can have a spread of between 1300 and 1700 calories a day. Exercise does offset eating but I think what we put in our mouths is the real thing to track. Best of luck!!1
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At age 61 (5'8" and 26) I had been tracking my food for about a year and not paying attention to my calorie goal. I did know that I was regularly eating well over 2,000 cals/day and had been maintaining so I set my goal at 2,000. Think MFP set it around 1500? My goal worked out to about 1/2 - 1 lb loss per week and that was just fine.
Initially I didn't do much in the way of exercise except to find ways to walk more every day; e.g., I walked for 10 minutes before getting in the car to go to to work. At the office I'd take a10 minute walk after lunch and weather permitting I'd walk around the office building when I'd go to the bathroom. The weight started to come off.
One very key thing was accepting that what I did to lose weight was what I'd do for life. to that end I started making small sustainable changes; e.g., instead of buying a sandwich and chips at the office cafe, I'd bring a healthier sandwich and buy reduced fat chips. Over time, I scrapped the chips and added a cup of soup or salad. Kept making small changes focused on eating healthier. As I lost weight I gradually reduced my calorie goal. Except for some health reasons, almost no food is off limits although many things are in moderation.
After about 6 months I bought a pedometer and started getting at least 10,000 steps/day and that model tracked "aerobic" time if I walked briskly for more than 10 minutes. Aimed for at least 30 minutes of aerobic walking each day. In Feb 2013 I had a heart attack after losing about 50 lbs which brought me to my initial goal of 176 (still overweight but better than obese!). Fortunately that was a wake up call and with cardiac rehab and set a calorie goal of around 1500 - 1600. Ended up losing weight to get me to 162 in the normal BMI category.
Kept up with the exercise and more plant-based eating. Eventually my weight dropped 142 (=/- 3lbs) and I've stayed there for over 8 years. I now exercise every day although some days are more gentle than others. Work in cardio, moderate walking, strength, stretching, yoga and my calorie goal is back to 2,000.
I do not eat back calories. However with all the exercise I don't worry too much if I go over the goal a day or two a week. Hope this long answer helps.3 -
Short/simple answer: No.
MFP (if you've used it to set up your calorie goal and chose to lose weight --- you said you chose to lose 1lb/week)....already puts your daily calorie goal at a deficit. If you then add exercise, you are increasing that deficit. You don't want too high of a deficit, you want a moderate/mild deficit.
--**Usually, when people create too much of a deficit and restrict their calories too much, they do not tend to stick to their plan. They give up and just go back to their previous eating patterns or binge - thinking that restricting on other days will make up for it, when it typically does not. So it's usually not a sustainable/successful strategy for most people.
I used the information you've given to use a TDEE calculator (just for my own reference). Total Daily Energy Expenditure is theoretically the amount of calories you would need to eat in order to maintain your weight. It's the amount of calories you typically burn in a day (it takes into account your activity level). For simplicity's sake, I've chosen 'sedentary' for you with a desk job.
Your TDEE is ~1700 --- meaning, without any exercise you could eat 1700 calories and *should maintain your current weight. So you'd want to eat a little less than that in order to lose weight OR eat that much, but exercise to burn some calories to create a deficit OR do both and set your daily goal at a slight deficit AND exercise to make up some more of your deficit.
Your BMR though is ~1400 (so like if you were in a coma, that's how much your body would need to maintain) so you don't really want to eat less than that.
So...you simply don't have much wiggle room between your BMR and TDEE --- so your weight loss goals should be modest and slow, but consistent. It's harder when you're shorter (I'm 5'3). So if I were you....I'd try to set your daily calorie goal to ~1550.... I'd also engage in physical activity/exercise and log those calories burned (which will then get added BACK INTO YOUR DAILY goal by MFP)...and eat back somewhere between 50-100% of those depending on how hungry you are.
This strategy should help you be fueled enough to workout, not feel the need to binge and learn more about how your body feels when it's truly hungry....and lose weight at a consistent, slow pace.
All of that is estimates though so it takes some trial and error.2 -
I ate 1200/1300 at the beginning of my weight loss journey while exercising 1h30 to 2 hours a day. The first few weeks I was ok but then I started feeling dizzy
Had no energy and couldn't lift heavy. Recovery was a pain too. I would also binged like crazy once a week because I was ravenous which slowed down or erased any progress made.
To be honest I didn't understand how mfp and my garmin watch worked.
One day I was perusing the forum and started reading about eating exercise calories back.
I started doing it right away and lost like 8 pounds that week. I guess my body was retaining water due to my low calorie intake.
I do not binge anymore or very rarely usually 1 day during my TOM but even so it remains reasonable.
My workout are much better and I am losing way more weight this way.
5 -
People wrote a bunch of words but 1200 is good. You just don’t want to go under too many days in a row. Shoot for 1200 some days will be less some days more. You got this!3
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Thank you so much everyone for taking time to reply with such detail! I really appreciate it! Lots of good information here and personal experience! 😊😊😊2
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