I am a little confused.

ritajean3
ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
It seems like an odd question. But anyway here it is. I am aiming for a 1200 net cal intake, yesterday I burned 1000 cals and I ate 1600. The issue I have is i worked my butt off to eat that many and I have no idea how to eat more than that without being unhealthy about it! I need about 1600 so 1200 is 400 below that and then you add in the 600 I was below my net and I have a 1k deficit.

So advice? Do I need to be eating different foods (I have been avoiding eating much rice and pasta ect), should I increase my portions or should I honestly not bother about eating more?

Replies

  • BethanyMasters
    BethanyMasters Posts: 519 Member
    Try incorporating healthy high calorie foods like peanut butter, raisins.

    And though I generally don't recommend drinking your calories, if you are having trouble getting your 1200 net maybe a cup of fruit juice or milk with dinner will help without adding bulk.
  • brendalyne
    brendalyne Posts: 497
    Eat some calorie dense foods - avacados, nuts, peanut butter. If you're eating all low-fat or fat free foods, switch to full fat versions.
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
    I'm actually thinking if I should bother? My sister is currently doing a 12 week thing and they don't eat to make up for their calories burned. I might increase my input from 1200 to 1800 and not bother more than that. I honestly just don't see a point exercising so much if I have to eat so much food. I do drink fat free milk but that is about the extent of fat free for me, I avoid eatting a lot of rice or pasta but that isn't to say I eat none. I also eat lots of eggs and legumes.

    I have seen other people post about not eating potatoes and grains ect I just have no idea how they do this and yet eat back their calories burned
  • Wilfred808
    Wilfred808 Posts: 113
    basically if your goal is to lose weight and you are gaining at 2000(ex.) then eat 1900. repeat as neccesary.

    i skimmed your post so if this doesnt answer your question let me know
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
    nope that didn't answer it
  • Lizi19
    Lizi19 Posts: 180 Member
    Whenever I am below calories, I eat peanut butter. You could just exercise less, which is what my lazy butt would do.
  • Wilfred808
    Wilfred808 Posts: 113
    nope that didn't answer it
    ok well a 1000 calorie deficit is large enough. i wouldnt eat under that unless you have a very high bf%. dropping weight too quickly along with MFPs protein requirement will put you on the fast track to skinnyfat.

    so either switch to more calorie dense food or force yourself to eat.

    why are you avoiding rice and pasta?
  • lisaidem
    lisaidem Posts: 194 Member
    "A 12 week thing" sounds like a crash diet, so no, they wouldn't eat their calories back.
    But to your point, it sounds like you don't need to exercise so much. MFP wants you to eat at least a net of 1200 calories, and thats really the safest and most long-term number. If that means you need to cut down on the exercise, then do it! You will probably get better answers from forum-goers if you make your food and exercise diary public.
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    Dunno how tall you are, but your daily caloric needs are probably somewhere around 1900 at sedentary (rough guess). So at 1200 MFP has already created a 700 calorie deficit for you, which works out to about 1.5lbs a week. But then you created an additional 600 calorie deficit above that (ate 1600 - burned 1000 = 600 net when you should be striving for 1200). That means you have a 1300 calorie deficit and about 2.6 lbs a week, which is fairly high. Unless you have a LOT of fat to burn (obese BMI) you can't sustain this for very long - your body does not want to do 2900 calories worth of work with only 1600 calories of fuel.
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
    "A 12 week thing" sounds like a crash diet, so no, they wouldn't eat their calories back.
    But to your point, it sounds like you don't need to exercise so much. MFP wants you to eat at least a net of 1200 calories, and thats really the safest and most long-term number. If that means you need to cut down on the exercise, then do it! You will probably get better answers from forum-goers if you make your food and exercise diary public.

    she is doing this http://www.12wbt.com/ I asked her about this topic and she said they eat 1200 a day, burn 500 through the week and 1000 on Saturdays and don't eat anything back.

    Anyway I will increase my calorie intake I am thinking. I do eat a lot but I generally eat a lot of fruit and veggies....salads ect. May start eating salad sandwiches instead of just salads. Go bread go
  • rattatatnat
    rattatatnat Posts: 11 Member
    I am also doing Michelle Bridges 12wbt also and everything we have learnt is that you don't eat back you exercise calories, unless you are starved and you feel your body needs a little extra.

    The idea is that it is calories in v calories out, so if the calories we put out via exercise we are then putting back in, it doesn't make sense to me.

    I know there is also our BMR (the calories our bodies burn in a day without even trying), which I might add the estimates on here are quite high, but if you are really trying to lose weight of say 1/2 - 1 kg a week then you need a decent calorie deficit.

    The calculation for you deficit is the food you eat (1200), minus your exercise (500) minus you BMR (1450) so for example 1200 - 500 - 1450 = 750 calorie deficit for one day do that 5 or 6 days a week and you should (it's not an exact science) lose close to 1 kg.

    I love My Fitness Pal as a place to track my food and keep me honest and on track, however I have noticed that the estimate calories for exercise i think are a little high and very generalised and the estimate BMR is WAY high. So I use it as a place to record my food and eat and exercise as per the advice given my professional. Not sure if any of that helped :-)
  • rattatatnat
    rattatatnat Posts: 11 Member
    And as for dropping and doing less exercise...I believe exercise is about so much more than just weight loss, there are so many other benefits to exercise, and we shouldn't be exercising just so we can eat more food we should be exercising because it is so damn good for us!!!
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