How many calories should I be eating?

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taraw0503
taraw0503 Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,

I just started dieting and exercising after having my daughter 7 weeks ago. I haven't worked out in so long that I forgot how this works! I'm eating 1200 calories a day and am exercising 5 times a week and burning anywhere from 300 to 600 calories while working out. Should I be adding my burned calories to my daily calorie intake? Meaning if I am on a 1200 calorie diet and I burn off 500 calories, I should add that 500 calories to my 1200 to make my daily calorie intake 1700. Is that right? I need to lose 30 lbs. Thanks!
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Replies

  • anulle2009
    anulle2009 Posts: 580 Member
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    everyone is different. i am on 1200 cals. if i burn 500 i try not to eat back my cals. it all depends the day. some people say if you burn over 400 you should eat some of your cals back. I guess it depends your preference
  • Crawflowr
    Crawflowr Posts: 106 Member
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    Yes thats right
  • beckywilkeherbst
    beckywilkeherbst Posts: 140 Member
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.
  • dadoffo
    dadoffo Posts: 422 Member
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    Are you breast feeding your baby? I think this should be taken into consideration.
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    First, I want to say that if you're breastfeeding, you should talk to your doctor before reducing your caloric intake as you need to take in more calories if so. And yes, you should eat back your exercise calories.
  • JennW130
    JennW130 Posts: 460 Member
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    Are you breast feeding your baby? I think this should be taken into consideration.
    i was going to ask the same
  • kjones3535
    kjones3535 Posts: 139
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    If you are breast feeding your new baby you need to be eating an additional 500 calories a day just for milk production.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Check out the Unofficial FAQ
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/474-unofficial-mfp-faq
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.

    Search the forums you will get PLENTY of answers to WHY YOU NEED TO EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES :bigsmile:
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.

    Because MFP already has you eating at the appropriate calorie deficit. If you increase that deficit you may not be giving your body enough of the nutrition it needs in order to function properly and burn fat.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    If you are also breastfeeding you should add another 300-500 calories per day.
  • withervein
    withervein Posts: 224 Member
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.

    I understand the seeming contradiction, but if you don't put fuel in the car, it won't go anywhere. Now the body is not a car, so when the body sees there's no fuel coming in, it will stop burning fat and go into conservation mode.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.

    MFP's caloric goal is to lose your goal amount of weight with no exercise, once you exercise you need more as your maintenance calories increases.

    As an example compare yourself to a car. Your day to day requirements are like a tank of gas and you use a tank of gas/week going to and from work, if you then go on any extra trips or errands you will need to add more gas in order to have enough gas to get to work. So if you need 1200 for day to day stuff (you will lose weight with 1200 cals and no exercise), then when you do extra (workout) you need to put more fuel (calories) in your body.
  • taraw0503
    taraw0503 Posts: 28 Member
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    Thanks everyone. Not, not breastfeeding anymore since I started dieting.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    What's the rush to lose the weight? You just had your baby, enjoy the time you have with her. And if you're breastfeeding you shouldn't be eating at much of a calorie deficit at all. You need adequate nutrition to keep the quality of your milk up and to keep yourself healthy. You didn't put on that 30 pounds overnight, you don't need to rush to take it off. Just go on some nice walks with your baby and eat a healthy, balanced diet.
  • xAdrianax
    xAdrianax Posts: 269 Member
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    i didnt get it completely at first either. basically MFP gives you those calories and has already given you a calorie deficit.

    so they say to you to eat 1200 cal, women normally should have around 2000 so you are havling around 800 cals less than you should already

    now what you burn is like 'free calories' you have burnt them on top so to eat them it cancels it out! if you are on 1200 cals and burn 500 cals and dont eat them then you have only eaten like 700 cals and thats not enough!

    for the first 6 months on MFP i did not eat my exercise cals and the weight did come off fast but now i work out more and have around 7 pounds left to loose so i am eating all my exercise cals back and dont mind loosing slower also im more hungry!

    i think you should as you only have in 30 lbs to loose - i reckon you could loose that in 5 months
  • tody2004
    tody2004 Posts: 3 Member
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    If you are breastfeeding, you should eat your exercise calories because breastfeeding also burns calories and you dont want your body to go into a starvation mode. I had my son a couple of months ago and I breastfeed him for six months. It helps you get back to your pre-pregancy weight faster and the doctors highly encourages breastfeeding. It gives your baby the nutrition they need and helps you release stress anad hormones to progress weight loss. We as women are already stress from life itself so whats better to help you and your baby by giving your body the nutrients it need and giving your baby the food they need. Sorry if it seems long just covering basis.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    Congratulations on starting your journey to health and fitness!

    Do yourself a big favor and click on the Community "Home" page. Then click on the title "General Diet and Weight Loss Help." At the top of this page you'll see some post-it notes with links to MFP posts all new members should read.

    Wishing you all the best!
  • betzylauletta
    betzylauletta Posts: 2 Member
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    I don't understand this because to me it kind of seems contradictive. You excercise and change eating habits to lose weight so why would you eat excercise calories back. I know what you are asking and all, and I have heard that you are correct. I just don't get it.

    Because MFP already has you eating at the appropriate calorie deficit. If you increase that deficit you may not be giving your body enough of the nutrition it needs in order to function properly and burn fat.

    This is correct. Also - if you don't give your body enough nutrients, it will start to burn muscle instead of fat. This is an ugly downward-spiral because your body needs that muscle to burn the fat. You'll drop pounds, but it will be because you lost muscle. Then, when you do finally give your body adequate calories, it will start to store it and then you'll gain even more fat than you had before, because now you don't have any muscle to help burn it off. People who get gastric bypass surgery often have this problem. The Abs Diet book for women is a great resource! I have learned A LOT about the way weight-loss works from it. Check it out.
  • beckywilkeherbst
    beckywilkeherbst Posts: 140 Member
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    i didnt get it completely at first either. basically MFP gives you those calories and has already given you a calorie deficit.

    so they say to you to eat 1200 cal, women normally should have around 2000 so you are havling around 800 cals less than you should already

    now what you burn is like 'free calories' you have burnt them on top so to eat them it cancels it out! if you are on 1200 cals and burn 500 cals and dont eat them then you have only eaten like 700 cals and thats not enough!

    for the first 6 months on MFP i did not eat my exercise cals and the weight did come off fast but now i work out more and have around 7 pounds left to loose so i am eating all my exercise cals back and dont mind loosing slower also im more hungry!

    i think you should as you only have in 30 lbs to loose - i reckon you could loose that in 5 months

    So I am just curious if I want to shed a lot of weight fast right now, would it be in my benefit to not eat the excercise calories back at this time? I usually burn about 300 a day. I have no problem eating them back later but want to get my weight down fast and then slowing down would be fine. Thanks in advance.

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