Right amount of calories...

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ashreynolds09
ashreynolds09 Posts: 257 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a newbie here on the boards, so go easy on me! :)

I need help making sense of something -- my calorie goal is set at 1480 cals each day, which MFP says I need to lose 1 pound a week (I think) .I do my best to hit that number but usually land at about 1200-1300 calories consumed. (3 meals a day, 2 snacks in between). I also go to the gym for an hour a night 5 nights a week -- which was put in for the calorie amount. I burn between 600-800 calories a night according to my HRM, and I do not count those calories in my journal so I am not tempted to 'eat them'' so to speak.

Am I screwing myself over? When I look at it as I eat at most 1300 calories then I work off at most 800 cals, that puts me at about 500 cals my body has to survive on. I do get hungry a lot but try to deal with it, because I've been told hunger will come when you're losing weight.

This is the part that I always get confused on! Thanks in advance for any help!!

Replies

  • ThisisMiss
    ThisisMiss Posts: 187 Member
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    There are a lot of topics on this, and you can look them up because they can explain it a LOT better than I ever could, so I will just give you a super simplified answer. You are technically supposed to eat your exercise calories to keep your net calories from being too low because otherwise you are - like you said - leaving your body with too few calories to burn for its basic survival. This can put your body into starvation mode and eventually start trying to store as many calories as it can. This is why after some super speedy weight loss, many people find that last stretch of weight loss so hard. Again, this is super simplified, and I am sure someone else can explain it a lot better! (for the record, I don't always eat back all my calories. The only times I do are when I am having naughty indulgent days which I do not recommend at all!)
  • snookumss
    snookumss Posts: 1,451 Member
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    If you hit a plateau, then you need to eat your calories. Odds are, you could be way under eating and not hit a plateau until after you've burnt a ton of your muscle off.... but you never know. I'd say to eat the calorie goal including your exercise each night.
  • Determined523
    Determined523 Posts: 49
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    It is extremely important that you log your exercise. They average person is around 2000 calories a day. Give or take.Your calorie goal is already set for you meeting your goal. So it's important to try and stay around that range. Maintaining less than 1000 calories a day can be taxing on your body. It can cause fatigue, hungry of course and actually cause you to store the calories that you do eat.

    Please play it safe and record everything. Wish you the best in meeting your goal!:happy:
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
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    The number that MFP gives you is the amount you should eat to lose 1 lb/week. This means that there is already a deficit built in. If you exercise you should eat those back. It's about NETTING the number of calories that the site gives you.

    The best way I've heard calories put is that our body is like a car. If it doesn't get enough "fuel" (calories) then it won't work right. We need to get the right kind and amount of fuel for our body to function the way it is supposed to. And if we don't get the right number of calories our body will find it. When we are too low the body gets the calories it needs from our body.....unfortunately it conserves fat so that it has something to live on long term so it gets the fuel from our muscles. That is why NETTING over 1200 calories is so important!!!

    I thought I didn't need to eat my exercise calories back because I thought it would make me lose weight faster. I've already gone through 2 plateaus of almost 2 months each as I'm figuring it all out. I've finally broken my most recent plateau by eating more calories straight up and eating my exercise calories back. It seemed counterproductive at the time but I've learned that my body needs the appropriate fuel to function the way it was designed too.

    Good luck finding the right balance but netting under 1200 calories is not that balance. Your body needs at least a minimum amount to survive and function properly!!!
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Yes you are netting too low. You should net 1200 calories. Your caloric deficit is already calculated without you needing to exercise. Exercise is like an added bonus, meaning you can eat a bit more to create the same deficit. If you are 100% certain you are burning 500 calories a day at the gym, you should try and eat most of those back.
  • ashreynolds09
    ashreynolds09 Posts: 257 Member
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    Thank you very much everyone for explaining it a little more clearly! I will definitely be eating back my workout calories -- or just eating them before I get to the gym!

    I have tried to make sense of it 100 times in my head but it never clicked, your answers helped a lot! Let's be honest, I didn't get to the point of wanting to lose weight by not liking to eat --- this girl is EXCITED to get to eat more during the day!!!! (and have my co-workers harass me for 'eating all day') :happy:
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 646 Member
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    Here is how it was explained to me and it describes it perfectly....

    Everyone has a BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories your body needs to function and be inactive-think digestion, blood flow and organ functions. Once you add in activity of any kind,you have to consume more to offset that activity. Now, if you eat below your BMR ( which for most women is 1500 cals per day) your body goes into starvation mode. Your body begins to store fat as fuel and burn lean muscle mass, this muscle mass comes from your heart, liver, lungs and brain. When your body exhausts those stores, it will then move onto the fat stores.

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