I am soooo confused!!! to eat or not to eat???

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Replies

  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    anyone??? can anyone explain this to me?


    question about the 1200 cals bit. If you are set to 1200 cals and eat under mfp tells you, you've eaten too little.... but when you have exercised and still don't hit a 1200 net it doesn't say anything about eating too little? why is that????
    Your body needs a certain amount of food intake every day to function correctly. For women this site chooses to use 1200 for that figure, though if you're very short (eg under five feet and not significantly overweight) you don't actually need quite that much.

    Note that 1200 minimum calories is 1200 worth of good wholesome food.

    If you're going to eat nutritionally poor food (eg sugary stuff) you ideally need to have that as well as your 1200 calories of healthy food and either lose weight more slowly or better still do exercise to burn it off.

    Hope that makes sense. :smile:
  • hiker282
    hiker282 Posts: 983 Member
    I am very much an advocate of eating back your calories from exercise. MFP automatically figures out your deficit *before* you workout, so anything you burn beyond that deficit is a bonus to add more fuel to the fire. Large deficits can lead the body to stop burning fat and start burning muscle, which leads to a lower metabolic rate and will ultimately lead to a stagnation in weight loss. You need to eat your calories back, and make sure you're getting enough protein to make sure that your body is most likely to burn fat rather than muscle.

    You should also check out this thread for a little more professional advice:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/206951-asked-my-trainer-re-eating-back-calories?error_user_id=13025633&error_username=hiker282
  • SCUBAMomofTwo
    SCUBAMomofTwo Posts: 189
    Here comes blunt: your diet SUCKS!! Where are the fruits and veggies? One green salad and a 1/2 cup of mandarin oranges does not even come CLOSE to what your body needs. Ditch the 100 calorie packs. You're already taking Dr. Pepper (which I understand is an addiction and therefore is best for some to wean SLOWLY)....that should be all the crap you allow yourself. Increase your fruits and veggies first; then, for god's sake get some protein in at breakfast!! Greek yogurt, a protein drink, eggs...tons of healthy, tasty choices for A.M. protein. And yes, as others have said, you ARE eating too little. A day or two of that may be ok; but not days on end. Your body will begin to expect it's NEVER gonna get more and start to conserve energy (i.e., FAT).

    Sorry to be harsh, but you need a wake up call ASAP!! Feed your body NUTRIENTS!
  • Helenatrandom
    Helenatrandom Posts: 1,166 Member
    ^^^^^ This. Coming from a former DP addict, I understand, but if you are going to have a DP (which is FINE by the way)...

    Hah, I was skim reading the thread and I missed that you gyus were talking about Dr Pepper. I had to do a double take at that. Yep, mind in the gutter... :noway: :happy:

    I can't figure out what "DP" could stand for BESIDES Dr Pepper.... Now I'm wondering.... Which was probably just your intention all along; to make people wonder. :wink: Yep. I'm onto you now! :tongue:
  • landorki
    landorki Posts: 93 Member
    It looks good for to me! Here are some suggestions I have. (I am going to be brutally honest. I am assuming you can take it being you invited critique on your public log).

    (you only have one day logged... so I have to go by that)

    1. Eat Breakfast. Soda is not breakfast (and I will get to that in #2). Carbs! (If you are eating crabs) Morning is the best time to get those carbs in... So... oatmeal, cereal, toast. And do GOOD CARBS. Multi Grain is the way to go! Don't skimp on breakfast... YOU NEED IT!

    2. Soda in the am? Really? Coffee. It is the beverage of adults. If you need the caffeine to kick you in gear... Drink Coffee. It is LOW calorie and depending on how you take it, (skim milk, splenda) It can be tasty and STILL LOW CALORIE. I do understand Soda is a hard habit to break... but there is so much SUGAR and SODIUM in one can... you can see A HUGE difference if you just cut it out 100%.

    3. Eat your Calories.... MFP gives you a certain amount of calories to eat on a daily basis. Eat them. If you exercise, it gives you more. It is up to you and how you feel. Some days I eat some of my exercise calories, other days, I do not touch them... But ALWAYS eat the base of your calories (YOUR BMR). You need those calories to just get through your day... so eat them, and enjoy them. ALWAYS hit your protein mark, and always try to stay under your sugar and sodium. (Again, Sugar and sodium and TWO LEADING forms of weight gain and water retention. They sneak up on you in all forms... I would watch these two things the MOST!)

    4. Good Luck! You seem to be on the right foot! FRESH food is the Best. Try to prepare your food with fresh ingredients and STAY AWAY from processed foods!

    (My diary is public also... feel free to take a look... and yell at me about something you see that isn't right... we can all use some critique!!!)
  • Simomofmich
    Simomofmich Posts: 126 Member
    Here's what worked for me. I lost 72 pounds and dropped my body fat from 27.5 down to 6.3%. i know people might not agree with it, but this worked for me.

    Switch from Dr. Pepper to some flavor of green tea.
    Don't eat back your exercise calories, consider it a bonus but try to eat at least 1200 a day for sure.
    Eat a protein based breakfast wtihin 30 minutes of waking up.
    Eat something every 3 hours or so. A snack between meals.
    Drink 10 glasses of water a day. One BEFORE you eat any meanland one with each snack
    Get your protein count to 100 ish and your carb count under 100 ish.
    Walk 3-5 times a week. it's easy. Listen to music and it will burn calories.

    Good luck!

    DEDICATION AND DISCIPLINE !
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member

    ok question about the 1200 cals bit. If you are set to 1200 cals and eat under mfp tells you, you've eaten too little.... but when you have exercised and still don't hit a 1200 net it doesn't say anything about eating too little? why is that????

    It's probably because you've hit 1200 before your exercise. So strictly speaking you aren't undereating in the same was as if you'd only eaten 1100 and done no exercise.

    I think.

    ok... for example my cals are set to 1310, i ate 1527 but with 380 cals from exercise i netted 1147. so that is why i was wondering as so many always say to NET 1200, but yet when i don't NET that amount it seems to be ok when i exercise... but if i don't it's not ok. i don't see how it makes a difference if i exercised or not, i still only net 1147?
  • landorki
    landorki Posts: 93 Member
    Here's what worked for me. I lost 72 pounds and dropped my body fat from 27.5 down to 6.3%. i know people might not agree with it, but this worked for me.

    Switch from Dr. Pepper to some flavor of green tea.
    Don't eat back your exercise calories, consider it a bonus but try to eat at least 1200 a day for sure.
    Eat a protein based breakfast wtihin 30 minutes of waking up.
    Eat something every 3 hours or so. A snack between meals.
    Drink 10 glasses of water a day. One BEFORE you eat any meanland one with each snack
    Get your protein count to 100 ish and your carb count under 100 ish.
    Walk 3-5 times a week. it's easy. Listen to music and it will burn calories.

    Good luck!

    DEDICATION AND DISCIPLINE !

    I agree with MOST of this! especially the follow:

    Eat a protein based breakfast wtihin 30 minutes of waking up.
    Eat something every 3 hours or so. A snack between meals.
    Drink 10 glasses of water a day. One BEFORE you eat any meanland one with each snack
    Get your protein count to 100 ish and your carb count under 100 ish.
  • kernowprincess
    kernowprincess Posts: 135 Member
    Here's what worked for me. I lost 72 pounds and dropped my body fat from 27.5 down to 6.3%. i know people might not agree with it, but this worked for me.

    Switch from Dr. Pepper to some flavor of green tea.
    Don't eat back your exercise calories, consider it a bonus but try to eat at least 1200 a day for sure.
    Eat a protein based breakfast wtihin 30 minutes of waking up.
    Eat something every 3 hours or so. A snack between meals.
    Drink 10 glasses of water a day. One BEFORE you eat any meanland one with each snack
    Get your protein count to 100 ish and your carb count under 100 ish.
    Walk 3-5 times a week. it's easy. Listen to music and it will burn calories.

    Good luck!

    DEDICATION AND DISCIPLINE !

    I agree with this, this chap knows what he is talking about. Do eat breakfast, I found that did me the most good. Before I never ate breakfast and when I did start eating it, I found the weight almost came off by itself as my metabolism got a much better start to the day.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member

    ok question about the 1200 cals bit. If you are set to 1200 cals and eat under mfp tells you, you've eaten too little.... but when you have exercised and still don't hit a 1200 net it doesn't say anything about eating too little? why is that????

    It's probably because you've hit 1200 before your exercise. So strictly speaking you aren't undereating in the same was as if you'd only eaten 1100 and done no exercise.

    I think.

    ok... for example my cals are set to 1310, i ate 1527 but with 380 cals from exercise i netted 1147. so that is why i was wondering as so many always say to NET 1200, but yet when i don't NET that amount it seems to be ok when i exercise... but if i don't it's not ok. i don't see how it makes a difference if i exercised or not, i still only net 1147?
    There are degrees of ok! :bigsmile:

    Eating under 1200 calories, if you are an average size of over, that is not enough.

    Eating under 1200 NET, if you are an average size or over, isn't absolutely ideal, but neither is it a big problem. Don't worry about going into "starvation mode" I've never eaten all my exercise calories and I've done just fine. In the long term though, you'll probably find yourself eating on average around 1200 net by the time you've included occasional meals out / treats / days when you have a few alcoholic drinks.

    Remember it's not just about the NET calories at the end of the day, it's about eating enough food to maintain your body in good health. Even if you are under 1200 NET you'll still be (hopefully!) eating enough macro and micro nutrients to stay healthy.

    Also remember that people tend to overestimate the amount of calories burned and underestimate the amounts of food they're eating, so if you eat ALL your exercise calories, it's very easy to actually eat a lot more NET calories than you think, especially if you're taking calories burned from a resource such as this site which does not take into account factors such as how heavy you are.
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    thx!
  • Melburrow
    Melburrow Posts: 6 Member
    anyone??? can anyone explain this to me?


    question about the 1200 cals bit. If you are set to 1200 cals and eat under mfp tells you, you've eaten too little.... but when you have exercised and still don't hit a 1200 net it doesn't say anything about eating too little? why is that????

    I was seeing a personal trainer for awhile and he said you don't need to eat the calories you burn. The whole point is to have a calorie deficit. So i'm on a 1500 calorie diet but if I go snowboarding, which burns a ton of calories, I don't eat all of those calories back. The point is your body needs to consume at the very least 1200 calories a day to avoid going into starvation mode, that doesn't mean your body needs to NET 1200 calories a day. This would explain why MFP doesn't get on your case when your net is less than 1200 including exercise.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    I was seeing a personal trainer for awhile and he said you don't need to eat the calories you burn. The whole point is to have a calorie deficit.
    Yes the whole point IS to have a calorie deficit.

    However, what your trainer doesn't seem to have grasped is that the calories which this site calculates for its members already includes a deficit, based on your aspirations for weight loss you hope to achieve, for example a deficit of 500 calories a day for those who aspire to lose 1lb a week.

    Not eating exercise calories INCREASES the amount of calorie deficit (which you may or may not believe to be a good thing) but it does not CREATE the calorie deficit.
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