Still confused about eating back cals!!

most people on mfp seem to say to eat them back. Personally, if I'm hungry (which I usually am anyway after working out), I'll eat them back, but if I'm not, I don't stress about it. I listen to my body instead of to people freaking out about "starvation mode" I have to say I don't believe in the "starvation mode" thing bc if that was true, how would anorexic people lose weight? And I doubt a few days here and there of being under will hurt you. Just stay smart about what you eat, and if you're hungry, eat!

Starvation mode is before your body hits an anorexic state. Yes is you starve yourself long enough then you will lose weight. Obviously not healthy.

I don't know I just remember in high school and college when my friends and I would be stupid and try to lose weight, of course all we did was just try to not eat. And it worked. And I think it works for most people. Of course that's not a good solution, I'm not advocating for people to do it, but that's my experience with it. I don't personally try to go under on calories now, I rarely go under the arbitrary 1200. When I have plateaued since I've been on mfp (2 big ones, one lasted 3 months), it has definitely not been because I wasn't eating enough calories. I think that starvation mode is probably what happens when someone is ACTUALLY, LITERALLY starving, and when their body has literally no more fat, it has to turn to muscle for fuel. I don't think it is anything most people on mfp have to worry about, or we probably wouldn't be here

most people on mfp seem to say to eat them back. Personally, if I'm hungry (which I usually am anyway after working out), I'll eat them back, but if I'm not, I don't stress about it. I listen to my body instead of to people freaking out about "starvation mode" I have to say I don't believe in the "starvation mode" thing bc if that was true, how would anorexic people lose weight? And I doubt a few days here and there of being under will hurt you. Just stay smart about what you eat, and if you're hungry, eat!

Starvation mode is before your body hits an anorexic state. Yes is you starve yourself long enough then you will lose weight. Obviously not healthy.

I don't know I just remember in high school and college when my friends and I would be stupid and try to lose weight, of course all we did was just try to not eat. And it worked. And I think it works for most people. Of course that's not a good solution, I'm not advocating for people to do it, but that's my experience with it. I don't personally try to go under on calories now, I rarely go under the arbitrary 1200. When I have plateaued since I've been on mfp (2 big ones, one lasted 3 months), it has definitely not been because I wasn't eating enough calories. I think that starvation mode is probably what happens when someone is ACTUALLY, LITERALLY starving, and when their body has literally no more fat, it has to turn to muscle for fuel. I don't think it is anything most people on mfp have to worry about, or we probably wouldn't be here

I was (unknowingly) eating 800-900 calories a day for about 6 months after losing quite a bit of weight, and I didn't lose a pound, not a single pound. Call it what you like, but it's like that article "700 calories and not losing" or whatever it is that sleepytexan posts often in these types of threads.

I say no. No, you should not eat back your calories unless you are on maintenance or trying to increase muscle mass. My reasoning is this. Have you ever previously been on a diet that gave you a restrictive calorie intake and then turned around and told you that it was flexible? My guess is that you have not. Nor do you need to be on 1200cal/day.

Think about what is reasonable for you. I have mine set at 1600. Educate yourself and make choices as to how much protein/fiber/etc etc you believe you need. My goal is 100g protein and a minimum of 25g fiber daily. protein and fiber keep you fuller longer. This is a fact, not my 2 cents.

Think about it. If you are eating back the calories you are burning, how in the world are you going to lose weight? Unless you are trying to gain weight or build muscle, that is the wrong way to do it. It's just common sense really.

BTW, I'm losing on avg 2#/week

You unknowingly pointed out how MFP is different. The typical weight loss plan is: you're going to exercise x days per week for x amount of time and the rest of the time you are x active - so eat this amount everyday. If you ate that amount and didn't exercise to meet your set goal, you wouldn't lose weight, or not quickly anyway.

On MFP, your calorie goal is set up to fuel your body while losing weight without any exercise at all (though you can customize). So while on the old plan you might be eating 1600 or 1800 a day and exercising to help create a deficit, here you may be eating 1200 or 1400 (or higher - lots of ladies here eat LOADS and look great), then you add exercise in and suddenly your deficit is bigger, possibly too big for healthy weight loss. So you eat some back, and you end up back at the 1800 or whatever of other plans.

The very point is that MFP doesn't work like the typical weight loss/fitness program. Eating your exercise calories does not get rid of your deficit, it maintains the one you asked MFP to set you up for.

bump to read later

It's funny how this concept both confuses people and brings out those in favor of and against it. My personal philosophy is this:

I know I need about 2600 calories a day to maintain my weight. I indicated I wanted to lose a half a pound per week. MFP took this 2600 calories a day, and subtracted 250 calories (250 * 7 = 1750: half of the 3500 calories in 1 pound). So my daily caloric intake was 2350. Now, if I burned 500 calories EXTRA during my workout, and didn't eat them back, my deficit would be 750 calories per day, which is 1.5 pounds weight loss per week.

If I don't eat back my calories I have a 750 calorie deficit.
If I do eat back my calories I have a 250 calorie deficit.

Now you have some decisions. If you find yourself hungry all the time and your not eating back your calories, you can safely eat some or all of them back and STILL BE UNDER YOUR DAILY CALORIC GOAL. If you find you are not hungry, don't eat them back.

NOTE: I have seen people break a plateau simply by starting to eat back their calories. Apparently their body had entered starvation mode and wasn't allowing them to lose weight. And these people were not skinny, nor thin.

In the end, you gotta do what's right for you. If you're losing weight, continue to do what you are currently doing.

Good luck!!!

Definitely don't eat your calories back!!!!!! the point is to burn them off so if you eat them back on then that's defeating the purpose!!!! keep going-you can do it!

WHAAAT???

Don't do this! I'm in agreement with most of the other posters. Keep your NET calories at 1200 or slightly over, but NOT just your TOTAL calories. If you do both, you're making a double deficit, which is NOT what you want to do. One deficit made by exercising, combined with healthy food with a reasonable calorie intake is the best way to start off. Eat the calories back with healthy food!

As long as you physically eat 1200 calories a day, that is what your body needs to function normally.

That's actually not true. I mean, you will lose more weight but it's not all fat. Byebye muscle.

Ok, I am new here and still reading through all of this info and all the numbers thrown around and I agree - it is confusing. I am just going to tell you how I worked out my numbers and that’s it. I learned that my BMR is about 1400 cal a day. That was important to me and made sense that my body needed at least that to function so I feel like I need to consume that amount every day. Now MFP tells me that I need to be eating about 1200 cal for me to lose 1 pound per week to reach my goal by our vacation this summer. I am not real interested in losing it really fast because I know me and I will just be back to where I was by the fall if I don't make some changes that I can learn to live with. So if I feel like I need to eat 1400 so my body can function and I am told to eat 1200 to lose the weight I want, that did not match up. So this week I started working out to get rid of that extra 200 cal I was eating. Now I have been burning more than that so I try and eat that back so that I am netting about 1200 a day. SO far in the last 7 weeks I have lost 10 pounds and I am not cranky or miserable. Right now this is working and I will adjust as I go if my body needs something different. Another way my hubby mentioned is to take your maintain number of calories and subtract 500 per day (for 1# per week) and that is want you should be netting. My numbers end up being the same so that just confirmed to me that I was on the right track. I hope some of this helped a little and good luck!!

In my opinion, be careful not to eat all of your excercise calories back. It often seems that people over estimate what they burn, and it is most likely better to err on the side of caution. Sometimes, when entering in my workout, I reduce the amount of time by a few minutes-not a lot - just a few, perhaps even 5 mintues less. And then I eat some of the calories back, but not all. Well, except for those birthday parties at the pub! going out to eat makes it so much harder!

I've been doing this for 8 weeks and have lost 9lbs. I have my goal set to lose 1 pound a week-I'd rather eat realistically and lose the weight slowly. In the past, I've tried to lose weight faster, and ended up failing and gaining it back. Slow and steady, right? This is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

Of course, you must do what works best for YOU. Everyone is a little different. Perhaps, try eating them back one week or don't eat them, and see what happens.

Best of luck!

Exercise is not just about making a deficit, big or small, its about building stamina, making your heart strong, cardiovascular health, there are millions I mean MILLIONS of health benefits to exercise... not to mention the muscle you build that DOES burn more fat and calories and LOOKS a hellofa lot better than fat (my personal opinion). So if anyone is struggling with WHY eat back your calories you work so hard to burn think about it like you already have a deficit (mfp makes one for you) so youre not only working for the above reasons but heck I sleep a lot better too:) Some people use it to fight depression and anxiety, etc. There are many many threads on this exact topic already...I WORK OUT! haha:)

I like this!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr

CHECK THIS OUT^^^

* Eating too few of calories will starve the body, you need to eat more to lose Eating to few will only hurt you in the long run