Exercise and calorie count

Hey mate,

Im fairly new to this also so Im not expert by any means.

But your body needs fuel. Food=fuel.

I do not eat back to zero.. Sometimes I struggle too. I have a limit of 1910 calories. Im 5' 11" @ approx 93kg or 206lbs. I work out 3 x times a week doing an hour or more of weight/strength training with some cardio/kettle bell stuff. Some people reckon they burn heaps of calories doing this but I go with the lower rate. 70 mins give about 300cal burn. So that would leave me at 2210 net. Thats pretty easy to eat with in and have a few 100 cals left over. I lost 4 pounds in a week doing this and I will be expecting 2-3lbs this week as well.

Also maybe the things you are eating arent really calorie effiecent think vegetables etc... large volume + small calories = winning!

Honestly, just eat when you're body needs it. If you're hungry, you should never starve yourself.

In saying that, it's best to be aware of when you're 'truly' hungry or if it's your brain 'thinking' you're hungry. Best way to test this is to snack on something small (a yoghurt, piece of fruit, etc.) and wait 20 minutes. If you're really hungry, you would have just whetted your appetite for a meal
Also drink plenty of water. Can't overstate how often you could be thirsty instead of hungry

As for eating back your calories, you'll find that everyone has their own answer to this. Some base it on personal preference, others on facts about nutrition - some with a well-rounded view of both.
I personally only eat back half of my exercise calories each day. It's a rule of thumb and by no means set in concrete, but I just feel that I don't want to waste the exercise I put in. I feel like eating back every exercise minute is counter-productive.

But the PP (previous poster) is right, your body needs fuel so you should eat if your body requires the protein to repair muscles, and various other nutrients that you really shouldn't go without after a workout.
It's a tricky balance but I've found eating half my exercise calories back have set my body in a decent level with enough energy to get through my days. But damn it all to hell if I'm hungry, cos I'll go over my calories for a day if my body needs it.

Thanks Coe the most helpful response. I think that I am going try that "eat back half the calories." I might also try to leave 1,000 calories as a deficiency when I work out. Let's see what happens. Thais for your help.

Bear in mind that when MFP calculates your daily calorie allowance, it has already included a deficit for you to lose weight.
This means that you don't have to make the deficit any larger unless you really want to, you can eat all the cals that MFP has allocated plus your exercise cals and (assuming you are logging reasonably accurately) you will lose weight.

You might like to check out : shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com