Not eating all my calories??

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shawnakelsey
shawnakelsey Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
:smile: Hello all my fellow MFP's!! I am really trying to do this right. So was wondering if you had any thoughts on eating extra calories. I am doing a 1200 calorie a day plan. I almost always meet that But when I workout my calories go up. Do I need to be eating all my workout calories to??

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  • bigbrownbear123
    bigbrownbear123 Posts: 32
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    In general, yes. Your calorie goal determined on MFP takes into acount both input and output outside of your regular calorie expenditure (from just sitting around). So if your workout takes you 300 calories under your goal, you'd want to be eating about 300 calories to make up for that.
  • popat89
    popat89 Posts: 83 Member
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    Hi! Yes, you really should eat back all of your calories since you are at the 1200 level. When I first started here I didn't know this information and it has helped me out a lot so I thought I would pass it on now that I know it. Hopefully I'm not being redundant if you already know all of this!

    You should know the meaning of these and know what these numbers are for you specifically:
    Total Daily Energy Expenditure: Calories your burns doing all your daily activities (including sleeping, sitting... everything)
    Basal Metabolic Rate: Calories you body needs to just run it's basic functions is you were to just rest all day long.
    you can calculate these number on this calculator: http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

    Also 3500 calories = 1pound. Seven days in a week --> 3500/7 = 500 calorie a day deficit to lose 1 lbs a week.

    Okay, so when you sign up for MFP they ask you questions about your activity level etc. They use this information to calculate a number -your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Then they ask you how much you want to lose - let's say you chose 1lbs a week. MFP then does TDEE minus 500 to calculate how many calories you should eat everyday to lose weight. Weight loss for most people all traces back to TDEE minus a given deficit. MFP never lets it go lower than 1200 calories for anyone (and with good reason!).

    When MFP put you on 1200 calories, they already accounted for a deficit. When you don't eat your exercise calories back you are creating an even larger deficit than the one you've been given by MFP. I would eat back your exercise calories so that you're netting at least 1200 calories. Under 1200 net it is very hard to get proper nutrition, especially if you exercise vigorously :)
  • shawnakelsey
    shawnakelsey Posts: 46 Member
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    Thanks for the in put!!

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