How can I eat back so many calories?

Totally agree. I have become overweight because I didn't listen to my body telling me I had eaten enough. If you have a big workout you will naturally be more hungry but you should only eat until satisfied. How will we get anywhere if we keep force feeding ourselves.

Dont eat them Back Leave em I do!

Really? Have you seen results from this? Everything i have been reading seems to contradict that. Great to hear another opinion!

I eat back every single calorie.

Yup! So I won't I feel sick and empty, then I end up wanting to eat everything in sight. eat high calorie healthy things, like nuts and oils and avocados. I'd avoid Fast food calories because they just aren't good for your over all health. That grease and fat just sticks to your arteries. And with all the exercise, you want your arteries to be free of blockage. make good choices. Eat big healthy breakfast and a good size lunch so you won't be stuck sleeping on a full stomach.

I eat pretty clean most of the time and I have this problem pretty frequently. I've taken to keeping an emergency stash around the house -- some dark chocolate, walnuts, full fat cheese*, stuff like that -- for days when I realize after dinner that I've got a long way to go to 1200.

The surprising thing about healthy eating and exercise is that it's not as hard as you want to believe it is when you're not doing it. If you can make small sustainable changes that don't feel overwhelmingly hard and like you will "ruin" them if you "mess up" then you're much more likely to be able to stick to it.

I have a few friends on here who like to net 600 calories a day or something -- they all have a lot of trouble losing weight and a lot of trouble sticking to their diets. The people I know who lose lose lose all eat over 1200 net most of the time. You can look into the science of it all and that is pretty enlightening, but what I did was just opened all the forums where people were arguing about net calories and looked at the actual losses of the people who were arguing for each side. And it made me RELIGIOUS about eating back my calories up to 1200 net.

All that said, hey, it's okay to net sorta low once in a blue moon, and it's okay to eat something that's not too clean once in a blue moon. Just don't do it tomorrow too.

*I think some people consider dairy to not be part of a clean diet. I am at super, super high risk for osteoporosis due to an illness I have, so I eat it shamelessly and almost nonstop, and track my calcium. For my situation, I consider it essential.

So that I am clear, when your daily calorie goal is 1200, despite how much you burn, you should still NET 1200 calories? I was under the impression that you don't want to eat more than 1200 cal, and whatever you burn takes away from that, and it was okay. If your net doesn't have to be 1200calories, then what is a healthy net?

no no no. you don't want to NET below 1200 (although most normal people will require nets of at least 1400, 1500, or more). 1200 is a bare minimum, not a maximum.

Do not over eat to eat back your calories. Eat til you are full. End Story.

Read the details. Eating 600 and burning 500+ is not a healthy way to live. End of story.

Common sense eat your goal calories, dont overeat to eat back exercise calories.

***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guideline number 17***
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

Make a healthy smoothie! The calories can add up FAST, but it can be really good calories. When I make smoothies I do a base of soy milk, add frozen fruit and a big heaping handful of baby spinach. If I need/want more calories and nutrients, I add peanut butter and/or avocado. If you're freaked out by smoothies with spinach/avocado, give it a try! If there's fruit in there, it takes A TON of spinach for you to be able to taste it - the only noticeable difference is that your smoothie is bright green. Avocado also just makes it super creamy and adds healthy fats - no weird veggie taste.

Example: 1C soy milk (or milk), half a banana, handful of frozen blueberries, big handful of spinach, glob of peanut butter, and half an avocado. I've made pretty much this exact smoothie before and it's a great way to get in healthy cals!

Good work on that burn!

Edit: Nutrition info on that example smoothie: 615 cal, 61 carbs, 37 fat, 21 protein, 16 fiber, 156 sodium

yeah i still dont get hoe people can say they cant possibly eat 1200 or 1700 or 1800 calories.

eat protein.. eat chicken, beef eggs, avocadoes, nuts, beans, quinoa, salmon, shrimp, turkey breast, yogurt etc.

you dont have to go from one extreme to another, so it's not either i get all my calories via a double bacon cheeseburger meal OR i can't get it because i'm only eating half a can of tuna and a 2 stalks of celery a day :laugh:

If I exercise late in the day, I often log the calories on the next day. Makes it so much easier to determine my day.

Dont eat them Back Leave em I do!

Really? Have you seen results from this? Everything i have been reading seems to contradict that. Great to hear another opinion!

Look at my profile. I stick to eating 1800 calories a day on my cuts and any exercise I do I subtract and never eat it back. Unless I am fatigued I may have a protein bar or something.

Yeah, but 1800>700. Big difference here.

***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guideline number 17***
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

:)