do I need to "eat back" all of the calories I burn off?

lkoenig

I'm trying to find a balance but I am confused about this....I started watching my intake and joined myfitnesspal in Jan., I've lost about 9 lbs so far which is almost half of my goal however I feel I'm starting to plateau a bit, generally I'll burn around 500 calories during my cardio classes (4X a week) w/a bit of strength training but do I need to eat back all of these burned off calories or only a partial amount? 

any advice would be appreciated, TIA

Joenali

If you are hungry eat them back. But be careful! Let's say you have 1500 cals. to eat during the day. You burn 500 of them working out. You are only down to 1000 calories. That's not nearly enough to make you feel good during the day. Often times depriving yourself of calories will make you hold onto your weight.

jillybean222

I am so confused about this too - I exercise regularly and I BF so I have an extra 500 for BF'ing and I never know if I am supposed to eat all the exercise and BF calories or not so I usually do and it tastes good but I also have 10 pounds to lose.  I am no help but I maybe someone will see this and explain it to me b/c I am on my 3rd kid and don't understand ))

feinicstine

Your body has to have a certain number of calories to maintain its weight, this is your BMR.  For example, my BMR is about 1720.  Which means that if I eat 1720 calories in a day and do nothing but normal survival, then I'm essentially netting 0.  It takes 1720 calories for me to stay alive.  For the sake of this discussion, let's say BMR is 2000 for the average person.

You subtract 500 calories from your base either through eating less or moving more to lose 1 pound a week.  That's because a pound is about 3500 calories (500 * 7 = 3500).  That means that your NET calories for the day should be 1500 (2000-500 = 1500).

So, if your base rate is 2000 and you want to lose a pound you're aiming for 1500.  If you eat 2000 and burn 500 you hit your net.  If you don't exercise and eat 1500 you hit your net.  If you eat 1500 and burn 500 then you're only at 1000 for the day.  That is not enough food.

Figure out your BMR and subtract enough calories from it to lose your desired amount of weight every week.  Then aim to hit that number through a combination of healthy eating and exercise.

Additionally, current convention is that women should not consistently net fewer than 1200 calories a day.  If you deprive your body of the calories needed regularly, it will begin to horde fat as energy stores.  Essentially, dropping too low forces you in to starvation mode.  Your body is smart and it will re-wire to work on fewer calories because it thinks you're starving.

misskrysbaby

Here's the link to the Harris Benedict Formula, that's what I use, plug it into your URL:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Once you determine your BMR, you can figure out your daily caloric needs, then usually to lose weight you subtract 500 from your daily caloric count.

 

 

lkoenig

thank you so much ladies, I really appreciate your input!