Am I eating enough

I have a question about the whole calories counting since i am new i am still getting used to the whole deal

So, i burnt almost 500 calories at the gym today and my expenditure is 1800 calories and if i wanna lose the weight by may i am allowed 1300 calories but i marked my activity level as Sedentary because i dont do much as i am a student.

Do i increase my calorie intake on the days i exercise or should i eat the 1300 calories?

Also, i only exercise like 3-4 days per week. Each time an hour or more!

Ditto....I want to know that too.  I'm the Confused person above this post...heehee.  hopefully between the two of us we'll get an answer...lol  I would think you would increase you calories the days you exercise but not sure.

hey rockinmam,

the thing is i dont get time to exercise everyday and i want to lose 1.5 to 2 pounds a week.


I have just not been losing any weight which might be because i wasnt eating enough. I was probably in starvation mode.

I am 142 lbs and 5'2.5 and i want the normal 120-122

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! : )

Yes, eat back those calories. So 1300+500=1800 for today. I have been doing this now for a week and have had my best weight loss week ever. We'll see if it lasts, but I think it will and heck I feel a lot better. And what an incentive to get my butt out the door to exercise!

Jenmcc is right.  If exercise increases your calories burned, then you need to increase your calories consumed so that you stay in the deficit range of 500-800.  Some folks go as high as a 1000 calorie deficit, but I've had great progress with no more than a 500 cal deficit.

That 1300 number is the amount of caloric intake you should have at the end of the day after your exercise has been factored in.

If you have consumed 1300 so far and burn off 500, then you are at 800 net calories.  You need to eat those 500 back.

1300 is the number your body is expecting to receive to be happy, healthy and lose weight.  If you take some away from this and use it to exercise, you need to replenish it.