So I have started working out again. I always just assume it's the lowest number for the activity on the daily plate and use that.

Well today I spent several hours cleaning, really REALLY cleaning house, and entered in that as exercise. Then I worked out. I did my usual half hour of fast weight lifting, then 15 minutes of yoga and another hour+ of stationary bike. After I put it all in I need almost half again what I usually eat in a day to make my 1300 and that's AFTER having had a pretty big breakfast.

I just can't eat that much in a day! LOL. I went and had a big dinner and 2 beers but I will still never reach that. I guess I am jut going to be short today!

the daily plate had the tendency to be a little generous with the amount of calories they say you burn... I don't think it's completely accurate... I also set myself a basic calorie goal 1500.... that's pretending I don't do ANYTHING all day.... then If I do exercise I have a deficit... eating a different amount on days I do exercise is difficult to me.. but I allow my self a range of 1400-1600 but aiming for 1500.. I'd rather just know on any given day I need to stay with in X amount of cals... I've lost 32 lbs in 3 months so it's gotta be working!

i use the daily plate also. I dont go by what they say I need to eat. I just eat between 1500-1800 a day no matter what amt of exercise I do. I love the daily plate though. It makes counting calories so much easier. so say I eat 1600 calories in a day, and burn 1000. my net calories for the day would be 600. And thats ok. because thats how I've lost my weight

I have a question about the dailey plate too... I just signed up and it says that my calorie goal is 2098 calories at wanting to lose 1.5 pounds per week! that seems awfully high for calorie needs in a day?? I only put down that I have light activity too so I am confused I have been losing weight on 1500 to 1800 a day so I dont know if I should change??

I never ate back my exercise calories on TDP - I figured they were overblown anyway. On days I did a lot of exercise I would add back in some protein, but still came to a net of less than my calorie goal. I made sure I ate to or around to my calorie goal for whatever weight loss or maintenance setting I had in and the exercise was extra.

I set myself for Sedentary during active weight loss, Lightly Active for maintenance. CollegeGirl, you might be able to loose on more calories, you might not. Those calculators are not always 100% accurate. If you feel like you aren't eating enough make changes slowly, otherwise if it is working you can leave it alone for right now just in case you stall and need to make changes then.

I also use the lowest numbers of calories burned on TDP. I did 3 miles today and then racquetball. It says at the end of the day that I have eaten 1144 calories but have a net calorie after working out of 500. I do not plan on eating 700 more calories tonight. I just ate a 6.6 oz piece of chicken instead of 4oz to make it a little higher. I have lost 11.7 lbs in 17 days.

Some of you are only netting 500-600 calories a day? That is not healthy and is setting yourself up for failure in the end because you are not fueling your body properly. Sure you are going to lose weight at first by only netting 500-600 calories a day, but after awhile your body is going to get angry and is going to hold onto every pound it can because it thinks you are starving it by only netting that many calories. I use TDP too, and it's helped me lose weight over the past year, and if there is one thing I've learned from the very knowledgable people on TDP, even if you don't eat back ALL of the calories you burn exercising, you need to eat back enough so that you are netting a proper amount, and 500-600 calories a day is not healthy for anyone. That is what people who have EDs do, and I wouldn't say they end up with the healthiest bodies or figures.

I actually asked my nutritionist about this and she said it's fine, as long as you're eating enough to get vital nutrients and minerals in the first place. I ate 1300 calories today (yay, back on track without feeling guilty ) and I did crazy exercise. According to spark people, I burnt 1990 calories. I'm sure it's exaggerated too, but if it is true, I would have - 690 calories today, meaning I'd have to eat 2000 calories for dinner? Yeah right. That's just not possible. I will be eating some more protein and drinking a glass of milk and having a banana in an attempt to save my poor muscles, but I generally don't increase my intake to compensate for exercise. It's extra. Of course, I don't exercise like this every day. Maybe twice a week.

I am trying to up the length I ride my exercise bike. I am currently able to do 2 shifts of a half our each but would like to get back to doing 3 hour long shifts like I used to. No WAY I am going to be able to eat that back, LOL.