What is the calorie counting answer?

[Blacksquirrel]

I am currently calorie counting on MFP. Exericising a few times a week. For the last 2/3 weeks I have been averaging a weekly calorie burn of 1800.

Here in lies the problem...do I eat my burned cals? Some people on MSP say to eat more to lose weight...ie over 1500 cals plus at least half the burned, which I tried this last week & gained a lb :(
However 'they' also say if you do not eat enough & exercise a fair bit that your body holds on to the weight in 'starvation mode'.

I really want to get past this plateau, having lost 14lb & needing to lose another 27lb to reach a healthy weight. I can't bear to see the weight go on again. Is it best to not eat any of the burned & just stick to my daily (which I have upped to 1400 for a lb per wk loss)?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I don't believe in the starvation mode thing, if you are exercising and eating more than 1200 a day AND STILL HAVE WEIGHT TO LOSE that being said I do believe in eating exercise calories if you are actually hungry for them. The reason I wouldn't eat them all is I think MFP totally overestimates so if you eat them all you probably won't lose.

I think if you have set daily at 1400 then stick to that BUT if you are really hungry on an exercise day do eat a little more. My preference though would be 1200 on non exercise days and a bit more if exercising - maybe 1500 unless really serious exercise.

ALso look at WHAT you are eating, calories are not all created equal. REad Escape the Diet Trap - make sure you have protein at each meal, ideally 30g (at each meal) and cut out sugar and cut down on grains. 2 pieces of fruit a day is enough, eat mountains of non root veggies, and don't obsess about going low fat - include some nuts or seeds each day.