Eating back cals I burn at work

[Txrn123]

I'm a nurse and on my work days FB via MFP bumps my allowed cal intake of 1340 sometimes as high as 1800 or 2000. As shift goes on (working noon to midnight) I keep seeing "cals left" number go from 400 to 700 or close to 800. Am I doing the right thing by eating those "extra calories"? I snack or eat throughout the shift but the number still goes up. What would happen if I just stick to the original 1340? FB clocks me doing 5 or 6 miles when at work since I am on the go so much. On my off days when I am not as active my allowed cals go up to maybe 1500-1600. I just don't want to screw up the pre-FB wt loss of 15 pounds I've had when I solely used MFP and stuck with the 1340 if that makes sense.

[PamelaHazelton]

The numbers increase due to your differential goal. For example, if your goal gives you a target differential (caloric intake vs burn) of 500, once you burn enough calories to nail that differential target, the amount you can intake increases.

By a 1340 intake goal, I'm guessing your target differential is 750? That means once you burn more than 2,090 calories it will increase your intake allotment. That's so you stay within that 750 differential.

Should you eat more? Probably so. 1,340 is pretty low for caloric intake, and if your body is not used to a higher differential, you'll start feeling tired (that's your "sign" that you're not eating enough). After tiredness, you can get dizzy, forgetful, and so on. 

In short, if you're hungry, eat. If you're body gives you the signs, eat. Don't "push" it just to burn more - especially as a nurse.

Weight loss is tied to the differential. So eating more when you burn more shouldn't make a difference. There are days I intake more than 2,200, and I'm still on target.