extra calories earned through exercise?

lumpofclay

Hi, I'm in my 50's. I have done WW before and I never ate my activity points...and I lost weight, if I ate them I wouldn't loose. With WW you don't know how many calories you are given it is only in points. So, do you eat the extra calories tacked on when you log exercise or try and stay at the recommended calories MFP gives you to use? I just started MFP 2 days ago and trying to figure this all out. I would really appreciate to hear how everyone else does this and how it works for you. My calories are at 1240/day. Thanks!

CA_Underdog

Yep, eating back your exercise calories is wise. MFP is quite simple--

1. Your body burns X calories/day.
2. You want to lose Y lbs per week, typically 1% of your body weight or less to be healthy.
3. Therefore, you must eat X - (700 Y) calories per day.
4. If you burn Z calories exercising, eat those back, or you'll lose too fast.

The only pitfalls are in being wrong about how many calories your body burns per day (many people guess too low) how many calories you burn exercising (many people guess too high). MFP does a great job at the first one. A machine or HRM is more accurate than MFP's calorie-burn estimates though, as it has more information about you and your workout than MyFitnessPal.

SKME2013

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/eating-back-calories-burned/

SueInAz

MFP already has the calorie deficit built in to your daily calorie allotment to meet your goal weight loss rate each week. Exercise is extra. So when you exercise, you earn extra calories in MFP. You have the option of eating those extra calories but it's not an absolute requirement. If you are getting enough to eat without the extra simply don't enter any exercise calories into MFP. Some people still like to track their exercise so they'll add it in as a 1 calorie activity.

ETA: Weight watchers has made it more difficult for those who don't have a lot of weight to lose to actually lose on its plan. "Free" foods and a point system that seems to allow too many calories are part of the problem. Don't get lost in trying to compare that plan with MFP. They are two different approaches.

lumpofclay

Thank you for all your replies!!

I checked out the article SKME2013, and in the comment section quoting Brian he said, "You’re not really ‘eating back’ the calories as opposed to ‘maintaining the deficit’ in the right range." That made sense to me. Good article, thanks for sharing it.

Thanks, too, SueinAz, I need to remember WW is a different program and change my thinking from points to calories. I am trying to continue to follow some of WW healthy guidelines they promote. To drink enough water, have at least 5 serving of fruits/veggies a day, and get my oil in. I think those are pretty essential for good health.

Thanks again!

SueInAz

lumpofclay wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies!!

I checked out the article SKME2013, and in the comment section quoting Brian he said, "You’re not really ‘eating back’ the calories as opposed to ‘maintaining the deficit’ in the right range." That made sense to me. Good article, thanks for sharing it.

Thanks, too, SueinAz, I need to remember WW is a different program and change my thinking from points to calories. I am trying to continue to follow some of WW healthy guidelines they promote. To drink enough water, have at least 5 serving of fruits/veggies a day, and get my oil in. I think those are pretty essential for good health.

Thanks again!

You're right, "maintaining the deficit" is a good way to put it. I'll have to remember that. I've never like the phrase "eating back" anyway.

Those are all things that are promoted in every healthy eating plan I've ever seen. Just remember that "enough water" doesn't have to mean excessive amounts and water is in nearly everything we eat and drink. Unless you live somewhere hot and dry (I do) or work out and sweat heavily, you don't really need more than a couple of glasses of water each day on top of what you're already getting.

goddessofawesome

If I eat back my "calories burned" it's not on purpose. I'm really not one who exercises just so I can "eat more" simply because the "burn" that is calculated -- be it via whatever cardio machine I am using, HRM, the amounts in the system -- is more than likely highly inaccurate and over inflated. If I were to eat all my exercise calories -- heck, even half of them -- back then I'd more than likely be over eating.

I have my calories set at a certain amount and regardless of what I do for exercise I try to hit that goal.

MKEgal

My doctor & dietician both told me to ignore exercise calories, just eat at 10x my healthy goal weight (based on BMI). Neither had ever heard of "net calories". Probably 2/3 of the time, I manage to do that. Need to be better.

Most people underestimate what they eat, most machines (including MFP) overestimate calories burned. If you ignore exercise, the errors generally more or less cancel out.
(If you're doing extreme exercise, long-distance running for hours a day, yeah, you'll need to eat more so you stay healthy. But for most people, no.)

This calculator will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
If you enter your healthy goal weight this will help you plan your food intake.
https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html