Eating Extra Calories After Workout Question.

FashionQueen86

We all know that when you add your workout to your fitnesspal, It adds more calories to your calorie bank. But is it really okay to eat those extra calories?

I know on some research it said not to, but others say you can eat some. Also to take into account, your body does continue to burn calories after the workout from that metabolism boost.

Just wondering for your ideas?

diannethegeek

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf

kaylajane11

The calories that are set by MFP already have a deficit built in, so even if you eat back your exercise calories you will still be in a deficit position.

Some of the exercises on MFP estimate a little too high, however, so some people think it's best to only eat back 50% of your exercise calories.

If you are working out hard, you will likely need the extra calories for energy.

billyfleet1988

I typically stick to the original calorie goal, therefore I do not eat the additional calories added by working out.

However, I push myself pretty hard at the gym and I don't like depriving my body of fuel. So if I'm feeling extra hungry I'll dip into those extra calories. This don't happen very often, but when it do, I keep the extra calorie consumption to a minimum.

hdrenollet

I don't eat the extra calories unless my body tells me that I need a little boost after a good workout.

cwolfman13

FashionQueen86 wrote: »

We all know that when you add your workout to your fitnesspal, It adds more calories to your calorie bank. But is it really okay to eat those extra calories?

I know on some research it said not to, but others say you can eat some. Also to take into account, your body does continue to burn calories after the workout from that metabolism boost.

Just wondering for your ideas?

If you set up your activity level to only include your daily hum drum then yes...because you have to account for that activity...that is the way this tool is designed. Note that your exercise goals are just for you...they have no bearing on the calorie allotment MFP gives you...play around with them and you'll see what I mean.

We'll use my numbers to look at the simple math here...I have a desk job so when I did the MFP method I put "sedentary"...this gave me a calorie goal of 1850 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...so my NON EXERCISE theoretical maintenance would be 1850 + 500 = 2,350 calories per day. So, without any exercise whatsoever I would maintain on 2,350 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week eating 1,850 calories.

But here's the thing, exercise is really good for you...and it's also hard on the body and requires energy and nutrients for recovery...it's good to learn how to fuel that activity. I ride regularly and I lift weights 3x weekly doing primarily Olympic lifting.

It's not a-typical for me to burn a good 800 calories or so on a two-a-day Tuesday or Thursday. If I didn't eat those calories to account for my exercise, my net intake would only be 1,050 calories...way too low for a guy and I would soon find myself with recovery issues and increased injury risk. So I eat those 800 calories so my gross intake is 2,650 calories...but I still have the same 500 calorie weight loss deficit because now my maintenance number would have also increased by those same 800 calories to 3,150 calories and 3,150 - 2,650 = 500 calorie deficit still.

The one BIG caveat here is not overestimating your calorie burn. This is the most difficult aspect of this method.

Keep in mind also that if you're including your exercise activity in your overall activity level then you wouldn't eat them back because that would be double counting as an estimate of them would already be included in your overall goal...this is known as the TDEE method which many people also use. Either way, you're accounting for exercise activity somewhere.

FashionQueen86

Thank you for the responses. Diannet, especially, thank you for the link. Perhaps I should have looked harder for these discussions first.

diannethegeek

FashionQueen86 wrote: »

Thank you for the responses. Diannet, especially, thank you for the link. Perhaps I should have looked harder for these discussions first.

No worries! It's a pretty frequently asked question around here, so I keep the link handy. :flowerforyou:

FashionQueen86

cwolfman13 wrote: »

FashionQueen86 wrote: »

We all know that when you add your workout to your fitnesspal, It adds more calories to your calorie bank. But is it really okay to eat those extra calories?

I know on some research it said not to, but others say you can eat some. Also to take into account, your body does continue to burn calories after the workout from that metabolism boost.

Just wondering for your ideas?

If you set up your activity level to only include your daily hum drum then yes...because you have to account for that activity...that is the way this tool is designed. Note that your exercise goals are just for you...they have no bearing on the calorie allotment MFP gives you...play around with them and you'll see what I mean.

We'll use my numbers to look at the simple math here...I have a desk job so when I did the MFP method I put "sedentary"...this gave me a calorie goal of 1850 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...so my NON EXERCISE theoretical maintenance would be 1850 + 500 = 2,350 calories per day. So, without any exercise whatsoever I would maintain on 2,350 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week eating 1,850 calories.

But here's the thing, exercise is really good for you...and it's also hard on the body and requires energy and nutrients for recovery...it's good to learn how to fuel that activity. I ride regularly and I lift weights 3x weekly doing primarily Olympic lifting.

It's not a-typical for me to burn a good 800 calories or so on a two-a-day Tuesday or Thursday. If I didn't eat those calories to account for my exercise, my net intake would only be 1,050 calories...way too low for a guy and I would soon find myself with recovery issues and increased injury risk. So I eat those 800 calories so my gross intake is 2,650 calories...but I still have the same 500 calorie weight loss deficit because now my maintenance number would have also increased by those same 800 calories to 3,150 calories and 3,150 - 2,650 = 500 calorie deficit still.

The one BIG caveat here is not overestimating your calorie burn. This is the most difficult aspect of this method.

Keep in mind also that if you're including your exercise activity in your overall activity level then you wouldn't eat them back because that would be double counting as an estimate of them would already be included in your overall goal...this is known as the TDEE method which many people also use. Either way, you're accounting for exercise activity somewhere.

THANK YOU.