will i still lose if I don't eat my excercise calories?

HOOVEY17

Will I still lose if I don't eat my exercise calories?

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Yes, if you would have lost by eating your exercise calories, then you should lose even more by not eating them. But don't forget to fuel yourself for exercise too if you are exerting yourself heavily. If you are going to go out and burn 3,000 calories exercising, you probably should eat at least some of those calories back.

_John_

how does one gain weight by not eating more calories?

T1DCarnivoreRunner

_John_ wrote: »

how does one gain weight by not eating more calories?

Nobody is suggesting that.

TeaBea

Yes........but there are several factors to consider. The number on the scale is only one measure of success. That number doesn't say you have a healthy amount of muscle to fat.

MFP gives you a calorie deficit before exercise. That way people who can't/won't exercise still lose weight.

The idea behind eating calories back is to keep the original deficit. When you increase the deficit you make it harder to maintain existing lean muscle mass. Obese people can keep lean muscle with large deficits, people who are merely overweight....not so much.

Do you want a lower body fat percentage? Are you less than obese? Is your weekly weight loss goal modest....or fairly high (already)? Eating calories back will depend upon the individual.

Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

_John_

midwesterner85 wrote: »

_John_ wrote: »

how does one gain weight by not eating more calories?

Nobody is suggesting that.

we are discussing eating (back) calories burned during exercise correct?

sure I answered with a question, but one will lose more weight by NOT eating back exercise calories. Doesn't make it healthy necessarily, particularly in lower BMI individuals over the long term who expend a lot of calories with exercise, but still...

HOOVEY17

Thanks! I've just seen a few things on here that suggest you won't lose if you don't eat your exercise calories...just getting back into this and trying to figure things out

CrabNebula

HOOVEY17 wrote: »

Thanks! I've just seen a few things on here that suggest you won't lose if you don't eat your exercise calories...just getting back into this and trying to figure things out

Welcome to MFPscience where physics often doesn't even real.

I haven't eaten back my exercise calories in a very long time and still have lost a huge amount of weight. I also have eaten below 1200 calories/BMR and lost weight. I must be some special sneuxflake, got me.

AmyRhubarb

Personally, my goal is to eat as many calories as I can and still lose the fat. Because food is fuel, and I like being well-fueled and energized for life and workouts, and because food is delicious.

Not eating eating enough often leads to burn out exhaustion, bingeing, and yoyo dieting. Don't sell yourself short trying to lose faster by under eating.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

_John_ wrote: »

midwesterner85 wrote: »

_John_ wrote: »

how does one gain weight by not eating more calories?

Nobody is suggesting that.

we are discussing eating (back) calories burned during exercise correct?

sure I answered with a question, but one will lose more weight by NOT eating back exercise calories. Doesn't make it healthy necessarily, particularly in lower BMI individuals over the long term who expend a lot of calories with exercise, but still...

So your question should not be "How."

futuremanda

If all the math is correct, you will lose weight when you eat back your exercise calories (and be well-fueled and have an easier time meeting nutrition goals to boot). You will also lose if you don't eat them.

But sometimes, the math is not correct, and we don't know where. Are the food logs in error? Did the exercise calculator over-estimate burn? Does the person's individual metabolism vary from what the calculator gives? Is the activity level set incorrectly?

If the math is wrong, and you're eating back exercise calories as well, you can see slower loss, or no loss, and end up saying "well eating back my exercise calories obviously doesn't work for me -- when I was doing it, I stalled, and when I stopped, I started losing again!" Sure. But actually, it's because you weren't pulling the deficit you thought you were (or any deficit at all), meaning the math was off somewhere. When you stopped eating any back, that gave you a deficit -- but you were supposed to have a deficit from food + lifestyle alone. If you find out where the issue is, and correct it, you can go back to eating back exercise calories.

As for NOT eating them, just be careful about your health and wellbeing. Did you set a target of 2 lbs per week? Because that's the top end of the recommendations for what is a healthy rate of weekly loss for *most* people (very large people aside). Since MFP sets up the correct deficit BEFORE exercise, if you aim for 2 lbs per week, and exercise on top and don't eat back the calories, you may lose too quickly for good health. You may not meet general nutrition goals. You may not get enough protein, and end up losing more muscle during your weight loss than you needed to. You may be too weak to perform as well during workouts. If you net less than 1200, you will be under the minimum recommended intake for health for females. And so on.

If you DO choose to eat them, start with eating 50-75% and see how you lose. Since burns are estimates, they can sometimes be overestimates, and so pick a starting point and compare. If you lose faster than the rate you told MFP you'd like to lose per week, then you could eat more of those calories back. If you lose slower, eat fewer back. (Give it at least 4-6 weeks to see the trend, as weight loss isn't linear.)