I don't feel right eating exercise calories....

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  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,639 Member
    edited March 2017
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    If your car does more miles, it needs more fuel. Everyone understands that. Why is it so hard to understand when it comes to your body?

    I love this analogy, but the problem is that we don't have that magic stopper that stops us from overfuelling our gas tanks when it comes to feeding our bodies. And we don't have the magic "low gas" light that makes it clear our tank is getting empty.

    Instead, we gain weight when we overfuel, and we have all sorts of weird reactions when we underfuel (lose weight, brittle bones, lose hair, lose appetite, energy).

    People don't know their bodies well enough to self regulate, so they get caught up in do's and don'ts and pseudoscience. They start to think they need to cleanse, or starve, or feel like they need to punish themselves into being healthy. When in reality.. we just need to fill our tanks (with decent gasoline) only to full (or a bit less), and drive more. Some people decide to stick with regular gas (eat what you want), some like to upgrade to the next level (watching macros and focusing on 'healthier' foods) and some like to switch to premium gas (ultra clean eating/paleo/keto/specialized diets) - but in the end - as long as your body is getting enough gas, it will go where you tell it.

    Just like a car runs better when you don't run it to empty, the human body does the same. We've just forgotten what that looks like and feels like.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    edited March 2017
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    If your car does more miles, it needs more fuel. Everyone understands that. Why is it so hard to understand when it comes to your body?

    To be fair to people, I think many of them think that they've got plenty of fat that can provide the energy they need. And this is kinda sorta true, in the short run. In the long run it's a great way to lose lean muscle, reduce NEAT, and just generally feel crappy. I don't think there's a good understanding that there's a limited amount of energy one can pull from their fat stores.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    Jruzer wrote: »
    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    If your car does more miles, it needs more fuel. Everyone understands that. Why is it so hard to understand when it comes to your body?

    To be fair to people, I think many of them think that they've got plenty of fat that can provide the energy they need. And this is kinda sorta true, in the short run. In the long run it's a great way to lose lean muscle, reduce NEAT, and just generally feel crappy. I don't think there's a good understanding that there's a limited amount of energy one can pull fro their fat stores.

    You're absolutely right. I think that's the piece that's usually missing.

    And yet we all know that "starving yourself" is a negative thing. I suppose the difficulty is in defining the difference between that and a healthy deficit.
  • meldeeonline
    meldeeonline Posts: 27 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    meldeeonline wrote: »
    This is something I've asked my trainer about a lot. Personally, I'm under the guise that we need a calorie deficit - plain and simple. Eating back the calories reduces that deficit -- and we work out essentially to create one. It truly depends on your caloric goal you eat by, though. It helps to know your BMR -- or your bottom line for calorie intake.

    IIFYM and TDEE calculators online can help you find your numbers :))

    @meldeeonline
    IIFYM and other TDEE calculators include exercise calories of course. You just get a daily average instead of a variable amount.
    Might be a good solution for the OP though to avoid the feelings of guilt over what are just a perfectly legitimate calorie need for your body.

    I don't workout to create a calorie deficit or to eat more food. I train to be fit, strong and healthy. Plus I actually enjoy it - weird I know! ;)

    That's great!
  • deeanah
    deeanah Posts: 14 Member
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    sunsweet77 wrote: »
    I don't eat any exercise calories back but I am trying to lose. I go to bed most nights with 1,000 calorie deficit after logging all food and exercise.[/

    How do you know your daily deficit?
  • dkhuebner0722
    dkhuebner0722 Posts: 1 Member
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    I don't exercise alot so I don't eat my calories back. I've been steadily losing since I started about a month ago. I measure and weigh everything and always seem to have calories left at the end of the day
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    dkhuebner0722 wrote: »
    I don't exercise alot so I don't eat my calories back. I've been steadily losing since I started about a month ago. I measure and weigh everything and always seem to have calories left at the end of the day

    But MFP is designed so that you would lose weight, at the rate you selected, even if you don't exercise at all. So you don't need to have calories left at the end of the day, the deficit is built into your goal. What rate of loss did you select when you set up MFP, and are you losing at that rate, or faster or slower?
  • GuessIgottalog
    GuessIgottalog Posts: 65 Member
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    Well then I guess with the exercise I do and my desk job, my TDEE is 2000.
    So Im eating about 1300-1500 calories per day.
    I will lose weight.
    Putting it simple hopefully works :wink:

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