Should we eat our exercise calories ?

tammystarren

I am set to eat 1360 cal per day. When i exercise my fitbit earns me more calories.
I was doing weight watchers and on their program they discourage eating exercise "points". But they do give us a weekly pool of points to use as we choose. I am down 45pounds on ww.

Now switching to mfp i am not sure if i should be eating them. I dont like how on mfp it automatically calculates them in for me to eat. Can that be changed? Ty

TeaBea

What your FitBit is doing is comparing your stated activity level against your actual activity. MFP gave you a deficit based on stated activity. So, yes you should be eating exercise calories back.

However - FitBits are good indicators for some people - not so much for others. In other words don't trust the data completely until you test it out.

Most people here start by eating back a % - say 50%. After a few weeks adjust that up or down based on actual results.

Should you plan on eating back ZERO? This would be faster "weight" loss. But keep in mind large deficits make it harder for your body to support EXISTING lean muscle mass. Most people want to lower their body fat % - that's healthy weight loss.

rileysowner

First, this is not weight watchers. Second, that is how MFP is designed. Intended exercise is not included in your daily goal or activity where it would be elsewhere. So yes, eat them, that is how the tool is supposed to be used.

tammystarren

Thanks. Yes i realize this is not ww. I have religiously tracked on ww past 7.5 months so its a big change for me. Just want to make sure i am starting this out right. I read many articles on why you shouldnt eat your exercise burned calories so just trying to understand the design of this program. I def dont want to lose good lean body mass by not eating enough either.

I am thinking if i stay between 1 to 2.5lbs loss a week i should be okay
Guess will just have to tweak as i get used to it.

cwolfman13

It is the way this tool is designed...your calorie target is your deficit with ZERO exercise...MFP assumes no exercise. I would think common sense would dictate that if you're performing an activity above and beyond what has been accounted for in your activity level that you would want to account for it somewhere...

That said, I come at this with more of a depends on what you're doing perspective to some extent. The more rigorous the exercise activity is, the more important it is to fuel that activity as failure to do so will ultimately lead to recovery issues and often times injury...regular exercise is good for you, but it can also be a huge stress on the body and energy (calories) are required for recovery.

When my exercise consisted namely of walking a few miles a few days per week, I didn't really worry about it...training rides and lifting on the other hand need to be fueled.

tammystarren

Oh yes for sure. For me ..my exercise is walking so for example I just got back from a 3km walk with some hills. I dont work right now so other than going for walks I am at home sedentary / light. I dont do vigorous training and if i did i certainly would be eating more. Today my 3k walk added 200 calories to my day to eat. So thats why was questioning if i should eat those 200 calories. Ty.

NorthCascades

tammystarren wrote: »

I am thinking if i stay between 1 to 2.5lbs loss a week i should be okay
Guess will just have to tweak as i get used to it.

I find it's easiest when I see the numbers. Let's say you want to lose 1 pound per week. It could be a different amount but for the sake of having an example we'll go with this.

You sign up at MFP, fill out your profile, and tell it you want to lose 1 pound per week.

MFP tells you to eat X calories per day. That's based on your height and weight and activity level ... and on you losing 1 pound per week.

Technically what's going on is that MFP set you up with a 500 kCal/day "calorie deficit." Right off the bat, you aren't eating enough to maintain your weight, so the difference has to come from stored body fat.

Then you go out and do a long walk and burn another 500 kCal. At that point, your deficit is 1,000 which is too big, twice as much as you signed up for. You already understand why that's not all wonderful like it sounds, right now we're just talking about how MFP works. In this example, MFP gives you those 500 kCal back to eat, because if you do that, it brings you right back to your 1 pound per week of weight loss.

It's like putting more gas in your car after a long drive. It won't stall your weight loss, it'll keep your weight loss on track.

(Knowing how many calories you burned from exercise is another matter, right now we're just talking about how it works and why it's not just ok but good and proper to eat them back.)