Calories you burn off in the run of the day

CynoO

Do you eat those calories as well or just leave them? I have never reached my calorie count each day since I started then when I report my exercise I am farther away from the calorie goal.

lynn_glenmont

What are your stats (height, weight -- or at least how much weight do you need to lose to reach a healthy weight) and how fast are you losing?

spiriteagle99

I eat my exercise calories. I get hungry after running and want to have the energy to run again tomorrow. I have never ever had a problem eating all my calories. I like food and don't like feeling overly restricted, so it works well for me.

CynoO

5'7" weight 195 would like to reach 150 - 160 I am not losing it fast at all 1 - 3 pounds maybe weekly right now but it was at a stand still for a long time. I am never hungry lol I am actually very content surprisingly if anything at anytime it would be when I wake up I might be hungry then.

Geocitiesuser

The number myfitnesspal gives you is the bare minimum you should be eating each day. I just made a rambling ranting topic on the this forum about it. That number is your estimated BMR, or basically the calories you use just by breathing all day. Eating less than that, over the long term, will be more harmful than anything. Honest.

LexiAtel

I typically don't unless I have a super busy day. On average, before exercising, I walk about 12k steps a day. So if I get around 16k before exercize, then yes, I do eat my exercize calories. In such a case, usually, I opt to eat it in protein-- protein is my miracle worker, it cuts my shakes that I occasionally get after an active day, and it curbs my cravings (which I hardly get anymore).

RoxieDawn

CynoO wrote: »

Do you eat those calories as well or just leave them? I have never reached my calorie count each day since I started then when I report my exercise I am farther away from the calorie goal.

But you have exceeded your calorie goal which increases your calorie deficit further.

The calorie goal is for you to net calories including your exercise or a portion there of. So yes eat some of your exercise calories as this is the way the MFP method is designed to work.

bbell1985

Sorry...the way the OP writes it doesn't seem like she is only logging purposeful exercise. I just want to clear it up.

OP, are you talking about extra cardio calories or a long hike or something? Your activity level is already taken into account on MFP.

TeaBea

MFP takes your deficit from NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis).....this is your BMR + activity before exercise.

That said, deliberate exercise increases the deficit you signed up for. An increased activity level increases the deficit you signed up for.

An increased deficit helps you lose "weight" faster. However, large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. I strength train to improve my chance for retaining lean muscle mass....not fueling workouts defeats that purpose.

Orphia

CynoO wrote: »

5'7" weight 195 would like to reach 150 - 160 I am not losing it fast at all 1 - 3 pounds maybe weekly right now but it was at a stand still for a long time. I am never hungry lol I am actually very content surprisingly if anything at anytime it would be when I wake up I might be hungry then.

1-3 lbs per week is pretty fast!

This is why you should eat your exercise calories back:

Faithful_Chosen wrote: »

Losinandmovin wrote: »

Faithful_Chosen wrote: »

Two weeks is not a lot, so be patient and keep at it... But just to be sure: do you weigh everything in grams? Do you eat back all you exercise calories? Weight loss is a simple equation: calories in vs calories out: eat at a deficit and you lose. People tend to underestimate what they eat (especially when weighing in cups and pieces) and overestimate their exercise burns (do not trust MFP or your device. Heart rate monitors for steady-state are the only things even close to accurate). Weigh and log all your food in grams on a digital scale up to your goal as set by MFP and eat back 50 to 75 percent of you exercise calories (75% for HRM) and you will lose. It's science.

What is HRM? WHY would one eat back their exercise calories? Wouldn't that deficit lead to weight loss? What are you reading and basing your advise on? I really want to lose this weight, but some of the advise I'm reading on MFP confuses me. I'm a registered nurse, and fairly intelligent, but some of the acronyms I see on here are foreign. Thank you.

Thanks, everyone, for the answers already I am just going to add that MyFitnessPal calculates your projected loss (so, the amount you have set to lose a week) into the net goal you recieve. It assumes that if you want to eat more, you have to move more to stay in that deficit. Makes sense, right?

Now, especially newbies have a tendency to up the cardio and decrease the food to make a bigger deficit, assuming they will lose faster--and they might! I am not gonna sit here and say that you won't lose more. It's probably not going to show up on the scale due to water weight, but they will lose more. The question is: at what price? And what are they losing?

The MyFitnessPal method (built in deficit based on your numbers, especially plus purposeful exercise) is designed to steadily lose fat and preserving as much muscle as possible. You see, there is a (science proven) limit to how much fat a body can convert into usable energy during any period of time. If you go over that limit, it turns to muscle for fuel instead. You will always get a little bit of muscle tissue loss when eating at a deficit, but if you undereat and up the cardio (or even strength training!) like I see a lot of people on here do, you are forcing your body to canibalize its muscle tissue on top of the max level of fat it can burn. Not to mention that meeting your macro and micro nutrient goals with this method is virtually impossible, creating massive hormone imbalances (leptine, for example) and vitamins and mineral deficits.

The long term effects of crash dieting and deprivation dieting (which is basically what happens when you become one of the people who net in the low hundreds to negatives day after day for an extended period of time) can be really severe. Basically, you are systematically starving yourself, after all. The results tend to be this (one example, hypothetical you):

- your body burns fat, then muscle tissue to sustain itself. You become weaker and sore. You also start having cravings because your brain is sending out warning signs: 'I am starving! Feed me!'. So, you either binge and up your overall net a little, or you persevere and pat yourself on the back for a job well done! You wanted lots of fatty food, but you fed it a celery stick instead. Sadly, your whole timeline congratulates you on your willpower. You start to wonder, though, why your willpower is not being rewarded! The scale doesn't budge! You fail to realize it's because of water weight due to too much exercise and the body's inability to recover due to a lack of nurishment. The solution is often to eat even less and work out even more to get the scale to move.

- the body is further unable to sustain. It changed the body's chemistry to preserve all it can--after all, it needs to protect vital organs from becoming affected and keep you going so you can hunt and gather for food! At this stage, the body becomes its own worst enemy: it no longer tells you you are starving so you can make a last ditch effort to get food. You think you are fine on 1000 calories a day, burning 1200, because your body shows no signs of hunger anymore, but basically, the little neutrients you are providing your body with get sucked towards your vital organs, leaving nothing for the rest. You become more tired, and cranky, and your muscles no longer recover from all the stress you put them through working out. As a result, they break down even faster and hold on to even more water to prevent that breakdown from affecting your ability to throw a spear at a prey animal (hey, I can't help it your body still thinks we are living in caves!). The scale drops oh so slowly--if at all--but meanwhile you do see you are slimming down! Your measurements are less! MyFitnessPal celebrates! 'Hurray! The weight must come off in a 'woosh' soon now! Keep doing what you are doing!'. Note that (thankfully) many people drop out at this stage. The psychological burden becomes too great, they feel *kitten*, and life isn't fun anymore. They stop dieting, start binging, and gain even more weight. The jojo'ing has begun.

- you keep doing what you were doing. We are a few months in now. You develop headaches, fatigue, and you start finding more and more hair on your pillow in the morning. In fact, you start finding hair everywhere. You also get hungry again, not in a way that makes you binge but a sort of steady nagging: a gentle reminder that time is running out. Fail to meet it (MyFitnessPal people pat your back when you tell them you went to bed early instead of having more food) and slowly, your body gives up its protective hold on more systems. You can survive without full function to certain organs, so your body throws them to the wolves: nutrients go towards your brain, heart, and lungs. Pretty much all other organs start running at half capacity. You hold on to more toxins, which start chipping away at your system, and your ability to process food (get nutrients out of them) suffers greatly, so you are truly starving now. This is the point where the weight starts coming off, and pretty quickly, too, usually. A big whoosh! (MyFitnessPal people cheer in the distance). What you are really seeing is your body giving up on protecting muscle tissue completely: the water weight falls away, showing you that you actually did lose a lot of fat and muscle tissue. More cheering! It must be working! Keep at it! Work harder! Eat less!

- now you are in serious *kitten*! Your organs are not keeping up, your muscles are breaking down, and the body has to start looking elsewhere for fuel: your organs and the more vital muscles, including your heart. At this point, your nails will become brittle and start falling out. Your hair falls out. Your period stops. You experience bouts of nausea and muscle weakness. You might find yourself pulling into a run and suddenly blacking out. You still function, but on the inside you are shutting down.

From here on out, it all depends on if you start eating again and stop exercising or not. If you don't, you can end up killing yourself. If you do, it is a long road to recovery, sometimes lasting years and it sometimes includes permanent damage to the function of certain organs, especially the liver and kidneys. Worst of all, this entire crash diet hasn't taught you how to sustain weight loss, so as soon as you crash and burn, the weight flies back on! And trust me, it takes a fraction of the time it took to lose it to gain it back.

I am not saying this to frighten you (well, I am a little), but as a nurse, you should be aware of the ramifications of crash dieting. Those of us that do realize the effects therefor recommend you lose weight slowly, at a sustainable rate that gives you the best ratio of fat loss vs. muscle loss. Stick to your MyFitnessPal calculated net, take the time, eat back your true exercise calories (which is probably 50 to 75 percent of your machine or database given calories), and learn how to eat (and what to eat) for weight loss you can maintain for years to come. It might not go as fast, but you will be able to see it on the scale, and best of all, it will be safe. That is my very long winded answer to 'why' you should eat back exercise calories.

mikelombardo078

I keep mfp at sedentary, wear my fitbit and don't log anything. I just eat back whatever I earn for the day. Sometimes I eat all sometimes only half depending on how I feel. This was is very easy and has always worked for me.

CynoO

This has been helpful !! thank you so much for your knowledge and breaking it down whether I should or not