Eating my burned calories

mcelestine

Hi all! So I'm so confused I have a calorie deficit of 600 calories long story short ... after I log my workout it gives me more calories (fats carbs protein) to eat... do I HAVE to eat those calories? Even if I already have a daily calories deficit ?

cwolfman13

By not eating them, you're making your deficit (already in your diet if you did no exercise) bigger, which sounds good and all, but often has negative consequences at some point.

Fit and healthy people eat and train...they don't crash their diets and then do a bunch of exercise on top of an already substantial calorie restriction.

janejellyroll

Why wouldn't you *want* to eat them?

TeaBea

If you got your calorie goal from MFP it included activity but not deliberate exercise. So the short answer is yes, you eat exercise calories back.

HOWEVER, keep in mind exercise calories are estimates. Many people will start by eating back 50%. Then after a few weeks adjust that number up or down based on actual results.

Why would you want to eat exercise calories back, wouldn't "weight" loss be faster if you didn't? Large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. The trade-off for fast weight loss is you didn't lower your body fat % by as much as you could have.

mulecanter

I agree, eat half back, bank the rest.

jenilla1

You already have a deficit. Your exercise calories are for recovery and refueling. Don't rip yourself off.

InkAndApples

Excercise calories are the best tasting calories, especially when used for cake and gin (what mine are currently being "spent" on). I wouldn't go without them.

JeromeBarry1

My exercise calories taste better with Hershey caramel syrup.

sijomial

That's the way this site is designed otherwise your chosen deficit becomes an excessive deficit.

Think ahead to maintenance at goal weight - you will have to account for exercise then so why not learn the skill now?

Momepro

I prefer not to burn mine, they taste way better cooked properly. Generally I assume I'm going to underestimate a bit, and over indulge on certain days, so I like to save a few to balance it. And there are some days when I'm just not really great, so don't eat anywhere near my level. So I don't fixate on it too much if I'm below.

rmgnow

mcelestine wrote: »

Hi all! So I'm so confused I have a calorie deficit of 600 calories long story short ... after I log my workout it gives me more calories (fats carbs protein) to eat... do I HAVE to eat those calories? Even if I already have a daily calories deficit ?

You don't HAVE to do anything