Calories earnt through exercise- can I use them?

sammyp40

I have started going to the gym 3 times a week and trying to walk further on other days to speed up weight loss. I am finding I am feeling hungry now. Can you use the extra calories earnt from exercise or is it best not to? Thank you

Orphia

Yes, eat them. You need to fuel your exercise, since MFP already sets your calorie goal at a deficit. Otherwise you risk nasty health problems.

I ate 75% of the exercise calories back and lost 80 lbs in a year, and I've eaten 100% of them back and kept it off 17 months.

sammyp40

Thank you and well done on an amazing achievement

Nony_Mouse

Yep, that's what they're there for. The recommendation is usually to start with eating only 50-75% back, as estimates for calories burned exercising are often a bit over-inflated. Do that for 4-6 weeks then reassess. If you're losing faster than expected, eat more, if you're losing slower, eat less.

NB, just so you are aware, beginning a new exercise regime, or increasing intensity, often leads to some fluid retention. This is for muscle repair, so totally normal and actually a good thing. Just mentioning it so you don't get a shock if your weight stays the same or goes up a little initially. It'll sort itself out

sammyp40

Thank you for your help. I have noticed weight loss slowing down yes. I have started doing a full body weights workout with a bit of cardio at the gym and wondered if this was holding me back. When I just increased steps to 10-15k a day with no gym I lost a lot more...4lb in a week v 0.75lb last week. Wondering if I should just do walking and leave the gym routine until I have lost the weight as it's a bit demotivating! Would welcome your thoughts? Thank you

Nony_Mouse

Definitely don't cut out the bodyweight training!! It will help you to retain lean body mass whilst losing, resulting in looking better at the end

Four lbs a week is too much, btw. Slow and steady wins the race (again, because you will lose more lean body mass if your weight loss is too quick). Unless you have a substantial amount to lose (I'm talking over 100 lb) then 1 lb per week should be your goal. It will vary from week to week though, because weight loss isn't linear, and fluid retention (for a whole host or reasons - sodium intake, hormonal fluctuations, changes in exercise) can temporarily maske fat loss. So long as you are trending downwards looking over a number of weeks, it's all good. I highly recommend downloading a trending app for this very reason (trendweight, happy scale and libra are the ones I generally see recommended).

sammyp40

Ok great thank you , I will stick with what I am doing then