Do you eat your exercise calories?
nickipurnell
Posts: 1 Member
Just wondering whether I can still loose weight if I am eating my calories gained through exercise? I'm a bit worried about eating too little as in the past I have got very hungry when I have dieted in the past as then ended up binging. But will I loose weight if I eat my exercise calories?
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Replies
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Yes, that's exactly how MFP sets you up to lose. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation7
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nickipurnell wrote: »Just wondering whether I can still loose weight if I am eating my calories gained through exercise? I'm a bit worried about eating too little as in the past I have got very hungry when I have dieted in the past as then ended up binging. But will I loose weight if I eat my exercise calories?
Just remember, don't trust what the app tells you though for how many calories you burned. You may want to only eat back 50 - 75% of that number.8 -
Yes, you can. I sometimes do if I am having a night out. Sometimes I just keep them as a deficit. The key thing is to make sure you eat your allocated daily calories (without exercise). Eating too little can be counterproductive. Agree with the PP - MFP overestimates calories burned. If you are going to eat back the calories, start with 50%. Good luck!2
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I used to but recently switched to TDEE method for tracking my calories2
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Yes, if I'm hungry.1
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I eat every exercise calorie I get. They're the most delicious.19
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I eat all of my exercise calories. So far I've lost 37 lbs. doing so. Whenever I don't I usually end up overeating the next day or later in the week. I usually do not exercise on machines. The calorie burns on MFP seem to be accurate for me.1
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I don't.4
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I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
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I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.23 -
I've been on maintenance for several years and I eat most of mine back. Never been a problem...3
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I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
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I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.13 -
collectingblues wrote: »I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.
Well, yes, if you are running 25 miles per week, you had better be fueling up. I see a lot of people who walk so many steps with their Fitbit and then think they should eat significantly more to compensate. Some people don't realize that if you are not getting your heart rate up to your target rate, you aren't burning a ton of calories.9 -
I'm somewhere in the middle. I agree you need to fuel your body for a workout..if not it can stall weightless. but.. do you need to eat 800 exercise calories back to do that? no. Some fruit..or small portion of oatmeal or a hard boiled egg would do it.2
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Some people don't realize that if you are not getting your heart rate up to your target rate, you aren't burning a ton of calories.collectingblues wrote: »I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.
Your understanding of the distinction between per minute burn vs total burn is somewhat lacking. There is something known as duration that also comes into play...6 -
collectingblues wrote: »I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.
Well, yes, if you are running 25 miles per week, you had better be fueling up. I see a lot of people who walk so many steps with their Fitbit and then think they should eat significantly more to compensate. Some people don't realize that if you are not getting your heart rate up to your target rate, you aren't burning a ton of calories.
And some people don’t realize the body can only metabolize so much fat in a day, after that, it uses muscle. Having an aggressive deficit doesn’t necessarily mean you’re tapping solely into fat stores, it likely does mean you’re losing more lean mass than if you maintained a less aggressive deficit by eating more with a slower rate of loss.
A lot of folks do over estimate their exercise calories. That’s why many start by eating 50% back.14 -
Some people don't realize that if you are not getting your heart rate up to your target rate, you aren't burning a ton of calories.collectingblues wrote: »I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.
Your understanding of the distinction between per minute burn vs total burn is somewhat lacking. There is something known as duration that also comes into play...
Exactly. I have a friend who walks half marathons. She needs to fuel that just as much as I do when I run mine.
And you bet dang well that when I logged 20 miles of walking over the past two days just playing a tourist (and I'm too cheap to spring for subway cards), that I absolutely ate those back.
Want to be a martyr and not fuel your workouts? Fine. But don't present that as something that everyone should strive for.15 -
I try to eat all of my exercise calories, but that can be a bit tough on days I train 3-4 hours (just Fridays, really). It's NBD if you are in weight loss mode, but if you are trying to maintain strength, you should try and eat your full allotment.0
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I don't. But I do so little cardio that it probably just makes up for some days I spend lying around all day in bed and evens out.
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Shoutey I thought we had an agreement. We are nice to you, and you stay in your own threads. Don't try to expand and make us no longer willing to play, ok?10
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collectingblues wrote: »I don't either. What's the point in working out to assist with weight loss if you are just going to eat it all back?
Because you're set to lose without exercise, and while creating a larger deficit may sound appealing it isn't necessarily a good thing. Plus your body needs the additional fuel if you work out.
Meh. When I add up the calories burned from the weight lifting and cardio I do, it maybe comes out to 1,500/week, which won't even equate to 1/2 a pound of loss.
If you are at your ideal bodyweight, that's one thing, but when you are carrying around 35 lbs of excess fat like I am, your body can tap into those reserves for energy.
Good for you.
I run 20-25 miles a week. I'm fueling those.
Well, yes, if you are running 25 miles per week, you had better be fueling up. I see a lot of people who walk so many steps with their Fitbit and then think they should eat significantly more to compensate. Some people don't realize that if you are not getting your heart rate up to your target rate, you aren't burning a ton of calories.
Really? My weight loss and maintenance tells me that this is not the case.4 -
If you use the mfp calorie goal, it is set assuming you will log exercise and eat back those calories. As calorie burns can be overestimated it can help to start eating back half and then adjusting as needed based on your actual rate of weight loss. The more aggressive the rate of loss you've chosen, the more important it is to eat back your calories. Also make sure you don't leave exercise cals uneaten if that puts your net cals under the minimum for your gender.
I ate all my cals back and lost as expected.3 -
elisa123gal wrote: »I'm somewhere in the middle. I agree you need to fuel your body for a workout..if not it can stall weightless. but.. do you need to eat 800 exercise calories back to do that? no. Some fruit..or small portion of oatmeal or a hard boiled egg would do it.
Well, if one actually BURNS 800 calories, they definitely need to eat at least half of those back. When I was losing 2 lbs. per week I ate back all my exercise calories (and still do) but it was very important then. I had the fat reserves to lose the 2 lbs. but I had a deficit of 1000 calories. I was eating between 1400-1200 calories to make that deficit. If I worked out and burned 800 calories and didn't eat them back I was only taking in 400-600 calories. Eating an egg, about 100 calories or oatmeal (plain would be 150 calories) would NOT be enough. When you are big, you burn a lot of calories because it takes more to move. On some days in the summer I would walk 90 minutes and then swim in the evening or take a zumba class. That was easily 800 calories when one weighs 230 lbs. A couple of times I wasn't that hungry and only ate back a few hundred calories, and I REGRETTED IT. I would wake up at 3:00 a.m. starving and have to eat something. And the edginess or hunger would last through the next day. I learned my lesson quick with that. I have to work with people so I cannot be cranky and hungry.
Nowadays my deficit is less, only 500 calories per day and I'm currently eating 1610 before exercise calories. If I don't eat back 800 exercise calories now, it is not as bad. If I'm not that hungry I will always manage to eat at least 1300-1400 NET that day. Since my overall deficit is smaller the effect of not eating back the exercise calories is not as crippling. In general though, I still eat them back, and I've been losing at 1 lb. per week since I changed my weekly weightloss goals.7 -
I generally eat at least some of my exercise calories back, it really depends on how many there are. I don't think I've ever eaten all of the calories burned cycling back because I'm just not hungry enough to do so. That said I eat a much larger portion of the calories I burn swimming back because it's a far smaller number and thus easier to do so.0
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My amount of activity fluctuates a lot so yes and no. I had a personalized goal set for calories and macros based on my minimum weekly workouts with a 250 deficit. It’s easier for me to have a consistent goal to aim for and it makes meal planning easier but I also did not want to calculate based on my regular full workouts because I didn’t want to have to recalculate if I’m injured or need extra rest so it really doesn’t account for all of my exercise.
I do weight lifting and boxing for 2 hours 3-4 days a week, yoga once a week, and usually fit in a 4-5 mile hike on a day off or I run that day. I take 1 day for full rest. My calculation was for 90 minutes of moderate activity 4 days.0 -
depends for me... at the moment I don't eat them back - but that's because I eat around 1300 a day and I exercise roughly every other day... + mfp estimates my half an hour of exercise to be around 150 calories so my average net calories should not dropping below 1200
now, a couple of years ago when I was just trying to lose some "vanity" weight and get in shape I was working out an hour a day 6 days a week, yes, I did up my intake from 1300ish to 1700ish and it worked out fine, still managed to lose about half a pound a week (keep in mind i'm a 5'2 woman, and I was at a normal BMI at the time)
I wouldn't have had the energy for all the exercise without eating some of it back2 -
nickipurnell wrote: »Just wondering whether I can still loose weight if I am eating my calories gained through exercise? I'm a bit worried about eating too little as in the past I have got very hungry when I have dieted in the past as then ended up binging. But will I loose weight if I eat my exercise calories?
That's how MFP is designed. I definitely do. I have lost over 100 lbs eating them.
I tried not eating them once while I did a program called X-Trainfit at Home (avg 6-7 hrs a week working out). It didn't go well. I was hangry, fatigued, and had headaches. I felt miserable. I lasted about 2 weeks before I decided I had enough and would prefer to eat the most that I could while still losing weight. Sure it's a little slower, but I'm not miserable, I don't get the urge to eat everything in the house, and I have energy to get through my day.3 -
I think it depends on each individual person. When I began using MFP I ate back exercise calories. For me, it didn’t work until I stopped eating those calories. Then, and only then, did I start to lose weight. I agree you should eat your daily goal of calories, whatever you’ve set for yourself, or MFP set for you. Undereating does more harm than good! Undereating actually made me retain my weight because my body needed it to fuel my exercise. Try it both ways, for at least a couple of weeks or so each, (because no one thing will give you results overnight) and watch your results. Everyone’s body reacts/retains/loses differently. What works for one might not work for another. You’ll need to listen to your body and follow what works best for you.9
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