Calories vs exercise

88Fozzie88
88Fozzie88 Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out if I should be eating my exercise calories?

Replies

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Short answer - yes, at least a portion, if you set your goal up using MFP.

    Longer answer - have you tried using the search feature or reading the stickied most helpful forum posts because there is a wealth of info in there and exercise cals is definitely one of the most commonly asked questions.
  • 88Fozzie88
    88Fozzie88 Posts: 3 Member
    edited February 2018
    Thank you I'm new to the app, so I'll definitely check it out.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    It depends. If those calories are from beets, kale, or something like it, then no.

    If they are coming from pizza, wine, or chocolate chip cookies, then absolutely.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
    Though Azdak's reply made me laugh, Winogelato hit the nail on the head.

    The stickies posts at the top of the sub forums have a wealth of information, and as a woman new to the site, would be well worth reading.

    MFP expects one to eat exercise calories back. Exercise, to be effective, needs to be fuelled.

    I found I could eat all mine back and lose at the predicted rate. Others need to eat back 50-75% to lose as expected.

    It can be a bit of a balancing act to begin with, and experimentation is needed.

    Cheers, h.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • Rose18l
    Rose18l Posts: 147 Member
    It is a bit of a personal preference. Because exercise calories are overestimated, people usually eat only half back.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    edited February 2018
    Rose18l wrote: »
    It is a bit of a personal preference. Because exercise calories are overestimated, people usually eat only half back.

    Not always. I eat 100% of mine back and have always lost as expected
  • hatty22
    hatty22 Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks for posting this as I was about to ask! I run and was wondering if I can use some of my exercise cals back ...I won't feel as guilty now thanks x
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    When you put into MFP your goal, it asks you what your daily activity is (sedentary, lightly active etc)

    Most people do not include workouts in this and therefore MFP calculates the calories you need, without taking into account extra exercise. Therefore in those cases, yes you do need to eat them back otherwise you'll just be creating a larger calorie deficit, which isn't always great even if you are aiming to lose weight.

    If you already accounted for your workouts in your daily activity (for example if your workouts are consistently the same time, style, days per week), or you manually create a calorie goal based on TDEE then no you do not eat them back otherwise you're eating more than you need.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Rose18l wrote: »
    It is a bit of a personal preference. Because exercise calories are overestimated, people usually eat only half back.

    Not always. I eat 100% of mine back and have always lost as expected

    Same here.

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