Calorie Intake and Excercise

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deelovelilly
deelovelilly Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I do notice that when I exercise my calorie in take increases once I log it in. My question is do I use that up or do I try to stick to my original calorie in take. Any wealth of information would be greatly appreciated. I am new to this.

Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • sararoy1981
    sararoy1981 Posts: 13
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    Firstly - WELCOME to MFP :-) I think you have posted twice but I've replied to the other post anyway :-)

    Secondly - this is a real topic of debate. I posted this question a couple of weeks ago and got mixed replies. Some say you should definitely eat them back, some say you don't have to but can and others say just experiment with it and see what works for you. I wish it was a simple yes or no question as I am struggling with this too. I'm trying to experiment with it and see what works for me but every week that I don't lose or only lose 1lb makes me frustrated, depressed and less likely to stick to anything. Personally, I'd eat some but not all and see what happens for you but if you are anything like me that will frustrate you (I'm an impatient person that just want's something to work!).

    I've reduced my calories from 2000+ down to between 1200-1500 a day (depending on whether I eat them back) and my weight loss is very slow, only 1lb per week. It's annoying me because at my size (late 13 stones) I feel I should be losing more just by dropping my calorie intake considerably but it appears not :-(

    I hope you find what works best for you or someone gives you the answer you need! Good luck :-)
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    personally, most days i eat some of them and some days i eat them all. MFP has already given you a calorie deficit so eating them won't harm your weight loss - IMO they do seem to estimate the calorie burn on the high side so just see what works for you.
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    Short answer: YES.
    Your body needs a certain amount of calories to survive. This is calculated as some percentage of your basal metabolic rate + daily activities (including exercise). You account for most of your daily activity when you set up your profile on MFP, but you have to account for the exercise calories. As MFP does tend to overestimate calories burned I would invest in a heart rate monitor (this and a food scale are my two biggest tips for weight loss). If you do not want to or can not buy a heart rate monitor I would find a percentage of calories to eat back that works for you. Many people eat back 80% of their exercise calories, some do 70%, etc., but I would definitely not go under 50%.

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