Should you eat your exercise calories?

hclay25

Just wondering if you can or should eat your calories you burn from exercising?

TavistockToad

Yes

Duck_Puddle

You should, that’s how mfp is designed to work. That’s why when you add exercise, it increases your “calories remaining”

However, if you’re not sure on your exercise calorie burn, you may want to eat just a portion of them and see how things are going but after a few weeks.

kimny72

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

cwolfman13

kimny72 wrote: »

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

sijomial

Yes you can and yes you should.

Try and think ahead to maintenance at goal weight when it becomes must eat them back.

wanderingarcher

Uh...I usually don’t, unless I’m really hungry. I know others who do the same. I’ve found that for me it’s just too much. Maybe my caloric needs are a little lower than the calculators say.
I think for the long haul, you will find a sweet spot if you listen to your body. Eat back exercise calories when you’re hungry, see how your body responds over a week or two, adjust accordingly. I personally wouldn’t eat back calories if I wasn’t hungry. IMHO, part of this journey is learning how to listen to the real cues your body gives (vs the unhealthy patterns that caused weight gain).
ETA: I also listen to my body on days I am very hungry and will eat maintenance or even more (those are rare days), so maybe it evens out in the end. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Good luck on your journey. You can do it!

Dilvish

I don't for the simple reason is I want to stay at a deficit. Apparently there is a way to turn off the "calories from exercise" in MFP but I just leave it on.

I've been doing it now for 50 days straight and find that MFP isn't all that accurate because people that use it are all different.

It should be used as a general guide and nothing more. Overtime you will find that the calories burned from exercise can be inaccurate as are many of the foods listed in the database.

The overall goal should be to track what you eat and how much you exercise so that you have a better idea as to what you need to accomplish in terms of Calories In Calories Out (CICO).

Chef_Barbell

Exercise calories are the tastiest.

lalabank

After getting light headed during a training session I realized I needed to eat back some of my calories to fuel my workouts. I get a better workout when I’m not worried about passing out.
I definitely don’t go by the MFP numbers and I sure as heck don’t trust the cleaned my house, raked the leaves or carried in the groceries numbers. I don’t add in extra calories for basic life functions.

mazdauk

I eat back exercise calories, including those for food preparation (making bread and rolling pastry, not putting a tray of something ready made in the oven!), mowing/raking lawn and housework - anything that gets me a bit sweatier than I would be just ambling about the house. I've been on maintenance since November 2013 (obviously there are odd blips when I've been on holiday, or over Christmas etc, but I just put the calories down til I'm back on exactly the figures I want). If I didn't eat them back I would have less incentive to do the exercise.