Extra Calories

t1me
t1me Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do I have to eat the extra calories gained from exercise?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If you set your calorie goal using MyFitnessPal you should or you aren't using the tool as designed and your calorie deficit won't be the one you picked.

    Do you "have to" use the tool as designed? No you are an adult and make your own decision but make that an informed decision. There's loads of sticky threads pinned to the top of each forum that are well worth reading.

    It's also a good idea to give people some context when you post a question as no-one knows anything about you or your situation. You could be elderly, sedentary, do very little exercise and trying to gain weight or you could be young, a very high exerciser and trying to lose a lot of weight.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    t1me wrote: »
    Do I have to eat the extra calories gained from exercise?

    Welcome to MFP!

    I agree that more context is needed to give you more tailored advice. But in the meantime, have a read of this terrific thread:

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

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    What you do not want to do is lose weight too fast because over time it is very unhealthy for you. Whether that happens with you failing to eat back your exercise calories is something we don't know from your post.

    You do not have to eat back your calories same day in normal situations. You can bank them and eat them the next day or later in the week.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    MFP is designed for you to eat back exercise calories. If you don't eat them, you risk undereating. You can choose to eat them later in the week, but I would caution against "saving" too many calories. I get very hungry if I try to save up a lot of calories over the week. Your body needs fuel for your exercise.

    If you're confident that your exercise calories are calculated correctly, eat them all. If you are using MFP's exercise database or another estimate of exercise calorie burns, start by eating half your exercise calories to account for potential overestimates, and adjust from there depending on whether or not your weight behaves as expected over the next month.

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