Exercise calories

curlywurlie

I’m confused over whether I can eat my calories burnt during exercise? I presume if I don’t then I would lose weight quicker?

ceiswyn

You should eat (at least some of) your exercise calories.

Yes, if you don't eat them you will lose weight quicker. That isn't necessarily a good thing. Underfuelling your body can result in exhaustion, hair loss, muscle wastage (your heart is a muscle) and other issues, and problems may not show up until the damage is done.

However, some people find that MFP overestimates calories burned by exercise, so you may be more comfortable starting by eating half back and adjusting based on what that does to your rate of loss.

Panini911

If you used MFP to calculate calories to eat for loss, then YES. MFP gives you calories to eat to lose the requested rate of loss ASSUMING NO PURPOSEFUL EXERCISE. So you are meant to eat back a reasonable estimate of your purposeful exercise calories
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1


increasing your deficit may mean losing faster sure but that isn't necessarily healthy. losing too fast can mean losing healthy body mass/muscles. It can also lead to major health issues. You'll feel "fine" until suddenly you don't.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1

L1zardQueen

Losing quicker is not necessarily better. Unless, of course, your health is in jeopardy.

What they said above is spot on.

confidenceinrain

I always find that if I don't eat some of my exercise calories back I can last a week and then get super hangry and want to eat everything in sight--there's a reason the MFP formula gives you those calories to eat on top of your normal ones!

ketsuban25

Eat them back. I'm 13 days late for my period after a few weeks of opting not to. I don't have the capability to have children, so I know it's not pregnancy. Your body will redirect resources if you under-eat.

curlywurlie

Thanks guys! I’ll do as advised and eat some/all of them!

Strudders67

Losing 9lb in 2 weeks is also not a sensible approach unless you are very obese and your health is at risk. Of the options available on MFP, you can't select to lose more than 2lb a week.

OP, as you will read many times on this forum, go slowly. That way, the changes you make to your eating habits will stay with you. Think long term. If you try to restrict your intake and lose too rapidly, as well as the other health issues mentioned above, you won't sustain it. The suggestion is to select 2lb a week if you have a lot to lose, then gradually taper it down. There is a graphic that gets pasted in regularly saying that you shouldn't be trying to lose more than 1% of your body weight per week.

cwolfman13

curlywurlie wrote: »

I’m confused over whether I can eat my calories burnt during exercise? I presume if I don’t then I would lose weight quicker?

You would lose weight faster, but that's not always for the best. Your body needs calories (energy) to perform basic functions...too large of a deficit and you inhibit your body from being able to perform basic functions. As such, your body will slow down or stop altogether basic "non-essential" functions to conserve energy...this is why people who severely under eat will start losing their hair, nails go brittle, loss of menstrual cycle, etc.

These symptoms often take time to develop...but once they do, it's too late and you have to go to great lengths to restore things back to normal.

This also depends on how big of a deficit you have without exercise, and what exercise you're doing and how many calories you are expending. Someone with a target of 1/2 Lb per week and exercising 500 calories per day isn't likely to have issues as the total deficit would be 750...unfortunately, it is far more common for people to select the most aggressive rate available on MFP and then do a bunch of cardio on top of it creating huge deficits that are unhealthy. Someone eating 1200 calories per day and exercising 500+ calories per day and netting say 700 calories per day or less is ultimately at some point going to have issues.

floofyschmoofer

I usually burn between 600-1,100 calories at the gym 3-4x a week and I try to at least eat 50% of them. Sometimes it's no problem, sometimes I just can't. But food = fuel and sometimes the best way to measure isn't the internet but how you're feeling and performing. I feel best when I get a good burn in and nourish my body as a reward for doing the hard work I put it through. In return, it keeps letting me push it to it's limits a few days a week.

NorthCascades

curlywurlie wrote: »

I’m confused over whether I can eat my calories burnt during exercise? I presume if I don’t then I would lose weight quicker?

You're right, and as great as that sounds, it's not.

You would lose weight even quicker if you didn't eat your weekend calories. Nobody ever wants to do that. Because it's a bad idea

You need calories to get fat, but you also need then to stay healthy. Losing weight too quickly means losing muscle, it can mean hair loss, tends to be worse for your skin, etc.

Plus, once you get to your goal weight, you want to keep it off. If you continue exercising, you'll need to get a handle on exercise calories; you might as well do it now. Eating them back also makes this journey easier and more sustainable.