Net Calories - Exercise Calories - To Eat or Not to Eat

creativefrugalmom

OK, so I have read several different posting on this subject, but I want to confirm what I believe to be the case.

I am at 1200 cal/day. When I workout it adds exercise calories.

i.e. - today - 1200 calories starting + 602 workout calories = 1802 calories. I consumed 1319 calories and have 483 leftover.

As long as I ate my 1200 calories, I don't have to eat the remaining calories, correct?

goal30Lori

I'm new, so take my advice with a grain of salt, LOL, but no - I don't think you have to. You got your 1200 minimum, and I don't see why you need to eat more than that if you aren't hungry! Your body knows best. :happy:

countrygirlsoul

Hi, I also only eat 1200 cals a day however if i find that I have had a very active day, I will go over in calories. Not by much mind you but I find that the more and more active I am becoming I need the extra calories sometimes or I start to feel shaky, which is definitely no good.

Everyone will tell you something different but I find that I stick to my 1200 cals and listen to my body, if I'm still a little hungry I'll grab a snack of say something like yogurt or cottage cheese. It all depends on how hungry I am.

Hope this helps. :happy:

creativefrugalmom

I'm new, so take my advice with a grain of salt, LOL, but no - I don't think you have to. You got your 1200 minimum, and I don't see why you need to eat more than that if you aren't hungry! Your body knows best. :happy:

Thanks! I have been having to supplement a few items in order to reach the 1200, but I don't overstuf myself, and I do it with nuts, granola bars or yogurt.

gagirlinnc

The last few days, I have eaten about half my exercise calories to reach a satisfied place.

kmulhollen

Hi!
Not sure how correct my philosophy on that is but here's what I do. I try to stay close to my base 1200 calories no matter what exercise I do but when I do splurge on a high calorie item I do borrow from the exercise earned calories. I try not to totally deplete my allotted calories and I try not to leave too many so that I don't go into starvation mode.

SandraMay1982

I never seem to eat enough and find it hard to hit the 1200. Last night I had some LOW GI Bread with honey on it to tick over the 1200 mark *L*

If you're still hungry. You've still got the calories you burned off / the rest of your allowance (mines 1900) to fill up in if you need it.

I haven't started exercise yet. It's raining here a lot. So I am just watching what I eat. (I have only been on here MFP a week myself)

Kamila02

Yes, you DO want to eat your exercise calories. You want to do this to KEEP your body from going into starvation mode.

For example:

If you are on a 1200 calorie diet and eat only 600 calories ( I am sure we can all agree that), your body will go into starvation mode. It will begin to store fat because it's lacking 600 calories it needs perform basic metabolic functions. This KEEPS you from losing weight, no matter how hard you work out.

So, if you earn 500 calories by exercising and add it to your 1200 calorie base, you come to 1700 calories. That's because your body actually burned 500 calories, so if you cheat it those 500 calories, you're actually doing the same thing... letting your body go into starvation mode. Your body doesn't have enough calories to perform basic metabolic functions (blinking, growing hair, heart beating, making urine, etc.) AND allow you to burn 500 calories it couldn't afford to lose. Your body will hang onto weight, and if you do manage to lose some, you will gain it back when you go back to your previous habits.

This is dangerous. Very dangerous. Don't leave too many calories... too often. Don't make it a habit.

Having said this, I do not always eat all my exercise calories. I try to come close, sometimes I'm over... but the really cool thing is... I'm steadily losing weight, gaining muscle, and fitting into smaller clothes... and all with eating my exercise calories. It's the HEALTHY way to do it.

Be careful, be safe! GOOD LUCK! You are asking ALL the right questions!

MacMadame

If you are on a 1200 calorie diet and eat only 600 calories ( I am sure we can all agree that), your body will go into starvation mode. It will begin to store fat because it's lacking 600 calories it needs perform basic metabolic functions. This KEEPS you from losing weight, no matter how hard you work out.

This is not supported by science at all. First of all, in every study of starvation, the subjects continued to lose weight, no matter how much their metabolism slowed down or how little they ate. Other bad things happened to them, but storing fat wasn't one of them.

Secondly, your body isn't going to store fat when it needs it for energy. That's like saying you can build a 10 stick fire with only 5 sticks. If it's a 10 stick fire, the sticks have to come from somewhere. Energy cannot be created out of nothing. Therefore, if you burn more calories than you take in, you will burn stored energy and you will lose weight. It is impossible to not lose weight due to the laws of thermodynamics.

Your body uses the following as fuel sources (energy):
-the food you eat
-the fat you have stored (except the essential fat, about 10-12% for women, 5-6% for men)
-any used tissue (i.e., muscles you aren't using)

And it prefers to uses them in that order, most of the time, especially if you are obese.

Now, if you don't use your muscles, your body does put in them in "stuff I can use to make energy" category and then they are fair game. That's why you need to do strength training while losing weight: to minimize the lose of those nice muscles that help keep your metabolism up.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons you might not want to have 600 net calories every day on a daily basis, for months at at time (unless you are under a doctor's supervision and have special circumstances), but that's another issue entirely.

Starvation Mode, the way you describe it, is a myth. What actually happens is that, whenever you diet, your metabolism slows down. Your body does that because it perceives dieting as living in a famine and it wants to make sure you survive. This happens even if you eat your exercise calories. Read some research papers if you don't believe me. Any calorie deficit that goes on long enough triggers this response. (And lots of other physiological responses in an effort to get you to stop "starving" it.)

The longer the calorie deficit and the bigger the deficit, the harder the body fights to stop the imbalance and get you back to the weight it thinks you should be. So maybe at first your metabolism slows down 14% but do this for 6 months and it will slow down as much as 40%. This means long-term extreme dieting has a point of diminishing returns. Which is another good reason not to bother. After all, maintaining a calorie deficit of 1500 calories a day is hard work and will probably make you miserable and you aren't going to see the kind of results that that amount of depravation is worth, IMO.

But, in the end, it's a personal decision. Studies have shown that most people under-report what they eat and over-estimate how much they exercise. Only eating a portion of your exercise calories helps some people not accidentally eat more than they burn by giving a cushion.

It also depends on your goals and your personality -- how much you have to lose, how you respond to deprivation, etc.

Here are some articles about so-called starvation mode:

http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

creativefrugalmom

If you are on a 1200 calorie diet and eat only 600 calories ( I am sure we can all agree that), your body will go into starvation mode. It will begin to store fat because it's lacking 600 calories it needs perform basic metabolic functions. This KEEPS you from losing weight, no matter how hard you work out.

This is not supported by science at all. First of all, in every study of starvation, the subjects continued to lose weight, no matter how much their metabolism slowed down or how little they ate. Other bad things happened to them, but storing fat wasn't one of them.

Secondly, your body isn't going to store fat when it needs it for energy. That's like saying you can build a 10 stick fire with only 5 sticks. If it's a 10 stick fire, the sticks have to come from somewhere. Energy cannot be created out of nothing. Therefore, if you burn more calories than you take in, you will burn stored energy and you will lose weight. It is impossible to not lose weight due to the laws of thermodynamics.

Your body uses the following as fuel sources (energy):
-the food you eat
-the fat you have stored (except the essential fat, about 10-12% for women, 5-6% for men)
-any used tissue (i.e., muscles you aren't using)

And it prefers to uses them in that order, most of the time, especially if you are obese.

Now, if you don't use your muscles, your body does put in them in "stuff I can use to make energy" category and then they are fair game. That's why you need to do strength training while losing weight: to minimize the lose of those nice muscles that help keep your metabolism up.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons you might not want to have 600 net calories every day on a daily basis, for months at at time (unless you are under a doctor's supervision and have special circumstances), but that's another issue entirely.

Starvation Mode, the way you describe it, is a myth. What actually happens is that, whenever you diet, your metabolism slows down. Your body does that because it perceives dieting as living in a famine and it wants to make sure you survive. This happens even if you eat your exercise calories. Read some research papers if you don't believe me. Any calorie deficit that goes on long enough triggers this response. (And lots of other physiological responses in an effort to get you to stop "starving" it.)

The longer the calorie deficit and the bigger the deficit, the harder the body fights to stop the imbalance and get you back to the weight it thinks you should be. So maybe at first your metabolism slows down 14% but do this for 6 months and it will slow down as much as 40%. This means long-term extreme dieting has a point of diminishing returns. Which is another good reason not to bother. After all, maintaining a calorie deficit of 1500 calories a day is hard work and will probably make you miserable and you aren't going to see the kind of results that that amount of depravation is worth, IMO.

But, in the end, it's a personal decision. Studies have shown that most people under-report what they eat and over-estimate how much they exercise. Only eating a portion of your exercise calories helps some people not accidentally eat more than they burn by giving a cushion.

It also depends on your goals and your personality -- how much you have to lose, how you respond to deprivation, etc.

Here are some articles about so-called starvation mode:

http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

Thank you sooooo much for the information. It seems as though you know what you are talking about since you have lost 109 lbs. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Bloodie

I really have to agree with what MacMadame said. You will lose weight one way or another, however your metabolism will slow down if you go overboard with it ...

For example, i have seen numerous discussions about this topic so far ... and then one say eat all calores, some say eat some calories, there are guys that say it really doesnt matter how much u do it just dont go under dunno 1000 per day.... so many opinions and so many ways to choose. Personally i would need to eat about 2600 per day + my exercise calories ... which brings me to about 3500-3800 per day, and me being in my right mind, have absolutely NO intention on eating 3500 cals per day. I'm giving my best to provide a bit more when i do more exercise and a bit less on other days, but that still gets me to 1600-1900 calories and im perfectly happy, "not hungry" and have plenty of power with those numbers.

All in all, im gonna give my vote to eat whatever amount is enough for you.... don't starve yourself at any point, and eat several (4-6) times a day.... smaller meals, fruits, whatever makes you go.... If you see that you're lacking power on your exercise routines, try increasing it a bit, but for every normal person, that will probably be in the range of 1200-2000 cals a day... And please lets not confuse hunger with appetite, which you can get with dunno... looking at some good food, or smelling something that suits your taste

This is just my humble opinion

SHBoss1673

I wish people would stop saying starvation mode is a myth. It's not. People perceive it wrong many times. But it's not a myth at all. It's a real and proven response to a calorie deficit.

Will you stop losing weight in starvation mode? Probably not, but it will most likely be slower then the predictions because of the human body's conservation of energy, but it will continue to lose weight.

Things to keep in mind about starvation mode.

1) your body uses all three types of energy simultaneously. I.E. at all times, in a catabolic state (calorie deficit) your body will ALWAYS be burning calories from food, stored fat, and Protein. This only changes by ratio, and it does NOT happen in succession.

2) You probably won't gain weight in starvation mode. BUT you may gain weight by quickly upping the amount of calories consumed to get out of starvation mode. It takes the body 3 to 5 days to adjust it's metabolic state to any significant degree, thus, eating 1 day of significantly higher calories will only accomplish you adding stored fat, not much else. Better to slowly up your calories than to just go from 1200 a day to 1800 a day all in one whack.

3) The body WILL store fat at a higher rate when it perceives starvation mode. The rate of extra storage is a direct correlation to the size of the deficit, the length of the deficit, and the amount of stored fat available. The calorie difference, in this instance is made up by canabalizing protein from muscles.

4) The body will only recognize starvation mode if there is a real deficit in calories. That mean people with a lot of extra body fat won't generally have this happen until sufficient fat has been burned off to have a real deficit. I.E. obese people can have a larger deficit without affecting their metabolic rate.

5) besides 1200 calories being an arbitrary number that the WHO came up with in the 80's (a lifetime ago in the medical world) and took into account the average FEMALE minimum dietary requirement to stave off malnutrition and starvation, it's generic, meaning that while 1200 might be somewhat close to what you need as a bare minimum, it's probably not THAT close, you need to do your own research, and testing, For most people who are not obese, your BMR is the lowest you want to go.

6) the ONLY reason for someone who is not obese to not eat their exercise calories (assuming they are correctly reporting their caloric intake) is because they are impatient and don't want to wait. It can backfire on you. Besides slowing down the metabolism and possibly causing long term damage to your organs and glands, it will cause fatigue and possibly muscle degradation, which may help you lose weight, but actually can make you more unhealthy overall.

7) There is NO SUCH THING as gaining significant muscle mass while in a catabolic state. You can't put on muscle while at a calorie deficit. What you CAN do is minimize the amount of muscle mass the body identifies as inactive and keep most of your muscle mass intact while in a deficit, you do this by continuing to exercise (both aerobically and anaerobically).

there's far more to talk about but these are the ones I identify most often.

stormieweather

Let's think about what happens to your body once you start eating REAL calories again...like 1800-2000 per day (maintenance). If you've been DEPRIVING it (so no one has a hissy fit over the word starvation!) of adequate nutrition for more than a short period of time, if you suddenly start to eat normally, it likely will store those excess calories as fat because suddenly it isn't in a famine anymore..but your body also has no idea when you might start depriving it again.

Also, there are hormones which affect how hungry you feel, how much is stored, what sources are used for energy (fat or protein) and how you feel based on what you eat. For example, if you don't eat enough, your body sends out signals that it needs to conserve energy...so you get tired and sleepy (you burn less calories asleep than awake and moving).

I am not a nutritionist or trainer and don't know enough about the OP to begin to say how much he/she should be eating. Not many, if any, people here do know that. But I do know from personal experience that NOT eating enough can make it difficult to lose weight AND to keep it off (which I presume is the point).

creativefrugalmom

Let's think about what happens to your body once you start eating REAL calories again...like 1800-2000 per day (maintenance). If you've been DEPRIVING it (so no one has a hissy fit over the word starvation!) of adequate nutrition for more than a short period of time, if you suddenly start to eat normally, it likely will store those excess calories as fat because suddenly it isn't in a famine anymore..but your body also has no idea when you might start depriving it again.

Also, there are hormones which affect how hungry you feel, how much is stored, what sources are used for energy (fat or protein) and how you feel based on what you eat. For example, if you don't eat enough, your body sends out signals that it needs to conserve energy...so you get tired and sleepy (you burn less calories asleep than awake and moving).

I am not a nutritionist or trainer and don't know enough about the OP to begin to say how much he/she should be eating. Not many, if any, people here do know that. But I do know from personal experience that NOT eating enough can make it difficult to lose weight AND to keep it off (which I presume is the point).

You are right, this is exactly what I want to avoid. I am eating about 5 - 6 times a day and am not ever 'HUNGRY" but want to make sure I keep my metabolism stable. That's my main concern. I don't like eating when I'm not hungry, but if I need to eat healthy things to keep my calories where they need to be then I will. I'm in it to lose the weight and I want to do it right.

Thanks for the advice.

SHBoss1673

You are right, this is exactly what I want to avoid. I am eating about 5 - 6 times a day and am not ever 'HUNGRY" but want to make sure I keep my metabolism stable. That's my main concern. I don't like eating when I'm not hungry, but if I need to eat healthy things to keep my calories where they need to be then I will. I'm in it to lose the weight and I want to do it right.

Thanks for the advice.

The question with regards to this topic that you must ask yourself is, if you're not eating at maintenance, then why aren't you hungry? that should be the first tip off. there's nothing wrong with hunger, granted it should be mild hunger and not ravenous hunger, but it's a natural response for the body. If you are eating well below maintenance, yet experiencing no hunger, then IMHO that's a red flag. You can, on occasion, trick your body by eating low calorie, high fiber foods, but in the end, you should feel hunger when dieting. If you aren't, then personally, I feel that it's a tip off to something that needs fixing. If you're maintenance is 2000, and you're eating 1200 a day, and almost never hungry, then it's most likely because you've been eating at a deficit so long that your body has adjusted to it and some "fixing" should probably be in order (I.E. eating at or close to maintenance for a month or six weeks or so to get your body back on track). This isn't always the case, but I would bet that it's more common (especially on MFP and other weight loss sites) than people realize. If your body adjusts to the lower calorie intake, you're not burning as much as you think at maintenance, and all of the numbers that MFP gives you are wrong.

Kamila02

My response to the initial question posed, was from a post that I had read months ago while researching this topic for myself. I wrote what I remembered... it doesn't sound much the same... alas, I started eating my exercise calories after reading it.

I don't know how to do the quote thing, so I'm just going to copy and paste it. I found it quoted on someone else's thread (not mine b/c I didn't bump it) in the community tab.

Hope this helps, sorry to ignite such strong emotions...


I still see many people that are confused or "question" the idea of eating your exercise calories. I wanted to try (as futile as this may turn out to be) to explain the concept in no uncertain terms. I'll save the question of "eating your exercise calories" for the end because I want people to understand WHY we say to do this.

NOTE: I'm not going to use a lot of citation in this, but I don't want people thinking this is my opinion, I have put much careful research into it, most of which is very complicated and took a long time for me to sift through and summarize, and thanks to my chemical engineering backgroud I have the tools to read clinical studies and translate them (somewhat) into more human terms. Some of this information comes from sources I can't forward because they are from pay sites (like New England Journal of Medicine), so you can ask for anything, but I may or may not be able to readilly provide it for you (I can always tell you where to go if you want to though).

I'll break it down into 3 sections.
Section 1 will be our metabolic lifecycle or what happens when we eat and how our body burns fuel.
Section 2 will be what happens when we receive too much, too little, or the wrong kind of fuel.
Section 3 will be the steps needed to bring the body to a healthy state and how the body "thinks" on a sympathetic level (the automatic things our body does like digestion, and energy distribution).

Section 1:
Metabolism, in "layman's" terms, is the process of taking in food, breaking it down into it's components, using the food as fuel and building blocks, and the disposal of the poisons and waste that we ingest as part of it. Metabolism has three overall factors, genetics, nutrition, and environment. So who we are, what we eat, and how we live all contribute to how our metabolism works. You can control 2 of these 3 factors (nutrition, environment).
When you eat food, it is broken down into it's component parts. Protein, vitamins and minerals are transported to the cells that need them to build new cells or repair existing cells. Fats(fatty acid molecules) and carbohydrates are processed (by 2 different means) and either immediately burned or stored for energy. Because the body doesn't store food in a pre-digested state, if you eat more carbs and fat then you need immediately, the body will save them for later in human fat cells (adipose tissue). This is important to realize because even if you eat the correct number of calories in a 24 hour period, if you eat in large quantities infrequently (more then you can burn during the digestion process), your body will still store the extra as fat and eliminate some of the nutrients. (Side note: this is why simple or processed carbs are worse for you compared with complex carbs)

Section 2:
The human body has a set metabolic rate (based on the criteria stated above), this rate can be changed by overall nutritional intake over a period of time, or by increasing activity levels also over a period of time (the exact amount of time for sustained increase in metabolic rates is the subject of some debate, but all studies agree that any increase in activity level will increse the metabolism).
It is important to note that obesity does not drasticly change the level of metabolic process, that means that if you become obese, you don't burn a higher fat percentage just because you have more to burn.
The balance of incomming fuel vs the amount of fuel the body uses is called maintenance calories, or the amount of calories it takes to run your body during a normal day (not including exercise or an extremely lethargic day). The metabolism is a sympathetic process, this means it will utilize lower brain function to control it's level, it also means it can actively "learn" how a body is fitness wise, and knows approximately how much energy it needs to function correctly. It also means automatic reactions will happen when too much or too little fuel is taken in. Too much fuel triggers fat storage, adipose tissue expands and fat is deposited, also free "fat" cells (triglycerides) will circulate in the blood stream (HDL and LDL cholesterol). Too little fuel (again, over an extended period) triggers a survival mode instinct, where the body recognizes the lack of fuel comming in and attempts to minimize body function (slowing down of non-essential organ function) and the maximization of fat storage. It's important to note that this isn't a "switch", the body does this as an ongoing analysis and will adjust the levels of this as needed (there is no "line" between normal and survival mode.).
When you're activity level increases, the human body will perform multiple functions, first, readily available carbohydrates and fats are broken down into fuel, oxydized, and sent directly to the areas that need fuel, next adipose (body) fat is retreived, oxydized, and transported to the areas it is needed for additional fuel, 3rd (and this is important), if fat stores are not easilly reachable (as in people with a healthy BMI where adipose fat is much more scarce), muscle is broken down and used for energy. What people must realize is that the metabolism is an efficiency engine, it will take the best available source of energy, if fat stores are too far away from the systems that need them or too dense to break down quickly, then it won't wait for the slower transfer, it will start breaking down muscle (while still breaking down some of that dense fat as well).

Section 3:
The wonderful part of the human metabolic system is it's ability to adapt and change. Just because your body has entered a certain state, doesn't mean it will stay that way. The downfall to this is that if organs go unused over a long period, they can lose functionality and can take years to fully recover(and sometimes never).
As long as there is no permenant damage to organ function, most people can "re-train" their metabolism to be more efficient by essentially showing it (with the intake of the proper levels and nutritional elements) that it will always have the right amount and types of fuel. This is also known as a healthy nutritional intake.
Going to the extreme one way or the other with fuel consumption will cause the metabolism to react, the more drastic the swing, the more drastic the metabolism reacts to this (for example, a diet that limits fat or cabohydrate intake to very low levels). In general terms, the metabolism will react with predictable results if fuel levels remain in a range it associates with normal fuel levels. If you raise these fuel levels it will react by storing more fat, if you lower these fuel levels, it will react by shutting down processes and storing fat for the "upcomming" famine levels. The most prominent immediate issues (in no particular order) with caloric levels below normal are reduced muscle function, reduction of muscle size and density, liver and kidney failures, increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and gallstones .


Now onto the question of "Eating your exercise calories"

As I have hinted to throughout this summary of metabolic process, the body has a "range" in which it feels it is receiving the right amount of fuel. The range (as most doctors and research scientists agree) is somewhere between 500 calories above your maintenance calories and 1000 calories below your maintenance calories. This means that the metabolism won't drastically change it's functionality in this range, with that said, this is not exact, it is a range based on averages, you may have a larger or smaller range based on the 3 factors of metabolism stated at the top.
On our website (MyFitnessPal), when you enter your goals, there is a prebuilt deficit designed to keep you in the "normal" metabolic functionality while still burning more calories then you take in. This goal DOES NOT INCLUDE exercise until you enter it. If you enter exercise into your daily plan, the site automatically adjusts your total caloric needs to stay within that normal range (in other words, just put your exercise in, don't worry about doing any additional calculations). Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight. The important thing to understand is (and this is REALLY important) the closer you are to your overall healthy weight (again, your metabolism views this a a range, not a specific number) the more prominant the survival mode becomes (remember, we talked about efficiency). This is because as fat becomes scarce, muscle is easier to break down and transport. And thus, the reason why it's harder to lose that "Last 10 pounds".

I really hope this puts a lot of questions to bed. I know people struggle with this issue and I want to make sure they have the straight facts of why we all harp on eating your exercise calories.

-Regards,

Banks

grannygal47

I am having a really hard time eating 1200 calories. What do I do. You can only eact so much!

July24Lioness

I am having a really hard time eating 1200 calories. What do I do. You can only eact so much!

Just listen to your body....................In the end, it will all balance out.

bluehorsesjp

Wow Kamill02,
Excellent summary.
Thank you

SHBoss1673

lol, that was my post. Here's the link.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I wrote this a while ago under a different username (don't ask, long story), so if you have any questions just ask.

stormieweather

I am having a really hard time eating 1200 calories. What do I do. You can only eact so much!

Change what you eat. If you are eating low-fat, low-cal foods, eat normal ones. A glass of whole milk, a slice of real cheese, a handful of almonds, a spoonful of peanut butter, a tablespoon of olive oil...all very tiny amounts to eat, but they add a lot of (healthy) calories. In fact, just the things I listed there...without any meat or veggies or bread or fruit...can add 600+ calories.

cardigirl

6) the ONLY reason for someone who is not obese to not eat their exercise calories (assuming they are correctly reporting their caloric intake) is because they are impatient and don't want to wait. It can backfire on you. Besides slowing down the metabolism and possibly causing long term damage to your organs and glands, it will cause fatigue and possibly muscle degradation, which may help you lose weight, but actually can make you more unhealthy overall.

7) There is NO SUCH THING as gaining significant muscle mass while in a catabolic state. You can't put on muscle while at a calorie deficit. What you CAN do is minimize the amount of muscle mass the body identifies as inactive and keep most of your muscle mass intact while in a deficit, you do this by continuing to exercise (both aerobically and anaerobically).

there's far more to talk about but these are the ones I identify most often.

Thanks for these two points, Boss, as I think they are often overlooked in these discussions.

My own experience has been that low low calorie doesn't work long term. As someone who has lost weight by low calorie eating only to gain it all back and more, not once but several times, I am finding that feeding my body correctly has been the BEST way to lose weight and get a stronger, more shapely body.

For me, what has worked, has been to eat the exercise calories. When I don't, I start to feel like crap. When I do fuel my body correctly, I have great energy and I still lose weight. And inches.

Autumn256

Ok, so I eat about 1/2 of my exercise calories, because, like a previous poster said, most people underestimate the amount of calories eaten, and overestimate the amount of calories burned. While this site seems to eliminate alot of that, i just want to be sure!!

My history in weight loss: I went from 230 pounds to 168 pounds, 5 years ago. I wasn't in the 95% that gained it all back and then some, in the 5 yrs after weight loss, but, I went back up to 194. (Being wined and dined, lol, by my honey) I have lost 6 pounds in about the past 6 weeks. I am aiming for 6 pounds a month to reach 165. To be at my goal for the holidays, how nice will that be!

Good luck to all, and I am interested to know everyone's success in eating/not eating their exercise points!

MacMadame

Just listen to your body....................In the end, it will all balance out.

I wish it were that simple. The problem is that sometimes our bodies lie to us.

For example, when you go on a serious diet (not watching what you eat for a few weeks to take off a few pounds), your body perceives this to be a famine. So once the famine is over, it tells you that you are hungry even when you are eating more calories than it takes to maintain your new weight. It fights to get you back to your start weight. Then, because it figures another "famine" may come along at any time, it fights to get you about 10 lb. over your start weight for a cushion. This is your body's new set point. Unless you eat enough calories to maintain that, you will be hungry.

The other thing that happens is that, if you ignore your body's hunger signals long enough, it stops sending them. I guess it figures there just isn't enough food, so why torture you. (Okay, what is really going on is some complex interaction of hormones and other chemicals.)

So in both these cases, your body is lying to you. In one case, it's telling you that you are hungry when you are eating more calories than it really takes to sustain a healthy weight and in the other it's not telling you that you are hungry when you really need the fuel.

This is one problem I have with the whole "intuitive eating" movement. It certainly sounds good on the surface and I have found some of their recommendations helpful, but the whole "just trust your body" philosophy is just not a good idea for many of us. This is why I continue to log my food and weigh myself every day. Behaviors that food shrinks will tell you are "obsessive".

Well, logging work for me so those experts can kiss my "obsessive" *kitten*! :laugh:

Kamila02

lol, that was my post. Here's the link.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I wrote this a while ago under a different username (don't ask, long story), so if you have any questions just ask.

Thanks Boss! I enjoy reading your stuff! You're well researched credible! Thanks for the direct link. Good to know you!!!

GuamMom

only if you want to:happy: Do what you feel is right and it will all fall into place our greatest resource is our knowledge of our own bodies! Good Luck you look great!

chiremba

OK, so I have read several different posting on this subject, but I want to confirm what I believe to be the case.

I am at 1200 cal/day. When I workout it adds exercise calories.

i.e. - today - 1200 calories starting + 602 workout calories = 1802 calories. I consumed 1319 calories and have 483 leftover.

As long as I ate my 1200 calories, I don't have to eat the remaining calories, correct?

correct!!!!

robin52077

OK, so I have read several different posting on this subject, but I want to confirm what I believe to be the case.

I am at 1200 cal/day. When I workout it adds exercise calories.

i.e. - today - 1200 calories starting + 602 workout calories = 1802 calories. I consumed 1319 calories and have 483 leftover.

As long as I ate my 1200 calories, I don't have to eat the remaining calories, correct?

correct!!!!

No, not correct.
You've only been here a month and you dig up a year old thread that's been dead for almost a year only to make a one word answer to a year old question that is dead wrong and explained as wrong many times over in this thread.

The original poster, who probably isn't even here anymore, was eating less than 1200 NET a day, and this is HORRIBLE for you.

First of all, MOST people shouldn't even be aiming for 1200. Then they try to stay "below" calories so the number will stay green, when it is actually a goal to REACH, not a goal to stay under.
Your deficit is already built in to this number, staying under it causes a larger deficit which is depriving your body of essential fuels. If you are exercising on top of such a LOW calorie goal, you are trying to drive a car with no gas in it.

Aim for 1/2 lb or 1 lb a week, log everything you eat accurately by weighing it, and EAT most of your exercise calories.
Links that support this are here:

shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

stormieweather

Robin nailed it!! :bigsmile: