DON'T Eat Exercise Calories!!

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  • SillySkittles
    SillySkittles Posts: 202 Member
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    You notice it because it jives with your beliefs. This is why anecdotal evidence and personal observation are unreliable and not part of the scientific method. :wink:

    What I’ve noticed is that some people seem to have “fat brain”. These are the ones who put in walking up the stairs for 5 min. as exercise and religiously eat back every calorie they’ve “earned” through exercise while at the same time listing their activity level as “lightly active” when they have a desk job because they also do chores around the house. They definitely seize every opportunity to eat more.

    But I’ve seen men with fat brain and not just women. Do more women have this approach than men? I don’t see how either of us could tell that just from hanging out on weight loss forums. For one thing, our sample is self-selected – it’s only people who come to MFP and only those who post and only those whose posts we see (I don’t read every post – do you?).

    For another, we’d have to know how many people are on MFP, how many are men and how many are women and then keep track of how many of the men say things that demonstrate “fat brain” vs. how many of the women so we could come up with a percentage.

    But there are lots of physiological differences between men and women that would explain slower/less weight loss in women -- such as having slower metabolisms and higher body fat percentages. I think those scientifically observed differences are more likely to account for the difference than your unscientific (and misogynic) observations.

    Agreed and very well put.
  • imagymrat
    imagymrat Posts: 862 Member
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    I know it sounds crazy ad against what MFP and most users believe, but please just read on........Just this week I went to a medical weight loss center to sign up and the physician there said to go down to a 1000 calorie diet - as opposed to the 1200 the MFP gave me - and she said that no matter how much I work out, I should still only take in the 1000 calories a day....this confused me because MFP says that "if you keep your calories this low your body will go into starvation mode" - the important thing she said also is to slightly vary how many calories you take in each day - 950, 1050, 1000, etc - to keep your body guessing. Wow! Now I know why I have hit a plateau......I thought if I burned an extra 400 calories then it meant I could have a little extra that day or a treat :sad: Yikes!! But I am going to follow my doctor's advice since I am under her care specifically for this medical weight loss program.
    I've always been a big pusher of zigzagging your calories, however I would never tell someone to go that low and exercise, unless like yourself, you are under the supervision of a doctor. zigzag is the way to go!
  • recipe4success
    recipe4success Posts: 469 Member
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    Just a point I thought of:

    For those who believe it is 'wrong' and 'overeating' to consume exercise calories, you must also believe that one should not put their base activity level at anything but 'sedentary', regardless of the amount of work you do in the day.

    This is because the idea with putting your base activity level below sedentary is that you burn more calories during the day as you are moving more, and thus you can eat more while still losing.

    However, many of you state that you cannot eat back exercise calories. So i have to conclude you all have your base activity set at sedentary and that you frown on those who put it at anything else.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    So i have to conclude you all have your base activity set at sedentary and that you frown on those who put it at anything else.
    I have to conclude you are a big fan of the strawman argument. :wink:
  • DJackson230
    DJackson230 Posts: 306
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    How about just eating some of your exercise calories, Thats what I do...
    In 150 days I have been over maybe 4 times and lost 57lbs... I eat what I want in moderation and when i'm hungry.
    Yes, i find that I need some of my exercise calories, but not all...
    I love to exercise, so i would be really stuffed if i tried to eat them all...

    Thats my 1/2 a cent...

    I guess... Different strokes for different folks
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    wow...this is messy lol. My 2 cents...
    your caloric needs depenjd on your weight, obvious. I found it extrememly hard to stick to 1200 calories. However, I haven't lost any, so take that as you will. ; )
    I think the biggest problem with restriction is how long can you keep it up?
    You have to restrict yourself a little to lose weight...obviously, but at the same time, it has to work over a lifetime. If 1200 cal is something you can do for a long period of time, go for it!
  • beck8800
    beck8800 Posts: 2
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    definitely agree with Barney!! It depends on the exercise you are taking part in. Even you do not eat enough balance of cal. carbs and protein before certain workouts you will instantly be fatigued and not get the most out of your workout. I'm a kickboxer and if I do not not have a certain amount of calories before my training I'm useless. I also have a close friend that was told she wasn't eating enough carbs to sustain her training...
  • recipe4success
    recipe4success Posts: 469 Member
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    So i have to conclude you all have your base activity set at sedentary and that you frown on those who put it at anything else.
    I have to conclude you are a big fan of the strawman argument. :wink:

    Nope, it is exactly the same thing. In both cases, you are burning more calories. Therefore, if people think that when exercising you are not allowed to eat more calories, then they must also think that if you are more active during the day, you are not allowed to eat any more calories.

    If not, they are hypocrites.
  • sbear867
    sbear867 Posts: 249 Member
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    This is the best discussion thread I have read yet! Thank you for starting it. WHen it comes down to it, its only what works for your health issues, body type, age and lifestyle. Having a medical provider monitor and guide will only give you more support in your journey, just be weary that even mds have bad days and give bad adcvice. If its not a plan you can really stick to for life and its just to loose the weight then modify to find a healthy balance.

    Good Luck in Lewisville...I'm just up the road. If you are an LA Fitness Member check out the Latin Heat class at the gym by Vista Ridge, it a blast and shakes up the workout. Plus much cheaper than Zumba
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
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    Ugh, here we go.

    I was thinking the same thing when I started to read the post. There have been some great sucess stories on MFP, tamtastic to name just one incredible one. Someone said "listen to your body" and that is true. The best weight loss will come when you find what works best for you, some will eat all exercise calories, some none, some eat half the point is MFP is a tool to help you start the whole process of getting healthier and it is up to you as an individual to use the tools, tweak the tools to your personal needs and hopefully in the end you will reach your goals and then learn to maintain them long term.
  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    I think the bottom line is that everyone is different, it can take a lot of trial and error to know what works for us. If we have the basics in tack (healthy food, exercise, etc) then the rest is up to us to see what works based on our weight loss, muscle gain, energy levels, etc. Only we can see, feel and then truly decide what works for us.

    I'm on 1200 cals a day but I've always been under by anywhere from 50-300 cals and I feel great. I don't usually eat all my exercise calories either, as long as I know I got all my four food groups and enough of them to sustain my energy levels for the day. I'm happy, weight is coming off and this works for me. Maybe it doesn't work for someone else and they need to eat those exercise cals, then I say go for it :)
  • p1nkpr1ncess
    p1nkpr1ncess Posts: 254 Member
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    I've really enjoyed reading this thread! I love to hear everyone's opinions on these topics as I feel like I haven't found what works for ME yet!

    I've tried everything from cutting my cals down to 1000, putting them up to 1400, eating some exercise cals, not eating exercise cals.....I just haven't found what works for me yet so all of this info really does help! I have been at a plateu for so long now, I only want to lose another 4lbs but they just won't budge! So I've accepted that they aren't going anywhere!

    Anything that can help me try and kick their *kitten* away (lol) is helpful to me - so zigzagging here I come! Thanks for everyone's opinions! :)
    -x-
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
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    Someone following a vegetarian diet isn't necessarily starving at 1000 calories.

    For the record, there's a big difference between feeling hungry and starving. :wink:

    true, but to eat 1000 vegetarian calories can really be a lot of fiber... there have been many days (not recently) where i had only 950-1000 calories, and was not hungry a bit. maybe those were days were i had a lot of carrots or something. i've had amazing vegetarian meals (hefty, too) for well under 400 cals. so it's not impossible, it just depends on what you eat...
  • owno9700
    owno9700 Posts: 24
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    Thanks to Merebear for sharing what she learned recently. The bottom line is that we all make our own decisions on how we want to approach the weight loss thing; we are all different, we are all individuals.......and we should all respect that each of us have our own challenges and our own way of meeting them. There are enough non-supporters in the world....this is a place where we all have something in common and should support eachother. You may not agree with someone elses philosophy or way of doing things but voice your CONCERN not your OPINION in a constructive way rather than being destructive.

    I hope you get the results you're looking for Merebear, you have my support!
  • bazuukajoe
    bazuukajoe Posts: 49 Member
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    So i have to conclude you all have your base activity set at sedentary and that you frown on those who put it at anything else.
    I have to conclude you are a big fan of the strawman argument. :wink:

    Nope, it is exactly the same thing. In both cases, you are burning more calories. Therefore, if people think that when exercising you are not allowed to eat more calories, then they must also think that if you are more active during the day, you are not allowed to eat any more calories.

    If not, they are hypocrites.

    True. If you put your activity level as anything other than sedentary than you CAN NOT add any exercise manually. Seriously, that's cheating (especially if you are one to put in more exercise just because you happened to be a little more active that day). To me, that seems like just trying to reward yourself just for not sitting on your *kitten*. Come on, now. You should reward yourself for exercise and such, yes. But if your lifestyle has reached a point where you can count simply standing on your feet as exercise I think the key thing would be to find a way to lead a more active lifestyle (i.e. "exercise") rather than nickel and dime-ing your calorie count to death.

    Unless you're being A LOT more active than usual, like moving boulders or something (which is exercise, so you'd put that in) you're not really burning that many extra calories. Maybe like 100 to 500 more, depending on what you consider "active (and if you're not breaking a sweat it's probably not even close to 500- That's what I burn walking 3.5 miles per hour for an hour as a 250 pound man) and you really have no way or being sure how many, and as I've said before MFP exercise database is already pretty inaccurate (at best, an educated guess). My thinking is that you should just feel accomplished for having an active day. What do you need to see the numbers for? It's not enough to put you in starvation mode.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
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    True. If you put your activity level as anything other than sedentary than you CAN NOT add any exercise manually. Seriously, that's cheating (especially if you are one to put in more exercise just because you happened to be a little more active that day).

    i don't understand what this means. i put my activity level at "lightly active" because i don't own a car and if i have to go somewhere, i either walk or ride my bike - BUT

    some days (about 3x a week) i ride my bike longer and harder than normal. i don't "eat the calories" in fact, i hardly pay attention to the calories because i ride my bike so often and because i eat rather well in general.

    some days i have an ice cream cone. big deal. some days i have chips. so what. i agree that mfp exercise calories are inflated.

    i rode 30 miles yesterday and it said i burned something like 3500cals... maybe i did, maybe i didn't. who knows? i was just glad to get on the bike and ride.

    i use mfp as a guide - a loose guide, to make sure i just don't go overboard on anything... food or exercise.
  • servingthealiens
    servingthealiens Posts: 144 Member
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    While it's true that different things work for different people, I really do feel like the OP was telling us ALL not to eat the calories we earn from exercise (look at the subject of the post), and that just won't work for everyone, and might be harmful to some people.

    FWIW, I'm also a vegetarian, and I don't know about other veggies, but I don't just eat fruits and vegetables. I also eat tofu and meat substitutes, which are great sources of protein. On the days when I just bring a salad for lunch, I am completely ready to eat by dinner. It doesn't keep me full as long as other vegetarian protein sources.

    I also don't have much weight to lose: only about 10 lbs. I mainly want to eat healthier and get leaner/fitter. But, MFP has my daily calories set at 1200 because I have a sedentary job and don't do much activity outside of planned exercise. When I work out, I jog 3-4 miles or walk on the treadmill with an incline, so I burn 300-400 calories. That would leave me living on 800 calories per day on the days when I work out, which is I don't think is healthy for anyone. If you work out more and burn more calories, you could be expecting your body to function on even less, depending on what your BMR is set to. A few days of that, and you'll be feeling like you've got a bad case of the flu.

    For myself, if I didn't have a snack after a workout (and I usually don't eat all 3-400 calories, usually about half of those), I'd be in front of the fridge stuffing my face at 4 AM because my body would be DEMANDING fuel.
  • angiereid
    angiereid Posts: 158
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    this is the best advice i have heard so far on this blog this is a way of life and you must know that restricting yourself with too little calories is impossible to keep up, mfp has been wonderful and i eat 1570 a day my bmr is 1503 and i have lost 26 total since i lost before site as well, moral of story you need to eat enough so your body can remain stron and energized if you are burned out and too weak you wont feel like doing anything and guess what you will start gaining again because your body will want to eat.

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  • angiereid
    angiereid Posts: 158
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    You also need to consider the fact that MFP is trying to teach us a new way to eat FOR LIFE and not just to lose weight. I personally love food to much to ONLY eat 1000 calories a day for the rest of my life. And if I only eat 1000 a day for now then what happens when I lose all the weight then want to go back to a more normal amount of calories? My body wont be able to handle it and I will gain the weight back.

    this is the best advice on here i think

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  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    ...I thought if I burned an extra 400 calories then it meant I could have a little extra that day or a treat :sad:

    I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a medical doctor would decide to cut calories rather than suggest you eat better ones. :laugh:

    MFP challenges you to look at calories as fuel to keep your body and mind performing optimally, not food to keep your stomach happy. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long

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