Eating as a reward for exercising

gchavers5005

I'm trying to lose weight. Why do the app add calories burned through exercise into the daily nutritional calories. How is this different from eating extra calories as a reward for exercising.

musicfan68

It adds them because that is the way the app is designed. Purposeful exercise calories get added because you are supposed to eat them, or at least 1/2 of them, for most people. Say you are set to 1400 calories before exercise, you go out and run say 10 miles and get 800 calories added. If you don't eat any of those calories back, you would only net 600 calories for the day, which is way under eating.

AnnPT77

Musicfan is correct.

Another dimension to this: I'm a short-endurance athlete, and was one for over a decade while still obese, improbably enough. I did exercise (training) in order to have fun, and to improve my fitness, which would improve my athletic performance (and my health). I kept doing the same exercise (not more) all through weight loss down to a healthy weight, and now in weight maintenance.

None of my eating during any of that time was "a reward for exercise". Exercise is a good thing in itself, for fun, fitness and health - it's its own reward. If someone - anyone - exercises, but seriously under-supports their workouts with calories or nutrition, they will not get those fitness or health rewards. They'll get fatigued, maybe injured.

Eating at a calorie deficit, such as MFP has built into your goal, is a stress on your body. Doing exercise is also a stress on your body. It's a bad plan to just keep increasing stresses.

Weight loss, for those of us overweight, is a good thing for health. Too-fast weight loss is not a good thing for health.

In that kind of setting, exercise just to lose weight faster is not a very great idea physically (if taken to an extreme), just as looking at calories as a reward for exercising is not a great idea psychologically (if taken to an extreme).

We can exercise and lose weight at the same time, improve our health and fitness with both. We need a sensible number of calories, a sensibly moderate weight loss rate, that takes into account both eating and exercise. That's why MFP does what it does. It helps us lose weight with or without exercise.

Personally, now that I'm in weight maintenance mode, I'm grateful that MFP taught me how to eat more when I move more, eat less when I move less, to keep at a healthy weight and preserve health as my life changes. I'm pretty old (66), and have occasionally needed surgeries or been ill/injured for a while, and couldn't do my regular exercise. Because I understood about eating and exercise, including knowing how to do reasonable calorie estimates for my exercise, I could still maintain my healthy weight, not regain, until I could resume my happy exercise schedule again.

kshama2001

If you use MFP to set your calorie goal, exercise, but don't eat back any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.

https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

sijomial

"Why do the app add calories burned through exercise into the daily nutritional calories?"
Because it's a calorie counting tool. To manage you calorie balance you estimate both your calories in and your calories out.
All sensible calorie counting tools take exercise into account. Find a tool that gives you a same everyday goal and part of that daily goal will be an estimate of your average exercise, just an average guessed in advance rather than individually estimated after you have actually done it.

" How is this different from eating extra calories as a reward for exercising."
Is eating your estimated BMR calories a reward for merely being alive?
Is eating your estimated daily activity calories a reward for geting out of bed?
Sorry but I just don't get the difference between exercise and every other calorie need of your body. Would love to understand why you see it as something special.

My reward for exercising is living in a fit and healthy body plus the enjoyment of the exercise itself, the fuel for my exercise (which you must take into account if you ever want to maintain weight) also gives me better nutrition and more enjoyment of good food. Seems like a win all round.

HoneyBadger302

I think the posters above have pretty well answered the questions, I'll just add a little color.

If your exercise/activity is pretty consistent, over time you can start to determine your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) for what your average daily needs are (some calculators out there can help get you started if you're not sure).

So, in my case, I bought the premium MFP and turned off the exercise calories being added to my daily calories, and instead entered my TDEE less my planned deficit, and eat about the same amount every day.

I find that far more sustainable than varying my calories. My body, mind, and cooking are all much more predictable this way.

For me, exercise calories aren't a "reward," but I'm not a big "immediate reward" kind of person anyways - I can see how for some people that way of thinking may be more helpful, but reality is in the end it's no different, it's just a mind game you're playing on yourself to reach your goals.