Exercise calories

clairesimpson4

I've read that you should eat the calories you burn with exercise and that no, exercise can help you reach your calorie deficit. Which is it? Both sound like they might be true. Would appreciate some insight.

AnnPT77

clairesimpson4 wrote: »

I've read that you should eat the calories you burn with exercise and that no, exercise can help you reach your calorie deficit. Which is it? Both sound like they might be true. Would appreciate some insight.

Both. Sort of.

In one sense, exercise calories aren't different from other calories. In any given day, we burn calories from (1) just being alive, (2) doing daily life stuff like job and chores, and (3) intentional exercise. No matter how we burn them, they're burned, y'know?

In the standard MFP method, it's just that we do the accounting for exercise calories a little differently. Our daily lives tend to average out around the same number of calories day to day, for most of us. Maybe they're a little different on an average weekend from an average weekday, but those mostly average out over time, too.

Exercise can be more variable, maybe seasonal, maybe weather-dependent, affected by injuries or even muscle soreness. In particular, it's kind of common to start weight loss plans with an aggressive exercise plan . . . that slowly shrinks over time, when other parts of life get busy/demanding. MFP has us log the exercise when we do it, so that we don't fall into the trap of having our weight loss slow to a crawl if exercise decreases below our original plan. So, we do the exercise, eat more, or don't exercise, and eat less, to keep the same target weight loss rate either way.

To lose a pound a week, we need about a 500 calorie daily deficit, on average, i.e., we need to burn about 500 more calories than we eat. At that point, it's kind of like your checking account: When you pay your electric bill, do you think about whether you're paying it with dollars from your factory job, vs. dollars from your Uber-driving side gig? Probably not. It's just dollars you have. Same with eating, kind of. You don't know whether you're eating an exercise calorie, a tooth-brushing calorie, a raking the lawn calorie, or something else. It's just calories you have available to eat, and still accomplish your weight-management goals.

Maybe think of it this way: When you want to lose weight at some sensible rate, like a pound a week (maybe), you need a certain sized calorie deficit, such as that 500 calorie daily deficit. If you exercise, you get to eat more, and lose at that rate. If you don't exercise, you'd need to eat less to lose at that same rate.

spiriteagle99

As Ann said, you can average out your weekly exercise and use a TDEE calculator or use MFP's system that has you log your exercise when you do it so you know how many calories you've burned with a particular workout. I like knowing the specifics as it helps motivate me to do a bit more or eat a bit less. i.e. an hour on the bike burns 300 calories while an hour running burns 600 and an hour walking may be 200 or less, depending on how slow my dog is that day. I like knowing that after a day where I ran and walked I can have ice cream or beer with my burger, while on a rest day I might want to be more careful.

kshama2001

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.

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

Xellercin

I personally set my intake goal based on my results. If I do too much exercise and start losing too rapidly, I increase my intake.

Estimates of what you burn in a day, exercise or no, are always *extremely* rough. The only thing that can give you a reliable indicator of how much you should be eating is your results over time.

The key is to maintain a deficit, but not too severe a deficit. So if you are on a heavily restricted diet and add instense exercise, then you could be causing a massive deficit.

But if you are only maintaining a moderate *average* deficit and only adding a moderate *average* burn from exercise, then I just wouldn't worry about it unless you find the scale dropping too fast, or you aren't feeling great.

Basically, try not to overthink it, and pay attention to your body.

cwolfman13

clairesimpson4 wrote: »

I've read that you should eat the calories you burn with exercise and that no, exercise can help you reach your calorie deficit. Which is it? Both sound like they might be true. Would appreciate some insight.

You just need to understand the method being used. Most calculators are TDEE calculators which take into account your BMR + Day to Day + Exercise to arrive at an estimate of calories you would need to maintain and then cut calories from that number.

MFP is a NEAT method calculator where your calorie targets are derived only from your BMR + Day to Day. Exercise isn't included in the estimate. So the calorie target you get to lose weight is with NO exercise, and while I wouldn't recommend it, you can lose weight without exercise. You eat back your exercise calories with MFP because they are otherwise unaccounted for.

For example, MFP will give me a calorie target of 1900 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...this doesn't include purposeful exercise and thus estimates my non-exercise maintenance calorie needs to be around 2400 calories per day. Now I go exercise and burn 400 calories and MFP gives me an additional 400 calories to eat...I still maintain the same calorie deficit eating 400 calories (2300 calories) more because my maintenance needs will have also increased from 2400 to 2800 calories. 2800-2300=500 calorie deficit just as 2400-1900 = 500 calorie deficit.