Do you add extra calories for your workout days?

Kano899

ninerbuff

No i keep my calorie goal the same every day

I carb up the night before I workout in the morning.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

yirara

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

Logging and eating back your exercise calories is how MFP works. And it's important to do if you're on the minimum possible calories already or do longer workouts. However, as workout calories are often inflated it's possibly better to only eat a part of that and see for 4-6 weeks whether you lose faster than expected (eat more) or not.

spiriteagle99

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

Absolutely. Days I run I burn 500+ extra calories from that plus the calories I burn walking, biking, etc. I would be ravenous if I didn't eat them. I lost weight and have maintained that loss for about 10 years eating all my exercise calories.

tomcustombuilder

I don’t track exercise. I only use MFP for calorie intake tracking which what it is good for as long as you choose the correct inputs as being a crowdsourced database many entries are way off.

My weekly exercise program is consistent so I just use a weekly calorie target.

Corina1143

I'm usually hungrier the day after I work out. I may up my calories a little on workout days, but nearly always do the day after.

AnnPT77

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

Either one can work.

Either way, exercise load is a consideration in setting calorie goals. Under-fueling exercise hinders fitness progress. The fastest possible weight loss isn't necessarily best/healthiest.

My preferred exercise is weather-dependent and seasonal, so not as predictable. Also, in the 8 years I've been calorie counting, there have been times when I couldn't exercise at all, or only way less than usual (illness, surgical recovery). It's been helpful, for maintaining my preferred weight, to know how many calories I can eat with substantially varied amounts of exercise.

zebasschick

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

i work out to get fit and strong, so i eat back part of my exercise calories in additional protein - and some extra carbs if lots of cardio.

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-

westrich20940

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

MFP is meant for you to eat back intentional exercise calories. If you are using MFP to calculate your calorie goal, use it to log workout calories and eat how much it says to eat.

If you've calculated your calorie goal some other way (not using MFP) then this may be different. You have to understand *how* you calculated your daily calorie goal.

DozzFit

MFP may be good for eating 90% of you calories back. This worked for me when I used another app years ago (endomondo anyone?) But its now defunct. So I use FITBIT
HOWEVER, i think i may turn integration off and just add my exercise calories manually. Why? Well..fitbit adds all my burn calories when it "syncs" supposedly, and its too much! A few miles of walking and i burn more than at the gym? Its all messed up and frusterating. Anyone else have this problem?
If i were to eat back All the calories that fitbit Said i burned....er...id gain weight!. So i guess turn off sync...(i use fitbit to track my exercuse mostly, because of HR/Duration etc.)
I guess ill have to manually add thise sessions to MFP? Endomondo used to sync perfectly.
Ie:
Today i had a cardio/light lift exercise hour. And i walked about 4 -5miles (easy to do in city). _ acoording to fitbit/mfp i earned 1000 kals!!?? Nope. The exercise routine part of my day was only about 300. So I dunno.. (for now i have deduct calorie option Off, till I sort it out)

rimcdave

I feel the term Calories is too generic. I consume more carbohydrates on workout days to fuel my workouts. I consume large amounts of Protein every day to fuel Muscular hypertrophy. Hypertrophy can take 48 to 72 hours after a workout so I don't skimp on protein ever.

Sumandigital23

Do yoga on regular basis.

honeyrobin20

I have no problem with adding calories for cardio/walking because my garmin shows it or I can add it in. But how do I estimate calories burned for a strength workout? I added the exercises (individual) but it shows no calories for them.

AnnPT77

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

honeyrobin20 wrote: »

I have no problem with adding calories for cardio/walking because my garmin shows it or I can add it in. But how do I estimate calories burned for a strength workout? I added the exercises (individual) but it shows no calories for them.

If it's a regular reps/sets type workout, use the "Strength training" entry in the MFP cardiovascular exercise section. Use the entire time, including normal brief between set rests. Obviously, if you take a long break for chats or selfies or something, exclude that.

henridw2095

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

I eat all my exercise calories back (based on apple watch) and have pretty much seen the expected weight loss so far and in the past (1 lb lost for every 3500 calories I cut). For me, increasing exercise has always worked better than just cutting calories.

henridw2095

Yes i add extra calories on workout days

honeyrobin20 wrote: »

I have no problem with adding calories for cardio/walking because my garmin shows it or I can add it in. But how do I estimate calories burned for a strength workout? I added the exercises (individual) but it shows no calories for them.

I track it on my Apple watch as “other”…it works pretty well for me.