extra calories from working out

seasha86

When you get extra calories from working out, do you have to eat those too in order to lose weight?

MysticMaiden22

It's usually good to keep a balance in your calories when it comes to working out. Generally, you want to make sure you have 1200 net calories in your diet every day to make sure that you don't slow down your metabolism.

For instance, let's say you eat 1500 calories for the day and burn 300 calories with exercise. That will leave you at 1200 net calories, which is perfectly healthy.

Do your best to never exercise so much that you are under 1200 calories. I've heard horror stories from a woman who used to only eat 1000 calories a day and would burn off 700 on the elliptical at the gym. She messed up her metabolism very badly and can't eat more than 300 calories without gaining weight. She's working with a nutritionist to get her metabolism back to normal.

David718

No, you've actually burned additional calories (which is your body expending energy, requiring the use of stored 'resources', which is a nice way to say 'fat') with your workout, so the additional calories are simply additional food you can eat while staying on your healthy weight loss plan. If you choose NOT to eat enough food to match your new, higher calorie count, you will lose weight slightly faster than planned, which is good so long as you're not blowing it out in the gym and then not giving your muscles the fuel they need to rebuild.

ladyofivy

Depends on which person you ask. It seems to be about 65% here say yes, you have to eat the exercise calories to lose weight. The other 35% will say that any calorie you don't eat is a calorie you don't have to burn.

General consensus is yes, eat the exercise calories, because MFP already starts you off at a deficit so that you lose however much per week based on your activity level, even if you didn't exercise. And if you eat too few, it may put you into starvation mode, making it difficult to lose weight.

It's all up to which camp you decide to follow, really.

Luckymam

I only eat them if I am actually hungry. I don't feel any need to consume the exercise calories if I'm full. I don't think it is good to eat if you are not hungry. The key to weightloss and keeping the weight off is recognising your body's signals. Your body will tell you what you need.

TrainingWithTonya

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

erickirb

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

You mean maintenance calories are 2500 not BMR, correct? If not that is a very higher BMR. My BMR is only about 1500 or so but my maintenance calories are 1900ish.

1Steph1

I eat them and I still lose weight. Also on days where I workout and burn A LOT of extra cals I am STARVING lol so I need to eat more

TrainingWithTonya

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

You mean maintenance calories are 2500 not BMR, correct? If not that is a very higher BMR. My BMR is only about 1500 or so but my maintenance calories are 1900ish.

No, that is my BMR. I'm a personal trainer and am not only on my feet all day, but actively demonstrating exercises for my clients that I don't count in my personal exercise because it would be impossible to track and still have time to take care of my clients/school/house/kids/etc. I've had my BMR tested via indirect calorimetry as part of my bachelors program in exercise physiology and in order to get close to the amount from it for my BMR on here, I have to use Extremely Active as my activity level. Even if you are the same height and weight as me, your BMR will be different based on your activity level.

ladytap

I say yes. If I don't eat them for a few days in a row I start feeling very tired and very very hungry. After a few days I either stop working out because I just don't have the energy, or I eat everything in sight, which is so much worse than just eating those excercise calories. Just do what's right for you. Eat enough to keep you energized for your workouts.

erickirb

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

You mean maintenance calories are 2500 not BMR, correct? If not that is a very higher BMR. My BMR is only about 1500 or so but my maintenance calories are 1900ish.

No, that is my BMR. I'm a personal trainer and am not only on my feet all day, but actively demonstrating exercises for my clients that I don't count in my personal exercise because it would be impossible to track and still have time to take care of my clients/school/house/kids/etc. I've had my BMR tested via indirect calorimetry as part of my bachelors program in exercise physiology and in order to get close to the amount from it for my BMR on here, I have to use Extremely Active as my activity level. Even if you are the same height and weight as me, your BMR will be different based on your activity level.

BMR is not affected by activity level, Maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories are BMR calories plus an extra amount for activity level. BMR is the caloric intake you would need if you are in a coma or similar state, in order to maintain your weight.

TrainingWithTonya

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

You mean maintenance calories are 2500 not BMR, correct? If not that is a very higher BMR. My BMR is only about 1500 or so but my maintenance calories are 1900ish.

No, that is my BMR. I'm a personal trainer and am not only on my feet all day, but actively demonstrating exercises for my clients that I don't count in my personal exercise because it would be impossible to track and still have time to take care of my clients/school/house/kids/etc. I've had my BMR tested via indirect calorimetry as part of my bachelors program in exercise physiology and in order to get close to the amount from it for my BMR on here, I have to use Extremely Active as my activity level. Even if you are the same height and weight as me, your BMR will be different based on your activity level.

BMR is not affected by activity level, Maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories are BMR calories plus an extra amount for activity level. BMR is the caloric intake you would need if you are in a coma or similar state, in order to maintain your weight.

Yes, I know. Like I said, I've had my BMR tested clinically. Because I've been a trainer for 14 years, I've increased my metabolism from all the extra activity, so the closest I can get on Here is with the activity level. Per my clinical test, I actually have a maintenance level of almost 3000 calories per day not counting exercise. At a 2000 calorie intake, I'm actually losing muscle, which is my goal right now. Normally, I'm in muscle building mode and wouldn't recommend this to any of my clients, but I have to lose my muscle mass so that I can quickly get into the right BMI range for a kidney donation. As soon as I get through with the donation, then I'll go back to building muscle mass and eating closer to 3000 calories a day. Thats the benefit of being a body builder, you have a much higher BMR because of the added muscle mass.

erickirb

Ideally, yes. As a nutritionist, I was taught that you don't want to eat less then 80% of what you burn (BMR and Exercise) or you will put your body into a state of perceived starvation where it stores fat and burns muscle. The MFP software already gives you a 20% decrease in calories over BMR. For example, my BMR is 2500 calories. Multiply by 80% and you get 2000 calories, which is what it gives me as my calorie goal. If I then burn an additional 500 calories, but still only eat the 2000 calories, then I'm only eating 67% of what I'm burning. In order to get back to the 80% recommendation, I have to consume 400 of those 500 exercise calories too, bringing my total intake to 80% of 3000, or 2400 calories. Since muscle burns calories just to maintain itself, I want to make sure I'm eating enough to maintain my muscle mass by losing fat. While most people will say its just a balance of calories in vs. calories out, it is a little more complicated then that.

You mean maintenance calories are 2500 not BMR, correct? If not that is a very higher BMR. My BMR is only about 1500 or so but my maintenance calories are 1900ish.

No, that is my BMR. I'm a personal trainer and am not only on my feet all day, but actively demonstrating exercises for my clients that I don't count in my personal exercise because it would be impossible to track and still have time to take care of my clients/school/house/kids/etc. I've had my BMR tested via indirect calorimetry as part of my bachelors program in exercise physiology and in order to get close to the amount from it for my BMR on here, I have to use Extremely Active as my activity level. Even if you are the same height and weight as me, your BMR will be different based on your activity level.

BMR is not affected by activity level, Maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories are BMR calories plus an extra amount for activity level. BMR is the caloric intake you would need if you are in a coma or similar state, in order to maintain your weight.

Yes, I know. Like I said, I've had my BMR tested clinically. Because I've been a trainer for 14 years, I've increased my metabolism from all the extra activity, so the closest I can get on Here is with the activity level. Per my clinical test, I actually have a maintenance level of almost 3000 calories per day not counting exercise. At a 2000 calorie intake, I'm actually losing muscle, which is my goal right now. Normally, I'm in muscle building mode and wouldn't recommend this to any of my clients, but I have to lose my muscle mass so that I can quickly get into the right BMI range for a kidney donation. As soon as I get through with the donation, then I'll go back to building muscle mass and eating closer to 3000 calories a day. Thats the benefit of being a body builder, you have a much higher BMR because of the added muscle mass.

That makes sense, just the way you were explaining it made it sound like your daily actively level affected your BMR, which in the long term it can if you add more muscle. I just didn't want the readers of the posts thinking that BMR changed based on your activity level selected on MFP. Thanks for the clarification.