Trying not to beat a dead horse, Exercise calorie question

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utes09
utes09 Posts: 561 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This is the one thing I still can't wrap my head around fully.

MFP says that if I wanted to maintain my weight I would need to consume 1550 calories a day, so to be healthy and lose weight my calorie level is set to 1200 (it states I'll lose .7lbs a week this is fine).

I have been reading that you need your NET calorie level to be above 1200. So if I have my diary already at 1200 and then go running and burn 350 calories do I need to EAT BACK all 350 calories? That seems counter productive with the whole "expend more than you eat" philosophy in order to lose weight.

Granted, I'm usually slightly over 1200 prior to exercise and that way I know what I need to burn off. I usually try to eat back 60% of my exercise calories. I'll make my diary public so you can get some idea of how my eating pattern goes. My big workout days are usually Saturday and Sunday.

Replies

  • ladyofivy
    ladyofivy Posts: 648
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    Depends on who you ask here, but given your activity level that you entered when you signed up, MFP put you at a deficit to lose weight without exercise. About 70% of people here will tell you to eat back your workout calories because your body needs the energy from calories to actually burn calories. If you don't have enough cals to burn cals, you won't lose weight.

    The other 30% will tell you that as long as you aren't going into starvation mode, it's just a faster vehicle towards your goal not to eat them.

    Good luck.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Normally I would suggest to eat them back but since you will only lose 0.7 at 1200 calories (not a very large caloric deficit) it should be safe for you to not eat your exercise calories, unless you are burning over 500, then you should eat some of them back.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long
  • summerblunden
    summerblunden Posts: 184 Member
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    You are SO close to your goal, I would think it will be ok to eat them. I am usually not one to eat my exercise calories, but as I lsoe weight, and my "allowed" calories decreases because my body will not need as much, I suspect I will eat my exercise calories. You need to start thinking about your maintenence plan, which will include eating those calories. And obviously, like a previous poster said, if you're doing a 500 calorie workout, you definitley need to eat them. If it is only a 100-150 calorie expenditure, probably not as important.

    Bottom line, it varies for everyone, but in your case, yes, I say eat them.
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
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    Whatever you've been doing seems to be working so I'd stick with that.
  • utes09
    utes09 Posts: 561 Member
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    I actually surprised myself the other day when I realized I had lost 10 lbs since Feb! Right now I'm not looking to keep losing a huge amount (I don't think I could if I wanted) so for awhile I've been focusing more on when I can workout and not making it a RULE that I have to do this much and burn this amount so I can make it more of a lifestyle. I'll continue with what I've been doing and see where I end up.

    Thanks everyone!

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