Do you use Workout Calories?

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13

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  • Fit4_Life
    Fit4_Life Posts: 828 Member
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    I don't! It defeats the purpose of working and burning up the calories. If you're maintaining your goal weight..then maybe. But not me.
  • jemsurf
    jemsurf Posts: 168 Member
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    Very helpful post for me. I am new to MFP , use an HRM, and have not been eating back my exercise calories. Thanks for the great information.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    I don't! It defeats the purpose of working and burning up the calories. If you're maintaining your goal weight..then maybe. But not me.

    The "purpose" of working out is for fitness. Exercise is for fitness. Calorie deficit is for weight loss.

    And a link to for extra reading

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
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    I don't! It defeats the purpose of working and burning up the calories. If you're maintaining your goal weight..then maybe. But not me.

    Depends on what the purpose of your workout is. If you goal is to just lose as much weight as quickly as you can and who cares about any long term impacts, whatever. But, how MFP works is that your deficit is worked into it, exercise cals add to that deficit. Eating them up still leaves you with a net caloric deficit for the day (a safer one).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I don't! It defeats the purpose of working and burning up the calories. If you're maintaining your goal weight..then maybe. But not me.

    The purpose of exercise is fitness....once again, here's how the numbers work utilizing my numbers.

    Maintenance with NO exercise = 2,350 calories. Less 500 calories for 1 Lb per week deficit = 2,350 - 500 = 1,850. I decide I really need to exercise for fitness...but that activity is unaccounted for with MFP (if you are in fact using this tool as designed). Let's say I burn 400 calories...now I would consume 1,850 + 400 = 2,250 calories and I would still have the same 500 calorie deficit because my maintenance calorie requirements have also been increased by those 400 calories = 2.350 + 400 = 2,750 calories. 2,750 - 2,250 = 500 calorie deficit. See...my eating back exercise calories has not defeated any purpose whatsoever...it has properly fueled that activity.

    I just don't see why such a relatively easy concept as properly fueling your activity goes right over the heads of so many. It's really not that complicated...it's like 5th grade math. I also don't understand why people think that the purpose of exercise is losing weight...there are numerous other benefits...assisting with weight control is just one of many of those benefits...and probably one of the least significant.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    You eat 1,400 calories a day?

    Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

    Not the original poster of this, but I eat about 1400-1600 a day on average (my goal is 1350, so I am eating back some of my exercise calories) and I have lost 2 lbs a week consistently for the past 3 weeks. My log is open and sometimes I even eat WAY too much (2100 the night I made a bad decision that involved Newman-Os)

    Either MFP sets calorie goals way too low OR I have a much higher metabolism than I ever thought.

    The individual you are quoting (not Sara but the person she is questioning) is a male and as such I can guarantee his calorie intake should be higher than 1400...

    Actually, it most likely is. He has logged 15 days (most of which were incomplete) out of the last 3 months!

    nope i just eat really boring.

    i don't drink any calories aside from protein shakes, i drink diet flavored water/gatorade/soda.

    i take gnc multi vitamin every day : 50 calories
    I take a protein shake in the morning when i wake up : 150 calories
    later i eat oatmeal for breakfast: 120 claories
    for lunch i'll eat a bowl of light soup: 200 calories.
    later i'll eat some fruit (like watermelon) for a snack 50 calories
    i take a protein shake after working out: 150 calories.
    dinner: i'll eat 6 oz lean protein w\brown rice, sweet potato (or a sald with protein in it) - 400 calories
    i enjoy eggs whites with 1\2 oatmeal packet it makes really good pancake: 200 calories
    then before i go to sleep i take a protein shake: 150 calories.

    ALL o fthat is 1470 calories and that would be alot of eating.so 1400 calories is pretty much where i stick at.

    and i'm 15% bodyfat so i still have a ways that i want to go.
  • lisasback25
    lisasback25 Posts: 10
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    Well I really hope so because that is what I have been doing and couldn't imagine how hungry I would be if I didn't!
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    You eat 1,400 calories a day?

    Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

    Not the original poster of this, but I eat about 1400-1600 a day on average (my goal is 1350, so I am eating back some of my exercise calories) and I have lost 2 lbs a week consistently for the past 3 weeks. My log is open and sometimes I even eat WAY too much (2100 the night I made a bad decision that involved Newman-Os)

    Either MFP sets calorie goals way too low OR I have a much higher metabolism than I ever thought.

    The individual you are quoting (not Sara but the person she is questioning) is a male and as such I can guarantee his calorie intake should be higher than 1400...

    Actually, it most likely is. He has logged 15 days (most of which were incomplete) out of the last 3 months!

    nope i just eat really boring.

    i don't drink any calories aside from protein shakes, i drink diet flavored water/gatorade/soda.

    i take gnc multi vitamin every day : 50 calories
    I take a protein shake in the morning when i wake up : 150 calories
    later i eat oatmeal for breakfast: 120 claories
    for lunch i'll eat a bowl of light soup: 200 calories.
    later i'll eat some fruit (like watermelon) for a snack 50 calories
    i take a protein shake after working out: 150 calories.
    dinner: i'll eat 6 oz lean protein w\brown rice, sweet potato (or a sald with protein in it) - 400 calories
    i enjoy eggs whites with 1\2 oatmeal packet it makes really good pancake: 200 calories
    then before i go to sleep i take a protein shake: 150 calories.

    ALL o fthat is 1470 calories and that would be alot of eating.so 1400 calories is pretty much where i stick at.

    and i'm 15% bodyfat so i still have a ways that i want to go.
    How are you supporting almost 170 lbs of LBM on 1400 calories a day with workouts?

    For comparison I have 150 lbs of LBM (at about 17-18% BF) and eat 2400 a day to maintain, and I'm 15 years older than you are.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    You eat 1,400 calories a day?

    Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

    Not the original poster of this, but I eat about 1400-1600 a day on average (my goal is 1350, so I am eating back some of my exercise calories) and I have lost 2 lbs a week consistently for the past 3 weeks. My log is open and sometimes I even eat WAY too much (2100 the night I made a bad decision that involved Newman-Os)

    Either MFP sets calorie goals way too low OR I have a much higher metabolism than I ever thought.

    The individual you are quoting (not Sara but the person she is questioning) is a male and as such I can guarantee his calorie intake should be higher than 1400...

    Actually, it most likely is. He has logged 15 days (most of which were incomplete) out of the last 3 months!

    nope i just eat really boring.

    i don't drink any calories aside from protein shakes, i drink diet flavored water/gatorade/soda.

    i take gnc multi vitamin every day : 50 calories
    I take a protein shake in the morning when i wake up : 150 calories
    later i eat oatmeal for breakfast: 120 claories
    for lunch i'll eat a bowl of light soup: 200 calories.
    later i'll eat some fruit (like watermelon) for a snack 50 calories
    i take a protein shake after working out: 150 calories.
    dinner: i'll eat 6 oz lean protein w\brown rice, sweet potato (or a sald with protein in it) - 400 calories
    i enjoy eggs whites with 1\2 oatmeal packet it makes really good pancake: 200 calories
    then before i go to sleep i take a protein shake: 150 calories.

    ALL o fthat is 1470 calories and that would be alot of eating.so 1400 calories is pretty much where i stick at.

    and i'm 15% bodyfat so i still have a ways that i want to go.
    How are you supporting almost 170 lbs of LBM on 1400 calories a day with workouts?

    For comparison I have 150 lbs of LBM (at about 17-18% BF) and eat 2400 a day to maintain, and I'm 15 years older than you are.

    maybe it was true all these years, and i just have big bones.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    You eat 1,400 calories a day?

    Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

    Not the original poster of this, but I eat about 1400-1600 a day on average (my goal is 1350, so I am eating back some of my exercise calories) and I have lost 2 lbs a week consistently for the past 3 weeks. My log is open and sometimes I even eat WAY too much (2100 the night I made a bad decision that involved Newman-Os)

    Either MFP sets calorie goals way too low OR I have a much higher metabolism than I ever thought.

    The individual you are quoting (not Sara but the person she is questioning) is a male and as such I can guarantee his calorie intake should be higher than 1400...

    Actually, it most likely is. He has logged 15 days (most of which were incomplete) out of the last 3 months!

    nope i just eat really boring.

    i don't drink any calories aside from protein shakes, i drink diet flavored water/gatorade/soda.

    i take gnc multi vitamin every day : 50 calories
    I take a protein shake in the morning when i wake up : 150 calories
    later i eat oatmeal for breakfast: 120 claories
    for lunch i'll eat a bowl of light soup: 200 calories.
    later i'll eat some fruit (like watermelon) for a snack 50 calories
    i take a protein shake after working out: 150 calories.
    dinner: i'll eat 6 oz lean protein w\brown rice, sweet potato (or a sald with protein in it) - 400 calories
    i enjoy eggs whites with 1\2 oatmeal packet it makes really good pancake: 200 calories
    then before i go to sleep i take a protein shake: 150 calories.

    ALL o fthat is 1470 calories and that would be alot of eating.so 1400 calories is pretty much where i stick at.

    and i'm 15% bodyfat so i still have a ways that i want to go.

    If you say so. You may want to get your test levels checked. Low fats decrease it. Also, I would hate to try to maintain muscle mass on that low of a protein level.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    meh, i'm the strongest i've ever been, best cardio endurance ever, tons of energy. i'm not worried about a thing, especially nonsense.
  • kempt_ken
    kempt_ken Posts: 96 Member
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    I set my profile to sedentary then track and add my activity to adjust my daily calorie count to reflect it. Doing that I'm loosing about what I should be.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    meh, i'm the strongest i've ever been, best cardio endurance ever, tons of energy. i'm not worried about a thing, especially nonsense.

    What nonsense? That low fats can lead to low test?

    http://www.musculardevelopment.com/articles/nutrition/3389-the-skinny-on-dietary-fat-and-testosterone.html#.UuGwRxDTnIU
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

    i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

    and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

    deficit = loss.

    Congrats on losing LBM and fat along the way. You are roughly consuming 9800 calories weekly(not counting your 6 workouts and what is burned). Congratulations. at 285 your LBM was roughly 198, now it's 167.5; so while you've reduced your body fat you also drastically dropped your LBM; best of luck on what your attempting to do, but as has been recommended see a physician.
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
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    I used to eat back my workout calories, basically carb cycling. But the weight slowly creeped up on me. So I stopped eating back. Kept the same calorie goal and is back on track.
  • redladywitch
    redladywitch Posts: 799 Member
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    I eat some of my exercise calories back.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

    i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

    and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

    deficit = loss.

    Congrats on losing LBM and fat along the way. You are roughly consuming 9800 calories weekly(not counting your 6 workouts and what is burned). Congratulations. at 285 your LBM was roughly 198, now it's 167.5; so while you've reduced your body fat you also drastically dropped your LBM; best of luck on what your attempting to do, but as has been recommended see a physician.

    silly, i was >35% bodyfat at 285, so your numbers are wayyy off, i couldn't even bench 145, my lbm would have been significantly lower than your forum-math.

    More importantly, i'm pretty happy with my current progress.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    35% 0f 285 is how much Einstein? About 100 pounds. Glad you are going so well on 1400 calories. Best of luck on tracking accurately. Your numbers you provide indicate you have lost quite a bit of muscle mass but you'll respond and keep the dance going. Me, I'll just say best of luck toward your goals.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    In...

    ...to catch up...

    ...and for future updates...

    ...and to see if anyone has already mentioned leg day in these three pages. (That always seems to be the first thing that goes on a long-term too-low calorie diet.)
  • MarKayDee
    MarKayDee Posts: 196
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    I've actually found on days where I eat all or most of my exercise calories I have a bigger loss, but I am still in that weight loss sweet spot where the weight comes off easily with food logging and moderate exercise. Also I am a shameful daily weigher which most people with common sense will advise against.

    My fitness pal is designed for you to eat those calories back, but if you don't feel hungry and don't ever get around to them don't worry about it. If you do get peckish after your workout then don't stress about eating them back in part or full that's what they're there for.

    EDIT: woah, did not realize that in the two pages I didn't read this became a bit of a war zone. Gotta get better at that.

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