Help with exercise calories please

Trashtruck
Trashtruck Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
When I exercise, and I enter in what I burned, it's telling me I can eat those calories. I'm SO confused as to why? Isn't that more weight loss if I do not?? I don't understand why I would exercise, just to eat more food?

I'm 5'4", and 170lb, I'm using MFP at 1200 calories a day, I want to lose 1.5lbs a week and when I exercise I use a heart rate monitor. and enter in how many it says I burned.

Can someone please help me understand 1) why it tells me to eat back what I just busted my butt burning. And more importantly, 2) what exactly happens if I don't eat those calories back?

Thanks so much!

Replies

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    The MFP default calorie goal includes your activity level & deficit, but no exercise. Therefore, you must eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories. The calorie counts & burns are estimates, so some people reduce the margin of error by eating back a portion of their exercise calories.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    MFP already has you eating at a deficit (in your case, too big of a deficit, since your BMR is more-or-less 1450 which is generally the lower limit of sensible calorie intake). For smaller burns (say, 45 minutes or less), you can get by not eating the calories back and just lose weight a little faster. However, your body can only free up your energy reserves (fat, etc.) so fast, so if you have a bigger burn you need to eat some of it back or you'll end up tired, cranky, and generally hating life because your gas tank is on empty. We're here to lose weight, no extra points for suffering while you do it.

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