Exercie calories - Keep them or eat them?

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Bobble2610
Bobble2610 Posts: 40
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys,

Just wondering what all you gym bunnies do with your extra calories from exercising? Do you eat them and finish the day at 0 (meaning you lose the 2lb a week that this programme will max at?) or do you keep them and use them to aim for a bigger weight loss?

Is it defeating the purpose of exercise if you eat the calories? Or are they designed to be eaten cos you have burned more than your body needs in exercising and you technically NEED to eat them to maintain the energy levels that you should have?

I mean, if you exercise, no matter what type, you build muscle, and at the end of the day, muscle takes calories JUST to stay muscle, so does that mean that you can eat the calories and the payoff will come later?

I'm asking cos I'm really hungry at the moment cos it's getting into Winter and the colder it gets the more I want to eat, but I also want a good weight loss before Christmas, so if I knew I was going to see bigger results if I keep my exercise calories, I might be more prone to do so...

Replies

  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
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    Try to eat them all if not eating them will put your net calories below your default starting calories. Because my calories are set at 1200, I have to eat all of my exercise calories, or my net is below 1200 which would slow my metabolism and make me weak. I had tried it both ways in the beginning.
  • Bobble2610
    Bobble2610 Posts: 40
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    Cool - Thanks for that... Actually what I wanted to hear, cos it means I can eat them and have a nice cuppa and a biccy after I put the kiddies to bed :o)

    Also, just after I posted this, I scrolled back down a little and found the EXACT same question posed by someone else...


    So "D'oh" for me...
  • alucard75
    alucard75 Posts: 207 Member
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    I keep them at least until I lose another 20 lbs then I might try to add more musle.
  • TK266
    TK266 Posts: 3,689 Member
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    I do eat my exercise cals and here is why I do. MFP start with setting a goal to lose X lbs a week and then sets my intake cals to meet that goal. If I eat my exercise cal then I am still at my original weight loss goal. Not eating exercise cal may help me lose weight faster, but is is not in my plan.

    One of the best thing I read on MFP regarding this (and I can’t find the thread now) stated if you are medically obese, 30+bmi, don't eat exercise cal as you have them stored on your body already, if you are medically over weight, 25-30 bmi, eat a portion of your exercise cals and if you are in healthy range of your bmi then eat all the exercise cals.

    That made sense to me, but that is just my opinion and it worth the price you paid for it :laugh:

    Also I suggest you look at the newbie sticky, there are several good post on the subject. And expect to get about a dozen different views on this subject. Good Luck with your journey.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Try to eat them all if not eating them will put your net calories below your default starting calories. Because my calories are set at 1200, I have to eat all of my exercise calories, or my net is below 1200 which would slow my metabolism and make me weak. I had tried it both ways in the beginning.

    For a man your Net should not be below 1500, so if you are above 1500 according to your goal you could get away with eating most of the exercise calories but not all of them.
  • Bobble2610
    Bobble2610 Posts: 40
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    On another topic - As soon as I read your ID, I had a vision of a Stormtrooper... Then I clicked onto your profile, an lo and behold... That is one AWESOME pic... lol
  • nicolepope11
    nicolepope11 Posts: 56
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    You can keep some of them, but you just have to make sure your total intake is no less than 1200 calories. You don't want to be below 1200 calories in a day for all the reasons mentioned above. But if you have eaten 1500 calories (I'm not sure what the difference would be between men and women, plus it was a round number) and burn 300, keep 'em if you can. What the heck? You'll just have to see how your body feels when you do this and judge for yourself. If you feel completely drained, you might want to eat your calories back. I know it is different for everyone.
  • shakeitup424
    shakeitup424 Posts: 3
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    I think it's best to eat them. I tend to get way to hungry if I don't and being too hungry sometimes leads to eating things you don't want to. Sure, the weight loss might not come off as fast, but it will have a higher chance of staying off. :)

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