Calories In vs. Out + Exercise Debate!! HELP!!!

Bsaintelus

Alright so me and my girlfriend have been debating on this topic for a few weeks now and I would love to get some sort of confirmation on it from some of you folks. I've been dieting for almost a month now and I've been seeing great results and weight loss. I put my target calorie intake goal at 1,200 (I know its far below the standard male intake). I also have been jogging and lifting every other day. Since the start of the diet I have lost 20 pounds. I have had cheat days on which my weight will go up a couple lbs for a day or two then it drops right down. My girlfriend on the other hand has lost some weight but not as fast and not as much as shes's wanted.

Here's the debate/disagreement/headache me and my girlfriend have been having since the start:

I've been saying that if my calorie intake goal is hit, that's it. Whether I've exercised and earned more calories is immaterial. I shouldn't eat more or use exercise as an excuse to eat more. For instance if my calorie intake goal is 1,200 and I burn 600 calories jogging, MFP tells me I've "earned" 600 calories extra for the day. Keep in mind there's an asterisk next to that announcement when MFP places it. But I've been telling her not to eat back the calories shes been burning because having that deficit is really important. She says that she should eat the calories back because more exercise = more nutrients and calories needed for the body.

Bottom line/question: should you eat calories back that you burn from exercise? Or are those calories burned essential to weight loss? Once you've hit your calorie intake goal should you stop whether you've exercised or not?

Answers please!! Friend requests as well please! I need more motivation!!

HikeCyclist

In!

missdalena

Hi! I have a feeling that you are going to get different takes on this. I will tell you that I personally DO NOT eat those calories back. I do an outdoor bootcamp for exercise- lots of sprints, push ups, and reps with 10 lb. weights. I am not exhausted nor do I feel deprived b/c I do not eat them back. I just make sure that what I eat is good fuel to begin with. I have lost 15 pounds in 3 and a half weeks, and it's not muscle or water weight- I drink 3/4 of a gallon every day. Hope this helps!

kgeyser

What you're advocating is a VLCD, you're not going to find much support for that around here. In fact, it's against the community guidelines.

Aaron_K123

Your girlfriend is right dude. Sorry.

Yes you should eat your exercise calories back. You should "net" your goal not just eat your goal. Moreover your goal should NOT be 1200 calories, thats insane for a man let alone an overweight man who is exercising.

I have to ask man, do you know how much of that 20 pounds you lost was muscle....because I assure you some of it was.

Aaron_K123

Hi! I have a feeling that you are going to get different takes on this. I will tell you that I personally DO NOT eat those calories back. I do an outdoor bootcamp for exercise- lots of sprints, push ups, and reps with 10 lb. weights. I am not exhausted nor do I feel deprived b/c I do not eat them back. I just make sure that what I eat is good fuel to begin with. I have lost 15 pounds in 3 and a half weeks, and it's not muscle or water weight- I drink 3/4 of a gallon every day. Hope this helps!

How do you know its not muscle or water weight?

AmyRhubarb

She's right, and you are eating way too little.

The daily goal MFP gives you already has you at a deficit - meaning eat all your calories (and again I stress that you should be eating WAY more than 1200 a day) every day, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. When you burn off more cals through exercise, you're creating a much larger deficit - too large - this is why the burned cals are added back into your goal, bringing you back to the same deficit, and you still lose weight, and have the added fitness benefits of exercise.

If you're eating 1200 a day and jogging and lifting all week long, the weight you're losing is lean muscle right along with fat. No bueno. You want to lose the fat and KEEP the muscle or all you're going to end up with is a soft, squishy, slimmer version of what you started with rather than a firm, fit body that I'm guessing is your goal.

I'm a 46 year old woman and I lose on 1800-2000 calories a day. I run and do weights every other day, 45-60 minutes a day, tops.

Food is fuel - don't sell yourself short by restricting calories so much in hopes that you'll see a lower number on the scale as quickly as possible. This leads to not only the muscle loss I already mentioned, but over time can cause hair loss, brittle nails, moodiness, exhaustion, low libido, saggy skin, screwed up hormones and metabolism, yo-yo dieting, etc. FUN! :noway: Not really.

Eat your calories (all of them!), drink water, exercise, take rest days, get good sleep, and have patience. Lose the fat, keep the muscle, fuel your body!

Ready2Rock206

Girlfriend definitely wins this argument.

Aaron_K123

Just as a comparison I am losing weight steadily at an intake of about 2100 calories per day.

Branstin

The initial number MFP generates already contains a calorie deficient. When you exercise, it creates a bigger deficient. You should eat back at least half of them to make sure you are getting the correct amount of nutrients. The reason half is suggested is because exercise equipment tends to over estimate calories burned.

Go to: MY HOME > Goals and see the breakdown of your calories.

3dogsrunning

She is right. The woman is always right. But seriously, in this case, she is right.

Bsaintelus

I have been an athlete my whole life. I watch shows like biggest loser and extreme weight loss. What I'm trying to lose are what some people call 'vanity pounds". I don't LOOK fat. I just wanna look better than what I do. I used to have a slight belly and since the diet I've been on, I have seen my arms get a ton more ripped. My gut is almost gone and replaced by a six pack. Bob Harper (host of biggest loser) has said that 1,200 could be alright for a man depending on his metabolism and how athletic he is. That's the only reason why i put that as my goal. I have tried 1,500 many times and haven't gotten results. Even with the heavy cardio i do. I play basketball multiple times/week. I lift a couple times a week too now.

Bsaintelus

My goal is to be in the 220's. I did so in high school. I've tried so many times to do the diet of 1,500 to 1,800 per day and i didn't ever get nearly the results that I'm finally getting now. I'm now seeing the results as well as feeling them. I run for longer periods (2 miles straight on average). My arms are more ripped, my stomach is flat and I'm seeing my abdominal muscles clearly. Am i really dieting wrong even with these seemingly great results?

nancytyc

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

Branstin

Am i really dieting wrong even with these seemingly great results?

It is since you are losing muscle.

3dogsrunning

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

Assuming your numbers are correct, yes. But I am guessing that your exercise calories may be inflated

3dogsrunning

My goal is to be in the 220's. I did so in high school. I've tried so many times to do the diet of 1,500 to 1,800 per day and i didn't ever get nearly the results that I'm finally getting now. I'm now seeing the results as well as feeling them. I run for longer periods (2 miles straight on average). My arms are more ripped, my stomach is flat and I'm seeing my abdominal muscles clearly. Am i really dieting wrong even with these seemingly great results?

The problem with "dieting wrong" is that the issue don't arise while you are losing weight, it is when you move into maintenance that can be the issue. And for some, there can also be issues while still losing weight.

How are you tracking your food? How do you measure your food?

nancytyc

Generally 60 - 75 minutes cycling at 16-18 mph, current weight is 254. Please tell me what that burns according to your figures. Please. Thanks.

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

Assuming your numbers are correct, yes. But I am guessing that your exercise calories may be inflated

Iwantahealthierme30

When you made your account you already have a deficit depending how much weight you want to lose per week and 1200 calories is the bare minimum anyone should be eating, so yes, if she burns 600 doing whatever she should eat those 600 calories back and you should only be losing 1-2 pounds a week. 20 lbs a month would put you at 5 pounds a week which while motivating is not good for you.

3dogsrunning

Generally 60 - 75 minutes cycling at 16-18 mph, current weight is 254. Please tell me what that burns according to your figures. Please. Thanks.

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

Assuming your numbers are correct, yes. But I am guessing that your exercise calories may be inflated

I can't tell you what your burns are. But 2500 calories in 75 minutes is about 33 calories a minute. That is pretty extreme.
What are you using to estimate these?

Bsaintelus

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

This is what I'm talking about

MityMax96

Alright so me and my girlfriend have been debating on this topic for a few weeks now and I would love to get some sort of confirmation on it from some of you folks. I've been dieting for almost a month now and I've been seeing great results and weight loss. I put my target calorie intake goal at 1,200 (I know its far below the standard male intake). I also have been jogging and lifting every other day. Since the start of the diet I have lost 20 pounds. I have had cheat days on which my weight will go up a couple lbs for a day or two then it drops right down. My girlfriend on the other hand has lost some weight but not as fast and not as much as shes's wanted.

Here's the debate/disagreement/headache me and my girlfriend have been having since the start:

I've been saying that if my calorie intake goal is hit, that's it. Whether I've exercised and earned more calories is immaterial. I shouldn't eat more or use exercise as an excuse to eat more. For instance if my calorie intake goal is 1,200 and I burn 600 calories jogging, MFP tells me I've "earned" 600 calories extra for the day. Keep in mind there's an asterisk next to that announcement when MFP places it. But I've been telling her not to eat back the calories shes been burning because having that deficit is really important. She says that she should eat the calories back because more exercise = more nutrients and calories needed for the body.

Bottom line/question: should you eat calories back that you burn from exercise? Or are those calories burned essential to weight loss? Once you've hit your calorie intake goal should you stop whether you've exercised or not?

Answers please!! Friend requests as well please! I need more motivation!!

Depends on how you come up with your caloric numbers
Do you go w/ MFP or TDEE

If you calculate using TDEE method, then your exercise calories are part of that number
So you don't eat them back

If you go w/ MFP, it gives you your baseline numbers as if you did no exercise.
Then when you exercise, it adds those calories to your baseline number.....
So you "could" eat them back.....or eat half of them back, or none

Your call.

Regarding if you exercise or not, see above.
Your call.

With MFP, if you have not exercised, then you have no calories added to your base number.

missomgitsica

You should eat your exercise calories back, yes. If you're netting 600 calories a day you'll definitely lose weight and fast, but it's not going to be sustainable. Once you start trying to maintain your body'll freak out and you'll gain it all back. That's what I've seen happen to people I know, anyway. If in a year you've been able to maintain your loss then maybe you have a point but I side with your girlfriend.

Aaron_K123

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

This is what I'm talking about

If you are accurately tracking your calories burned then yes you would eat 4000 calories a day. I would question the accuracy of your burn calculation though if you think you are burning 2500 calories from exercise daily.

MityMax96

My goal is to be in the 220's. I did so in high school. I've tried so many times to do the diet of 1,500 to 1,800 per day and i didn't ever get nearly the results that I'm finally getting now. I'm now seeing the results as well as feeling them. I run for longer periods (2 miles straight on average). My arms are more ripped, my stomach is flat and I'm seeing my abdominal muscles clearly. Am i really dieting wrong even with these seemingly great results?

Then you were never in a caloric deficit

ashleyShades

I may be out of the loop... but what is VLCD?

What you're advocating is a VLCD, you're not going to find much support for that around here. In fact, it's against the community guidelines.

AliceDark

Are you getting adequate protein to maintain your LBM (0.8-1g per lb of LBM) and enough fat to maintain proper hormone regulation (the recommendation I've seen is .4g per lb of body weight)? Are you getting your RDA of all necessary vitamins and enough minerals?

Let's just play with some numbers. Say you're 240lbs and 20% body fat. (Pretty sure that's not accurate for you, but I'm making things up). That means you have 192 lbs of LBM.

You need 153-192g of protein per day, which accounts for 612-768 calories. You have 588-432 calories left over, allowing you 48-65g of fat.

If you get adequate protein on your 1200 calories, you can't meet a reasonable fat macro and still be able to eat any carbs at all. So no, you're not giving your body what it needs to function at its best at 1200 calories.

MityMax96

So, please let me ask all of you. My calories that I can eat each day, is 1900. I am very active all day and I cycle, and I can exercise and burn up to 2500 calories a day in addition. Are you saying that I should be eating the 1900 calories and whatever I exercise, in order to retain my muscle and burn fat? That would be over 4000 calories some days. Please explain

4000 is a lot
So just make sure you are accurate in the calories burned area.....
Cause if you aren't, and you pound down 4000 calories.....that could be bad

3dogsrunning

I may be out of the loop... but what is VLCD?

What you're advocating is a VLCD, you're not going to find much support for that around here. In fact, it's against the community guidelines.

Very Low Calorie Diet.

Aaron_K123

Alright so me and my girlfriend have been debating on this topic for a few weeks now and I would love to get some sort of confirmation on it from some of you folks. I've been dieting for almost a month now and I've been seeing great results and weight loss. I put my target calorie intake goal at 1,200 (I know its far below the standard male intake). I also have been jogging and lifting every other day. Since the start of the diet I have lost 20 pounds. I have had cheat days on which my weight will go up a couple lbs for a day or two then it drops right down. My girlfriend on the other hand has lost some weight but not as fast and not as much as shes's wanted.

Here's the debate/disagreement/headache me and my girlfriend have been having since the start:

I've been saying that if my calorie intake goal is hit, that's it. Whether I've exercised and earned more calories is immaterial. I shouldn't eat more or use exercise as an excuse to eat more. For instance if my calorie intake goal is 1,200 and I burn 600 calories jogging, MFP tells me I've "earned" 600 calories extra for the day. Keep in mind there's an asterisk next to that announcement when MFP places it. But I've been telling her not to eat back the calories shes been burning because having that deficit is really important. She says that she should eat the calories back because more exercise = more nutrients and calories needed for the body.

Bottom line/question: should you eat calories back that you burn from exercise? Or are those calories burned essential to weight loss? Once you've hit your calorie intake goal should you stop whether you've exercised or not?

Answers please!! Friend requests as well please! I need more motivation!!

Depends on how you come up with your caloric numbers
Do you go w/ MFP or TDEE

If you calculate using TDEE method, then your exercise calories are part of that number
So you don't eat them back

If you go w/ MFP, it gives you your baseline numbers as if you did no exercise.
Then when you exercise, it adds those calories to your baseline number.....
So you "could" eat them back.....or eat half of them back, or none

Your call.

Regarding if you exercise or not, see above.
Your call.

With MFP, if you have not exercised, then you have no calories added to your base number.

Honestly when you go with TDEE you ARE eating your exercise calories back because your exercise calories are part of the calculation to determine your goal based on your desired deficit. You just don't eat back your exercise calories again on top of that because that would be double dipping.

MityMax96

I may be out of the loop... but what is VLCD?

What you're advocating is a VLCD, you're not going to find much support for that around here. In fact, it's against the community guidelines.

Very Low Caloric Diet
I believe