New to mfp. do you eat your exercise calories? help

welshdory
welshdory Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there I'm new to mfp. I am 5 ft 8 I have 2-3 stone to lose. It is saying to eat 1380 a day. I exercise every day do I eat the extra calories burnt? I'm really confused.

Also how do I sort out carb protein ratio etc?

Thanks in advance

Replies

  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
    You will get a lot of answers to this one.... I do NOT eat them back for a number of reasons but mainly because you can be counting the burns as more calories burned than you are truly burning, also you could be eating more calories than you think because one item will give you MANY MFP calorie logging numbers...

    so if you are going to eat them back I highly suggest you never eat more than 1/2 of them back, just to be on the safe side.
  • danih84
    danih84 Posts: 5
    I never eat the extra calories burned from exercising. That is why every day that I log out it states that I am under my calorie goal. To me it honestly defeats the purpose of working out. However you should definitely eat your total daily calories alloted to you.
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
    Different strokes for different folks. Normally MFP calories burned are overestimated, so I don't eat them back.
  • earthboundmisfit
    earthboundmisfit Posts: 192 Member
    Welcome! Yes you should eat back your exercise calories. If you log your food and exercise MFP will calculate your calorie needs for you, and let you know if you're getting the right amounts of carbs, protein and fat. Just make sure you measure/weigh all your food intake so you can get accurate feedback. I have a Fitbit and it also tracks my calories burned. But I do get different figures from Fitbit and MFP. It's partly a matter of trial and error... different things work for different people.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Yes, MPF is designed that you eat back your exercise calories. MPF does not account for exercise when figuring your calories goal so it does not defeat the purpose. If you are worried about overstimating some people choose to eat a fraction of them back but if you are very active, you should be eating at least some of them back, especially if you don't have a lot to lose to start with.

    You may want to check out this thread, it breaks it all down
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?
  • hmroebuck
    hmroebuck Posts: 64 Member
    Yes you should eat them! If MFP says you should eat let's say 1500 calories, that's what you need to lose in a healthy manor based on your lifestyle. If you burn more calories, you won't have enough for your body to perform at it's peak. Eat too little and your body will hold the fat.
    MFP can set up your nutritional goals for you. When you log your food it will sort for you. I strive for grams of protein = to my weight in pounds, so I adjusted it some by customizing.
  • KayBallin
    KayBallin Posts: 111 Member
    you should eat them if you're using MFP's calorie intake goal.

    I do not eat mine since I use the TDEE method.
  • crystalbluewolf13
    crystalbluewolf13 Posts: 197 Member
    I used to eat them back quite a lot, but i found that i stopped losing weight after a while and my weight stabilised. Then when i stopped eating them back i started losing weight again but it depends on you. If you are hungry then eat if you aren't don't
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    Great thread by a great MFP Legend, worth reading

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
  • kcmcd
    kcmcd Posts: 239 Member
    I don't, because I've set my calorie goal to account for my activity level.
  • Saramelie
    Saramelie Posts: 308 Member
    I don't even log it.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    I very rarely eat any of them back and, if I do, I limit it to about one-third of the total. I sync the MapMyFitness apps to MFP, but the calories seem pretty high even for a gigantic person exercising at a reasonable intensity.
  • coaoalo
    coaoalo Posts: 104 Member
    I log my exercise and half the calories MFP estimates that I've burnt. I only eat them back when I'm really hungry though. There's no point being hungry and miserable but if you don't eat them back you get more weight loss for that day. So, just listen to your body. Drink some water and have a scheduled meal after exercise. Then you probably won't have to/ want to eat back exercise calories unless you really need them.
  • afortunatedragon
    afortunatedragon Posts: 329 Member
    I log, what my HRM tells me, never the estimates from MFP.
    I do eat some of them back maybe a 1/3 oder 1/2 of it. But only if the burn on that day was rather high.
    Mainly because then I am more hungry :laugh:
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    If you set your activity level to include your exercise (ex: you work a desk job, but workout most days, so you set it as "active") then no you wouldn't.

    If you don't set your activity level to include your exercise, then you do.

    Most people do the latter. That way when you don't workout, and just go about your daily stuff, you're eating the right amount of calories to lose the weight you want. Additional workouts burn calories and increase the deficit. This isn't always good as if you're aiming to lose, you'll already have the deficit. More isn't always better/healthy. This is why you generally eat them back.

Categories