Eating calories burned?

13weekweightloss

Hey Im new to this site and a bit confused, on a Monday I tend to do alot of exercise as its a quiet day with work so for example today I walked 1 1/2 hours, did a fitball class and will be going to boxercise class tonight, this is around 800 cals burned....Now my calorie intake is 1200 a day and it doesnt make sense to me to eat the calories I burned off on top of 1200 cals I dont think I could even eat that much!

1200 cals - 800 = 400 calories and then eat what I burned off + 800 = 1200....really????

xx

ambroussard

Me too...I am confused.

morganadk2_deleted

read this it might help!


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

princesslmc2

Well, it is recommended that the minimum NET intake is 1200 calories. That's just to help fuel your body for normal day-to-day activity. Your body can't function on 400 calories; that's almost like starving yourself. Then your body will hold onto all the calories it DOES get cause it doesn't want to starve.

krissy_pooo

It confuses me too, but I think it means that if you burn an extra 800 calories today, you are able to eat up to that much more. However as long as you eat the minimum (ex 1230) then that's fine too. I also don't think it makes sense to eat the calories you burn when you're trying to lose weight! I just stick to my original limit, and sometimes go over by 100 or so if I've earned them that day! Good luck!

MyaPapaya75

The site is based on the fact you eat them..some do some dont and both have success ..you have to see what works for you..as for me I dont eat them unless Im hungry which is rare and even then i use them for veggies and fruit....and only eat a small portion

erickirb

Yes, you already have a caloric deficit at 1200 cals to reach your goal weekly loss. If you don't eat the exercise cals back your dialy caloric deficit will be large. If you are set up to lose 2 lbs/week and get 1200 cals and burn 800 from exercise your deficit for that day is not 1800 (1000 (for 2lbs/week)+ 800 from exercise) MFP recommends keeping your daily deficit at 100 or less.

If you are set up to lose 1 lb/week you could get away with only eating some of the extra cals from exercise. Try to keep your deficit at 1000 or less and you will lose weight in a healthy way, over 1000 deficit over a number of days is not healthy)

How are you calculating cals burned?? if you are not using a HRM I would suggest to eat half of the exercise cals back.

NoAdditives

Yes, you eat your exercise calories. As you said, if you eat 1200 calories and burn 800, only 400 calories are left for your body to use. 400 is not nearly enough for your body to function properly. Being significantly under your calorie goal for an extended period of time causes your metabolism to slow down, makes you store fat instead of burning it, and can even cause permanent organ damage. Your body needs nutrition and "fuel", eat those calories.

A calorie deficit is already calculated for you so even if you didn't exercise you'd lose weight. Eating your exercise calories won't make you lose weight slower and not eating them won't necessarily make you lose weight faster. It's better to err on the side of health rather than fast weight loss. This is a lifestyle change, MFP is supposed to help you learn how to make smarter food choices. It's supposed to get you to understand the importance of feeding your body in a healthy manner and exercise. The weight loss is sort of a side effect of living healthy.

linzbear821

I tend not to eat the calories I burned but I do tend to usually eat about 1300 calories on the days that I do a lot of excercise.

erickirb

It confuses me too, but I think it means that if you burn an extra 800 calories today, you are able to eat up to that much more. However as long as you eat the minimum (ex 1230) then that's fine too. I also don't think it makes sense to eat the calories you burn when you're trying to lose weight! I just stick to my original limit, and sometimes go over by 100 or so if I've earned them that day! Good luck!

It makes perfect sense your dialy deficit will be larger if you exercise, and to reach your goal that you made on MFP you must eat those cals or you may lose faster (which can be bad), lose slower (could be bad), or lose lean muscle from not fueling your body thereby slowing down your metabolism

If you don't want to eat your exercise cals then you should set your goal at 0.5lb loss/week or eat maintenance cals and let the exercise be your deficit.

13weekweightloss

Wow thanks guys, your all a big help! I have eaten around 1200 cals for years and exercise about 4/5 times a week on average and struggle to lose weight, if I go over my cals I can put on weight so easily! There is no way I can eat 2000 cals on days when I burn 800 cals but I will try to eat more maybe 400 extra, half of the extra from exercise! I get sick of trying hard and not getting far, maybe I dont eat enough I dont know, im 10.2 ish and would like to be 9 stoe, I and 5'3! Hop I am doing this right!x