SOOO.. the question is....

dmfear

I've heard both sides of the question.... any professional advice?

Do i eat the exercise calories? Or not?

MobiusMan

Eat half.

sandmart2009

Good question.. Let's bump it!

audreyyrose

eat at least half. eating all of them won't hurt you though.

happily

Your best bet for finding both sides of the argument is to use the search button just above the topic of this thread to look for "exercise calories."

nilisabel

seriously? professional advice? here? i would go with half. just in case they are overestimated, but just so you don't starve yourself. or just listen to yourself, are you hungry? eat some. Are you not? dont.

Sheltie4

Why not try eating all of them and see if you lose weight - if you do then all good. If you don't then perhaps eat half and see what happens.

The more calories you can have and still lose weight is the best way - easier to cut a little off when you get to the last couple of stubborn pounds.

I am a professional dieter with years of experience

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does that help!!

CarolHudson11

eat them.

skinnyme125

What are exercise calories?

Bella1hud

Eat 'em up! If you get into a habit of not eating them, your body will think that it is in starvation mode and will hang on tight to your fat stores even though you are eating "little" and exercising... It;s way more satisfying to eat the food needed and to lose weight at the same time )

Irish_Norwegian

I don't eat mine.

nevergonnagiveup

I agree with eating them up if you are exercising hard. Otherwise you may find you don't have the energy to burn, which in turn, can lead to frustration with exercising. Use those calories wisely. Think nutrition, not just numbers! This program has already worked out what you have asked to lose and the exercise calories are the bonus points!

SarahRuth♥

Yes, you should eat them. When you are exercising your body needs the extra nutrition.

prencesskl

I've been told from multiple sources to eat as many as you can, but don't go overboard. Your body will not lose weight if you don't eat enough calories, otherwise it will continue to store more and more fat and you will end up gaining rather than losing. I try to eat my regular alloted calories, and then 1/2 of the exercise ones, so I don't feel like I accomplished nothing. But the key is to use those calories on healthy choices, not chocolate bars lol

VialOfDreams

I've heard both sides of the question.... any professional advice?

Do i eat the exercise calories? Or not?

About half if you want to lose weight, all if you want to maintain. If you run or do strenuous exercise, drink protein shake within 45 minutes. My nutritionist didn't count the protein consumed within the 45 minutes towards the daily goal, because 90% of it was absorbed into the muscle anyway.

scubajp

How could eating the exercise calories HURT you....I don't see how...I have been exercising and unsing the website the same amount of time, I feel that those are YOUR calories...do what you want to do with them REMEMBER not eating enough calories can be just as hurtful as eating too many...I am also down 5 lbs in just under 2 weeks..Hey...lets see what happens...anyone elce want to ring in on this issue?Jp

ladyhawk00

For professional + researched info, go to these threads:

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

NoAdditives

Eat them. Your body needs the nutrition and fuel in order to function properly and burn fat.

bbb84

I just met with a nutritionist and fitness consultant through my work. He said that MFP calculates the number of calories daily based as if you weren't exercising and you should eat those calories earned by exercise so long as YOU HAVE AN ACCURATE EXERCISE BURNED CALORIE COUNT.

SarahRuth♥

Don't eat half... eat as many of them as you can. And make sure you set up your profile correctly.

atomdraco

Eat it up! When you workout, your muscles needs those calories to repair and survive. According to my nutritionist and fitness trainer, the reason behind storing fat when you are in starvation mode is that it only take very little to keep fat surviving, but take a lot to keep muscle. Therefore, when you skipping those workout calories, you are only starving your muscles, but keeping more fat.

kimwig

Eat 'em up! If you get into a habit of not eating them, your body will think that it is in starvation mode and will hang on tight to your fat stores even though you are eating "little" and exercising... It;s way more satisfying to eat the food needed and to lose weight at the same time )

For 99.9% of the folks on here there is no such thing as starvation mode it is a mythical thing. Now that's off my chest.

If you are getting the nutrients you need - proteins vitamins minerals from your allocated calories ( and you should be) there is no reason to "eat exercise calories".

You are trying to lose weight, exercise helps to keep metabolism up, it build / maintains muscle (which burns more calories), just eat the calories expected. You will lose weight this way, that is what you are trying to do.