I dont put in any exercise i've done on MFP.

beanaa

because i dont want an excuse to consume the extra calories i burn off.
bad or good?

Thomasm198

Bad. You should be eating back as many of the calories as you can of the calories that you burn from excercise.

briar_rose

bad

you need to consume some of your exercise calories to lose weight. not sure why but I have read that repeatedly

Krizzle4Rizzle

I would say, not good. You might lose more, at first..but eventually your body will start to feel starved and it will be harder to lose weight. You don't have to eat all your exercise calories, but eating some is a good idea.

MisdemeanorM

bad. do a search for "eating exercise calories" and read all the threads on it. Then figure out what's the right balance for your body.

Most importantly, be sure you are accurately logging your calories burned (ie get a BodyMedia Fit or HRM) and eaten because if the math is right it won't work.

FaeFae

This site says eat them back!!! my personal trainer says don't!!!

ladyhawk00

Very common question. Here are some of the threads that explain how MFP works, metabolism, and why it's a good idea to log exercise and eat at least some of those cals:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

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

There are others, of course, but those are some of the ones with the most complete, yet simple, explanations. Good luck to you!

Celo24

Bad. MFP already calculates a deficit for you to help lose weight. Your body requires a certain amount of energy (calories) to function and maintain itself. You may not be eating enough.

renaconnor

I think you're supposed to eat back your exercise calories because MFP already creates the deficit when you input your weight loss goals.

jalovec

Experiment a bit, and do what works for you and your body. I exercise a lot, and eat a low calorie diet. I don't lose any weight when I eat all my exercise calories. Everyone's different

PoeRaven

It's B-A-D! :huh:

You have to keep your body fueled in order to keep your metabolism from getting sluggish which is exactly what is going to eventually happen if you under feed your body. You'll go into starvation mode and can actually gain weight. :sad:

I don't know what kind of personal trainer would tell a person to not eat the calories they burn. This just doesn't make any sense. :noway:

Eat small meals. eat nutritious snack in between meals. eat, eat, eat. Drink at least 8 glasses of pure H2O every day to keep hydrated. Not cola. Not tea. Water. :drinker:

kimwig

because i dont want an excuse to consume the extra calories i burn off.
bad or good?

Depends (and I know the site principles talk about eating exercise calories) on how much you exercise, how accurately you can measure your exercise, how many calories you are eating (what your deficit is). Personally I do not eat my exercise cals, unless I feel very hungry (which is not often). Works for me.
The problem I see is people really overestimating what calories they burn in exercise, then eat these calories, and wonder why they do not lose weight. If you do eat them eat on,y half to take into account exercise overestimating

beanaa

i will be asking my new personal trainer tomorrow.
and see what he has to say also, but thanks everyone for the advice!

sweetdianachka

I usually wait until the end of the day to log them because I was to see how many calories i have left normally and I usually dont eat them either, but I still log them to keep track. So I guess your in bad company with me!

jennylynn84

Chiming in. Bad. Eat at least some of them back. Don't necessarily max them out for a couple of reasons that are explored on other threads, including 1) if you don't have an HRM they are estimates ONLY. And machines as well as MFP often overestimate. 2) The calories burned per MFP, machines and even HRMs calculate how many calories you've burned IN ADDITION to what you would have burned laying on the sofa. 1/2 to 2/3 of them is usually the suggestion if you don't have an HRM and don't want to do a load of math.

But you HAVE to fuel your body. You should try to consume at least 1200 calories net each day.

beanaa

because i dont want an excuse to consume the extra calories i burn off.
bad or good?

Depends (and I know the site principles talk about eating exercise calories) on how much you exercise, how accurately you can measure your exercise, how many calories you are eating (what your deficit is). Personally I do not eat my exercise cals, unless I feel very hungry (which is not often). Works for me.
The problem I see is people really overestimating what calories they burn in exercise, then eat these calories, and wonder why they do not lose weight. If you do eat them eat on,y half to take into account exercise overestimating

this is another reason i dont eat my exercise calories because what if i didnt estimate precisely?

ladyhawk00

i will be asking my new personal trainer tomorrow.
and see what he has to say also, but thanks everyone for the advice!

Be sure to explain how MFP works accurately. You need to tell him that MFP calculates a deficit regardless of exercise - so if you exercise, you STILL have a deficit built in to your goal.

jennylynn84

i will be asking my new personal trainer tomorrow.
and see what he has to say also, but thanks everyone for the advice!

This might be the best plan. Many personal trainers will set you a calorie goal with your exercise plan in mind. So instead of the 1200 base that MFP gives, they might say 1400 or 1500 straight away, just pre-adding it. Be sure to ask, because if they're already pre-adding the calories from working out to your base diet then you WILL NOT want to add more on after that.

usmcpatience

Bad. You should be eating back as many of the calories as you can of the calories that you burn from excercise.

Let's look at it this way. Say MFP tells you that you need to consume 1200 calories a day. Okay...so now, you go exercise and burn of 600 calories. Meaning, that your body is now trying to function off of only 600 calories for the entire day. BAD. Your body has no just gone into starvation mode! Living off that few of calories is really bad for you. If you don't eat those exercise calories your body is going to try and store EVERYTHING that you eat because it is now afraid that you'll STOP feeding it! At THE VERY LEAST you need to eat (and maintain) 1200 calories a day. Meaning, if you burn 600 calories off, you need to eat enough to make sure you get back up to 1200. For your health AND your weight-loss goals!

mynameisdumbnuts

I think you should log them and eat them if you you feel hungry enough.

I used to count calories before MFP and factored in a deficit to lose weight. I wouldn't eat any of my exercise calories back, or maybe allow myself to eat 100 out of 500. I would binge a lot because I'd be so hungry and it took me about six months to lose 15 pounds, which I quickly gained back.

When I joined here, it clicked that I could eat back those calories if I wanted to. I usually eat back half, but some days I'll eat them all and some days none. It depends on how I feel. I've lost 12 pounds in about three months.

Manda1987

I don't eat my exercise calories because I usually assume that a) I've underestimated my food and b) I've overestimated my exercise calories. I figure the two cancel each other out.

ka_42

Whatever.. it's fine! I never ate them all back and still successfully lost weight. If I felt hungry I would but typically not. Just listen to your body and make sure you're eating at least 1,200 cals per day.