excersise calories?! eat them or not
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Wow there is a lot of confusion over this, even by so called trainers. It's really simple and I think you get different answers based on how your daily calorie load was calculated. There's couple ways to go
All the calculators I ever use you enter height, weight, age.,non exercise related activity level (sedentary, light, moderate, etc) and your exercise level or calories burned through your exercise per week. The calorie level a calculator of this kind spits out for fat loss is what you eat every day, period. No less ,no more. You do not eat your exercise calories. They are included in the number you were given. Should you eat too much you may exercise it off. Should you eat to little, you must skip some exercise.
Another way to do it is to get your current maintenance level of calories but they don't ask you about your exercise and often assume your sedentary. The calculator spit's out the level to lose fat but does not include your exercise and possibly not even your normal activity level. Any calories burned through exercise must be eaten! If you do not, you fall way to far below BMR, trigger starvation mode, and weight loss either doesn't happen and/or you end up "skinny fat". Skinny fat means yeah you lost weight, but it was your muscle, which means slowed metabolism. Not to mention the horrible stresses put on your body and very long list of possible health issues to go along with it. You will also put weight back on, probably more than when you started, rather quickly.
So, it's up to you to think a little bit and make sure fully understand the number given by the calculator you use. I use http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm or the Beachbody calculator.0 -
Here are some great threads that explain how MFP calculates goals, metabolism, and why it's important to fuel your body. MUST READS! (And btw, everything Eric has said is right on.)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
Take the time to educate yourself! Good luck to you!0 -
I eat some of them but not all of them.0
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Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!
I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.0 -
Personally I don't like eating them back, well at least all of them. I'm satisfied with the amount I eat which is usually around 1,300 cals a day. When I exercise I usually burn off 500, my goal is 1,450 a day so to meet my goal I would have to eat another 650 calories. If I did eat all of those back, I'd just be doing it for the sake of it! Not because I'm actually hungry and want food. I usually eat 200/300 of them back maximum. This hasn't affected me in any way and I've been losing around 3-4lbs a week. I haven't been able to exercise for the last week due to a foot injury but I've still lost 2lbs in the last week. I expected to put weight back on considering everyone was telling me my body would be in starvation mode with my net calories averaging 900-1000 a day but I still continued to lose!0
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Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!
I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.
Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.
For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.0 -
Take your time READ links ladyhawk00 posted!0
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Personally I don't like eating them back, well at least all of them. I'm satisfied with the amount I eat which is usually around 1,300 cals a day. When I exercise I usually burn off 500, my goal is 1,450 a day so to meet my goal I would have to eat another 650 calories. If I did eat all of those back, I'd just be doing it for the sake of it! Not because I'm actually hungry and want food. I usually eat 200/300 of them back maximum. This hasn't affected me in any way and I've been losing around 3-4lbs a week. I haven't been able to exercise for the last week due to a foot injury but I've still lost 2lbs in the last week. I expected to put weight back on considering everyone was telling me my body would be in starvation mode with my net calories averaging 900-1000 a day but I still continued to lose!
I'd recommend you reconsider - and at least educate yourself on the science behind it. A Famine response (starvation mode) and its negative effects on the body systems does NOT happen in a week...or two...or three. It takes months to see the effects. Yes, lowering your cal intake drastically will make you lose weight quickly - FOR A SHORT TIME. It will slow down and stop, and you will begin to feel the negative impact on your body. And you will almost certainly gain the weight back - or be in a skinny body that has no muscle mass or tone.
Lived my life that way for years. And I there is nothing I regret more.0 -
Something to ask yourself is whether you're more interested in losing fat or just losing weight, no matter where it comes from. I wnat to lose fat and keep the rest. You can lose only so much fat each week. You can certainly cut your calories drastically and lose weight faster, but that doesn't make the fat go away any quicker. Percentage-wise, you're actually getting fatter that way. :noway: No thank you.0
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Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!
I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.
Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.
For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.
The "yo yo" weight gain is because of laziness. Nothing more. When I lost the weight mentioned above, I kept it off for almost 2 years. The only reason I put it back on was because I got lazy. I sat around playing games, sitting on the computer etc. I ate pizza and other junk foods.
Like I said above, I think each person is a little bit different. And I would never suggest staving yourself. That certainly is not safe. But I do think it's ok to lose more then 2lbs a week.0 -
Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!
I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.
Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.
For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.
The "yo yo" weight gain is because of laziness. Nothing more. When I lost the weight mentioned above, I kept it off for almost 2 years. The only reason I put it back on was because I got lazy. I sat around playing games, sitting on the computer etc. I ate pizza and other junk foods.
Like I said above, I think each person is a little bit different. And I would never suggest staving yourself. That certainly is not safe. But I do think it's ok to lose more then 2lbs a week.
Well, as I said, the majority of people. You may fit into that small group that can handle it.
That said, I think you just proved my point. Yes, you lost the weight. But you didn't change your habits for the long term (as in lifelong), and gained the weight back. (Totally not attacking you, I just disagree with you.)0 -
Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!
I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.
Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.
For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.
The "yo yo" weight gain is because of laziness. Nothing more. When I lost the weight mentioned above, I kept it off for almost 2 years. The only reason I put it back on was because I got lazy. I sat around playing games, sitting on the computer etc. I ate pizza and other junk foods.
Like I said above, I think each person is a little bit different. And I would never suggest staving yourself. That certainly is not safe. But I do think it's ok to lose more then 2lbs a week.
Well, as I said, the majority of people. You may fit into that small group that can handle it.
That said, I think you just proved my point. Yes, you lost the weight. But you didn't change your habits for the long term (as in lifelong), and gained the weight back. (Totally not attacking you, I just disagree with you.)
Well of course you are going to put weight on if you get lazy and eat unhealthy. I don't care if you follow every step of healthy weight lose guide book and lose only .5 lbs a week. Not working out and eating junk food will lead to weight gain.0 -
Be smart about eating them back. You don't chow them down right after or right before. You spread it out over the day or a couple days. If you're exercising daily you need to eat them daily. Exercising every other day, well ya can eat them over 2 days.
Say I'm supposed to eat 1800 per day just sitting on my butt. I burn 600 doing interval cardio once a week and 600 doing HIT Weight Training twice a week. For the week I must eat 1800 x 7 +(1200) = 13800 for the week or 1971 per day on average. I wouldn't try to make those calories up on the day of the work out unless I were bonking during the workout.
It's takes 100 straight days of 600 calorie burning works outs, to use 4.40 pounds of fat as fuel during them.0 -
The problem with this argument is that it's clearly in two camps -- the people who are in this for the long haul and want to be healthy (notice I didn't say SKINNY, I said healthy and like it or not, healthy = working out regularly) and those hoping to starve themselves to fit into a smaller pair of jeans for the spring.
To the second group, please keep MFP bookmarked because as soon as you go back to eating NORMALLY (and no, eating 1000 calories and burning off 500 a day is NOT normal), you'll be back trying to lose the same weight (plus a few extra pounds for good measure). To the first group, we already know we're doing it the right way and sometimes you have to let people fall on their faces before they learn.0 -
The problem with this argument is that it's clearly in two camps -- the people who are in this for the long haul and want to be healthy (notice I didn't say SKINNY, I said healthy and like it or not, healthy = working out regularly) and those hoping to starve themselves to fit into a smaller pair of jeans for the spring.
To the second group, please keep MFP bookmarked because as soon as you go back to eating NORMALLY (and no, eating 1000 calories and burning off 500 a day is NOT normal), you'll be back trying to lose the same weight (plus a few extra pounds for good measure). To the first group, we already know we're doing it the right way and sometimes you have to let people fall on their faces before they learn.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Brilliant! Well said. I'll try. :grumble:0 -
Take your time READ links ladyhawk00 posted!
AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL
Please read those links0 -
The problem with this argument is that it's clearly in two camps -- the people who are in this for the long haul and want to be healthy (notice I didn't say SKINNY, I said healthy and like it or not, healthy = working out regularly) and those hoping to starve themselves to fit into a smaller pair of jeans for the spring.
To the second group, please keep MFP bookmarked because as soon as you go back to eating NORMALLY (and no, eating 1000 calories and burning off 500 a day is NOT normal), you'll be back trying to lose the same weight (plus a few extra pounds for good measure). To the first group, we already know we're doing it the right way and sometimes you have to let people fall on their faces before they learn.
LOL Like I said before, everyone's body is different. Everyone's daily routine is different. Just because it hasn't worked for you, does not mean it won't work for others. So people trying to to say you must eat your exercise and try to stick to 2lbs a week, they might be right. It might work wonders for them. Doesn't make it true for everyone.
EDIT: Just like the BMI chart. MFP has me at 35% body fat and being "obese" It doesn't take into account that my arms and legs are extremely built. But for somebody else, that chart might be 100% correct.0 -
I don't understand why some people on this site get so caught up and annoyed with people who don't eat all of their allowed calories. Claiming that people who don't eat them all back are just "starving themselves to fit into a smaller pair of jeans" is absolutely ridiculous. I am certainly NOT starving myself by any means. I eat around 1,300 calories a day - 3 meals and 2 snacks usually, I aim for the meals to be around 350 and the snacks 150. MFP gives me 1,450 per day. If I burn off 500 a day, like I said earlier I'd need to eat 650 back to hit my goal of 1,450. By eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day I'm already satisfied. I don't understand why I need to eat an extra 650 calories to maintain my weight loss when I'm not even hungry. I'd just be eating for the sake of eating. I'd need to eat a hell of a lot to eat an extra 650 calories too. I guess I just eat a lot of low calorie foods. I don't eat any less than I did before I started eating better - I just eat foods that are significantly lower in calories. I go to bed every night feeling satisfied and I am not depriving my body in any way whatsoever. What's unhealthy about that?0
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(bump) Need to read later:)0
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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/69708-calorie-deficit-for-dummies-a-little-long
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/155953-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories?hl=exercise+calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/138631-stupid-exercise-calories-yeah-i-said-it?hl=exercise+calories#posts-18883710
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