Are we supposed to eat calories burned?

Gsonia11

I wasn't sure if we are supposed to eat the calories we burn from exercise. Any suggestions?


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loganaw

you're supposed to, or else your net calories for the day would be reaaaally low. but i have several people on my friends list that don't!

mblanch

Yes eat them.

Gsonia11

Thanks:flowerforyou:

borys12

In my case, I had to eat them. Without eating them, I had no weight loss , so tried this advice and it works !

FearAnLoathing

If you dont all the cute fluffy bunnies in the world will die!


j/k

erickirb

Yes. MFP gives you a caloric deficit to meet your goal. If you workout that deficit increasing and you must eat the calories burned back to keep your deficit at your goal level that will lead to your weekly weight loss goal. if MFP gives you 1200 cals for the day it has a built in deficit of say 750 cals (1.5lbs/week) if you burn 400 cals your deficit is not 1150 (more than your goal) so you should eat back the 400 to keep your goal at a 750 calorie deficit.

might4

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

AggieCass09

yep, eat em back. you are demanding energy from your body when you exercise and it needs to be refueled (think of you car after driving 300 miles...). MFP already counts a deficit in your calories so you will still lose weight if you net calories are zero. Net calories = food calories - exercise calories.(it's the green number on your homepage)

AggieCass09

If you dont all the cute fluffy bunnies in the world will die!


j/k

bahaha!

Trovan

The answer isn't a simple Yes or No. It depends on your goals, current eight, calories eaten, calories burned, etc.

The short answer is, you want your net calories to be 1200 or above. That's calories eaten - calories burned >1200.

thebomb4

A lot of the time I don't consume the exercise calories but I have found that eating "some" of my exercise calories has actually helped me lose more weight than not eating them at all. Sounds weird I know but those few extra hundred calories stop my body from entering starvation mode.

i'd recommend eating at least some of your exercise calories but I must admit I don't always do this, sometimes its hard to eat extra

erickirb

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

hpsnickers1

Click on the post in my signature. Actually read both of them since you are already small and don't have a lot of weight to lose. We little people don't have much wiggle room when it comes to calories so yes eat them back.

MB_Positif

Thanks for posting this, because I was wondering the same thing! Most of the time I exercise at night though and don't eat enough after that to eat all of the calories I have gained from exercise!!

Gsonia11

Thank you everyone

TK266

here is a great thread on the subject

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

erickirb

The answer isn't a simple Yes or No. It depends on your goals, current eight, calories eaten, calories burned, etc.

The short answer is, you want your net calories to be 1200 or above. That's calories eaten - calories burned >1200.

This is only part of it. You also don't want your caloric deficit to be greater than 1000 (500 is recommended) so depending on your weight you may have to eat 1800 net to maintain a 1000 cal deficit, 1200 is just a floor MFP uses, as it is difficult to get the required nutrition on anything less.

erickirb

Thanks for posting this, because I was wondering the same thing! Most of the time I exercise at night though and don't eat enough after that to eat all of the calories I have gained from exercise!!

Estimate what you will burn earlier in the day and spread the calories throughout the day, you don't have to wait until you finish the workout.

dancingnancies

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended on MFP. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

but what do you think about not eating them if your daily caloric intake is around 1400 and then after exercise is around 1250? should you eat them then? because your body isn't going into starvation mode or is it?

cckeimig

If you don't eat them, you risk going so far below your daily requirements that your body will go into starvation mode and start storing what you DO eat as fat. If you miss by enough calories, you'll get a warning when you 'complete' for the day to this effect.

Yes, you should eat them, or at least most of them. You'll lose weight faster if you do. Also, make sure you get the 8 cups of water per day--if you don't drink the water, the weight takes longer to come off. I lost so much weight within my first couple of weeks people are starting to worry about me. I spoke to my boss about it (he is the one who recommended this site to me--he's lost 30 pounds so far!), and he said that when he doesn't drink the water, his weight loss is quite disappointing.

Anyhow, I know that last bit was kind of off-topic, but it all goes together, really.


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Naomi91

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

I find it so hard to trust my HRM, like today I burned 1500 calories with my circuit training class, lifting class, and my daily 5 miles run... just seems too much to be true!

erickirb

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended on MFP. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

but what do you think about not eating them if your daily caloric intake is around 1400 and then after exercise is around 1250? should you eat them then? because your body isn't going into starvation mode or is it?

1200 is not a cut off for "starvation mode". My point is you must eat them to meet your goal, otherwise you may lose more or less, but to meet your goal you must eat them.

erickirb

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

I find it so hard to trust my HRM, like today I burned 1500 calories with my circuit training class, lifting class, and my daily 5 miles run... just seems too much to be true!

FYI: HRM's are not very accurate for strength training. And remember you must back out the caloires you would have burned had you not workout out during that time. As you HRM calculates total caloric burn, not extra calories burned. To get this amount take your maintenance calories, assume 1800, divide by 24 then by 60 to get cals burned not exercising per minute. so at 1800 this will give you 1.25/minute. So in your run and classes if in total were 180 minutes you would have to back out 225 (180*1.25) from your 1500, assuming the strength training is accurate which it will not be.

Naomi91

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

I find it so hard to trust my HRM, like today I burned 1500 calories with my circuit training class, lifting class, and my daily 5 miles run... just seems too much to be true!

FYI: HRM's are not very accurate for strength training. And remember you must back out the caloires you would have burned had you not workout out during that time. As you HRM calculates total caloric burn, not extra calories burned. To get this amount take your maintenance calories, assume 1800, divide by 24 then by 60 to get cals burned not exercising per minute. so at 1800 this will give you 1.25/minute. So in your run and classes if in total were 180 minutes you would have to back out 225 (180*1.25) from your 1500, assuming the strength training is accurate which it will not be.

I remembered your advice from before :] did subtract the amount i needed too :] thanks again for that info!

the strength training really throws me off xD I dont give myself many breaks and sweat pretty bad xD my heart is usually pounding for a good portion of it. so i get quite confused about how many I actually burn

erickirb

This is one of the most talked about subjects on MFP...please use the search function to review the THOUSANDS of post on the subject to come to the conclusion that will be right for you!

Not eating them would be like going to weight watchers and not counting points, it is the main point of the program. MFP's is to get you your goal caloric deficit, which in order to maintain you must eat the burned calories, anyone that states otherwise is not following the program as intended. Just ensure that you are calculating (estimating) them as best as you can by using a HRM, otherwise just eat most of them as MFP and the machines usually overestimate caloric burn.

I find it so hard to trust my HRM, like today I burned 1500 calories with my circuit training class, lifting class, and my daily 5 miles run... just seems too much to be true!

FYI: HRM's are not very accurate for strength training. And remember you must back out the caloires you would have burned had you not workout out during that time. As you HRM calculates total caloric burn, not extra calories burned. To get this amount take your maintenance calories, assume 1800, divide by 24 then by 60 to get cals burned not exercising per minute. so at 1800 this will give you 1.25/minute. So in your run and classes if in total were 180 minutes you would have to back out 225 (180*1.25) from your 1500, assuming the strength training is accurate which it will not be.

I remembered your advice from before :] did subtract the amount i needed too :] thanks again for that info!

the strength training really throws me off xD I dont give myself many breaks and sweat pretty bad xD my heart is usually pounding for a good portion of it. so i get quite confused about how many I actually burn

I don't have any advice on how to calculate cals from strength training. Just be careful not to over train, it can happen. It can result in lower performance, or getting injured or sic. Too much of a good thing can turn to a bad thing.

Naomi91

Wasnt expecting for this burn today xD the lifting class was actually quite unexpected but was a new experience

WHich would you recommend then, going by my HRM, mfp, or not even log the strength training? :]