I AM PROOF, It works like a charm!!

SPNLuver83

I've been reading all about eating your exercise calories, and I understand it. But what if I burn 1000 calories in a day (I tend to burn 1100 in one Zumba class)? That would make my total calories for the day 2600. I don't think I could eat that much even if I wasn't dieting. Can someone honestly tell me that if I eat 2600 calories in a day, it will still allow me to lose weight?

I never did well in biology or chemistry classes back in high school. I just don't get it.

yup. I burn 1000 calories in some of my workouts, and I eat them back. I've lost just about 50 lbs.

frangipaan

I have only been using MFP for a week, but have been training at the gym for a year. I have lost 12kgs (28pounds) and have another 26 kgs (58 pounds) to go. I haven't lost any weight this week! I have been so careful.....and I have not been eating my exercise calories. It seem so wrong, but everyone keeps telling me to do it. I am going to give it a try this week, and see what happens, even though it seems crazy!

joy31021

bump

scottbad

I just started exercising this week because I had plateau'd. I had it wrong. I'll start eating the calories. Thanks.

Myles_D23

Yeah I hear ya. I was at 1650, after my work out I would be at 2100-2200. As long as I got close to my calories at the end of the day I would lose a pound, sometimes two the next day. Even on my cheat day taco bell made me lose 2 lbs haha

Chipmaniac

I eat back most of my exercise calories but not all and usually wind up under a 1200 net, though I always eat 1200 and more on exercise days.

On non-exercise days, I usually eat a little less than 1200 but try to get as close to it as possible without going over but if I go over a little, it's not terrible.

So, I don't think you have to eat all of your exercise calories or reach 1200 every day. If so, then I'm doing it wrong but I lost 31 pounds.

Same here. I think it varies from person to person. I want to lose faster than 2 lb/week. If the pace were that slow I'd get discouraged and quit. I'm not patient enough.

I've been losing a bit over 3 lb/week consistently for two months now. I did hit a week-long plateau in early March and I then realized that I hadn't been eating enough. I wasn't tracking it yet but I must have been down to 1000 or less calories total per day and burning over 1000 at the gym. It's really nuts if you think about it. I started using MFP in earnest. I started tracking and eating more and now I eat some, but not all or even most of my exercise calories back. I broke through the plateau and started losing consistently again. It's working for me so far. I think everyone needs to fine tune their intake and find what works for them and is aligned with their goals.

darlilama

I've been reading all about eating your exercise calories, and I understand it. But what if I burn 1000 calories in a day (I tend to burn 1100 in one Zumba class)? That would make my total calories for the day 2600. I don't think I could eat that much even if I wasn't dieting. Can someone honestly tell me that if I eat 2600 calories in a day, it will still allow me to lose weight?

I never did well in biology or chemistry classes back in high school. I just don't get it.

The math of losing weight is pretty simple (barring any special medical conditions). You just need to eat fewer calories that you burn. Period. Counting calories isn't too difficult most of the time… as long as you are honest and log EVERYTHING you eat.

The calories you burn is a bit trickier, because we're all individuals with our own physiology. BUT, in general, if you take your BMR (the calories you need to exist… to stay alive in a generally healthy state) plus the extra calories you exert (exercise or whatever other level of physical activity you do in a day), then that's the burn rate.

MFP calculates a BMR for you based on the information you enter. The most accurate way of determining how many calories you burn doing exercise/physical activity, in my opinion, is a HRM (Heart Rate Monitor)… a decent to good one that tracks not only heart rate, but allows you to enter individual information (age, sex, weight, etc.) and tracks calories burned for you. A HRM is tracking YOUR physical effort to do an activity based on how hard YOUR heart is working. All other methods are going to be some form of generalization based on an "average" individual.

To lose weight you need to make sure that the Calories Eaten < Calories Burned. MFP is kind in that it not only calculates your BMR, it sets your daily calorie goal using a built-in deficit. So, for example, if your BMR is 2000, then MFP will set your daily calorie goal to, say 1500. Therefore, eating your exercise calories back results in a net 0 calorie (calories eaten = calories burned). MFP is ensuring you already have the deficit you need to lose weight.

Granted, you may find you need to not eat all your exercise calories back to lose weight. That doesn't meant the method is wrong, it more likely means your BMR is not exactly what MFP calculates, or you're not accurately logging calories eaten or exercise calories burned, or some combination of those things.

The food log will show you what you need to know as long as you accurately log everything you eat and your physical activities!

Best of luck!!

cressievargo

I eat back most of my exercise calories but not all and usually wind up under a 1200 net, though I always eat 1200 and more on exercise days.

On non-exercise days, I usually eat a little less than 1200 but try to get as close to it as possible without going over but if I go over a little, it's not terrible.

So, I don't think you have to eat all of your exercise calories or reach 1200 every day. If so, then I'm doing it wrong but I lost 31 pounds.

Same here. I think it varies from person to person. I want to lose faster than 2 lb/week. If the pace were that slow I'd get discouraged and quit. I'm not patient enough.

I've been losing a bit over 3 lb/week consistently for two months now. I did hit a week-long plateau in early March and I then realized that I hadn't been eating enough. I wasn't tracking it yet but I must have been down to 1000 or less calories total per day and burning over 1000 at the gym. It's really nuts if you think about it. I started using MFP in earnest. I started tracking and eating more and now I eat some, but not all or even most of my exercise calories back. I broke through the plateau and started losing consistently again. It's working for me so far. I think everyone needs to fine tune their intake and find what works for them and is aligned with their goals.

Losing that much isn't generally all that healthy in the long run...especially with the workout / eating you describe.
People that lose the weight too quickly tend to gain it back far more quickly.

harlanJEN

ROCK on girlfriend ! You've got it ... got to eat to fuel your body, got to eat to lose!

There is a great forum group here - Eat More to Weigh Less. You may want to check it out !

Jen

Wen37

Bump

Jameslemond

AWESOME!!!! Keep up the good work :-)

Chipmaniac

I eat back most of my exercise calories but not all and usually wind up under a 1200 net, though I always eat 1200 and more on exercise days.

On non-exercise days, I usually eat a little less than 1200 but try to get as close to it as possible without going over but if I go over a little, it's not terrible.

So, I don't think you have to eat all of your exercise calories or reach 1200 every day. If so, then I'm doing it wrong but I lost 31 pounds.

Same here. I think it varies from person to person. I want to lose faster than 2 lb/week. If the pace were that slow I'd get discouraged and quit. I'm not patient enough.

I've been losing a bit over 3 lb/week consistently for two months now. I did hit a week-long plateau in early March and I then realized that I hadn't been eating enough. I wasn't tracking it yet but I must have been down to 1000 or less calories total per day and burning over 1000 at the gym. It's really nuts if you think about it. I started using MFP in earnest. I started tracking and eating more and now I eat some, but not all or even most of my exercise calories back. I broke through the plateau and started losing consistently again. It's working for me so far. I think everyone needs to fine tune their intake and find what works for them and is aligned with their goals.

Losing that much isn't generally all that healthy in the long run...especially with the workout / eating you describe.
People that lose the weight too quickly tend to gain it back far more quickly.

So I've heard. However, you can only gain it back if you go back to bad eating habits once you've reached your goal weight. I don't plan on doing that.

I'm not addicted to food as some seem to be. I feel lucky in that regard. It really hasn't been hard at all to stick with the diet plan because of this. I'm also a lacto-ovo vegetarian which means that most fast food was already unavailable to me. My biggest problems were portions, simple diligence, and awareness, things that a tool like MFP has helped me master.

darlilama

Oh, one more point. Why doesn't it work if you don't eat your exercise calories back (at least for most individuals)? So, let's say your daily goal is 1200 and your burn 1000 in Zumba… Why eat 2200 calories… wouldn't eating only 1200 mean you would create an even bigger deficit and lose weight even faster? Well, no, not unless you are into literally starving yourself. There's sort of a point of diminishing returns, so to speak. In the example, the math would be 1200 eaten - 1000 burned = 200 calories for your body to live on. Your body can't live on that… not in a normal state, anyway. So, you're messing with it's natural state and it's going to do unnatural things. Be natural. :happy:

Jameslemond

I've been reading all about eating your exercise calories, and I understand it. But what if I burn 1000 calories in a day (I tend to burn 1100 in one Zumba class)? That would make my total calories for the day 2600. I don't think I could eat that much even if I wasn't dieting. Can someone honestly tell me that if I eat 2600 calories in a day, it will still allow me to lose weight?

I never did well in biology or chemistry classes back in high school. I just don't get it.

YES you will still lose weight... burning 1000 calories in a workout session is ALOT you need to fuel your body

bevsdietfor2011

Hey I am one of those who don't want to eat that much but am trying. I have been anorexic in the past and it is really hard for me to eat 5 or 6 times a day. thank you for posting this story. I will keep plugging along.

Bev

momswanson

I love your post! I am trying to take this leap of faith, but so far (yesterday and today) I have not been able to do it! I get right up to my daily limit, 1300, and I freak out and I just can't make myself eat more! I even planned meals so that I would eat at least 1/2 of my exercise calories back, but let's face it, this goes against everything I have done my whole life...including fasting (starving). Babysteps, though, I know I will make it. It's funny that I read your post when I did because I have my Emerald Cinnamon Almonds sitting here staring at me, which by the way are FANTASTIC, but I can't bring myself to eat them! :laugh:

Chipmaniac

Oh, one more point. Why doesn't it work if you don't eat your exercise calories back (at least for most individuals)? So, let's say your daily goal is 1200 and your burn 1000 in Zumba… Why eat 2200 calories… wouldn't eating only 1200 mean you would create an even bigger deficit and lose weight even faster? Well, no, not unless you are into literally starving yourself. There's sort of a point of diminishing returns, so to speak. In the example, the math would be 1200 eaten - 1000 burned = 200 calories for your body to live on. Your body can't live on that… not in a normal state, anyway. So, you're messing with it's natural state and it's going to do unnatural things. Be natural. :happy:

That's assuming that your body won't harvest even more fat to meet your energy needs. It's a big assumption based on factors that vary from person to person. I do believe you can sabotage your progress by eating too little. However, the 1000 calorie deficit that MFP calculates is built on the idea that your body will start breaking down fat to supply you energy when there's a deficit. If you increase that deficit to 1500, it may impact metabolism or your body may just break down more fat. I think it depends on the person and the circumstances.

jamkat

That's it! I'm convinced! I'm upping my calorie intake this week! Thanks to everyone who has proven it not only works but also makes sense.

I've been at a plateau for too long now so it can't hurt to try something different.

toniRAD

It seems to be working better for me too! Great job on your progress!

mrswinstead

Bump