Calories 'earned' from exercise

missduffbug

Not entirely sure if I am asking a silly question but here goes.....
Yesterday I burned about 955 calories from the exercise that I did and it added calories on to my daily allowance...... In my opinion I shouldn't be eating those 'earned' calories because that's why I exercised in the first place..... But when I complete my food diary, even if I am eating the calorie amount set for me, it still says that I am eating too few calories.

Any help on this subject would be appreciated. Thank you! X

kimwig

Not entirely sure if I am asking a silly question but here goes.....
Yesterday I burned about 955 calories from the exercise that I did and it added calories on to my daily allowance...... In my opinion I shouldn't be eating those 'earned' calories because that's why I exercised in the first place..... But when I complete my food diary, even if I am eating the calorie amount set for me, it still says that I am eating too few calories.

Any help on this subject would be appreciated. Thank you! X

If you search the forum you will find lots of information on this topic, this way you will get a breadth of information, thoughts and opinions regarding this topic.

CherylYMerritt

bump....so I can read later1

kmm7309

A lot of people will tell you to eat back those calories, but I personally think that that is a misconception that this website does not clarify very well.

If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight. That's easy enough to understand. As far as starvation mode goes, it's not realistic. I talked to a nutritionist about this. Their version of starvation mode is based off the idea that a "healthy BMI" person would eat less than 1200 calories for a week or more straight. And it's mainly a concern because of nutrients, not because your body needs a minimum amount of calories. If you eat when you are hungry, and don't find yourself extra tired, you should be fine eating as much or as little as you like. I take a multi-vitamin to offset poor nutrition, because I only break 1200 every few days.

missduffbug

I weigh 18 stone 2lb and eat just under 1400 a day so I don't think that's starvation........ Least I hope not!!
I just don't see the point of exercising and then undoing all that hard work when being told to shove an extra 500 calories into my body...... But I'm not a professional lol

missduffbug

What does bump mean by the way? Seen it on a few forums

mistyb47711

check on your goals sheet..me i burn 1600 calories just sitting around the house not doing any exercise...if i go and eat my goal of 1200 and then go exercise 400 off, i am burning 400 calories of fat,but when I eat those calories back healthy its not putting on what you just exercised off...when you burn calories off you are burning fat off...if you are eating healthy you are putting in fuel that your body needs (good stuff)...the more good stuff the more lean muscle you are putting on,not fat... .

mistyb47711

A lot of people will tell you to eat back those calories, but I personally think that that is a misconception that this website does not clarify very well.

If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight. That's easy enough to understand. As far as starvation mode goes, it's not realistic. I talked to a nutritionist about this. Their version of starvation mode is based off the idea that a "healthy BMI" person would eat less than 1200 calories for a week or more straight. And it's mainly a concern because of nutrients, not because your body needs a minimum amount of calories. If you eat when you are hungry, and don't find yourself extra tired, you should be fine eating as much or as little as you like. I take a multi-vitamin to offset poor nutrition, because I only break 1200 every few days.

Your body does need a certain amount of calories a day just to make you breathe and live....that is where your BMR comes in...look under goals and see what your BMR is and your daily calorie burn not exercising....1200 is the minimum amount that your body can take for living and keeping you going....that is why you dont want to go under 1200 net calories per day.

mamawildbear

A lot of people will tell you to eat back those calories, but I personally think that that is a misconception that this website does not clarify very well.

If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight. That's easy enough to understand. As far as starvation mode goes, it's not realistic. I talked to a nutritionist about this. Their version of starvation mode is based off the idea that a "healthy BMI" person would eat less than 1200 calories for a week or more straight. And it's mainly a concern because of nutrients, not because your body needs a minimum amount of calories. If you eat when you are hungry, and don't find yourself extra tired, you should be fine eating as much or as little as you like. I take a multi-vitamin to offset poor nutrition, because I only break 1200 every few days.

?????? If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight? Based on the program parameters, this is not true at all. The nutrition portion of the program already has a daily calorie deficit built in based on your stated weekly weight loss goal. In my case, I chose 1 lb per week so my daily calorie deficit is 500 calories. If I work out and burn 400 calories and then eat those 400 calories, that does not affect the original calorie deficit caused by the reduction in food intake. I would still lose weight so I completely have to disagree with you there.

Plus, in the example the OP gave, they exercised 955 calories in a single day. I don't know what their daily allotted caloric intake is but mine is somewhere around 1500 calories, which includes the 500 deficit for weight loss. If I burn an additional 955 calories, the net effect is only 545 calories to maintain and fuel my body. The resulting daily deficit is 1455 calories (500 deficit from the eating plan plus 955 burnt from extra exercise). If I did that every day for a week, I'd have burnt an extra 10,185 calories for the week (1455 x 7). That equates to a weight loss of 2.91 lbs per week. Any doctor or nutritionist would tell you that if you lost that much every week, it would be an unsafe rate of loss. They would also tell you that 600 calories per day is not enough to maintain your body.

Now if you're just talking about one very active day mixed in with normal days of normal eating, it wouldn't mess you up, but if you are consistently consuming too few calories you will only cause yourself problems. If you are a heavy exerciser, you need to eat back at least some of those calories.

papastu

I weigh 18 stone 2lb and eat just under 1400 a day so I don't think that's starvation........ Least I hope not!!
I just don't see the point of exercising and then undoing all that hard work when being told to shove an extra 500 calories into my body...... But I'm not a professional lol

Totaly agree, I think for us 'bigger' people that eating back calories you work so hard to loose is pointless, im on 2000 a day, as long as I eat those I'm well happy

mistyb47711

Bump just puts it to the top of your topic so others can see that it has been moved to the top of the list

HealthyishWithMaggieG

I'm not a professional either, but, missduffbug and kmm7309, MFP has explained this pretty thoroughly. If your base caloric intake for the day is 1400 or 1200, as set by MFP based on the information you gave them about what you'd like to lose, that number is already starting you out for the day at a deficit. So, you're already eating less calories than your maintenance weight would require.

When you workout, you do need to eat at least some of your exercise calories to ensure your body is sufficiently fueled for the extra energy exertion. Your muscles need the extra protein to rebuild themselves. I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but I do eat at least half or more.

Even if you eat all your exercise calories, since you started off the day with a calorie deficit, you'll still be eating less than your body requires and you will lose weight.

missduffbug

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

newman50

check on your goals sheet..me i burn 1600 calories just sitting around the house not doing any exercise...if i go and eat my goal of 1200 and then go exercise 400 off, i am burning 400 calories of fat,but when I eat those calories back healthy its not putting on what you just exercised off...when you burn calories off you are burning fat off...if you are eating healthy you are putting in fuel that your body needs (good stuff)...the more good stuff the more lean muscle you are putting on,not fat... .

An excellent post and makes a lot of sense to me.

I have only been training for 3 weeks but have lost 6 kg so far. However, my nutrition has changed considerably and this is shown in my body fat drop from 35% to 25% (I have actually lost a lot more than 6 kg of body fat) and yet my weight loss has slowed - lean muscle mass has increased considerably in part offsetting the loss of body fat. My weight will still drop but will take time but I do follow the guideline of staying close to my daily net calorie goal. It clearly works for me. If I didn't put back those calories I burned off (with good nutrition) I indeed would be suffering and my lean muscle would be used to feed my body. I don't want that.

Mads1997

Hi if you go to My home tab then click on goals You will see how it is worked out witha deficit already in place according to the information you gave MFP. If you are on 1400 cals. you burn 950 that will leave you with net cals of 450. You body will not tolerate that for too long.

mistyb47711

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

if your are eating 1400 a day and then you go burn 500 off for exercise that leaves you at 900 for the day.... you need to at least be at 1200 for the day......if your at 1400 for the day and you burn off 950 that is leaving your body to try and run itself on 450 calories....that is starvation mode...500 calories a day is crazy to live on....any doctor will tell you NOBODY can live on 500 calories a day. the minimum any doctor will tell you is 1200 per day.

mistyb47711

check on your goals sheet..me i burn 1600 calories just sitting around the house not doing any exercise...if i go and eat my goal of 1200 and then go exercise 400 off, i am burning 400 calories of fat,but when I eat those calories back healthy its not putting on what you just exercised off...when you burn calories off you are burning fat off...if you are eating healthy you are putting in fuel that your body needs (good stuff)...the more good stuff the more lean muscle you are putting on,not fat... .

An excellent post and makes a lot of sense to me.

I have only been training for 3 weeks but have lost 6 kg so far. However, my nutrition has changed considerably and this is shown in my body fat drop from 35% to 25% (I have actually lost a lot more than 6 kg of body fat) and yet my weight loss has slowed - lean muscle mass has increased considerably in part offsetting the loss of body fat. My weight will still drop but will take time but I do follow the guideline of staying close to my daily net calorie goal. It clearly works for me. If I didn't put back those calories I burned off (with good nutrition) I indeed would be suffering and my lean muscle would be used to feed my body. I don't want that.

exactly.....you want ot lose fat and not lean muscle...weight loss may slow down but your lean muscle mass will increase and your weight loss will eventually catch up.

missduffbug

Ah I understand now! I eat 1400 a day and burn off 950ish which leaves me with 450 calories a day to survive on which I know isn't healthy at all. Think I had a stupid moment there haha. Basically as long as I eat near to my recommended intake, even after exercise, I will lose weight healthily.

prila13

I don't quite understand that either but I try my best not to eat my earned calories. Sometimes, I do. But, I've still managed to lose weight. I think as long as you are eating healthy, and you feel fine, and exercising right, you should be ok. Do what you feel is right. Although this website is a big help, it is by no means, the perfect solution.

HealthyishWithMaggieG

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

Let's keep it simple. I like the K.I.S.S. method for everything.

If MFP tells you your calorie allowance for the day is 1400 and you exercise enough to burn off 950 calories, you should eat 2350 calories.

Talking about net calories always confuses me. So, I just take what I'm allowed, add what I've burned and that gives me what I can eat. See? Simple.

Since we should all be eating healthy foods anyway, in my scenario, healthy foods are a given. Just look at the other nutritional requirements/limitations (fat, sugar, sodium are most important, in my opinion) and stay within the limits that MFP has set for you. And, if you're eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, you'll probably go over on your sugar allowance, but as long as you're not eating processed sugar, it's not a big deal.

mistyb47711

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

now say you are at the weight you want to be and your goal is 2000 a day and you go burn 900 off that will leave you at 1100 for the day.....if you stay at only the 1100 you will lose weight, but if you eat the 900 calories back you will maintain the current weight that you are...make sense???

mamawildbear

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

mistyb47711

Ah I understand now! I eat 1400 a day and burn off 950ish which leaves me with 450 calories a day to survive on which I know isn't healthy at all. Think I had a stupid moment there haha. Basically as long as I eat near to my recommended intake, even after exercise, I will lose weight healthily.

Exactly!!!!

missduffbug

Yes, makes perfect sense! Thank you to everyone for your help. I'm new to this site and kinda finding my way around it and learning about how it all works.
I didn't think about the fact that after burning off all those calories I would really only have had 450...... No wonder I was so sleepy yesterday. But now it's much clearer...... Thank you all xx

mistyb47711

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

daliberti

My Fitness Pal calculates your daily calories by how much weight you say you want to lose each week. In order to lose one pound in a week you need to eat 3500 less calories than you burn, which equals 500 calories per day. That is the way your calorie goal is calculated. One pound equals 3500 calories. So if you burn 955 calories and you don't eat them back, then you'll lose more than one pound per week. When you reset your goals to maintain your weight instead of lose, your daily calorie goal will increase according to your activity level and current weight at that time.

mistyb47711

Your welcome, I didnt understand either until I researched it for like 8 hours.....

HealthyishWithMaggieG

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

That's not true. 1400 calories is your calorie recommendation from MFP that is set at a deficit based on how many pounds per week you told MFP you want to lose.

mistyb47711

My Fitness Pal calculates your daily calories by how much weight you say you want to lose each week. In order to lose one pound in a week you need to eat 3500 less calories than you burn, which equals 500 calories per day. That is the way your calorie goal is calculated. One pound equals 3500 calories. So if you burn 955 calories and you don't eat them back, then you'll lose more than one pound per week. When you reset your goals to maintain your weight instead of lose, your daily calorie goal will increase according to your activity level and current weight at that time.

MFP automatically takes away 500 calories a day for you to lose the weight that you choose......so if you put in 2 lbs per week and your daily goal is 1200 they already took away 500 calories from that so you lose your 2 lbs(or close to that) per week...but if you look on your BMR section your actual daily goal is like 1700 to maintain our weight.

mamawildbear

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

Unless you are quite petite, 1400 calories would be a deficit because the average woman requires quite a bit more calories just to maintain their weight. I am new as well so I'm not sure what you mean by "putting in 1400 calories." I'm using the Android app and I didn't chose any calorie amount. I told it how much weight I wanted to lose and it calculated my daily calorie requirement for me. Maybe you're using MFP a different way that I'm not familiar with yet.

mistyb47711

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

That's not true. 1400 calories is your calorie recommendation from MFP that is set at a deficit based on how many pounds per week you told MFP you want to lose.

It is true...its different for every single person......look on your BMR section and look at your calories that you burn no matter if you exercise, then look at the calories that you have per day without them taking the 500 away....if you look at that and minus the 500 you will get what they reccomend you take in daily.