What's the point of exercising?

BrandNewMia

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

It has been done.

So awesome!

zorbaru

you will also burn more calories while your body recovers from the exercise, these calories are not logged and therefore help with the weight loss. this is why i eat back a lot of my calories (not all of them all the time). or more to the point, i excersise so that i CAN eat more for the day.

Rae12

speaking of skinny fat, i have a friend who's been a personal trainer for a long time and in his fitness world, that's what they're called. he says it's the skinny girl who can't run anywhere with no muscle tone.

Janworkingitout

Meh. I don't eat exercise calories back. My average daily net is around 500 and I'm losing just fine. I'm also gaining muscle just fine. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm sorry but looking at your starting weight and current weight, I don't think you are qualified to determine if what you're doing is "fine". If you want to put yourself in starvation that's certainly your choice. But maybe you should refrain from advising others to lose weight this way until you have met your goal.

sunkisses

it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are defending your decision. So why ask? People put time into reading and responding to your post with intelligent and useful information (backed by research I might add), you should at least respect them for trying to help.

The OP has not responded even once to this post, unless I missed it.

I know the question (and ones just like it) are asked 100 times a day but, really, no one is required to answer. If no one replied, I'm pretty sure the poster, if he or she really cared to get an answer, would dig deeper to find the information - apparently the answer is every 5th post anyway. Maybe a mod can stick a thread, with its title about eating calories right up top (so it stands out from the several other threads labeled "important" and "read me"). Then perhaps we can avoid 5 pages of sarcastic replies peppered with a few grains of well-intentioned answers, of which the OP never returns to read.

kdao

it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are defending your decision. So why ask? People put time into reading and responding to your post with intelligent and useful information (backed by research I might add), you should at least respect them for trying to help.

The OP has not responded even once to this post, unless I missed it.

I know the question (and ones just like it) are asked 100 times a day but, really, no one is required to answer. If no one replied, I'm pretty sure the poster, if he or she really cared to get an answer, would dig deeper to find the information - apparently the answer is every 5th post anyway. Maybe a mod can stick a thread, with its title about eating calories right up top (so it stands out from the several other threads labeled "important" and "read me"). Then perhaps we can avoid 5 pages of sarcastic replies peppered with a few grains of well-intentioned answers, of which the OP never returns to read.

Well said.

jaysvw

MFP automatically calculates a deficit for you—so not eating back your calories increases the deficit. I suggest eating them back.

This. A thousand times this.

I eat between 50% and 75% of my exercise cals back. You absolutely need to if you want to preserve and build lean muscle mass. This is especially important for men who are lifting weights. Your protein intake needs to be high, meaning if you are doing it right, you are always going to eat exercise cals. MFP already calculates the proper calorie deficit, so any calories burnt should be replaced with complex carbs or lean proteins.

I would bet the bank that the people on here (mostly ladies) that limit themselves to 1200 or less a day and then don't eat back exercise calories properly are going to yo-yo big time.

MommyRobot

Meh. I don't eat exercise calories back. My average daily net is around 500 and I'm losing just fine. I'm also gaining muscle just fine. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm sorry but looking at your starting weight and current weight, I don't think you are qualified to determine if what you're doing is "fine". If you want to put yourself in starvation that's certainly your choice. But maybe you should refrain from advising others to lose weight this way until you have met your goal.

You have no reason to be rude. I'm not at my goal yet, but there are others who have lost less than I have answering this question also. You like their answers though so you won't attack them. I have an opinion, and the right to voice it.

morganadk2_deleted

I rarely eat them back... I work out in the evening and if I ate them back I would be eating all night.

Hardly a reason, if you know you are going to work out you can spread the calories over the day..no problem!

here here, thats just what i was about to say , well said!

SHBoss1673

it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are defending your decision. So why ask? People put time into reading and responding to your post with intelligent and useful information (backed by research I might add), you should at least respect them for trying to help.

The OP has not responded even once to this post, unless I missed it.

I know the question (and ones just like it) are asked 100 times a day but, really, no one is required to answer. If no one replied, I'm pretty sure the poster, if he or she really cared to get an answer, would dig deeper to find the information - apparently the answer is every 5th post anyway. Maybe a mod can stick a thread, with its title about eating calories right up top (so it stands out from the several other threads labeled "important" and "read me"). Then perhaps we can avoid 5 pages of sarcastic replies peppered with a few grains of well-intentioned answers, of which the OP never returns to read.

some of the MFP long timers have requested this and mentioned it many times to Mike and Al already. A basic tutorial on why MFP does things the way they do it so there are less questions. There's also a set of sticky posts at the top of the General questions area (if you click home in the message boards --> General you'll see them, they have the thumbtacks to the left).

sunkisses

it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are defending your decision. So why ask? People put time into reading and responding to your post with intelligent and useful information (backed by research I might add), you should at least respect them for trying to help.

The OP has not responded even once to this post, unless I missed it.

I know the question (and ones just like it) are asked 100 times a day but, really, no one is required to answer. If no one replied, I'm pretty sure the poster, if he or she really cared to get an answer, would dig deeper to find the information - apparently the answer is every 5th post anyway. Maybe a mod can stick a thread, with its title about eating calories right up top (so it stands out from the several other threads labeled "important" and "read me"). Then perhaps we can avoid 5 pages of sarcastic replies peppered with a few grains of well-intentioned answers, of which the OP never returns to read.

some of the MFP long timers have requested this and mentioned it many times to Mike and Al already. A basic tutorial on why MFP does things the way they do it so there are less questions. There's also a set of sticky posts at the top of the General questions area (if you click home in the message boards --> General you'll see them, they have the thumbtacks to the left).

Allow me to offer my opinion regarding the stickied notes as a "newbie" and as the owner of a solid, long-running women's support forum. When I came into this forum and saw all of those stickied posts - I felt no inclination to read them because they all seemed like rules, and I already know how to behave on a forum. So I skimmed the rules to make sure and didn't look at the others. The one that asked for newbies to please read says "2nd edition" after it, which I read as "hey, newbie, we've said this before but we think you missed it" - which again, seemed like more rules, so I didn't read it right away. The one about links doesn't say anything about what is contained in those links inside of the thread, at least not things people are specifically looking for, nor does the title give any indication. I know the thread probably wasn't intended to be stickied, it was just a helpful thread. But from someone not familiar with this forum, I didn't feel like clicking all of the links to see what was inside.

My suggestion, since Mike and AI have not yet responded to the demand of a detailed FAQ, is that the forum moderator(s) consolidates the stickied posts. On my forum, I know no one reads the stickies if there are more than like 2 of them. Here, I understand that there is a LOT of information and sooo many questions. So I'd say go up to 3 here, but the titles really need to specify what's inside so that people don't automatically assume that each link is just more rules. I agree with the "no advertising" post, wouldn't touch that one. I think the "rules" post should stay the same as well. But the Newbies welcome AND the links would be more effective at getting reads if they were unstuck and the information contained in them combined into a new post. I'd title it something like "Don't Ask Questions Without Reading This First." Inside the links would be posted where people get answers to their common questions, and each link has a little blurb about what question will be answered.

This is just my opinon/advice. I know mods don't get paid, and it's hard to find the time to undertake something like that. But the larger point I'm trying to make is - no one has to respond - especially if it is driving you crazy. There will be new people who join who actually DID read, and they will answer until they're tired of it, and so on. A single link would help 'cause then whoever answers can drop it and bounce. Sorry - this was WAY more than 2 cents. Thanks for reading if you got through that.

kevanos

Allow me to offer my opinion regarding the stickied notes as a "newbie" and as the owner of a solid, long-running women's support forum. When I came into this forum and saw all of those stickied posts - I felt no inclination to read them because they all seemed like rules, and I already know how to behave on a forum. So I skimmed the rules to make sure and didn't look at the others. The one that asked for newbies to please read says "2nd edition" after it, which I read as "hey, newbie, we've said this before but we think you missed it" - which again, seemed like more rules, so I didn't read it right away. The one about links doesn't say anything about what is contained in those links inside of the thread, at least not things people are specifically looking for, nor does the title give any indication. I know the thread probably wasn't intended to be stickied, it was just a helpful thread. But from someone not familiar with this forum, I didn't feel like clicking all of the links to see what was inside.

My suggestion, since Mike and AI have not yet responded to the demand of a detailed FAQ, is that the forum moderator(s) consolidates the stickied posts. On my forum, I know no one reads the stickies if there are more than like 2 of them. Here, I understand that there is a LOT of information and sooo many questions. So I'd say go up to 3 here, but the titles really need to specify what's inside so that people don't automatically assume that each link is just more rules. I agree with the "no advertising" post, wouldn't touch that one. I think the "rules" post should stay the same as well. But the Newbies welcome AND the links would be more effective at getting reads if they were unstuck and the information contained in them combined into a new post. I'd title it something like "Don't Ask Questions Without Reading This First." Inside the links would be posted where people get answers to their common questions, and each link has a little blurb about what question will be answered.

This is just my opinon/advice. I know mods don't get paid, and it's hard to find the time to undertake something like that. But the larger point I'm trying to make is - no one has to respond - especially if it is driving you crazy. There will be new people who join who actually DID read, and they will answer until they're tired of it, and so on. A single link would help 'cause then whoever answers can drop it and bounce. Sorry - this was WAY more than 2 cents. Thanks for reading if you got through that.

agreed. There doesn`t seem to be a clear guide

frb2012

*blink* *blink* *blink*

Someone pinch me...I must be dreaming. Is this question for real????

Kinda like: What's the point of breathing?

Um, there is no reason to be rude. Never once did I say I wouldn't exercise. I was simply asking a question. No one asked for your sarcastic comment, and if you don't plan on helping people-- get off the message boards.

frb2012

I'm grateful for the amount of posts regarding how exercise is so important! However, it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are defending your decision. So why ask? People put time into reading and responding to your post with intelligent and useful information (backed by research I might add), you should at least respect them for trying to help.

Thank you to the people who are helping, but when did I make that decision exactly? I never said I wasn't going to exercise, I was just asking what exactly the reason was for eating back the calories.

outersoul

Just to put it out there again..no one is putting on more muscle while eating at a deficit.

MommyRobot

Just to put it out there again..no one is putting on more muscle while eating at a deficit.

.

kelsully

It makes me giddy to have calories left to eat...I find 1200 cals or 1300 cals to be prety restricitve. I eat pretty healthy choices and am often under my goal of maintenance etc but the thought of only having 400 cals to eat for dinner makes me crazy. I had an eating disorder in my teens and found that a very restriciive diet is not good for me....I like being able to eat real food, get real nutrition and fuel for my workouts, run really far and pretty fast fr a girl...The ability to eat pizza and have a beer and have ice cream sometimes motivates me to keep working out.

dixiechicdana

you have to start with the calories you need to maintain your weight then subtract about 500 calories from that to get what you should be eating. So I need 1850 to maintain but I only eat 1200 because I want to lose. If I exercise and use 400 calories, they put those back to bring me back to 1200 calories or else I would only be eatting 800 calories and sending my body into starvation mode.
If you don't exercise then you will burn muscle along with the fat and your shape will be saggy instead of toned looking.

Just_Dot

So...what you're saying is... <tilts head, looks vapidly into space, affects a "Valley Girl-esque" speech> I *should* my exercise calories?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Sorry, I know it was sarcastic and b!tchy, but I couldn't resist. :flowerforyou: