WORKOUT CALORIES

Mel_MisFit_Mae

YOU DONT HAVE TO USE THEM DO YOU?????????

mamareese

It ends up coming down to being a personal decision. Lots of people advocate that research backs up eating them back and lots of people advocate that they don't and have great results. I eat them back to stay at the calorie goal MFP sets me at otherwise, I'd eat 1200 and burn off say 200- leaving me with not enough fuel in my body. But that's my choice. Others find not eating them, works great for them. Wish there was a clear cut answer for everyone but you have to find what works for you.

Diem30

You really should. Because you're burning off the calories you need to keep your metabolism running smoothly you should be constantly refueling your body.


Your gas tank CAN run on fumes but not for long.

jrt9999

Not if you don't want to. Personally I love to eat them back. Keeps me fueled and my metabolism running strong and my weight loss just keeps rolling along.

lockedonna

I usually eat my workout calories unless it's the night I have bellydance. 2 classes of bellydance burns 1000 calories for me and I can't get myself to eat 1000 extra calories in a day, but if it's a mild exercise day, I try to eat my exercise calories. It helps to keep you to the "net calories" that MFP recommends for what you want to lose or maintain.

VSgirl2010

yeah, I'm over 40 so I wouldn't bother eating them EVERY DAY. Might work well if you eat them every other day to mix it up

autumn13

I never eat them....

Mel_MisFit_Mae

THANKS GUYS, MY CALORIES SAY 1,340 AT THAT START OF MY DAY THEN GOES UP TO 1,915 OR MORE IT JUST SEEMS A BIT MUCH BUT THANKS FOR THE TIPS............

meggonkgonk

You really do need to eat at least a portion back depending on how strenuous your workout is.

MFP works differently than most diet plans, so the exercise cals are not extraneous. If you look at your "goals" page to the right there should be a # marked "Calories burned from Daily Activity" This is how much MFP estimates you burn everyday. Your calorie goal is "Calories burned from Daily Activity" - 500 calories (for 1lb/wk). So whether you work out or not you are losing (most plans assign you a higher calorie goal and assume you will do the workout they prescribe).

The flip side to this is you need to eat enough calories to fuel your workouts. The baseline number for this is to make sure you get 1200 NET calories a day. The easiest way to do this is the equation on your home page should read:

GOAL FOOD-EXERCISE=NET

Try to keep your NET calories between 1200 and you GOAL number.

meggonkgonk

THANKS GUYS, MY CALORIES SAY 1,340 AT THAT START OF MY DAY THEN GOES UP TO 1,915 OR MORE IT JUST SEEMS A BIT MUCH BUT THANKS FOR THE TIPS............

It does seem like quite a lot when you are first trying to do it, but if you plan out your meals and incorporate the rough amount you plan to burn, it's really not that difficult.

If you are having a tough time, maybe consider scaling your workout back a bit and building your burn and your calories concurrently.

Barelmy

Eat if you're hungry. I generally try to get a protein shake in on my heavy workout days, and that can easily take out 400 of them.