Eating your exercise calories.....

Just1forMe

You do NOT have to eat your exercise calories. Read this:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

You don't have to eat your Activity Points on WW because if you eat all your points and weekly points you are most likely averaging
1620-2160 calories per day (so you BETTER be exercising and not eating those calories, unless you have a huge amount to lose)! (40-60 calories per point--the healthier you eat, the more cals per point), so this does not really apply if you are strictly counting calories.

erickirb

I think the whole idea of eating your exercise is stupid. I don't do it! And I've lost 30-35 lbs in 9 weeks.

That weight loss is a little too fast to be considered healthy, I'm sure you lost quite a bit of muscle along with the fat at that rate.

If you went to a trainer they may tell you to eat 1500 calories everyday regardless if you workout that day or not as long as you do 5 days/week. MFP takes it one step further and says you may not workout so to lose weight without exercise you need 1200 cals. Now say you workout 5 days per week 450 calories per session. MFP tells you to eat 8400 (1200*7) plus exercise calories 2250 (450*5) per week for a total of 10650, while your trainer says eat 10500 (1500*7) per week. These number are only 150 apart, and MFP would have you lose weight if you didn't workout whereas your trainer gave you a caloric intake that you would only lose if you worked out.

No trainer or nutritionist, knowing you workout, would ever give you a calorie goal as low as MFP. MFP assumes you will not be working out, then adjusts your caloires up to account for exercise when you do it.

I may have lost a little muscle, but I am moving up in the weights and starting to notice the cut in my arms and back a bit more. People wanna look into the numbers way too much on this site! When I played football I was in the best shape of my life. Strength, stamina, appearance.. never once did I count a single calorie or track my workout's. I just ate healthy and went hard in the gym. That is all people need to do. Do you really think every pro athlete or body builder is on MFP or a similar site tracking everything? Probably not! This crap of counting every little detail is just going to drive people nuts.

And the best part of any article you'll read or "fact" out there. It's opinion based. You can search google for eating exercise calories and you'll get a million different reasons why it's bad or why it's good. And then people on here who had a little weight lose all of sudden becomes experts and preach this crap like it's fact. Everyone is a different, what works for one, might not work for another. I shared my experience with the OP about not eating mine. They need to find what works for them. Because there really isn't a right or wrong way.

Actually body builders do count everything, during bulk phase they want a certain caloric surplus and during cut phase they want a certain deficit. and most pro athletes are put on diets by nutritionists which account for calories. they may not do the counting but it is done for them. More so in sports that have weight classes than others but many pro football players do follow strict caloric intake and training programs to balance out based on goal, gain or lose weight or based on position.

and it is fact. 3500 calories = 1lb. If your goal is to lose 1 lb 500 cal/day deficit 3500/7, and you burn more you must eat them back to keep your deficit at 500. If not you may lose more than your goal of 1lb, but it should be a goal for a reason, so why would you try to lose even more??, if that is the case then change your goal.

Kat120285

I'm 5 2 and a half. When I started MFP over 2 weeks ago, I weighed in around 120. At the beginning of this week I weighed in at 115.

I eat all of my exercise calories back. I take in anywhere from 1850-over 2000 on some days, with a NET at 1250.

I've done P90X and P90X Plus for over a year now, I also add in some extra cardio. The way my muscles are finally starting to pop from finally feeding my body the right amount of calories each day is proof enough for me that eating them back at least works for me.

Spitfirex007

I think the whole idea of eating your exercise is stupid. I don't do it! And I've lost 30-35 lbs in 9 weeks.

That weight loss is a little too fast to be considered healthy, I'm sure you lost quite a bit of muscle along with the fat at that rate.

If you went to a trainer they may tell you to eat 1500 calories everyday regardless if you workout that day or not as long as you do 5 days/week. MFP takes it one step further and says you may not workout so to lose weight without exercise you need 1200 cals. Now say you workout 5 days per week 450 calories per session. MFP tells you to eat 8400 (1200*7) plus exercise calories 2250 (450*5) per week for a total of 10650, while your trainer says eat 10500 (1500*7) per week. These number are only 150 apart, and MFP would have you lose weight if you didn't workout whereas your trainer gave you a caloric intake that you would only lose if you worked out.

No trainer or nutritionist, knowing you workout, would ever give you a calorie goal as low as MFP. MFP assumes you will not be working out, then adjusts your caloires up to account for exercise when you do it.

I may have lost a little muscle, but I am moving up in the weights and starting to notice the cut in my arms and back a bit more. People wanna look into the numbers way too much on this site! When I played football I was in the best shape of my life. Strength, stamina, appearance.. never once did I count a single calorie or track my workout's. I just ate healthy and went hard in the gym. That is all people need to do. Do you really think every pro athlete or body builder is on MFP or a similar site tracking everything? Probably not! This crap of counting every little detail is just going to drive people nuts.

And the best part of any article you'll read or "fact" out there. It's opinion based. You can search google for eating exercise calories and you'll get a million different reasons why it's bad or why it's good. And then people on here who had a little weight lose all of sudden becomes experts and preach this crap like it's fact. Everyone is a different, what works for one, might not work for another. I shared my experience with the OP about not eating mine. They need to find what works for them. Because there really isn't a right or wrong way.

Actually body builders do count everything, during bulk phase they want a certain caloric surplus and during cut phase they want a certain deficit. and most pro athletes are put on diets by nutritionists which account for calories. they may not do the counting but it is done for them. More so in sports that have weight classes than others but many pro football players do follow strict caloric intake and training programs to balance out based on goal, gain or lose weight or based on position.

and it is fact. 3500 calories = 1lb. If your goal is to lose 1 lb 500 cal/day deficit 3500/7, and you burn more you must eat them back to keep your deficit at 500. If not you may lose more than your goal of 1lb, but it should be a goal for a reason, so why would you try to lose even more??, if that is the case then change your goal.

Then what is the point in even working out? And how can you keep count of exactly what you burn? HRM I am sure are close, but probably not 100% accurate. Not to mention I highly doubt people wear HRM all day long. So the idea of knowing exactly what your body burns is unrealistic. And others might be happy with 1-2 lbs a week, I'm not.

Bottom line, if I'm hungry I'll eat. If I'm not, I am not going to force food down my throat to match some silly little number. I played football from the pee wee to the minor leagues. I was in great shape then, and I never once counted anything. So therefore I am not going to do it now. It works for me. It works for a lot of people I know.

CatchMom11

I've asked my trainer who is familiar with the website and actually recommends it, and she said that I don't need to. I know some people say that you're supposed to but knowing that the human body doesn't work like "clock work" is a good indicator that you should do what works best for you. Someone previously recommended trying it both ways. I would second that recommendation so that way you know for you, what works best.

Good luck!!!!

If you have a lot to lose you can afford not to, as you have the fat stores to call upon for energy. You would lose faster than your goal, if your goal is 2 lbs/week and you don't eat them you will lose faster (not healthy) if you have a lot to lose. For those that don't have a lot to lose or to meet, not exceed, your weekly loss goal, must eat the exercise calories, as it is a mathematical equation that only balances your deficit to your goal weight loss when you eat the exercise calories.

So far I'm averaging a loss of about 2.5 lbs per week.

jacquejl

bump

CatchMom11

I asked the exact question on here last week, and got a mixed response. I started at 218lb and dropped 60lb but then got stuck and then found this site, until now I have never eaten my exercise calories. But my weight has stayed the same for 6 months, it was so frustrating and would not move. I have done five days of eating my exercise calories and have lost 2lb already! very wierd but try it, it may get you through. For me I was ignoring being hungry so I would not go over calories, now I am not hungry and am losing, win win for me !

Another thing you might try is shocking your system. Your body gets used to your exercise routine. Try switching up your exercise routine with something new and hardcore.

Still_Sossy

I've asked my trainer who is familiar with the website and actually recommends it, and she said that I don't need to. I know some people say that you're supposed to but knowing that the human body doesn't work like "clock work" is a good indicator that you should do what works best for you. Someone previously recommended trying it both ways. I would second that recommendation so that way you know for you, what works best.

Good luck!!!!

If you have a lot to lose you can afford not to, as you have the fat stores to call upon for energy. You would lose faster than your goal, if your goal is 2 lbs/week and you don't eat them you will lose faster (not healthy) if you have a lot to lose. For those that don't have a lot to lose or to meet, not exceed, your weekly loss goal, must eat the exercise calories, as it is a mathematical equation that only balances your deficit to your goal weight loss when you eat the exercise calories.

Precisely. If you have a lot of fat then you can afford to do more aggressive approaches. I still wouldn't recommend more then an average of a 2 pound weight loss a week for other health and aesthetic reasons, but it isn't as detrimental to someone who has a lot of fat to lose. For someone like Sos, it would be more of a concern, she is already fairly small. I wouldn't recommend over a 500 calorie deficit to anyone but certainly not to someone who is her size.

You called me small! Yay!!!!!! Thank you!
I do get what everyone is saying, I guess I need to just get over it and do it.

mrb_9110

I think the whole idea of eating your exercise is stupid. I don't do it! And I've lost 30-35 lbs in 9 weeks.

While this may work for you, it probably won't work for everyone. Plus, you sound like one of those hydroxycut commercials where at the end they have in tiny print at the bottom of the screen: RESULTS NOT TYPICAL.

CatchMom11

I've asked my trainer who is familiar with the website and actually recommends it, and she said that I don't need to. I know some people say that you're supposed to but knowing that the human body doesn't work like "clock work" is a good indicator that you should do what works best for you. Someone previously recommended trying it both ways. I would second that recommendation so that way you know for you, what works best.

Good luck!!!!

If you have a lot to lose you can afford not to, as you have the fat stores to call upon for energy. You would lose faster than your goal, if your goal is 2 lbs/week and you don't eat them you will lose faster (not healthy) if you have a lot to lose. For those that don't have a lot to lose or to meet, not exceed, your weekly loss goal, must eat the exercise calories, as it is a mathematical equation that only balances your deficit to your goal weight loss when you eat the exercise calories.

Precisely. If you have a lot of fat then you can afford to do more aggressive approaches. I still wouldn't recommend more then an average of a 2 pound weight loss a week for other health and aesthetic reasons, but it isn't as detrimental to someone who has a lot of fat to lose. For someone like Sos, it would be more of a concern, she is already fairly small. I wouldn't recommend over a 500 calorie deficit to anyone but certainly not to someone who is her size.

You're probably right. I do have more to lose so I can afford to not eat my exercise calories back. It'll change. I think that's where a lot of people run into trouble. They start out doing things a certain way (eating right and exercise) and then hit a roadblock where they can't seem to lose anymore. That's where a change-up in eating and working out comes into play. I've been there, lost 30 lbs and couldn't lose anymore. As much as I tried, I was stuck. Gradually I gave up and now here I am again, to learn from my mistakes.