Eating exercise calories ?!?!?

LynneBrown666

I wonder if someone can help me ..... I don't understand the concept of doing exercise and buring off 300 calories, then eating food to cancel out the 300 calories you have just burned off.
Surely that would defeat the purpose of doing the exercise in the first place .... or am I missing something?

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teamsaris

Your body is like a car (bear with me here...but it helped me to better understand the idea lol). Lets say your car needs 1200 litres of gas to run each day. If you drove an extra 300 miles and used up all your gas, you would have to put MORE GAS IN or else your car just wouldn't run properly anymore.

Clear as mud right?? Basically you are exercising to rev up your metabolism and get your body in shape...get healthier and to get your body to burn calories more efficiently You need to fuel those exercises though or your body will think you are trying to starve it and hang on to every little calorie...which sucks.

I eat back my calories...it's yummy and it works

MisdemeanorM

It would - IF you were not already eating at a deficit. You are already eating a healthy amt fewer calories than you would if you were maintaining your weight. If you eat at a deficit and then exercise on top of it your deficit gets TOO big and can be detrimental. Think of exercise and eating those calories as fuel for a more efficient calorie burning body and not as a "subtraction of calories" for losing weight.

It's not purely a math game, so if you think if it as just "eat less, burn more, lose more" on paper, it doesn't translate that way into real world scenarios.

Do a search on here for "eating exercise calories" and you can see every opinion known to man on the topic.

From experience I say eat them (or most of them, or at least zig zag and eat them most of the time), but also be sure you are logging accurately (ie not underestimating your calories in) and get a heart rate monitor so you are not over logging your exercise calories (and thus overeating if you eat them back) or you will not lose weight.... you will think it is because you are eating back yoru cals, but it will really be because you are not logging correctly.

Also - don't worry about being way under calories every so often. It's doing it regularly that will cause a problem with your metabolism. One day of netting 700 calories if every other day that week you net 1300... no big deal!

I TOTALLY exercise just so I can eat more! (and so I can be muscley)

LessMe2B

I also don't get it, but I'm doing it because everyone on this site says it's very important so as not to send your body in to starvation mode. I've only been doing mfp for a week now, and am down 13 pounds, so they must be right. I think the point is to stay within your calorie goal (which for me is significantly less calories than before) AND add excercise (which I wasn't getting before). Good luck with your goal.

aanddplusoanda

MFP is set up so that even if you don't exercise you will still lose weight. This is why it is important to eat your burnt calories...otherwise your body will go into starvation mode. It didn't make sense to me at first either until I followed other peoples advice and I seen the results for myself.

bachooka

DEAR MOTHER OF GOD!!!

you are going to get so many people on here yelling that eating back your calories is the only way!

I am totally in the eat back your exercise calories camp...

BUT this site is not one hundred percent accurate, and neither is your deficite so you could eat back half. The reason that you should eat them back is because the calories that you are eating before exercise is not going to maintain your weight... it already has a built in defecit. Much more than that can be detramental to your metabolism because it will think you have no food to eat... and then you won't lose. Basically the exercise is to get toned.

It is up to you tho... because it is your body, and you know what works for you!

mnetwal

What if I just eat half of the calories? Say I burn 400 and only eat 200. Will I go into starvation or will I get extra credit - weight loss wise?

SeasideOasis

I asked the same questions to my nutrition expert as well as my friends who workout frequently. All of them said EAT most of them back. The calorie deficit this site creates would help you lose weight even without working out because you are already at a deficit. However, in order to build muscle and tone (which helps your metabolism) your NEED fuel. If you dont have enough fuel from the calories you are eating, the first thing to go is your muscles not your fat. The more protein and veggies you can get in your system, the better your muscle and metabolism will take care of the rest. Lets all be honest, if we could just raise our metabolism when we arent working out (which is what our body spends the most time in) the gym workout would just be an added bonus.

cazz5

Nice easy to understand answer, thanks ive been doing it but have found it hard to get my round too!:flowerforyou:

julieraeeager

Thanks, that makes more sense. It is the total you eat and exercise together....I am having trouble realizing it isn't a race to LOSE but a steady path to become more fit.

AlSalzman

I work out with a couple fitness competitors, an amateur bodybuilder and some amateur fighters... they all exercise tight control over their diets, and "eat back" their calories as a way of maintaining strength and energy for their respective competitions. If they go into the gym and do a demandingworkout, they'll fuel their body after the workout with lean protein to build muscle. They'll also eat lots of fresh veggies and fruit to replace energy. On the occassions that they are trying to control their weights, they'll reduce the calories they "eat back." The reverse is also true - I've seen the fighters eat more calories then they burn in an attempt to move up in weight classes.

This board is very weight-loss oriented, so what you've described is probably in line with what most of the users are thinking... burn calories, don't eat'em back, and you lose weight.

LynneBrown666

Thanks for all the responses. Sorry I repeated a question already asked but I am new here. Only been doing the diet for 3 days and still getting to grips with all the do's and don'ts.

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Vendetta2300

Bump!

I never ever understood this concept, and I always felt so thick about not getting it.

But the car reference and all your responses finally made me understand. Halleluja

pixieval

Great thread. I actually never knew this, and started reading it here, and it makes me a little nervous to try, but so many people are behind eating your exercise calories, I'm going for it.

portianay

I have been a dope about this, but am now eating back my exercise calories, starting today. It all finally makes sense. Thank you!