Eating back calories

kateq321

Hi there

I'm just wondering if you have to eat back the calories saved on exercise each day?? I usually get home at 7ish, work out then have a light meal. At this point I see what calories I've saved and when it's that late at night you don't want to be eating more food. Just wondering if this will hinder my weight loss progress? Can I save these calories up for the weekend when I go out??

registers

Hi there

I'm just wondering if you have to eat back the calories saved on exercise each day?? I usually get home at 7ish, work out then have a light meal. At this point I see what calories I've saved and when it's that late at night you don't want to be eating more food. Just wondering if this will hinder my weight loss progress? Can I save these calories up for the weekend when I go out??

NO if you do you're inhibiting your fat burning abilities. I explain in my blog, here's the link.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asmcriminal/view/common-theories-disproven-108628

BJC78

I don't know the answer to this but im hoping someone says we can save them for the weekend.

charliebird

This is always a tricky one! For many people eating back the exercise calories is essential, otherwise they don't lose weight. The jury's out with me - I find if I eat them back then I don't lose weight. So I am "experimenting" If I exercise and don't eat them back I struggle with energy levels. So I am trying to eat half of them and aiming that my "net colories" = 1200 a day.

Hope that helps.

Elleinnz

I normally know when I am going to work out at night - and roughly how many calories I will burn - so make sure I cover some of it during the day - and it gives you added incentive to make sure that you actually exercise!!

DarMC

<~ Not a Health Expert...:)
I sometimes find myself feeling like I can eat mire calories if I burn more. But with me, it takes a lot longer, to loose the weight.
Not certain that you can save up and use later?!
"Sorry, not much help!"
Have an amazing rest of your night/day/afternoon.!:flowerforyou:

RSO206

Up until a couple weeks ago I always ate back the cals cause I was only burning about 500-600. However now I'm biking and burning about 1600 cals before dinner which usually leaves me about 2000 something cals. There is no way I can eat all that before bed so on days I bike I consume about 1900-2300 cals and leave it at that.

Just remember 3500 cals = about a pound. My metobolic rate is about 1600-1700 cals/day. Just work with your avg cals burned a day, food cals, and cals burned. Im not sure if Im doing it right but thats how I've been doing it.

If anyone can tell me how its done Im happy to here what i'm doing wrong.

musica814

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

xraychick77

no

its counter productive

registers

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat. Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

ladyhawk00

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

"Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat."

Way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy behaviors and give vague, incomplete and completely irrelevant statements.

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

registers

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

This may well be your most irresponsible post yet.

"Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat."

Way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy behaviors and give vague, incomplete and completely irrelevant statements.

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

You can't argue with results. That's all I have to say to you ladyhawk. Here is a link just for you, you'll love it, how to eat 800 calories with out losing muscle mass, and dropping 25lbs of fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10204826

And to complete my links to studies, here is a link that shows gherlin(biochemical released with hunger) also triggers Growth Hormone.
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/293/3/E819.full

kateq321

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

Hi Ladyhawk00 - I hear you with regards to making sure if I use up my cals over the weekend that they're good quality cals (and not to do it too often) I just look at people on diets like weight watchers and wonder if this is the way to go. I wouldn't eat huge meals or take aways on the weekends but I would go out for a few drinks on Saturday night and I tend to drink Coors light. I'm going away this weekend but after that I don't have anything planned until my hols so will be on laying off the beer at the weekend over the next couple of weeks. I just find some times my social life can get in the way of my weight loss!!!

Thanks for all the replies...lovin' this site already!!

rori_74

Hi there

I'm just wondering if you have to eat back the calories saved on exercise each day?? I usually get home at 7ish, work out then have a light meal. At this point I see what calories I've saved and when it's that late at night you don't want to be eating more food. Just wondering if this will hinder my weight loss progress? Can I save these calories up for the weekend when I go out??

NO if you do you're inhibiting your fat burning abilities. I explain in my blog, here's the link.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asmcriminal/view/common-theories-disproven-108628

This is very good information , and i totally agree when i ate back my calories i did gain weight like crazy ,so i'm back to what worked before for me , not eating my exercise calories and avoid crabs .

ladyhawk00

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

This may well be your most irresponsible post yet.

"Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat."

Way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy behaviors and give vague, incomplete and completely irrelevant statements.

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

You can't argue with results. That's all I have to say to you ladyhawk.

And to complete my links to studies, here is a link that shows gherlin(biochemical released with hunger) also triggers Growth Hormone.
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/293/3/E819.full

Yeah, "not eating" (translation = starvation) gives great results. It's a fantastic look.

registers

Hi there

I'm just wondering if you have to eat back the calories saved on exercise each day?? I usually get home at 7ish, work out then have a light meal. At this point I see what calories I've saved and when it's that late at night you don't want to be eating more food. Just wondering if this will hinder my weight loss progress? Can I save these calories up for the weekend when I go out??

NO if you do you're inhibiting your fat burning abilities. I explain in my blog, here's the link.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asmcriminal/view/common-theories-disproven-108628

This is very good information , and i totally agree when i ate back my calories i did gain weight like crazy ,so i'm back to what worked before for me , not eating my exercise calories and avoid crabs .

rori thanks for your support.

registers

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

This may well be your most irresponsible post yet.

"Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat."

Way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy behaviors and give vague, incomplete and completely irrelevant statements.

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

You can't argue with results. That's all I have to say to you ladyhawk.

And to complete my links to studies, here is a link that shows gherlin(biochemical released with hunger) also triggers Growth Hormone.
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/293/3/E819.full

Yeah, "not eating" (translation = starvation) gives great results. It's a fantastic look.

I know it works great for me lost 20lbs in 3 weeks, how much have you lost in the last 3 weeks?

ladyhawk00

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

Hi Ladyhawk00 - I hear you with regards to making sure if I use up my cals over the weekend that they're good quality cals (and not to do it too often) I just look at people on diets like weight watchers and wonder if this is the way to go. I wouldn't eat huge meals or take aways on the weekends but I would go out for a few drinks on Saturday night and I tend to drink Coors light. I'm going away this weekend but after that I don't have anything planned until my hols so will be on laying off the beer at the weekend over the next couple of weeks. I just find some times my social life can get in the way of my weight loss!!!

Thanks for all the replies...lovin' this site already!!

As long as it's not a frequent thing and you're within goal for the week, you'll probably be ok. And I, for one, believe that since it shouldn't be a temporary "diet", you need to accommodate normal life - which includes having some "treats" on occasion and being able to be social and enjoy a night out. You just have to work it in to where your servings are reasonable and do it LESS than before.

Kristinemillar

The point that Ladyhawke seems to be missing is that you are not starving yourself by not eating back the calories you burn while exercising. You are eating less and exercising more which ANY GP will tell you is the way to successful weight loss... Not exercising more and eating more...

If someone was to say, hey don't eat at all and exercise then that would be starvation. As a scientist I can see that the journals that were linked to are 100% valid and verifiable... They are saying to use the carbs etc you are eating to maintain muscle mass while exercising to lose weigh.

I've been eating back my calories for the past couple of weeks and have not lost a single pound... so I'm going to see how this way works out for me and I'll let you know the results.

LuluGirl140

I work out at night too and struggle with trying to meet my net calories after a great workout. Basically what I'm doing is eating every 2ish hours, and making sure I'm making wise food choices. If I eat something light after my workout and still end up with several hundred calories left, I don't stress about it. I'm not going to force myself to eat. I have seen some weight loss since I started doing this (2 lbs last week, I just started), so I'm going to stick to it.

Good luck to you. This is a topic of great debate here. Try different things and stick to what works for you!

ladyhawk00

The point that Ladyhawke seems to be missing is that you are not starving yourself by not eating back the calories you burn while exercising. You are eating less and exercising more which ANY GP will tell you is the way to successful weight loss... Not exercising more and eating more...

If someone was to say, hey don't eat at all and exercise then that would be starvation. As a scientist I can see that the journals that were linked to are 100% valid and verifiable... They are saying to use the carbs etc you are eating to maintain muscle mass while exercising to lose weigh.

I've been eating back my calories for the past couple of weeks and have not lost a single pound... so I'm going to see how this way works out for me and I'll let you know the results.

I never said that not eating exercise cals is starving yourself. I responded to a PP stating that not eating (at all) is a good idea.

The point is that MFP is different than many calorie counters/weight loss programs, or the way that many trainers set up a plan. These other plans take your “intended exercise” and use that to create a deficit, keeping your daily cal goal static. Therefore, with other plans, you would not replace calories you burn through exercise. MFP is different and you CANNOT compare them, unless you’re prepared to do some calculations to get apples vs. apples and not apples vs. oranges.

MFP is different. It was designed with the idea that many people can't exercise regularly, or at all, due to physical limitations or time. They also recognized that most people set up an exercise plan, but as we all know, that's not necessarily what actually happens every day. So they built the site to allow for weight loss with or without exercise.

MFP creates a BUILT IN CALORIE DEFICIT, based on your loss per week goal, regardless of exercise. So when you log exercise, cals are added back in to keep that deficit stable. If you don't replace those cals, you've made your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit does not necessarily mean faster/more weight loss; it is usually unhealthy and unsustainable and most often backfires, leading to feelings of deprivation, binges, quitting, and weight regain.

For people with large amounts to lose, it is less critical to eat them, as their bodies can withstand a larger deficit. However, there are other risks. People with less to lose need a more conservative deficit and usually do better eating at least some of them back.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/222019-60-lbs-in-60-days?hl=60+lbs
(plenty of "valid" studies to support this)

ETA: Your issue with not losing while eating them likely has more to do with your loss per week goal than exercise cals. With very little to lose, you should have a very conservative deficit (1/2 lb per week.) I'm guessing you have it set higher than that, and having a deficit that is too aggressive often gives those results.

Sarah_uk

I don't eat all of them, because I found it makes me me gain weight or stay the same if I eat all of them.

I might eat 100-200 cal more though on a good days of exercise or exercise a bit more when I ate too much.

I think different things work for different people? Just find out what works for you.

kateq321

Kristinemilar
I've been eating back my calories for the past couple of weeks and have not lost a single pound... so I'm going to see how this way works out for me and I'll let you know the results.

It will definitely be interesting to see your results Kristine...keep us posted. I'm going to keep going as I am and see what happens. I can always change it up if I'm not seeing the results I want.

ladyhawk00

The correct answer is a resounding YES. Read this, it explains everything: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I am familiar with bank's methods. I disagree with them. If you feed the body when do you burn fat? you're constantly increasing your insulin that stores sugar in the muscle or fat. If your muscles are full of glucose, then it will get stored as fat. If you're constantly eating, when will your muscle be empty?
When you don't eat, Growth hormone is released which burns body fat. Also, it releases glucagon, which helps release body fat.

fasting burns 5x more fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

"Not eating has been proven to burn 4x more fat."

Way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy behaviors and give vague, incomplete and completely irrelevant statements.

To OP: MFP is designed for you to eat the exercise cals, while maintaining the built in deficit you chose for your loss per week goal. Many people do have success with averaging the cals over the week instead of focusing on daily, but it does still need to be quality cals and you may have issues if you do it too often, go too overboard, or don't fuel properly during the week.

You can't argue with results. That's all I have to say to you ladyhawk. Here is a link just for you, you'll love it, how to eat 800 calories with out losing muscle mass, and dropping 25lbs of fat.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10204826

And to complete my links to studies, here is a link that shows gherlin(biochemical released with hunger) also triggers Growth Hormone.
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/293/3/E819.full

Here's a very nice review of the first study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1784876
Very low calorie diets (VLCD) of 400 to 800 kcal/day appear attractive as they generally show an increase in weight loss from 0.2 to 0.5 kg/week found with the traditional diet to 1.5 to 2.0 kg/week. Early use of very low calorie diets with poor quality protein and loose medical supervision resulted in about 60 deaths, many of which were attributed to loss of lean body mass and in particular, cardiac muscle atrophy. Although current very low calorie diets are presumed safe, concern regarding preservation of lean body mass (LBM) remains. Investigators have used exercise to slow the depletion of lean body mass during very low calorie diets; however, the results are not conclusive. A host of different methodologies and questionable documentation and design of exercise protocols precludes a definitive statement for the benefits of exercise during very low calorie diets for the purpose of LBM retention.

And here are studies that state the exact opposite of that study:

http://www.ajcn.org/content/57/2/127.full.pdf
http://www.ajcn.org/content/51/2/167.abstract?ck=nck
http://www.ajcn.org/content/53/4/826.full.pdf+html
http://www.ajcn.org/content/49/1/93.full.pdf+html
http://www.ajcn.org/content/45/2/391.full.pdf+html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6694559&dopt=AbstractPlus

To OP: Apologize for hijacking your thread - just hate to see unhealthy info provided without at least offering a different perspective.

MoonShadow_1au

....
If someone was to say, hey don't eat at all and exercise then that would be starvation. As a scientist I can see that the journals that were linked to are 100% valid and verifiable... They are saying to use the carbs etc you are eating to maintain muscle mass while exercising to lose weigh.

I've been eating back my calories for the past couple of weeks and have not lost a single pound... so I'm going to see how this way works out for me and I'll let you know the results.

I did that after high school. Hit the gym 6-9 times a week for 3 months solid and stopped eating. I went from 82 Kg to 72 Kg before my body complained, my arms and legs got really bad pins & needles and shook all by themselves. Pity I was in a pool at the time it happened (whatever happened to aqua aerobics?). All that weight cam straight back on when I started eating again.

Now I am trying to eat close to but not quite my daily calories (including what I do working out). Stay within 100 Calories remaining. Some days will be over and some a lot under, but on average around 100 or less calories remaining each day.

My biggest issue is to eat the correct foods to make up the calories. When I am good I go for yoghurt, dried fruit, nuts. What you should avoid if you are eating at night (according to my PT) is carbs. If you work out at night try a protein shake as a snack with real milk (2% fat or greater) you get about 400 - 500 calories (note this is best taken within 30 minutes of finishing exercise).

This has the weight coming off consistently and gradually (I do wonder if it will stop !! ).

registers

ladyhawk, we're way off subject. The issue is, you're misinterpreting what I am saying. NOT once have i said a VLCD is healthy. It's not healthy, we can both agree on that. What i am saying, we don't need as many calories as we think we do. That's all, Eating back your exercise calories has an adverse effect on weight loss. That's all I am saying.

Before someone jumps to the "eating more often speeds up metabolism." That is false. If you burn 2000 calories a day, and you eat 1500 calories a day, it doesn't matter if you eat them in the morning, or at night, or in 50 meals. You STILL burn 2000 calories a day and you're still consuming 1500. Doesn't matter how many times you chop up a carrot, it's still 1 whole carrot.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8399092

I am with you ladyhawk on the dangers of VLCD. I stated my point on that. I am estimating my BMR< but i'd say it's around 3200 calories. Today I ate under 1500 calories I believe. This is not starvation mode, I can lose weight on 500 calories a day, but that is very unhealthy.

There many health benefits associated with fasting(not eating). If it's done temporarily. A few studies concluded your metabolic rate doesn't drop within 72hrs. Notice I said nothing about exercise. I am not sure if that study was done with exercise or with out, that makes a big difference.

Long term fasting, yes it's dangerous, I wouldn't advise it. I wouldn't even advise fasting for 2 days. Maybe 1. To people who are reading this, all these studies with low calorie diets where under medical supervision, keep that in mind.

Is eating too many carbs dangerous? Yes, Is eating too much protein dangerous? Yes, is Eating too much fat dangerous? yes. Is eating too little of these macro nutrients dangerous? yes. Is too little exercise dangerous?, yes, is too much exercise dangerous? yes

Point is, too much or too little of anything is dangerous. I am sure you'd agree on that. You said some things, then you posted studies that completely oppose what you said to make a point. My point with that is, yes... studies can be misleading and misunderstood. What where these people eating on these diets? Where they trigger with certain people? How much did they exercise if they exercised at all? It doesn't say that stuff. It's best to listen to your own body and listen to what it's telling you. Despite what anyone says, including me, including you, including studies. Only one person knows their body best, and it's them. Things should be approached with a logical approach. Does it make sense to create a caloric deficit to lose weight? Yes. Does it make sense to not go to low with you calories? Yes. It's common sense.

NitaCB

Interesting debate going on here. I have had no success in eating back exercise calories. None at all. So I'm starting to try just going by actual calories consumed for the day and paying no attention to the 'net calories', regardless of the amount of exercise I've done. And I do have plenty of calories left over, cos I do a lot of running. I'll see what happens. What have I got to lose I figure?

UltraRunnerGale

I'm only speaking for myself here, but it might help others. I am an endurance athlete and I MUST eat at least part of my exercise calories or I will be sick. When I'm doing say, a 15 miler and burning about 1500 calories, if I don't put a nice chunk back in, I will literally be sick. Now, sometimes I can't eat as my body starts shutting down. That is why endurance athletes eat "Gu" and such. It's portable food to put in calories while exercising.

When I'm no doing endurance events, I go by hunger. If I still have a surplus of calories and I'm hungry, I eat. Problem is, you need to learn what real hunger is and what stress eating is (or whatever your triggers are).

Hoped that helped. :flowerforyou:

registers

I'm only speaking for myself here, but it might help others. I am an endurance athlete and I MUST eat at least part of my exercise calories or I will be sick. When I'm doing say, a 15 miler and burning about 1500 calories, if I don't put a nice chunk back in, I will literally be sick. Now, sometimes I can't eat as my body starts shutting down. That is why endurance athletes eat "Gu" and such. It's portable food to put in calories while exercising.

When I'm no doing endurance events, I go by hunger. If I still have a surplus of calories and I'm hungry, I eat. Problem is, you need to learn what real hunger is and what stress eating is (or whatever your triggers are).

Hoped that helped. :flowerforyou:

Yes this is true, athletes need to have full glycogen stores for performance reasons. I would advise against this for weight loss.

erickirb

ladyhawk, we're way off subject. The issue is, you're misinterpreting what I am saying. NOT once have i said a VLCD is healthy. It's not healthy, we can both agree on that. What i am saying, we don't need as many calories as we think we do. That's all, Eating back your exercise calories has an adverse effect on weight loss. That's all I am saying.

Before someone jumps to the "eating more often speeds up metabolism." That is false. If you burn 2000 calories a day, and you eat 1500 calories a day, it doesn't matter if you eat them in the morning, or at night, or in 50 meals. You STILL burn 2000 calories a day and you're still consuming 1500. Doesn't matter how many times you chop up a carrot, it's still 1 whole carrot.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8399092

I am with you ladyhawk on the dangers of VLCD. I stated my point on that. I am estimating my BMR< but i'd say it's around 3200 calories. Today I ate under 1500 calories I believe. This is not starvation mode, I can lose weight on 500 calories a day, but that is very unhealthy.

There many health benefits associated with fasting(not eating). If it's done temporarily. A few studies concluded your metabolic rate doesn't drop within 72hrs. Notice I said nothing about exercise. I am not sure if that study was done with exercise or with out, that makes a big difference.

Long term fasting, yes it's dangerous, I wouldn't advise it. I wouldn't even advise fasting for 2 days. Maybe 1. To people who are reading this, all these studies with low calorie diets where under medical supervision, keep that in mind.

Is eating too many carbs dangerous? Yes, Is eating too much protein dangerous? Yes, is Eating too much fat dangerous? yes. Is eating too little of these macro nutrients dangerous? yes. Is too little exercise dangerous?, yes, is too much exercise dangerous? yes

Point is, too much or too little of anything is dangerous. I am sure you'd agree on that. You said some things, then you posted studies that completely oppose what you said to make a point. My point with that is, yes... studies can be misleading and misunderstood. What where these people eating on these diets? Where they trigger with certain people? How much did they exercise if they exercised at all? It doesn't say that stuff. It's best to listen to your own body and listen to what it's telling you. Despite what anyone says, including me, including you, including studies. Only one person knows their body best, and it's them. Things should be approached with a logical approach. Does it make sense to create a caloric deficit to lose weight? Yes. Does it make sense to not go to low with you calories? Yes. It's common sense.

One of the main points of the MFP program is eatting back the exercise calories. This keeps your deficit so you lose your goal amount of weight. Not eating them makes your caloric deficit larger, and if you don't have much weight to lose you risk burning a higher % muscle than you would if you had a smaller deficit. What does this mean, this means that with a larger deficit you may hit your goal weight faster, but you will have a higher BF% than you would if you had a smaller deficit. (skinny fat vs. thin and fit).

A larger deficit may work for you as you have a lot of weight to lose, the closer you are to your goal the more important it is to eat your exercise calories so your deficit is manageable for your body. i.e. with 15 or fewer pounds to lose your goal should be 0.5 lbs/week 250 cal deficit, which means you would set your goal at 0.5/week and eat 100% of your exercise caloires to maintain a deficit of 250/day.

jude666

I work out at night too and struggle with trying to meet my net calories after a great workout. Basically what I'm doing is eating every 2ish hours, and making sure I'm making wise food choices. If I eat something light after my workout and still end up with several hundred calories left, I don't stress about it. I'm not going to force myself to eat. I have seen some weight loss since I started doing this (2 lbs last week, I just started), so I'm going to stick to it.

Good luck to you. This is a topic of great debate here. Try different things and stick to what works for you!

I am tempted to try this. I have to admit I haven't had much success so far myself with eating my exercise calories back. I have dieted in the past (with not much exercise) and really, I found by eating smaller and fewer portions i lost weight quiet easily. I started swimming back then to and didn't even know about the eating calories back rule (i wasn't on MFP then). I lost about 2 stone! So far, i've lost zero calories.... not a single one.... after all the hard work i've been putting in it really is quite soul destroying. And Yes, i've had lots of people say "try measuring yourself, you may not lose weight you might be building muscle" but hang on a minute, WHY AM I NOT ACTUALLY LOSING WEIGHT! It never happened like this before. but before, i never ate back my exercise calories. I think I am going to try an experiment and only eat if and when I need to. If i feel hungry before a workout i'll have a snack but if not, then I won't. I am not going to sweat about making up my calories anymore as sometimes i find it really hard. I to don't get back from work until late and it is a real struggle fitting everything in AND leaving time for food to settle before going to bed.

I think the best thing I can do is try to avoid carbs in the evening. I think i just need a protein rich dinner. I'll see how I get on and report back as soon as possible.

Good luck to everyone with whichever way you go. YOU CAN DO IT!!