HELP! Added calories after exercise activity question

VIRAGI

I noticed that since I started swimming the fitness pal adds 400 and today added 786 extra calories for the one hour swimming, and aerobis calesthenia I did in the pool. Supposed to eat 2,296 calories today? when I am about 50 pounds overweight?

This have got to be wrong. Am I supposed to cut 500 calories of the ones the system suggest that I am supossed to be eating?

I am tired of eating...I just ate four taco shells for dinner and still have 900 calories to go...that is not possible.

somebody help me please!

I know I am burning a lot of calories but I want my body to take from tall the fat I have!

Viragi!

Sallana

I have no idea why all of these calorie tracker apps add the calories you've burned to your allotted daily calories. It seems to be popular belief that you need to 'replace' burnt calories but that is not correct. It's self defeating. I don't add my exercise until the end of the day, just to make it easier to keep track of the calories properly. I can't tell you what you should or should not be consuming at your weight. I went to a personal trainer who set me up on a diet of 1500 calories daily with a goal to burn 750. That doesn't mean a total of 2250 eaten calories, either. =D

More than anything, listen to your body and it will not lie to you. If your body says you're full, stop eating.

nickiog

this is a really hot button issue..i personally think you should listen to your body..if you FEEL hungry..then eat! if you FEEL satisfied/full then dont.

thats just my humble opinion and how i do things.

Samerah12

Eat em! You will still lose, scouts honor. MFP sets you with an automatic deficit so anything you burn you get to eat back. I eat back all of my exercise calories and I've lost 50 lbs already. (you will find people on this site will adamently disagree on this subject but MFP was designed for you to eat your exercise cals and still lose)

On the other hand if you really are full don't stuff yourself! If you find yourself consistently full well before you meet your calorie limit you may want to try adjusting your activity level or adjust how much exercise you're logging, sometimes MFP overestimates the calories you've burned doing an activity.

Good luck!

countrymom1

Wow, that IS a lot of calories. You do need to eat some of your exercise calories back, though, or else your body will go into starvation mode. Your NET calories for the day should not be less than 1200. I am 5'5" and weigh 156. I have lost 34 pounds and am still looking to lose another 25 or so. I have my set calories at 1500. I definitely eat over 1200, but try to make it around 1500 calories a day.

terrysgirl0829

Hi there! I have heard that you are not supposed to eat your exercize calories or it is counterproductive. I do not eat my exercize calories, and I have been just fine-and losing weight at a safe healthy rate of about 1-2 pounds per week. You need to burn more than you eat to lose. If you are truly hungry, I say eat something-if not, don't. ; ) Keeping your blood sugar even all day seems to be a key thing also. What I mean is eating at intervals so you are not ever super hungry. So if you are eating a ton of calories at one part of the day your sugar is probably spiking too which is not a good thing. Hope my limited knowledge helps you out. : )

Samerah12

I have no idea why all of these calorie tracker apps add the calories you've burned to your allotted daily calories. It seems to be popular belief that you need to 'replace' burnt calories but that is not correct.

That is exactly correct! Thats how MFP was designed to work! If you want to use it differently, please do but MFP is designed for you to eat back those calories.

RollinDawg

If I'm thinking right, you don't have to eat the calories it gives you as a goal. Those numbers are a goal to stay under for the day. Stay below those numbers and you should lose weight. When you exercise, it adds to the number of calories you CAN eat....not the number of calories you MUST eat.

nastytater

I'm with rollindawg...I always go by the starting goal cals,instead of what the allowed amount is...That way,if I happen to go over one day on my set goal,it isn't that big a deal because the exercise I did,has my back and helps it out...

1sisrat

if i'm hungry I'll eat them all back. if not, I don't. Forget what people say, do what your body is telling you. That is a lot of workout time so your body might need the fuel. But, if your full, don't push it.

bunchesonothing

I have no idea why all of these calorie tracker apps add the calories you've burned to your allotted daily calories. It seems to be popular belief that you need to 'replace' burnt calories but that is not correct. It's self defeating. I don't add my exercise until the end of the day, just to make it easier to keep track of the calories properly. I can't tell you what you should or should not be consuming at your weight. I went to a personal trainer who set me up on a diet of 1500 calories daily with a goal to burn 750. That doesn't mean a total of 2250 eaten calories, either. =D

More than anything, listen to your body and it will not lie to you. If your body says you're full, stop eating.

No offense, but you have a ways to go on your journey still. It depends on where the person is. I don't know what kind of deficit your trainer had you on before exercise, but I'd bet he had you burning about 2-2.5/lbs a week. He most likely had you set up to burn an appropriate amount for you. He was supplementing your calorie deficit with exercise. People who are farther away from their goal, have a little more leeway with how much of a deficit they can have and what not.

That is not what MFP does.

MFP creates your deficit first and that is why they have you eat your exercise calories.

We have some people on 1200 calories and then burning 500-1000 a day. People should not try to sustain that for too long.

Law of thermodynamics. Energy has to come from somewhere... and there are unhealthy speeds for weight loss.

VIRAGI

Oh I appreciate your responses. I do feel that I am stock onmy weight. A person like me that always did high impact aerobics, played basketball, volleyball, soccer, danced my heart around is now obese because my joints can't take more high impact exercises and now I am swimming to give them an eternal break. After researching in the internet swimming is not enough to loose weight even though I try to swimm four times per week for at least 30 minutes two sessions of 10 minutes non-stopping and 5 minutes of squads, push ups, and side kicks in the water between the two sessions to lower the heart rate and then go back to intensive swimming.

I feel toned thou but frustrated. I do feel like eating a cow after swimming. I can't quit tht's for sure so maybe adjusting my dite a little bit would show me some results.

God created this perfect human machine that if you do more or less is not enough.

To the trash those extra calories and my body might have to take from all the fat in my body for a while.

VIRAGI

WOW! you had lost 50 lbs that is exactly the overweight I have in my body...46 years old and every day get harder and harder to loose one freaking pound.

VIRAGI

Yep, that is what I am doing, eating every 2 - 3 hours and it gives me so much energy that I get hungry and hungry...besides by swimming is hardening that fat in my body. It always happens to me that I reach two weeks of exercise routine and psicologically clock my mind thinking that by the end of week two i should have lost 10 pounds...I have to take that off my mind and realize that small steps leads to big results. Difficult for my body used to do hard exercise such as soccer, high impact aeroribs...

VIRAGI

But are doing any exercise activity?

k8edge

Eat em! You will still lose, scouts honor. MFP sets you with an automatic deficit so anything you burn you get to eat back. I eat back all of my exercise calories and I've lost 50 lbs already. (you will find people on this site will adamently disagree on this subject but MFP was designed for you to eat your exercise cals and still lose)

This is a load of... nothing.

I would recommend eating at least 1200 calories a day. If you are exercising that much you may want to bump it up to 1500-1600. You do not have to eat back all of your exercise calories. Do what feels right for you and make sure you are eating healthy well balanced foods with plenty of fruits and veggies... drink lots of water. If you are full, then stop eating.

VIRAGI

I agree. thanks.

Jaradel

Are you going by MFP's burned-calorie estimates for swimming, or are you using a HRM to calculate calories burned? I've noticed that MFP way overestimates burned calories on the activities I do, particularly taekwondo.

Aside from that, I think eating back calories - as long as you net that magic 1200 a day - is an individual choice. Some people won't lose if they DO eat them back, some people won't lose if they DON'T eat them back, and some people fall in between. Experiment and see what works for you. If you're still losing even though you don't eat back all the calories, then just keep going with that.