Should I exercise less??

sunshinemonkey

I always thought that the more exercise you can manage the more weight you would lose. Now after A LOT of reading in the forums and on other sites about eating exercise calories I'm not so sure.

Since using this site I have been biking to my gym and home again (around 300 cals) and then 60 min cardio at the gym (around 600 cals) this is an extra 900 cals on top of my 1200!! I just can't eat all of that! unless of course I ate crap! So should I just exercise less??

I figure that some of you will suggest not eating them at all, and a lot of people say its about what works for you. Quite frankly I don't know what to make of exercise calories and what i should do with them!! eat them, don't eat them, eat half of them......AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!! I have literally trawled through the info on this topic and have come out of it non the wiser.!!

I came to the conclusion that I would do as the site says, exercise and eat the calories so that I don't go into starvation mode and eat my own muscle (lol). But that said theres no way I could eat all those cals sooooo.........SHOULD I EXERCISE LESS????

PS i apologise if you are one of those people who is irritated by new posts on exercise cals.....I tried it your way,and i am totally confused!

joehempel

I'm a big supporter of NOT eating your calories back....or all of them anyway.

If you are trying to lose weight you need to burn more than you take in. There isn't really any SOLID medical documentation about the "starvation" mode, I believe it's a myth...I've not yet plateaued and I am sometimes 400 calories under 1200 for multiple days.

But I do believe that your body will get used to certain routines. I think your amount of exercise is just fine.

Just eat every few hours, and eat until you aren't hungry....and when you get hungry...eat!

thebamboophoenix

Completely sympathise!
Some days, after I"ve done my exercise, I am back to having 1200 calories (or more) to eat for my evening meal and I just can't do it.
I cut back on exercise, and I didn't put weight on. The other way is that it sometimes allows you a treat you maybe otherwise wouldn't have. I enjoy a glass of wine with my evening meal (not every night, just sometimes) and I use extra exercise calories for that.
It is frustrating...

d_llopez

Everyone's different. Some eat their exercise cals back and some don't. I for one hardly ever eat my exercise calories back unless im super hungry and that's rare. I do eat at 1200 cals per day too. I exercise every other day and make sure i at least have one day on the wknd off. I burn anywhere from 300-500/day but it depends on how i feel that day too. The scale moves for me faster when i don't eat my exercise cals. Like i said some people feel the need to eat it and others don't. Just do what you think your body needs.

hush7hush

Bahaha.
Well, you've got me started.

I've lost 40 pounds since April.
I do NOT eat my exercise calories back.
And often, I eat less than 1200.
(As approved by my doctor&nutritionalist)
I'm not saying this is appropriate for everyone.

What I AM saying is:
Do what works for you!
Your body is not a website,
sometimes you have to try multiple things to see what really works.

macenro

I think that lots of exercise can only be good for you. It promotes healthy living and makes it less likely that you will be derailed even if you have a binge day.

I think you should still try to eat back most of your exercise calories though. It may seem tempting to not eat them but in the long run it is much healthier to eat back exercise calories. MFP already puts a deficit into the calculation so if you add 500 calories or more of exercise to that deficit your body is going to have trouble getting everything it needs.

Starvation mode may not exist but it still can't be good for your body to have large calorie deficits all the time.

13hirteen

I'd be inclined to eat back as much as you're comfortable doing - try to get in at least half of them, but don't worry too much if you can't. I have a cycle commute that burns over 800kcal and do strength work in the gym, so that's a LOT to eat on my most active days. Even after the pints of ale that I so clearly deserve after all that cycling. *grin*

Foods like peanut butter are dense in both nutritional and caloric terms. Don't underestimate the value of carbs such as wholegrain pasta, either.

Raise your protein intake to sustain your muscles, too - I combine hemp protein with an egg and a small banana to make funny-looking but absolutely delicious high-protein pancakes. Others prefer shakes and bars.

Once you get into the swing of things, your body will tell you what it needs.

kristofferbas

As it is now MFP think I should eat 1680 calories a day (without exercise), and some days my running burns over 1200 calories. If I would eat back my exercise calories and my regular ones that would be almost 3000 a day, and I have a hard time eating my 1680 some days I been doing this weight losing thing since late february and I have lost 35 kl (77 lbs) so far, so for me I guess not eating exercise calories back is what works. As the exercise freak I've become I couldn't think of doing LESS exercise

/k

CARNAT22

I eat mine and have only started to slow down with the weightloss now I am pretty much at goal weigth!

Ilovedrinkingtea

I never started losing until I ate them back. Before I did this I was frequently netting minus 700-1000 calories per day. I think my metabolism had stopped dead, as whatever I did I couldn't shift weight, and I reckon I'd been in starvation mode for a very long time!!! I started eating back the exercise calories about 4-6weeks ago, and overnight I felt more energetic. I've currently got my MFP goal set to 2 pounds of loss per week so I have 1,200 cals to net per day, so I frequently burn 1,000 and I eat them back. Last week I acheived a personal best in a 5km race, and I've never felt stronger or fitter xx

Ilovedrinkingtea

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196502-for-the-people-who-work-out-like-crazy-and-are-not-losing?page=11#posts-3871167

xx