Am I supposed to be eating my excercise calories?

Jade_Butterfly

Sorry to say this remains a very controversial subject to be approached with an open mind. . MFP sets you up with an automatic deficit, but there are many variables with this.

EX: depending on your body weight and composition. . .some of the calorie burns listed in the database are not necessarily accurate for you as an individual. .

My recommendation is this. . first and formost get an HRM. . .with a chest strap. . that way you really know what you are burning to the letter. . .because you do need food to fuel your body. . but you don't want to be eating more than your body needs. .

Make sure that you are getting enough water. . ie recommended amount 1/2 your body weight in ounces. . The other thing that the HRM allows you to see is whether you are within your target heartrate while you are working out. . this is where you are going to burn the most calories and build muscle which in turn will increase your metabolism. . You can take it manually, but it is easier with and HRM. .

Hope this helps to answer your question. . The best of luck to you!

robin52077

depends...

do you want to look like this?


or like this?

great answer.

And to clarify, he means:

Eat them, (and lift weights, don't just do cardio) to be strong, healthy, lean, and fit. Sexy, like the first picture.
Don't eat them, and end up scrawny, weak, and unhealthy looking, like the second picture.

As a point of reference. I started out eating 1200 and that's it, and got to 103 and was still unhappy.
Now I eat 1600-2000, lift weights, and weigh 110 but look WORLDS better than I did at 103, while I wore a size 1 at both weights.

suzooz

Yes eat the exercise calories -- particularly if you are feeling hungry or weak. Your body needs fuel to perform -- particularly when you are exercise, or even with "non exercise" activities.

A few weeks ago, I had spent about 3 hours shopping for new pants. (NSV!) Because this was not "exercise", I did not log it, and ate what MFP recommended for me. The next day, I ate breakfast and went to mow the lawn, which is a long exercise for me (2 1/2 hours), but not difficult. It was not warm that day, and about an hour in, I felt sick and decided to take a break. Luckily, I was wearing my Body Bugg both days, so I thought I would check my burn. I looked at that's days' burn, and saw a huge deficit, and then looked at the previous days' and saw that I had burned an extra 300 calories shopping! Two huge deficits in a row, and my body was starving. I started to eat (healthy things), but still felt pretty crummy all day.

Lesson learned: Your body needs fuel to perform. Listen to it.