Eat your workout calories?

o4itsme

I'm new to this site. According to what I've seen you are supposed to eat the calories you burn at the gym? Has this worked for anyone or do you prefer to stick to your initial calorie count instead? Just looking for personal opinions is all.

bcattoes

I see exercise as a way to earn wine with dinner, so technically I don't "eat" them but I nearly always consume them. :drinker:

Jconner30

If you feel tired then eat them. Your body needs fuel!

kappy_hollowell

I think you are suppose to consume the exercise calories. I don't like to, and I wasn't eating them before, but I never really lost anything, so now, I have started consuming my exercise calories. I just started this so will let you know how it goes. When I ate just 1200 calories though, I was famished almost all of the time!

NKF92879

I see exercise as a way to earn wine with dinner, so technically I don't "eat" them but I nearly always consume them. :drinker:

LOVE THIS!!!


I also use exercise calories to eat/drink things I wouldn't otherwise (dessert, drinks, etc.).

sweetheart03622

I typically eat every single one of my exercise calories. Since I'm training for a half marathon, sometimes my exercise calories are in excess of 1,200. Like I said, I eat every single one and I'm losing.

Pandorian

www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

I eat them, it's how the program here is designed. They give you a calorie deficit to meet your chosen rate of loss before you ever lift a finger in exercise (why you may get less calories here than you do somewhere else that doesn't get you to eat back exercise calories because they use the exercise to reach your deficit)
That means Sunday was a 3000 calorie day here and yes, I lost weight on weigh in day.

ambitious01

I do not. I keep mine under 1400 calories though. If your staying around 1200 I'd think it's best to use some of the other to assure you have your vitamins.

Qarol

I see exercise as a way to earn wine with dinner, so technically I don't "eat" them but I nearly always consume them. :drinker:

I'll do anything for an extra glass of wine. :-D

Getting_Fit_4_Life

I was struggling with this issue several weeks ago too. I started at 1200 calories daily, but then I would workout and burn about 400 calories daily. I thought I was doing fine by not eating back the calories. Well, I was losing weight initially, but then after about 3 weeks, I stopped losing and I actually gained 5 pounds back. I was frustrated because I felt like I was really eating well and working out like a mad woman. I didn't see the point in eating back my calories. But since I wasn't losing weight as before, I decided to give myself about 2 weeks to see what would happen if I upped my calories. I increased my caloried to 1350 and ate back SOME of my workout calories and to my amazement, I started losing weight again. I actually lost 3.6 pounds this week. I am still somewhat nervous about increasing my calories too much, but at least now I make sure that I don't go below 1200 calores NET. I understand that what works for me may not work for someone else, but I am so pleasantly suprise that this is working for me right now. I think you have to see what works for you too.

ChantalGG

If you are burning 1000s of calories it will be hard to do. I eat mine back mainly when i use the weights, i have a protein shake afterwards. But i dont always eat mine back anymore. But I used too.

UpEarly

I don't have a hard and fast rule about this. I don't force myself to eat my exercise calories if I'm not hungry. But, most days I AM hungry and ultimately eat 50-75% of my exercise calories before I feel full and satisfied.

I have MFP set to keep me on track to lose half a pound a week. In actuality, I've lost about 1.75 pounds a week for a total of 25 pounds between 4/10-7/16. (I only weigh in once a month.)

So, I guess eating some of my exercise calories has worked pretty well for me so far. :-)

Riebop

Honestly, it depends on your body. Some people need to eat them to lose weight. Some people don't. You just need to experiment with it until you find out what works for you. Personally, I usually eat them because I'm hungrier on the days that I workout.

stroutman81

There's no magic to eating them or not. I find it sort of silly that people worry about this as they're really missing the forest for the trees. Read this thread. If you still have questions, ask away...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories

kennedyallin

I eat my workout calories as well. If our bodies think that we are starving then our metabolism will slow down to conserve the energy. Losing weight for the long term is a slow process. And, the thing is... if something isn't enjoyable then usually we won't sustain it. So exercising is a way to get the food we love and still be under the amount of calories that our body is burning.

Eating healthy is essential always!! But it is okay to have some of the typically "off-limits" foods. Everything in moderation!! But the key is to enjoy this process.... that way it will last and last and be sustainable.

Mad_Dog_Muscle

I see exercise as a way to earn wine with dinner, so technically I don't "eat" them but I nearly always consume them. :drinker:

LOL THIS! :drinker: :drinker:

o4itsme

Thank you for all of you fast responses. I figured worst to worst I'll go two weeks without and two weeks with and see what difference it makes if any at all.

clrrrr

The owner of my gym once said "you want your body to run like a Maserati, not a Prius." So yes, I usually do. I always do if I'm hungry.

kappy_hollowell

There's no magic to eating them or not. I find it sort of silly that people worry about this as they're really missing the forest for the trees. Read this thread. If you still have questions, ask away...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories

I understand this thread "explains" the mathematics of losing weight, but MFP does all this calculating for you. I need 1600 for maintenance. 1200 net to lose. I exercise (on a good day) about an hour doing TurboFIre (657 calories burned +/-) So I usually consume 1800 calories, which almost nets 1200. Therefore, I'm eating 400 less calories than to maintain.

I think MFP does it just fine!

LilRedRooster

I eat them back, just about every day. And I've lost weight steadily, no problem. If I'm hungry, I eat. I just don't eat a doughnut.

stroutman81

There's no magic to eating them or not. I find it sort of silly that people worry about this as they're really missing the forest for the trees. Read this thread. If you still have questions, ask away...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories

I understand this thread "explains" the mathematics of losing weight, but MFP does all this calculating for you. I need 1600 for maintenance. 1200 net to lose. I exercise (on a good day) about an hour doing TurboFIre (657 calories burned +/-) So I usually consume 1800 calories, which almost nets 1200. Therefore, I'm eating 400 less calories than to maintain.

I think MFP does it just fine!

If MFP did it just fine, so many people wouldn't be confused by it. Not downing MFP at all... but there's obviously an issue since I receive at least 2 emails about this every single day.

And the primary point that people need to keep in mind is that it's the overall deficit that matters here. If eating your exercise calories back puts you in the sweet spot for a deficit... so be it. If if it doesn't though... then don't.

Secondly, MFP tells a lot of people to consume 1200 calories who likely shouldn't be. It's just their stopping point where they don't allow anyone to go below.

For instance, if you're 140 lbs and you exercise most days... you likely have a maintenance of around 2000 calories. If you tell MFP that you want to lose 2 lbs per week.... they simply assume that every ounce lost comes from fat and since there are 3500 calories in 1 lb of fat... you need a daily deficit of 1000 calories to lose 1 pound per week. Of course this is grossly simplistic, and it's unfortunate that so many people assume it's that easy. But in this example, MFP's goal would be 1200 since that's they're lowest allowed even though it should really be 1000 based on the math.

Now I agree... most people don't need to be going below 1200. But there isn't anything inherently evil that happens if you do go below 1200 net... especially if you have your nutrient requirements met. I'm of the opinion that there should be cutoffs where if you weigh below a certain weight, you can't select a 2 lb rate of weight loss per week... as it's highly unrealistic for lighter folks.

Anyhow, rambling a bit.

I'm sure some people will think I'm bashing. I assure you I'm not. I love it here and think it's the best tool on the net for weight loss.

stephyy4632

I try to eat them back but on days like today where i burned 1167cals this morning and am planning a trip to the gym again tonight for weight work and mostlikly some eliptical time ( I love that machine its fun for me) I`m 100% sure that I will be under my cals tonight

PSUgrl921

Eat them back! If you don't, you go into starvation mode. AT THE VERY LEAST make sure that you are consuming 1200 calories a day-- meaning you have 1200 calories that you did not burn with exercise.

MissMaryMac33

Depends how many you're burning... some days I burn 300, some days over 900 ....
I just try to leave a 250-350 calorie deficit and always eat at least my basic net of 1400. (1200 was too low and I stopped losing)
(250 calorie deficit a day to lose 1/2 pound a week, 500 deficit to lose 1lb a week)

MrsCon40

www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

I eat them, it's how the program here is designed. They give you a calorie deficit to meet your chosen rate of loss before you ever lift a finger in exercise (why you may get less calories here than you do somewhere else that doesn't get you to eat back exercise calories because they use the exercise to reach your deficit)
That means Sunday was a 3000 calorie day here and yes, I lost weight on weigh in day.

Exactly. This is how MFP works.

If you don't want to use MFP how it was designed, don't - but I wish people would quit recommending others don't eat them.

FifiLea

I *have* to eat mine, if I didn't I would be completely starving ALL the time and then I'd scoff down 2 mars bars or something rather than planning to eat something nice and healthy.

I see my food as fuel and if I've used some up then I like to replace it. I know that if I feel hungry or deprived then I'm not going to stick to this.

kappy_hollowell

I *have* to eat mine, if I didn't I would be completely starving ALL the time and then I'd scoff down 2 mars bars or something rather than planning to eat something nice and healthy.

I see my food as fuel and if I've used some up then I like to replace it. I know that if I feel hungry or deprived then I'm not going to stick to this.

Good advice

Qarol

Secondly, MFP tells a lot of people to consume 1200 calories who likely shouldn't be. It's just their stopping point where they don't allow anyone to go below.

I'm not sure MFP tells people to eat 1200 calories a day. I just think so many people think of 1200 a day as some magic number for weight loss. It's not. A lot of people need more than that. It's simply a floor not to go below.

laurenpence

I read the same thing...eat your exercise calories......well I did that and my weight loss was so slow that it got me down. So I talked to a personal trainer who is also a nutrionist and I explained to him that I burn between 600-1000 calories a day working out and my food intake jumps anywhere from 1200-1600 calories a day. I asked if I should eat my calories back and he asked me what my goals were....so i said to lose weight. Well his answer is what sounded right in my head.... dont eat your calories back unless you feel hungry, and still stick to healthy foods....dont go shove your mouth full of oreo's. So I started doing this 2 weeks ago.......and I have lost 12lbs in 2 weeks. I was a little scared by this, but he reassured me that with the amoun of good healthy foods I am eating that I am fueling my body properly and using my fat stores as energy. Then I started thinking about the biggest loser...you know the show. On the show they have mentioned that with eating only 1400 calories a day and working out 6 hours a day then the body needs to be fueled correctly to sustain this and still lose weight......this is why they are able to drop so much weight. You dont see them eating back all 6 hours of theyre hard work.....nope just feeding their body the way it should be fed.

sleepytexan

People with a lot to lose and/or people who are brand new to exercise can lose weight both ways.

However, once you are at a healthy to lean body fat percentage and working out regularly burning lots of calories, you will come to a point where you will plateau or even gain weight if you fail to eat the exercise calories.

Here is a nice explanation as to why:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196502-for-the-people-who-work-out-like-crazy-and-are-not-losing

I am one who gained 15 lbs. because I didn't know that. I had never counted calories in my life, and never given a thought to how much I was burning compared to how much I was eating. The tipping point came when I starting dancing with a new company 4 hours a week, then added a 35-mle bike ride -- all while eating the same old amount of food I always had. The weight game came suddenly and I couldn't understand why -- I had never had an issue in my life. I struggled for over a year eating minimum WW points (appx 1200 cals) and yo-yoing 3 lbs. up and down. Finally I found MFP and the above thread, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WORK OUT LIKE CRAZY AND ARE NOT LOSING.

Turns out that due to my vigorous exercise schedudle, I had been netting fewer than 800 cals (sometimes a negative amount) daily for more than a year.

Within 2 mos of learning this, I now eat 1530 - 3500 calories a day depending on that day's exercise, and I have lost 13 of those 15 lbs.
It's a beautiful thing.

Since even an unfit person can still lose weight while eating exercise calories, I never understand why they don't. ( I don't mean walking-across-the-parking-lot or doing-laundry "exercise").

I think a big reason so many people fail at weight loss and getting fit is because they DON'T eat calories they have earned by exercising. They they feel deprived, they're starving, so they binge, gain, and give up. Why make it hard?

I love being able to eat the calories. In fact, I feel hungry on 1530 if I don't exercise, so that incents me to work out and stay fit.


blessings.

sleepytexan

I read the same thing...eat your exercise calories......well I did that and my weight loss was so slow that it got me down. So I talked to a personal trainer who is also a nutrionist and I explained to him that I burn between 600-1000 calories a day working out and my food intake jumps anywhere from 1200-1600 calories a day. I asked if I should eat my calories back and he asked me what my goals were....so i said to lose weight. Well his answer is what sounded right in my head.... dont eat your calories back unless you feel hungry, and still stick to healthy foods....dont go shove your mouth full of oreo's. So I started doing this 2 weeks ago.......and I have lost 12lbs in 2 weeks. I was a little scared by this, but he reassured me that with the amoun of good healthy foods I am eating that I am fueling my body properly and using my fat stores as energy. Then I started thinking about the biggest loser...you know the show. On the show they have mentioned that with eating only 1400 calories a day and working out 6 hours a day then the body needs to be fueled correctly to sustain this and still lose weight......this is why they are able to drop so much weight. You dont see them eating back all 6 hours of theyre hard work.....nope just feeding their body the way it should be fed.

The people on biggest loser are VERY big. BBC did a documentary on a 400 lb. + pound man that did not eat at all for a year. He only had water and vitamins. He did not die; he lost over 100 lbs. because he had so much fat.

The more fat a person has, the longer they can go without eating--their body can live on their fat stores. This is also the same principle as to why bigger people burn more calories doing the same amount of exercise as a smaller person, and why they drop weight faster. It doesn't mean it's a good idea for a healthy individual with a normal to athletic body fat percentage. You will not find any athletes subsisting on net 1200 or below calories a day. Why? because they can't perform on that. Because they don't want their body consuming their lean muscle (source of strength).

There is crazy debate on this, just exactly because everybody is at a different point of body fat. If you have 30-something percent or more body fat, you don't have enough lean muscle mass for your body to touch. Get below 20 as a woman, or 13 as a man, and it's a very different story.

If you work out for 6 hours you will probably not eat those calories back in a day. But I think you might be hard-pressed to find a handful of people who NEED to lose weight if they work out 6 hours a day.

If you do have a big burn day (such as a 50-mile bike ride or something similar), you can reconcile those calories by eating some of them the next day when you are taking a day off. 3500 cals deficit per week = 1 lb. lost.