Eat your workout calories?

stroutman81

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.

I've been here for about a year I suppose. And I receive at least a dozen emails per day from people in this community. Admittedly I don't partake on the boards as much as some others.... so maybe I'm missing something. But based on the large volume of emails I receive, I can tell you that I've encountered a large number of people who shouldn't have been eating their exercise calories based on where their deficits were once intake and expenditure was factored.

There honestly can't be a blanket recommendation saying everyone should or shouldn't eat them as the circumstances that govern energy balance are going to vary from person to person and circumstance to circumstance.

stroutman81

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.

Poor choice of wording. MFP doesn't tell people to eat anything. They have calculators that some people misuse is more like it. They assume that shooting for 2 lbs per week, for instance, is a good idea when many smaller folks should not set the mark that high.

And MFP will limit these folks by not allowing them to go below 1200. Which is a good call. At least there's some governor in place. Though it'd be better to explain why larger deficits don't make a heck of a lot of sense for smaller folks, who, by default, have lower energy needs per day.

And the point remains... there's nothing magic about 1200. Yeah, it's a good general rule... but I've encountered a lot of people on this very board who believe going below 1200, regardless of their weight or energy expenditure, will trigger catastrophic events... and that's simply not the case.

lclarkjr

Ah the great divide between eating your exercise calories and not. I honestly don't care whether anyone else eats theirs back or not. The biggest head scratcher for me is the large number of people who don't eat their exercise calories back that assume that those of us who do, are eating them back in the form of pies and cakes and cookies and other unhealthy treats... :noway:

stroutman81

Ah the great divide between eating your exercise calories and not. I honestly don't care whether anyone else eats theirs back or not. The biggest head scratcher for me is the large number of people who don't eat their exercise calories back that assume that those of us who do, are eating them back in the form of pies and cakes and cookies and other unhealthy treats... :noway:

Haha, welcome to the fitness world. Everything is viewed with polarized lenses. Everyone excludes the middle... false dichotomy or whatever you want to call it.. Which is why I said there certainly is not a right or wrong here that can be globally applied to everyone.

PAM1164

I was reading another post that mentioned you should eat your BMR calories instead of the 1200 recommended by MFP. It also mentioned you should eat most of your exercise calories. I would like to see what everyone think of this scenario.

sleepytexan

I was reading another post that mentioned you should eat your BMR calories instead of the 1200 recommended by MFP. It also mentioned you should eat most of your exercise calories. I would like to see what everyone think of this scenario.

works for me and makes me happy!

stroutman81

Yeah, for the most part I'm a fan of eating at least your BMR. There are instances where that's not the case... but they're definitely exceptions to the rule.

As for also eating back your exercise calories... I feel like a broken record... but it's going to depend. I know the world would be a lot simpler if there were right/wrong, black/white propositions but it's simply not the case. The real world comes in many shades of gray.

By the way... when calculating BMR with my clients, assuming they're not crazy lean or very overweight, I'll simply multiply their weight by 10. For the vast majority of folks, this is going to be a close estimation.

o4itsme

I suppose I may not have expressed my concern clearly . Since I am new to the site, I didn't know how MFP set their program. I was more so wondering if the program was: you burn calories then you eat those calories. I guess I am just better off knowing the specifics. I didn't really notice a handbook or a guideline area. I was mainly wondering how the program was written to work. I'm not saying I don't want to hear your opinions because I love all the advice, but more so the black and white answer of how MFP wants you to use their program.

Rae6503

MFP tells a lot of people to consume 1200 calories who likely shouldn't be.

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.

I feel this way exactly. WHY do so many people try for 2lbs / week or 1200 calories? WHY make it hard? Chances of staying with it when it's hard are pretty low...

Rae6503

I suppose I may not have expressed my concern clearly . Since I am new to the site, I didn't know how MFP set their program. I was more so wondering if the program was: you burn calories then you eat those calories. I guess I am just better off knowing the specifics. I didn't really notice a handbook or a guideline area. I was mainly wondering how the program was written to work. I'm not saying I don't want to hear your opinions because I love all the advice, but more so the black and white answer of how MFP wants you to use their program.

MFP wants you to eat the calories.

o4itsme

Ya I am a goof and re-read what I originally posted asking for opinions. *shakes head*

MrsCon40

I suppose I may not have expressed my concern clearly . Since I am new to the site, I didn't know how MFP set their program. I was more so wondering if the program was: you burn calories then you eat those calories. I guess I am just better off knowing the specifics. I didn't really notice a handbook or a guideline area. I was mainly wondering how the program was written to work. I'm not saying I don't want to hear your opinions because I love all the advice, but more so the black and white answer of how MFP wants you to use their program.

Look at the sticky notes at the beginning of each forum category - that's more or less the user guides for the site! :flowerforyou: