Eating my workout calories?

Femtec74

Hi guys,

I know that you need to eat at least 1200 calories a day to keep your body going, but if I earn calories working out, do I need to use them? What do you guys think?

IAmTheAwesomest

for me it depends.
if I'm hungry yes if not no.

baisleac

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

baisleac

for me it depends.
if I'm hungry yes if not no.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

ejmcam

I really think its different for everyone. I lost almost 25 lbs (17 since joining MFP) and I never eat all my exercise calories back. I do usually eat some of them. Some people swear you have to, but its never been an issue for me. I think if you hit a plateau it might be good to try it and see if it helps you out.

lauristewart

I usually do not eat my exercise calories. If I am hungry, maybe but usually I do not. It works for me! Good luck!

Rompa_87

I would also recommend eating your exercise calories if you want to maintain lean muscle mass and lose fat.

If you don't care about what kind of weight you lose though then I'd probably eat at least half back still

aippolito1

YES YES YES. 1200 calorie minimum isn't TOTAL of 1200 calories. If you exercise and burn off say, 1/3 of that, you don't really have 1200 calories' worth of fuel in your body.

base calories - exercise = NET


Sooo... my base is 1367. Today I burned 561 calories. If I only ate 1367 calories, my net would be only 806 calories, so today I will eat enough calories to get my net to 1200 at the LEAST.

Femtec74

Thanks for the advise guys. I always thought that if I ate the minimum and didn't use my extra calories that would help me lose weight faster but I usually get hungry after I go to bed. I'll try eating all my calories and see what happens.

Femtec74

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

Love it

Rompa_87

Good to see other supporters

I always say eat to make up your exercise deficits. My base caloric intake is around 2100 calories a day. I burn almost that much on my weekend exercise sessions. If I didn't eat calories back then I'd be at a net of 0 or sometimes negative calories...

Even if your exercise isn't quite as extreme your body will canabalise your fat free mass if you eat too little...Less muscle mass = slower metabolism = harder to lose fat in future.

Keep your base at minimum but eat back to cover your base and exercise