Exercise Calories??

DSteele83

My exercise calories are going to be through the roof today, as I have already worked out once this morning and I'm getting ready to take my little one swimming, and I still have Zumba tonight. I normally try to eat dinner before I go and have a small snack when I get home. Do I need to eat all of my exercise calories back? I am having a hard time finding a balance.

Any advice help is greatly appreciated!!!!

Purplebunnysarah

On huuuge burn days try to eat as many as you can and try to net at least 1200. Don't eat low fat stuff... go for the full fat variety but make sure it's still unprocessed (or minimally processed) good, healthy food. Add in some nuts, some avocado, some cheese. Use oil when cooking. Every little bit adds up!

graysmom2005

If you still have 86 pounds to go, then I wouldn't worry to much about it. Maybe try and net 1200, but I lost the bulk of my weight with huge deficits. It wasn't until I got closer to my goal that eating them back became vital. HTH!

stanvoodoo

Agree, just try stay close to 1200 net, alittle low is ok if only 1 day.

Aim for high protein foods, stay away from sodium and simple carbs.

Make sure you get in LOTS of water to rehydrate!

Congrats on such a great burn!

earthnut

I try not to eat any exercise calories.

momcindy

The exercise calories confuse me. I thought the idea was to burn more calories through exercise to lose weight, not so I can eat more.

joanieizme

Can you please explain to me what you mean about "net" 1200 calories? This is all new to me as well, and I want to get a good start. Thank you!

Joanie

lcarter25

You are meant to net at least 1200 so if you exercise and burn 400 then you are only taking in 1200.

This isn't good if you are near goal weight but as your not you should be fine.

But from what I read its very important to eat at least some of your exercise calories if you do not have that much to lose or are near goal weight, you don't want you body to get used to surviving on very little calories

Lparr88

im having the same problem ok so heres my diary today:

GOAL: 1200

FOOD:1284

EXCERSISE: 1129

NET: 155

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!!

em1976

Bumping banks post back to the top,please read it.

lcarter25

LParr 88 you need to eat alot more!

It means your body has taken in 120!!

Your n should be at least 1200

I am no expert but if you keep doing that you could risk your weightloss slowing down - try and do a search on exercise calories and you will find lots of info

alyssamiller77

There are two reasons not to go too low on your net calories. First is just from a simple energy perspective. Calorires are fuel and you can really run yourself into the ground quickly if you don't replace the calories you burn off. The second reason that is discussed on this forum quite frequently is the concept of your body going into "starvation mode". When you don't get enough net calories (actual calories eaten - calories burned in exercise) your body actually slows your metabolism and stores as much fat as possible.

That said, as long as you get enough calories to keep your energy levels up (you'll definitely feel it if you're not getting enough) one day with a bigger than normal deficit isn't going to send your body into starvation. In fact as someone else noted sometimes a day like that sprinkled in among regular days can really boost your weight loss (or at least that's been my experience).

graysmom2005

im having the same problem ok so heres my diary today:

GOAL: 1200

FOOD:1284

EXCERSISE: 1129

NET: 155

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!!

That means you have over 1000 calories to consume. LOL. With all that exercise it is now as if you have only eaten 155 calories. All day. And just for the body to function it needs 1200. Just to FUNCTION. You need to eat enough until your net says at least 1200. This has been repeated MANY times, but to those who don't understand why people eat their calories, it's because MFP has ALREADY factored in a 500 calorie deficit. It treats this program as if you aren't going to exercise...so if you don't eat them back your deficit will be too big and the weight loss can stall...like mine did....for almost TWO YEARS! The exercise is crucial though for metabolism and for muscle building. :-) HTH!

Lparr88

ok thanks very much!

i am still losing the weight though ive lost 9lbs in 4 weeks and i dont do that kind of excersise often

stephyy4632

you should have the fallowing info on your main page at the top this is currently what I have showing and in order to Net 1200 cals I need to eat alittle over 900 more today between dinner and evening snacks. But I am planning to work out again tonight and will burn around 200-300 more cal`s and knowing this I will need to eat 1200 more between dinner and evening snacks. dose that make sence

also love the post that Bank made you all should really take the time to read it if you don`t understand why we should eat back our exercise cals.



961-Calories Remaining



Goal-1230

Food-1206

Exercise-937

= Net =269

Lparr88

so basically eat back what you have burned off?

will this still lose the wieght?

dad106

It's really all about you and your body. If you can don't feel hungry not eating them, then don't eat them. If you feel hungry, then go ahead and eat them.

I plan out my day without exercise so that I can pretty close to my goal and then add exercise. I then use those calories for something like ice cream or a few cookies after dinner.. not exactly what a lot of people would recommend, but it works for me.

lcarter25

so basically eat back what you have burned off?

will this still lose the wieght?

Yes.

And I know you said you have lost 9lbs - but that's now! If you carry on burning loads (I know you said this was a one of so this Si just hypothetical) and not eating enough you will plateau

Bamacraft

Lparr88 - also be sure you are burning that many calories in exercise. thats a lot. how do you mesure? I'm not calling you out...just making sure thats accurate. if so, then resort to the cal intake Qs.

Lparr88

walking fast pace: 120 mins 517 cals

swimming, general 90 mins 612 cals

alyssamiller77

Those look like pretty reasonable numbers to me.

psuLemon

ok thanks very much!

i am still losing the weight though ive lost 9lbs in 4 weeks and i dont do that kind of excersise often

You will still lose. The advantage of eating your exercise calories, is two fold: First, when you lose weight, you won't be losing muscle. When you create a large deficit, your body has to look in other areas for energy. The first place it looks is fat storage but the second is muscle (due to the proteins). The second reason is your body needs a certain amount of calories to keep your system ago, aka brain function, organ function and metabolism. Increasing deficits can affect it. Think of it liek the gas you have in your car. I bet you can't drive 300 miles on E right? So why would you run your body on E?


I eat 3000 calories a day. I am still losing weight (not much) but I am at 12% body fat. I burn 1% body fat a month. I am hoping to be at 9% by October. Do not be afraid to eat. Those who are will plateau quickly and they all come back on here asking why they plateaud. I can tell you from exeperience, every time I have plateau'd I have upped my calories by 200+ and continued the weight loss again.

Lparr88

those are according to MFP, i think ill stick to what i know and have heard tonight

Bamacraft

yep, agree. i wished i could swim for 90 minutes! Thas a great workout and better on the joints than my running. I wouldnt worry about eating all those calories, especially since you don't do that daily. A big glass of chocolate milk after a long cardio session is good. not sure what your appetite is but something with protein..a few boiled eggs and some fresh fruit OR maybe a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat (Arnolds has a good bread and is high in cals). That would get you some additional cals and not fill you up so much to miss a meal later in the day. if you are doing these exercises in the late evening i would not worry about eating as much as maybe having a glass of chocolate milk immediatley afterward and then maybe yogurt? eating tooo much late will ineterfere with your sleep which is a must after a long workout day. I prefer my cardio early morning before breakfast. just my 2 cents..good luck.

ImperfektAngel

why did you workout so much?

Lparr88

didnt intend to i walked to the swimming baths then swam then walked home lol