exercise calories

rozie229

Hi! I am new to this site and love it. I am a former Weight Watcher person. I got to goal and now have gained 15 lbs back and want to get t off! Bored with the point system. My question is when i was doing weight watchers I never used my exercise points that I accumlated. If i did no wayyyy would I lose. On fitnesspal i see they add the calories you burned to your total. For example saying i still need to eat over 300 calories!! I am like what!!! No way can i do that. I need nelp!!!!

3ricaAnn

If you want/ need to you can use your exercise calories but the point is to try not and if you do do not go over whar you have earned. You can still lose weight if you don't use all the exercise calories but not as much as you would if you didnt eat them at all. Hope this makes sense and helps.

lindyhula

I know what you mean but that is becuse its supposed to be gradual weight loss..maybe you should change your goal to loosing more weight a bit quicker . also you dont have to eat those extra calories if you dont feel the need. my problem is the no alcohol i find it hard to go without but its loaded with calories so i have to..good luck!

Michelle_M2002

To loose two pounds of fat a week, you need to eat 1,000 calories less per day than you burn.
If you eat 500 calories less than you burn on a daily basis, then you'll loose on average 1 pound of fat a week.

Exercising will increase your metabolism, so you'd be able to eat more per day and still loose weight.

If you can afford it, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting a Bodybugg or Bodymedia. You wear it on your left arm and it tells you, with 90% accuracy, how many calories you are burning. You set it to show you your target goal for calories burned, and then use that to figure out if you need to be more active to hit your target. It also helps you keep track of how many calories you are eating.

So at any point during the day you can look at your display and see what your calorie deficit is for the day.

I found that I wasn't burning as many calories as I thought I was, and so I was eating too many calories, and thus, my weight loss slowed to almost nothing. But now I KNOW that on a daily basis I'm burning AT LEAST 2600 calories, and thus know that my calorie intake needs to be around 1600. If I burn more, I eat more. If I burn less, I alter my calorie intake for that day. I don't work out on Sundays, so I burn less, so I eat less on Sundays.

God bless!

grassette

Hi, I'm a former WW watcher's too, having lost, and gained it all back. At the end of my WW, I felt so starved! And started gaining right away. But I did not want to pay fees for what I had gained back, and stopped going to meetings.

Then some research came out that said that by dieting, we would go into starvation mode. And then, when the starvation (fasting) stopped, then it was time to FEAST!!!! Built into our systems by our ancestors when game was scarce and when plentiful, it was time to build up the fat reserves again.

This approach is different. I had not been losing weight, so I've stopped eating back my exercise. Not entirely---I'm not a fanatic about it because I don't want ever to be so famished again.

My sense is that if you are at goal weight, you are in that critical period where you don't want to trigger the FEAST imperative, and take back your losses. So I am not sure you should change systems in this critical period until your weight stabilizes. But I don't know enough about the science to give you solid advice. I just speak to my experience, and what I hope to avoid on this diet.

grassette

Hi, I'm a former WW watcher's too, having lost, and gained it all back. At the end of my WW, I felt so starved! And started gaining right away. But I did not want to pay fees for what I had gained back, and stopped going to meetings.

Then some research came out that said that by dieting, we would go into starvation mode. And then, when the starvation (fasting) stopped, then it was time to FEAST!!!! Built into our systems by our ancestors when game was scarce and when plentiful, it was time to build up the fat reserves again.

This approach is different. I had not been losing weight, so I've stopped eating back my exercise. Not entirely---I'm not a fanatic about it because I don't want ever to be so famished again.

My sense is that if you are at goal weight, you are in that critical period where you don't want to trigger the FEAST imperative, and take back your losses. So I am not sure you should change systems in this critical period until your weight stabilizes. But I don't know enough about the science to give you solid advice. I just speak to my experience, and what I hope to avoid on this diet.

CakeFit21

You should def. be eating your exercise cals.

amymeenieminymo

If you want/ need to you can use your exercise calories but the point is to try not and if you do do not go over whar you have earned. You can still lose weight if you don't use all the exercise calories but not as much as you would if you didnt eat them at all. Hope this makes sense and helps.

That's actually not the point of them. The point is to eat them, that's why they add them back into your total. MFP already builds a calorie deficit into your total, you are already eating the right amount of calories to burn a pound a week or whatever your goal is. If you don't eat your E calories back, you may not be getting enough fuel. Yes food can make you fat, but your body also needs it to run properly.

Read the newbie links about this, it's all explained there and very helpful.

BProudOfU

Even though my exercise calories add back to my allowable calories, I don't eat all those calories. There are times when I just need a little something extra, so exercise calories are like a cushion if I go over.

OnMyWay2STay

This question comes up often. If you don't lose weight when you eat your exercise calories, but you do lose weight when you skip them, something is wrong with the formula you are using.

Two possibilities come to mind. 1) You are using an overestimate of the calories that you burn during exercise. Or 2) you are using an overestimate of the calories that you burn without exercise (BMR).

Try to figure out which and adjust accordingly.

My guess is this: you work out several times each week, so you put yourself as "active" in the MFP calculator. But MFP doesn't count exercise until you do it. Unless you are "active" at your job and don't count it as exercise, you should put "sedentary" as your lifestyle. Working out is separate.

MrsJax11

If you are hungry, eat them. If you are not hungry and have netted at least 1000-1200 for the day (depending on your size), don't eat them. If you are not hungry and netting under 1000, try a 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 a banana or piece of fruit....or nuts....
I eat back at least 50% of mine and have consistently been losing, and feeling great.

DRJJ2004

Honestly..to each their own. Some people eat them and some don't. Some people eat just some of them. I think you have to find out what work for you.
I feel that if I'm hungry..then I'll eat. If I'm not...I don't. I'm not going to eat extra calories just because they are there. That's not how I want to live. That's how I got this way. There are a million posts on here about eating extra calories..I read a TON of them and everone is so divided. That's when I decided that everyone uses what they think is right. Again..find out what works for you. It's a learning process, but once you figure it out...you're golden!! :O) Good luck!

amymeenieminymo

Hi! I am new to this site and love it. I am a former Weight Watcher person. I got to goal and now have gained 15 lbs back and want to get t off! Bored with the point system. My question is when i was doing weight watchers I never used my exercise points that I accumlated. If i did no wayyyy would I lose. On fitnesspal i see they add the calories you burned to your total. For example saying i still need to eat over 300 calories!! I am like what!!! No way can i do that. I need nelp!!!!

300 calories is 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (or nutella) and a glass of skim milk. You can't do that? Obviously it doesn't have to be PB and milk, but 300 extra really isn't that much depending on what you eat. I mean, don't eat a chocolate cake to get them in, but there are plenty of good for you, calorie dense foods that you can eat without stuffing yourself.

rozie229

Thank u all. My head is spinning but i "think" i get it!!!!

rozie229

I may have to change to sedentry. I am retired (young though 56) and am constantly on the go. SO i put down moderate. Maybe i should change it. Thanks!

rozie229

Confused?? R u saying dont stop Weight Watchers? I always have the good thinbgs i learned with WW in mind. I am not at goal now. I have gaibed back almost 15 lbs. I was thinking counting calories (using the knowledge of WW).

MrsJax11

I may have to change to sedentry. I am retired (young though 56) and am constantly on the go. SO i put down moderate. Maybe i should change it. Thanks!

I am always moving, too....I don't sit unless I am on the computer, or very rarely at work when I am doing planning and such. I have mine set at lightly active. From some other sites I have read that translates to spending a good amount of your day on your feet and about 2 hours of activity around your house daily (cooking, cleaning, laundry.) If I workout I log it, and when I do more than 2 hours of stuff at home (that ends up being yard work usually) I log that also...especially if I am working really hard and sweating...
You may also want to try one setting for a week or two, see how it goes, and adjust if needed.
Good luck!