Exercise Calories- To Eat or Not to Eat

sweetsteph03

Ok, so I am getting conflicting info... I see people on here saying to eat your exercise calories. I recently started personal training again at a hardcore cross fit place and my trainier says to NOT eat my exercise calories. I am more apt to want to listnen to the big buff guy who works out for a living, but 1,200 calories a day is not that much and to work out hard on top of it... Please let me know what other professionals have told you to do.

taso42_DELETED

want to be lean and mean? eat
want to be skinny and frail? don't eat

kerriknox

want to be lean and mean? eat
want to be skinny and frail? don't eat

^^What he said.

NoExcuseTina

EAT back your calories!!!!

NoExcuseTina

READ THIS (why you should eat to lose):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/187973-an-email-response-that-might-help-some?page=1#posts-2493477

PediDocChicago

when i've tried something similar in the past (WW points, +/- exercise points) I found that if I ate all the exercise calories, I didn't really lose. BUT... depends on the level of exercise... if you're working out hard and burning 500 kcal, 1200 kcal is just not enough. I would try spliting the difference... eat half the exercise calories for a week or two and see how it goes?
good luck!

RNewton4269

My trainer told me to eat back my exercise calories if I am hungry. If I am not don't. I eat them back sometimes..and sometimes I don't. Depends on the day. Have to have calories to fuel the body..and well when you do that you lose weight!

Good luck..

LemonSocks

I'd say eat most of them. Leave 100 - 200 for mistakes/miscalculations.

SarahofTwins

I use to eat a little of my exercise calories but now I try to eat them all. It makes a world of a difference too:drinker:

jlc1243

Why not put it to a test? Try one for one week (or 2) and see your results. Then, try it the other way and compare.

Ifican

Actually both are correct depending on your need. However in most cases you will want to eat your calories though its not imperative to stuff yourself to do it. Now for just a moment, i have only ever met and i am not saying there arnt any out there, but i have only ever met a single personal trainer that could adapt to anyone and knew what they were talking about. The big buff ones are usually, now no haters cause i am not saying all, are usually genetically inclined to looking that way. Granted they put in hard work but they usually cannot adapt and know what worked for them. Starting talking to them about how the body metabolizes different things, why it does so and general physiology and your get a dear in the head lights looks or an attitude about why your questioning them.

Now enough bashing the knucklehead trainers out there. Your body needs calories and your sensibility tells you 1200 is not enough and your right. MFP has already built in your calorie deficit, to be far, reach your goals and be safe never go to zero, cant say how much to leave but MFP for most exercises over estimates calories burned or does not give you Net calorie burn so you think you have more then you do. If youve burned 200 sure you can leave them, if youve burned 2000 you should be starving enough to know you should eat. Wont go to much more into it now but if you want more info feel free to ask.

mermx

I am on the 1200 cals a day and if your lean mean trainer machine is working your butt...then I would say YES eat back your exercise cals.

Does he do nutritional advice too? If he is a trainer then he should be advising you with this also.

But go girl go!!!! x

taso42_DELETED

Why not put it to a test? Try one for one week (or 2) and see your results. Then, try it the other way and compare.

Try 4-8 weeks. 1-2 weeks may be too short to see a difference either way

melaniecheeks

If you've burned off loads of calories exercsing, your body is going to need some extra fuel.

the trouble comes in calculating how much exactly. Any measure of what you've burned, whether machine at the gym, MFP guide or an HRM is only an estimate.

Likewise, it's hard to be ultra precise about what you've eaten during the day - there's easily a +/- 10% in there.
So by all means give your body some decent fuel before and after your workout, but dont get too hung up on the maths, our bodies are not robots.

stormieweather

Keep in mind when talking to your trainer that MFP has already created a deficit for you without you lifting a finger. Often, trainers are completely unaware of this (because most food logging sites do NOT do this) and they are expecting your deficit to be created mostly or completely from your workouts. Since this is what they are assuming, they would recommend you NOT eat back your exercise calories. But that would effectively double your deficit (or at least make it a lot bigger than you or your trainer presumably planned). You could use MFP either way...ie:

Enter your goal as maintain your weight and then DO NOT eat back your exercise calories
(ie: 1800 calories to maintain - 600 calorie workout = 1200 net eaten)

OR

Enter your goal as lose X pounds and DO eat back your exercise calories.
(ie: 1200 calories to lose - 600 calorie workout + 600 exercise calories eaten = 1200 net eaten)

Either way you will eat the same quantity.

atomdraco

Simply there are 2 ways to lose weight:

1. MFP
If you are using MFP's auto set goal, which set up how much lb you want to lose (which I think that's how your setting is are right now because of only 1200 cal), MFP has already created enough deficit to help you lose weight.

In this case, when you workout and logging your exercises, you will see more calories are being added. ===========> EAT them back!!!

2. Typical trainer method
You can have your trainer to calculate how much calories a day you need for maintenance (OR use MFP to set as maintaining your current weight). In this case, when you exercises, you don't need to eat those calories back. Simply because the exercise earned calories will become your deficit to help you lose weight.

So choose either method, but not doing both. Hope this helps.

The gym trainer I had at the beginning of my journey, she's doing the MFP way. She calculated my calories for just putting up my feet up whole day (a little over 1200), then tell me if I workout to burn 300, eat those 300 back.

theitalian3721

want to be lean and mean? eat
want to be skinny and frail? don't eat

BRILLIANT!

sweetsteph03

Thanks everyone!
I appreciate your comments. I think I am going to follow my heart (and tummy) and eat back my calories burned from cardio. I figure, since February I have lost 45 pounds total... I suppose I am doing something right! LOL!
I have hit a plateau and am experiencing very slow weight loss. To change things up I decided to do cross fit. It is pricey and I guess I feel like I need to make sure I get results. The calorie counting can be so simple and so hard at the same time!