is it ok to eat our exercise cals?

natscho79
natscho79 Posts: 7 Member
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi

Newbie here....

I did some exercise today and although i went over my daily allowance (first day of period :mad: ) i still have 200 cals left from working out. i thought i was going to be over my allowance.

Is that ok or should i be sticking to 1200 only even if i exercise?

Thanks in advance

Natalie

Replies

  • Forensic
    Forensic Posts: 468 Member
    Eat them (or most of them!) Mfp puts in a defecit for you, so that's perfectly fine.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Yes. You are supposed to.
  • natscho79
    natscho79 Posts: 7 Member
    Brilliant thanks guys :-) i'm so pleased about that. good to know i can have a bad day and make up for it in exercise.
  • cagcooper
    cagcooper Posts: 15 Member
    Yep...eat most of them or you will put yourself in starvation mode where your body will store everything you eat.
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
    It's up to you if you eat them or not. You will get different answers here. I personally do not eat them because it feels like I wasted a workout. I'm also not hungry if I don't eat them back and I don't lose weight if I do eat them back. So it's really personal opinion.
  • davidpm
    davidpm Posts: 208 Member
    I try to split the difference. Your body needs some additional calories that you burned while working out, but I also look at exercise as another means to BURN calories and lose weight, as opposed to being a reason to eat more. So if I burn 500 calories on my workout, I'll usually eat another 200-250 and take the rest as additional burn towards my weight loss goals.
  • lind3400
    lind3400 Posts: 557 Member
    Yeh I try not to unless im sooooooooooooo hungry but I technically already ate my allowed calories so I ignore my exercise ones.....
  • whateverdamnit
    whateverdamnit Posts: 130
    It's up to you if you eat them or not. You will get different answers here. I personally do not eat them because it feels like I wasted a workout. I'm also not hungry if I don't eat them back and I don't lose weight if I do eat them back. So it's really personal opinion.

    Agreed! I only eat back a little bit. I don't see a point in working out if I'm just going to eat back what I burned off!
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    Yep...eat most of them or you will put yourself in starvation mode where your body will store everything you eat.

    Wow that's an incredible generalisation! I dont eat them, and many other don't, and we arent in starvation mode! Try not to generalise so much!

    OP, just do a search on these boards for "exercise calories", and you'll find 39683963 threads on the subject, with every possible vewpoint from "EAT THEM ALL!1!1!" to "DON'T EAT ANY OF THEM, ELSE WHY BOTHER EXERCISING!21!!", and everything in between.

    Conclusion? Everyone is different, try eating them, eating some of them, and eating none of them, and see what works best for you personally! There is no concrete answer.
  • AveretteG
    AveretteG Posts: 1
    I'm a newbie:
    When I first saw them it was like....wow! :love:
    But then I found myself searching for something else to eat.
    I try not to eat them. Only if I have a really hungry moment. Best thing to do though is make wise choices with them.
    One of my friends used her exercise cals for ice cream!!! :cry:
    It's a personal issue. The more you lose the less calories you'll need. On the other hand, why exercise to eat more? :wink:
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 507 Member
    here we go....
  • emilynicole02
    emilynicole02 Posts: 355 Member
    I try to split the difference. Your body needs some additional calories that you burned while working out, but I also look at exercise as another means to BURN calories and lose weight, as opposed to being a reason to eat more. So if I burn 500 calories on my workout, I'll usually eat another 200-250 and take the rest as additional burn towards my weight loss goals.

    i second this.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    yes, you can and should eat your exercise calories. good work!
  • natscho79
    natscho79 Posts: 7 Member
    wow thanks for the further advice, its all appreciated. basically i've been doing this for a week and changed from weight watchers were you can eat your exercise points if you wish but you dont have to.

    So far i've pretty much gone over a little each time i've worked out (so i think one day i earnt 650 ish cals and used about 200 of them). today ive had 'one of them days' and just wanted to make sure that if i have those days one in a while its not a disaster as i've done a good workout that day.

    loving mfp so far :-)
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/index2.html

    There are a bunch of links in this page, and you should spend sometime to read them. So you can understand how MFP works, etc.

    You only have 20 lb to lose, make sure you eat them ALL back. Also, try to set your goal to lose 0.5 - 1 lb a week, no more.
  • Rachaelluvszipped
    Rachaelluvszipped Posts: 768 Member
    Just one thing specific.. don't fill up on excess carbs.. try and gain the cals through healthy choices, such as fruits, nuts, veggies..its a work in progress..basically what it is..think about how a car would run..if you drive far..does it not need gas or fuel? Well, thats how our bodies work..needs fuel..trust me..I noticed if I don't eat the right foods, I can feel sluggish or dizzy..totally not a good feeling...just gotta be prepared..because you will have those crazy ravenous days..that make you stop what your doing and go...OMG...FOOD.... so, I myself try to get it in..but man, its a work in progress for me.. Hopefully that helps...:flowerforyou:
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    Your calorie goal on here is set to make you lose weight already, without ANY exercise. If you exercise and eat all of the calories back you will still lose weight, unless you are overestimating the worth of your workout, or not properly measuring/logging your food.
  • pvtnick
    pvtnick Posts: 18 Member
    Everyone has their opinions so here is mine. If I earn say 400 calories in exercise I may eat roughly 150-200 of them but never more. You lose weight by burning more energy that you take in so I figure if I don't eat all my exercise calories that's just more weight gone. The person who's friend eats all her calories in ice cream? That's going to cost in the long run because she filling up with empty calories. To each their own I guess.
  • layne199
    layne199 Posts: 5
    I have found that if I don't eat most of them back....my scale doesn't change! I'm sure it is different for everybody.

    9952880.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • ginique
    ginique Posts: 49 Member
    It's entirely up to you. For me personally, I really don't care. Sometimes I eat them back, sometimes I don't; it all depends on how I feel. Ultimately, as long as I'm keeping my net caloric intake below maintenance and above 1200, I'm good.
  • Riverofbeauty
    Riverofbeauty Posts: 205 Member
    I never really take into account the exercise calories...I log them, but I take more notice of my intake calories, not net calories. If I'm hungry, I'll eat, if not, then I'm not going to force myself to just because my net calories are low.

    (Although keep in mind the most calories I would use exercising in a day is 300, it's probably a different story if you're burning 500+).
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