Do you eat the calories that you burnt?

andrea7164

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if you eat that calories that you burnt through exercise?
According to mfp it seems that this is what is expected?

What are your thoughts?

lynnmarie60

I eat most of them but I'd like to have leftover at least 50-100 just for a peace of mind.

JosephineClare

A friend of mine is a personal trainer. She said you need to eat 1200 calories per day for your body to function properly and lose weight heathily. Less than that and you start losing mucsle not fat. I aim for 1200 calories and don't tend to include what I have exercised off, although this does get included sometimes.

december8teen

If I burn a substantial amount (for example: above 500 cals), I'll eat at least half back. If it's a short workout like a 30-45 minutes jog/run which I'll only burn about 200-250 cals, I may or may not eat them; depending if I have net my daily intake at 1200 or not.

ackeebee

i do eat my exercise calories. on an average day i burn between 400 and 500 calories and i will eat all or almost all these calories. once a week i do zumba and i usually have a bigger burn between 750 and 850 and it is usually a struggle to eat all these calories so i aim to eat at least half of them bearing in mind my daily allowance without exercise is already 1550 calories.

the only downside i find with eating my exercise calories is that because i only go to the gym 4 days a week, on the 3 days i dont workout, i sometimes have a problem sticking to my allowed calorie limit as i am so used to eating more.

tinastanley

On average I earn 800-900 cals a day for exercise. I always eat most of them back leaving maybe 100 - 200 cals. If I don't, I feel hungry. At first I wasn't doing that I would just strictly eat my 1200 cals and not my extra calories from exercise and I wasn't losing weight. When I started eating more of what I earned from working out, I started to lose more weight. If you don't eat enough calories your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose. :happy: Hope this helps.

ShaSimone

I try to hit my daily calorie goal and let the exercise calories be extra deficit or cushion. It's a matter of what you want to do. When MFP does your daily calorie goal it is already factoring in your deficit to lose the amount you want (1lb/week) without factoring in any exercise calories burned. So exercise will add to your deficit. But if you exercise to eat or bank calories (special occasion/weekend) then that's up to you. I use mine for a little extra cushion in case I am hungry or want to give myself a little treat that day. Hope this helps.

therealangd

I eat mine. All of them.

KiyaK

Have you read this?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

It explains the reasoning behind eating exercise calories back. As well as lots of other great info.