CONFUSED WITH EXERCISE CALORIES! Help!

dwallior3326

Can ANYONE help me or give me advice on eating your exercise calories?? I don't know why it confuses me so much! I want to know the benefits of eating them VS not eating them...and why does MFP say I'm eating "too few calories" when I'm only under by <50!?

ninerbuff

Say MFP figures that if you eat 1400 calories a day, you'll lose 1lb a week. That means that 1400 calories ALREADY leaves you in a deficit (-500) from maintenance. Now if you exercise and burn 300 calories if you added that to the -500 it would become -800 calories total. While not crazy, if you are under 200lbs, then -800 might be rough to deal with. So by eating back the 300 calories, you're still on track to have a -500 calorie deficit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

melaniecheeks

The maths is easy enough to understand. Sadly, our bodies aren't robots, and the simple "add this, then subtract that" doesn't always work for everyone.

Make sure you take in at least 1200 calories.

If you exercise, your body will need some fuel, so add in some more.

But remember that everything you eat, and the amount your expend in exercise, are only approximations, so don't be a slave to the numbers.

AH2013

I was losing when I was eating only half my exercise calories back and not when I was eating all of them back.....I found out that the reason for that is that you have to really know exactly how many calories you are burning during your exercise, do not rely solely on the MFP database, or machine for your calories. I was working out on my cross trainer and it was telling me I was burning 600-700 cals in 45 mins, however when I recently got an HRM it told me I was only burning 350-400 cals in that same time. As with my dog walks, MFP was drastically overestimating them also, so each day I was pretty much in maintenance.
It's fine to eat back your exercise calories, as everyone will no doubt tell you to do, but just be really honest with everything you are eating and careful about what you're logging as exercise.

monkeymouse74

A Heart rate monitor is the only real way to find out your calorie burn, and like so many others on this site, I've found mfp exercise calories to be over exagerated. If you dont have a HRM, someone told me to take about 10% off the stated calorie count on mfp to get a more realistic view. and just eat healthy and carefully.

annabellj

I am at 1480 a day and I exercise a lot so I can eat a lot. i sometime eat half of what I burn and sometime not. i feel good eating about 1600 a day. but it varies. 5'8" and 168

dwallior3326

Thanks everyone!! I'm still looking to buy a HRM, I now see how important they are!