Should I eat the added calories after exercising?

gabrielaweir

Whenever I exercise, the system adds the burned calories to my daily goal. Should I eat that or stick to my original weight? I am trying to lose not maintain!

GreekByMarriage

Depends on how many calories you are set to eat per day... if you are set at 1200 then yes... eat them back.

rockerbabyy

eat em up
unless you included your exercise in your daily activity level settings, theres no reason to not eat them. MFP creates a deficit for you before you add exercise, so if your goal is 1500 a day, and you eat that, youll lose. if you eat 1500 and then exercise 500 (taking you to 1000 net) and eat that 500 back, your deficit is still the same and youll lose the same amount as if you hadnt exercised.
if you have a HRM and get m ore accurate calories burns, eat them all. sometimes mfp can overestimate calories burned, so if you just use those numbers, eat maybe half to 75% of them to leave a buffer in case of error. i find mfp can be off anywhere from 10-150 calories for me when compared to my HRM

gabrielaweir

Thanks for the responses! I am set at 1600 calories a day.

WindyN

I asked myself the same question. I decided that if I don't eat the extra calories, I should lose weight quicker. But, if I am a bit hungry, I should eat them, so I won't binge.

gemmaldavies

good topic. i find it best to add the exercise as soon as its done coz otherwise if i add at the very end of the night - im thinking great 500 cals to binge!!! aarrrgghhhhhhh.......

always best though to leave a few extra on there, plus u need the calories and food to lose the weight so your body doesnt think its starving and lower ur metabolism.

dad106

Def.eat.. in fact I'm wishing right now I had more to eat!

All this weight lifting is making me want to eat a horse.. and then some!

georgia98_98

Should I eat all my calories?

Yes. MFP is already figuring a deficit for you to lose weight. This deficit is based on what you need to eat based on your everyday activity, not counting exercise. In the end, it's all about "net calories" (you can view yours under reports)

Example: you need to eat 2,000 calories to maintain your current weight (random number)
MFP will tell you to eat 1,500 to lose one pound per week (500x7=3500=one pound loss).

Let's say you exercise, and burn 500 additional calories.
UH-OH, now you are at a 1,000 calorie a day deficit. You need 2,000 calories to maintian, are already restricted to 1500, so now your net calories are a 1,000 a day. This is starvation central. Your body, which is very good at keeping you alive, will store and save calories. You WILL stop losing weight. You WILL want to throw your scale out the window.

Eat your exercise calories. At least eat most of them.

Question #2:
I'm eating 1200 calories, I feel like crap and I'm not losing weight. What gives?

Answer:
Run, don't walk, to "tools" and use the BMR calculator. Please, please, please, eat at least your BMR calories every day. You might lose weight more slowly, but you will still lose, and you will not longer feel a sudden urge to fall over every time you do, well, anything.

Samnmaxsmommy

this is a great responce, I just learned something new and will eat up all my extra cals

georgia98_98

Nalgh94

I was wondering the same thing, except I just finished my workout and MFP bumped my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 and I only ate 963 calories but it's 9:20 at night and I'm not sure I should be eating anymore this late at night or should I be eating a bit up to my limit regardless of time? Thanks

saycora

I JUST STARTED THIS AND I AM SO GLAD THAT THIS TOPIC CAME UP. I WANT TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT AND DONT WANT TO EAT THEM BACK BUT I GUESS I NEED TO

Lyndzer

Your estimated BMR is: 1,698 calories/day
But my fitness pal has me eating 1,200/day (if I don't work out at all.) and usually my daily exercise consists of walking my dogs to the park & cleaning my house. (at least until I get an appointment with my doctor/dietitian because I have athesma & am in a new climate that seems to really bother it)

So Im not eating my BMR.... this is bad?

Fitmom4boys

New here to and on the first msg board thread for General Newbies there is a ton of great articles/ posts about this topic...lots of scientific data stuff to explain why you should eat the excercise calories.... I think it say read first or something ....

Fitmom4boys

Okay , just looked to be exact...it is on the locked threat that says Lnk in mfp you'll want to read again and again...TONS of info there

TeresaC79

Your estimated BMR is: 1,698 calories/day
But my fitness pal has me eating 1,200/day (if I don't work out at all.) and usually my daily exercise consists of walking my dogs to the park & cleaning my house. (at least until I get an appointment with my doctor/dietitian because I have athesma & am in a new climate that seems to really bother it)

So Im not eating my BMR.... this is bad?

Yes. Your BMR is the number of calories your body need a day just to survive at rest. If you do any kind of walking, moving, etc. then your body is using more then your BMR. And you are already at a deficit so not eating them sends you too low.

Eat more calories.

TeresaC79

I was wondering the same thing, except I just finished my workout and MFP bumped my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 and I only ate 963 calories but it's 9:20 at night and I'm not sure I should be eating anymore this late at night or should I be eating a bit up to my limit regardless of time? Thanks

yes, you need to eat more calories. It isn't too late.

Go read this:

http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/eating-night-weight-gain-myth-or-fact

One aspect of weight management that is vital to understand is that we gain and lose weight over periods of time — weeks, months, years — not hour by hour. This happens as we take in more calories than we expend. Another important fact of metabolism is that our bodies do not stop working, even when we are sleeping! Hearts are beating, blood is circulating, lungs are functioning, brains are even working. This all takes energy — meaning we are still burning calories.

There is no magic time after which the body stores fat. For instance, if you eat the same exact meal at 6 pm or at 8 pm, is one more caloric than the other? No, each meal has the same number of calories. What really matters is the total amount of food and drink you have over the course of a week, or a month or longer, and how much energy you expend during that timeframe. Excess calories will be stored as fat over time, regardless of whether they are taken in during the day or night.

Nalgh94

I was wondering the same thing, except I just finished my workout and MFP bumped my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 and I only ate 963 calories but it's 9:20 at night and I'm not sure I should be eating anymore this late at night or should I be eating a bit up to my limit regardless of time? Thanks

yes, you need to eat more calories. It isn't too late.

Go read this:

http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/eating-night-weight-gain-myth-or-fact

One aspect of weight management that is vital to understand is that we gain and lose weight over periods of time — weeks, months, years — not hour by hour. This happens as we take in more calories than we expend. Another important fact of metabolism is that our bodies do not stop working, even when we are sleeping! Hearts are beating, blood is circulating, lungs are functioning, brains are even working. This all takes energy — meaning we are still burning calories.

There is no magic time after which the body stores fat. For instance, if you eat the same exact meal at 6 pm or at 8 pm, is one more caloric than the other? No, each meal has the same number of calories. What really matters is the total amount of food and drink you have over the course of a week, or a month or longer, and how much energy you expend during that timeframe. Excess calories will be stored as fat over time, regardless of whether they are taken in during the day or night.

Thank you very much! This is very useful information, I was always under the impression that weight loss is hindered if one ate after a certain time.

BlowYourMind

There is no magical time when your body starts storing food as fat, but don't overeat anyways.

MummyOfSeven

There are no ifs, ands or buts.
The short answer is yes :flowerforyou:

PrincessLou71186

I usually eat them back but if I'm not hungry then I'm not forcing myself to eat, I'll only end up being ill.

thelowcarbrecipes

If you do, what is the point of exercise if your goal is to lose weight, you might as well just not exercise and not eat any more.

it is also very hard to judge how many calories your exercise burned.

xcrushx28

Unless you are accurately tracking your TDEE using bodymedia etc. I would be careful eating those cals back....

RockaholicMama

Since I was working with a dietitian and had a set eating and work out plan, she always told me to eat back those calories. But, eat them back in healthy foods. Eat your colors, greens, reds, yellows, whites, stick with fruits, veggies and such. No junk food. Her advice definitely worked for me.

chauser1022

My personal trainer told me not to eat them back unless you are doing above and beyond your normal workouts then eat a bit more.

tataliciousd89

Def.eat.. in fact I'm wishing right now I had more to eat!

All this weight lifting is making me want to eat a horse.. and then some!

Hell yeah, and lots of protein. Your muscles need fuel or the exercise really wont do anything.

mrzpeep1

Your estimated BMR is: 1,698 calories/day
But my fitness pal has me eating 1,200/day (if I don't work out at all.) and usually my daily exercise consists of walking my dogs to the park & cleaning my house. (at least until I get an appointment with my doctor/dietitian because I have athesma & am in a new climate that seems to really bother it)

So Im not eating my BMR.... this is bad?

Yes. Your BMR is the number of calories your body need a day just to survive at rest. If you do any kind of walking, moving, etc. then your body is using more then your BMR. And you are already at a deficit so not eating them sends you too low.

Eat more calories.

ok so this is confusing. I'm not supposed to eat less that my "1600" BMR but MFP has me set up to eat 1200-1500 so I'm already below my BMR so thats BAD!!! Why would the calculate to eat below your BMR that doesn't sound right at all

tigersword

If you do, what is the point of exercise if your goal is to lose weight, you might as well just not exercise and not eat any more.

it is also very hard to judge how many calories your exercise burned.

Exercise has nothing to do with weight loss. Weight loss is all about diet. Exercise is for fitness. You can exercise without losing weight, and lose weight without exercise. They are mutually exclusive.

Always eat your exercise calories.

rockerbabyy

If you do, what is the point of exercise if your goal is to lose weight, you might as well just not exercise and not eat any more.

it is also very hard to judge how many calories your exercise burned.

the point of exercise is to strengthen your body - your heart, your muscles, etc so that when you do lose weight you look better.
calorie deficit is for weight loss, and you can lose weight just fine with no exericse. it just depends on how you want your body to look at the end of the loss ;p
if you use a HRM you get a more accurate number for calories burned. if you have a body media fit, or bodybugg youll probably get even more accurate numbers. i almost always ate my exercise calories before i got my HRM - i still lost weight even though i found that mfps numbers were often higher than what i actually burned. i was just losing 1-2 pounds a week instead of 2 every week.

tigersword

Your estimated BMR is: 1,698 calories/day
But my fitness pal has me eating 1,200/day (if I don't work out at all.) and usually my daily exercise consists of walking my dogs to the park & cleaning my house. (at least until I get an appointment with my doctor/dietitian because I have athesma & am in a new climate that seems to really bother it)

So Im not eating my BMR.... this is bad?

Yes. Your BMR is the number of calories your body need a day just to survive at rest. If you do any kind of walking, moving, etc. then your body is using more then your BMR. And you are already at a deficit so not eating them sends you too low.

Eat more calories.

ok so this is confusing. I'm not supposed to eat less that my "1600" BMR but MFP has me set up to eat 1200-1500 so I'm already below my BMR so thats BAD!!! Why would the calculate to eat below your BMR that doesn't sound right at all

Your BMR is meaningless when it comes to how much you should eat. All BMR is for is to calculate your total daily energy expenditure. You take your deficit from your TDEE, and, depending on the size of your deficit and how active you are, it may or may not be below your BMR.

Melimoo2012

i burned 800 cals today so would mean i could eat 2000 but im not that hungry have eaten 1500 im finidng im already eating smaller ortions and i have had loads of water maybe 3 litres