Should I eat my lost calories from exercise?

taracote3

I'm new to MFP, and I thought losing more calories than I consume will lead to weight loss. If I eat all the calories I burn at the gym aren't I defeating the purpose? I understand I will be in better shape, but will I still lose weight?

(Sorry I'm a newbie.)

-Tara



(Add me as a friend if youd like! I need some motivators and people that can give me weight loss tips)

LorinaLynn

Yes, you will still lose weight. Your calorie deficit is already calculated into your daily goal without exercise being a factor. In that way, MFP is different than a lot of other calorie-counting websites. Your exercise doesn't count unless and until you do it.

NOT eating those calories could create too large of a calorie deficit, which is counter productive.

Really long explanation here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LorinaLynn/view/exercise-calories-explained-206876

jacksonpt

There is no right answer, as it depends on a variety of factors. Here is a quick overview though:

To lose weight you need to be in a healthy caloric deficit. There are 2 ways to accomplish that:

1) Set your daily caloric intake at a deficit
This is what most people do, and is how MFP is designed to work. You figure out your daily caloric need (TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure), then set your calorie goal lower than that. For example.. if your TDEE is 1800, you might set your daily calorie goal to 1400. That puts you in a caloric deficit and you will start to lose weight*. When you exercise you burn additional calories. These burned calories are not accounted for in your TDEE or the calorie goal you set based on your TDEE. So exercising increases that caloric deficit. The thing to watch here is how big that deficit gets. Every body responds differently, but the larger the deficit the worse it is for your body (the assumption is that the larger the deficit gets the harder it is to properly fuel your body). And this is why people recommend eating back exercise calories.

2) Use exercise to create the deficit
With this method you set your daily caloric intake to equal your TDEE. Then you exercise and burn calories. Those burned calories are not accounted for when you set your daily goal equal to your TDEE, and thus you end up in a deficit. The size of that deficit is dependent on your workouts. You burn 75cals walking the dog and your deficit is 75 cals. You burn 500 cals running and the deficit is 500.



*This is VERY simiplified and makes A LOT of assumptions, but is good enough for this conversation.



As with everything, there is some variance here. Every body resonds differently to diet, exercise, nutrition, etc. so there is some trial and error required to find your body's "sweet spot". Pick one of the above methods, do it for a couple of months and see what happens. Then you can make a couple of subtle changes here and there, do that for a month or two and see if you body responds better or worse. But always start with one of the above methods, then go from there.

What you absolutely shouldn't do is mix approaches. Don't take MFP's calculation and mix it with weight watcher points. Don't take your personal trainer's/nutritionist's recommendation and mix it with what you read here. Pick 1 approach, 1 method, 1 plan and do it.