Exercise = Eat More Food?

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ValerieMcGaha
ValerieMcGaha Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Simple as that. My question is this....when you go to the gym and do some sort of exercise you enter what you did into my fitness pal. That always increases the number of calories that you "can" eat for the day, right? Do most people actually eat more food by the end of the day "because" they exercised and earned more, or do most people just accumulate more calories but don't necessarily eat more food?

If you are one who eats more food because you earned it, are you still losing weight?
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  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    If you are one who eats more food because you earned it, are you still losing weight?

    I do and I am. This is a controversial topic on which everyone has an opinion. If my weekly loss starts to level off, I'll reconsider.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    "Well" I for one excersize in "order" to become faster stronger better. Of course I'm going "to" replenish the energy I used during my "workout"
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Simple as that. My question is this....when you go to the gym and do some sort of exercise you enter what you did into my fitness pal. That always increases the number of calories that you "can" eat for the day, right? Do most people actually eat more food by the end of the day "because" they exercised and earned more, or do most people just accumulate more calories but don't necessarily eat more food?

    It's calories in - calories out. If you keep a steady deficit you lose weight. MFP factors in your deficit, so when you "eat back" the burned calories, your deficit is still there.
    If you are one who eats more food because you earned it, are you still losing weight?

    Yes.
  • AislingRA
    AislingRA Posts: 56
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    It depends on how hard I work out to be honest. I have just done one hours spinning and if I didn't eat I would faint!
  • jdsimpkins
    jdsimpkins Posts: 5
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    I don't necessarily eat more food just because I "earned" it, so I can't help you with that one. But I have noticed, and this is probably a no-brainer, I eat more because I exercise. I'm just hungry due to burning so many calories during my workouts. Obviously the key is to replace those with good ones. So far my workouts have been so strenuous that I haven't exceeded my allotted amount...yet.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I also noticed that you don't have much to lose. The less you have to lose the more important it is to eat them back to keep your deficit at a "safe" level, otherwise you risk burning lean muscle as fuel.
  • abeachlady
    abeachlady Posts: 88
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    Yes, I eat back most, if not all, of my exercise calories. It's the only way I can survive, and I steadily lose weight.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,887 Member
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    <
    May I present Exhibit A?

    - Size 24W to Size 6 jeans
    - 56% body fat to 22% body fat
    - 45.5" waist to 26.25" waist
    - Eats her exercise calories
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,360 Member
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    You got it right!
    I very definitely exercise so I can eat more, (OK and look and feel better too, but mostly for the food).
    I usually eat almost all my exercise calories from cardio. I don't track my weight training calories and consider them "wiggle room" in case the calories for a given item may be incorrect for some reason.
    You will get a huge variety of answers to your question and I hope you will find an answer that seems logical/valid for you. If you do a search you will get even more input on this hotly debated question.
    Good Luck!
  • mzteebell
    mzteebell Posts: 44 Member
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    Good question. I'm looking for the answer to that as well.
  • Justjoshin
    Justjoshin Posts: 999 Member
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    Train like a beast so you can eat like a beast!!
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    I eat them and I'm losing.

    I do round "down" the exercise -- i.e. for a 2 hour aikido class, part of the time was spent in instruction, and part in relatively low-key activities. So based on perceived effort (it's a bit subjective) I usually enter 30-60 minutes and eat those back.

    So far weightloss is just about exactly on the schedule mfp says it should be.
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    I've always eaten every last exercise calorie and still lost weight. You will find a lot of info about this if you search the forums.

    Eat your exercise calories... it's not a matter of "earning" them, but more of a matter of fueling your body, since MFP sets it up for you to lose weight even without exercise.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
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    I eat my exercise calories back...and I have been doing this for just over 6 weeks and guess what? I have lost just over 6lbs...

    I don't have a heart rate monitor to help me accurately deteremine how many calories I have been burning so I always log less exercise minutes on MFP. I found there was a bit of inconsistency with the machines I was working out on and what MFP would say I burned (MFP was always a little higher). Of course, I only log a difference of maybe 5-10mins.

    Either way, I must be doing something right! :)
  • sportyskylar
    sportyskylar Posts: 149
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    I only eat back some, usually in the form of nuts or protein shakes.
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 864 Member
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    Simple as that. My question is this....when you go to the gym and do some sort of exercise you enter what you did into my fitness pal. That always increases the number of calories that you "can" eat for the day, right? Do most people actually eat more food by the end of the day "because" they exercised and earned more, or do most people just accumulate more calories but don't necessarily eat more food?

    If you are one who eats more food because you earned it, are you still losing weight?


    Yes. That is how MFP is set up to work.
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
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    I eat them back and I've lost 32 lbs. In the 6 months I've been on MFP I've also experienced almost 3 months of plateaus. I have recently, through research, figured out I may not have been eating enough calories...even with eating back exercise calories. And I'm upping my calories and the scale started moving again!!!

    Since MFP already give you a deficit....meaning "eat these calories to lose 1 lb" then that is what you would need to eat to lose the 1 lb. If you exercise you put yourself in a bigger deficit but that doesn't always mean more weight loss. I've learned the bare minimum to eat should be no less than 1200 calories NET. I'm actually working with 1400 calories NET now and still losing!!!
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    I eat back most, if not all of them, because I don't let myself go hungry. I always lose weight steadily that way.
  • nnapieralski
    nnapieralski Posts: 132 Member
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    You should only have about a 500 calorie deficit a day. That means the more calories you burn, the more you have to eat. Never go below 1200 calories. If you have more question, friend me or message me. =)
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
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    <
    May I present Exhibit A?

    - Size 24W to Size 6 jeans
    - 56% body fat to 22% body fat
    - 45.5" waist to 26.25" waist
    - Eats her exercise calories

    *LIKE* You are an inspiration!


    I also eat back most if not all of my exercise calories.

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