Do you eat exercise calories?

lisaauthier

When I eat all of my 1530 calories and I enter my hour of Zumba it adds almost 600 calories?! I'm so confused whether or not to eat those added calories or just leave them. I want to lose weight around 2 lbs a week. Can someone explain this to me please?!?

mallory3411

The exercise calories here are not the most accurate. I eat pretty much all my exercise calories however I underestimate them to be safe.

If I do 60 mins I will only enter it as 45

addies_mom

I only eat the calories gained from doing exercise if I'm hungry. I believe the calorie goals for weight loss are based on your activity level (sedentary, active, etc), so they increase your calories if you do anything extra.

Sherbog

Absolutely I eat them if I am hungry.

lovinmysoldier

The plan is not to eat them but if I'm hungry then I do.

EatClenTrenHard

I eat them back. But I count calories VERY ACCURATELY, i dont let a 10 calories to slipby per day.

I also only use 75% of my actual excercise when i log it to be on safer side.


But yeah i eat them.

therealangd

I eat all my exercise calories.

Tdk4685

I usually eat my exercise calories. I feel like I need them.

big_eye

At first I thought they were like "bonus points" and ate them, but realized I wasn't even hungry , so now when I do get active I am very selective about the "exercise calories".

Usually anything fat/sugar free is a good choice, Im getting keen on sugar free jello's it's easy to make and fills you up...

I have Type 2 Diabetes and really have to watch my carb intake, so I am extra careful about those exercise calories

if weight loss is your ultimate goal, then try the sugar and fat free choices...

bergsangel

I'm only allowed 1200, so yeah I usually eat a couple hundred of mine (if I have them). You may want to be aware that the exercise calories here on mfp are usually way overestimated. I burn about half of what it says on several things.

PammyKY

Never... I feel it defeats the purpose of exercising. I don't exercise to eat more I exercise to lose weight.

xgg2rs

I am still experimenting. I eat some of them at least if I am hungry as said above. Last week was my first week counting calories (Lost weight up until now just watching what I eat and exersizing alot) and I found out on my long run that I did not eat enough before hand and nearly passed out running. So I guess you will have to find the right balance, because if you don't eat enough you won't have the energy to do your next workout.

zombilishious

I don't eat my exercise calories back. MFP set me at 1200 calories. I bumped it to 1500, then reduced my carbs (I think to 35%), upped my protein (again, I think 55%). I'm doing cardio/weight training 4-5 days a week, and losing 1.5lbs a week.

elizabeth51608

NO!!! What's the point???? I guess you could if you wanted to maintain your weight but if you want to lose, stick to your calorie goal. The calories you burn will only burn off POUNDS OF FAT if you don't eat them back!!!

Also--I eat 6 times a day, and always make sure to fit the appropriate foods into my diet about 2 hours before my workouts--I am not saying you should starve yourself here!!! I drink a protein shake before every workout and I eat complex carbs, proteins, etc. during the day to keep my blood sugar level and keep my body going. I always feel GREAT when I exercise since I started doing this

bzmommy34

I've only been at this one week so I won't know how my method is working until I have my first weigh in tomorrow morning. With that said, I've been using freedieting.com to figure my exercise cals as it is one of the few sites out there that take your age, weight and height into consideration. To me that means it's more accurate (although obviously not guaranteed). My first two days I was using the counts found in MFP database until I found freedieting.com via another forum post. I did some comparing and found that freedieting.com was quite a bit less than the MFP database cal counts and from what I've read (and I've read tons of forum posts) there are alot of people on here that get their exercise cal counts elsewhere.

Good luck and much success!

Ha - I forgot to mention that I do eat mine back, for now anyway. We'll see what the scale/measurements say tomorrow and next week and if need be I'll do a couple weeks of not eating them back and go from there.

zeikiya989

I do not eat my exercise calories back. I asked my personal trainer and she said for me that i will not, however she did say when we start increasing my exercise and i drop more weight she will go into that. Right now I am 302lbs, I do 45 min of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training with weights 5 days per week. So i guess it depends on your body type and how much weight you have to lose maybe. Before i even asked her i tried it for a week since i saw everyone on here saying you are supposed to and i didn't lose any weight during that time.

muppetsbear

I try to avoid using them but sometimes I will depending on if I'm hungry or if I would like something special like a bit of ice cream but even then I just use a scarce few.

k0nfyo0zed

i eat about half of them back, if i'm hungry. i've found that if i go several days without eating exercise calories then i don't lose as much weight as if i eat some of them back.

junyr

The website is designed to calculate your deficit by doing NO EXERCISE so any exercise you do is above and beyond the existing deficit. Even if you eat every single calorie you get from doing exercise you will remain in your deficit calculated when you set up your profile here on MFP.

The original calculation fuels your body for every day life. Eating back your exercise calories fuels your extra activity. Either way your deficit will remain the same.

Eat for body composition, exercise for fitness, fuel both.

junyr

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mesicali_chica

Usually I dont eat the extra calories I gain from working out. Sometimes after a work out feel like I need to replace some of the calories I have earned becuase I know they are there. I usually will eat a fruit or 8 oz. of whey protien shake to curb the craving or water.

Pebble321

Of course, why wouldn't I? MFP already calculates a deficit so I can lose weight (when I'm not maintaining, that is) so I don't need to make that deficit any larger, when I can lose weight anyway eating my daily allowance plus the extra cals I burn exercising..

If you want to look at it another way..... just about any calorie calculator you can find out there will include more calories if you are active than if you are sedentary. MFP adds them in when you have actually done the exercise instead of asking how active you plan to be and allocating calories based on what you "might do" rather than what you "actually do".

But if you don't want to eat them, because you want to make your calorie deficit bigger.... go for it, just make sure you understand what you are doing.

In my opinion, cutting calories drastically is a recipe for short term loss and long term frustration - but your experience may be different. Good luck in figuring out what's right for you.

aggie613

It's all about the calculation. If you want to lose 2 lbs/week, then you need to create a 7000 calorie defecit, both through eating less and exercise. My RMR is about 1350 x .2 for a sedentary job = 1590 cals. By eating 1300/day, I create a 2000 cal deficit each week. I need to burn, and NOT eat, an additional 1500 cals/wk to lose one lb. Calculate based on your RMR and figure it out...you could eat the calories above and beyond what you need to get to 7000/week.

hallensd

I don't eat mine back. I did some research and found that it is only important to eat them back if you are close to your goal weight. For people who are severely overweight (me), it is not necessary. It has something to do with burning fat versus lean body mass.

For example, my MFP guidelines are to eat 1660 calories a day (this is for a 2lb loss per week). I exercise and burn about 240 calories a day. That would put me at 1900 calories a day. However, most days I average 1450-1600.

However, if your MFP guidelines are 1200 calories per day, it is more important to eat any extra exercise calories to ensure your body is getting the fuel it needs (as 1200 is the minimum recommendation).

robinrainville

I too have struggled with this question. I usually try not to. I will use them as a cushion, but I try to avoid relying on exercise cals. But I do dabble in the practice of fluctuating my calorie intake. If I go over one day I to to be under the next day. When I enter my exercise cals, I try to underestimate them too.

lisaauthier

So will I still lose weight if I choose to eat some of the exercise calories? Those of you who do this, do you find that you can still lose weight each week? I guess I am just finding it hard to understand that you can lose weight when you are eating more. Thanks for all the input from everyone!!

junyr

So will I still lose weight if I choose to eat some of the exercise calories? Those of you who do this, do you find that you can still lose weight each week? I guess I am just finding it hard to understand that you can lose weight when you are eating more. Thanks for all the input from everyone!!

This is because the website calculates in your deficit with no regard to your exercise.... One of the other posts in this thread explained it very well.

TeresaC79

Never... I feel it defeats the purpose of exercising. I don't exercise to eat more I exercise to lose weight.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. You can exercise off 1000 calories a day, but if you eat 3000 calories and your body doesn't need them all, you won't lose weight.

MFP is set up for you to lose with NO exercise. Not eating back at least some of the calories will put your net too low and actually do more harm then good.

Do some searching around on this site for more info. There are millions of these threads...and opinions around here are like *kitten* holes....everybody has one.

Science is a better place to look.

TeresaC79

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

gregavila

I am already eating to a 2 pound a week (1,000 calorie per day) deficit, so yes, I tend to eat my exercise calories back.

Pebble321

So will I still lose weight if I choose to eat some of the exercise calories? Those of you who do this, do you find that you can still lose weight each week? I guess I am just finding it hard to understand that you can lose weight when you are eating more. Thanks for all the input from everyone!!

You can lose weight if you eat all of them (assuming you are accurately logging your food and exercise)
You aren't really "eating more" - its just that MFP takes your calorie deficit from your food cals not your exercise cals.