Should I exercise just to eat

HittingHerStride

after dinner I will be out of calories for the day, does it make sense to do some additional exercise later just to earn more calories so I can have a snack later? or is it just counter-productive

LuckyLeprechaun

It is not counter-productive. It's the name of the game!

I promise, it's perfectly OK! I do it ALLLLLLLLL the time. So do my friends, who have had some of the biggest losses and most success on MFP.

Bust your butt and earn the calories for whatever you want, then enjoy, happy in the knowledge that you totally earned it!!!!

nikkylyn

Is this a healthy snack.

I wouldnt exercise just to eat some brownies or something...lol

I dont think a light snack would hurt and a nice walk after dinnner

RunHardBeStrong

Is this a healthy snack.

I wouldnt exercise just to eat some brownies or something...lol

I dont think a light snack would hurt and a nice walk after dinnner

this!

rc630

This wouldn't be any different than you wanting to exercise, and happening to decide to eat those earned calories back later.

Eating them back has worked just fine for me.

EBFNP

Or you can make it up another day, but that is a tricky thing to do..lol..If I know I am going out to eat for dinner or plan to "cheat", I either eat lighter or workout harder during the day.

Shweedog

Is this a healthy snack.

I wouldnt exercise just to eat some brownies or something...lol

I dont think a light snack would hurt and a nice walk after dinnner

Hell if I want a brownie I'm gonna eat a brownie and work my butt off to burn the cals! Deprivation is not the key.

lisakyle_11

sure -- can't go wrong with the exercise and if you are really wanting a treat, you won't be depriving yourself (which can be destructive).

SweetLittlePrincess

Everyone I know does JUST THAT! If you earn it, you can eat it!!

Hollybot

You mean there's other reasons exercising besides getting to eat more food! Haha, no. If you want a snack later take a lap around the block and then allow yourself to eat it

DiamondEyes_x

Is this a healthy snack.

I wouldnt exercise just to eat some brownies or something...lol

I dont think a light snack would hurt and a nice walk after dinnner

Hell if I want a brownie I'm gonna eat a brownie and work my butt off to burn the cals! Deprivation is not the key.

this

shaypearl

I do it all the time. If I decide to have a big meal, I make sure I have the exercise calories readily available for me to get my grub up. MPF made me change my motto to ‘I eat to live instead of I live to eat’.

Chagama

I have used the extra calories as tremendous motivation to try to workout everyday that I reasonably can. On days I don't, I have a hard time staying under my limit.

TeaBea

It's not counter productive. Exercise is a good thing ..... and not just for the calories it burns. Think of the "treat" as your reward for working hard!

ATT949

If you're thinking about exercising so that you can eat more, you're thinking about food as a reward.

That is not a healthy attitude.

Food is fuel for the body, primarily, and is used during "ritual" (family outings, parties, celebrations).

The sooner you switch your mind to see food as fuel, the easier it will be to lose weight and keep weight off.

I'm not arguing that you can't see food as a reward and keep weight off. Sure, some folks can. But, since over 90% of people who lose weight either don't lose weight or gain it back, the odds are that you're not doing yourself any favors by sticking with the beliefs that got us into this mess.

Our behaviors are controlled, to a large extent, by our beliefs. If you don't change the underlying belief system, which isn't easy I realize, it will be very, very hard to change your behaviors.

trysha1231

I have used the extra calories as tremendous motivation to try to workout everyday that I reasonably can. On days I don't, I have a hard time staying under my limit.

This.
This is exactly the reason I am motivated every day to get off my butt and exercise. I like being able to 'go over' my calorie limits and gain those exercise calories.

forevereuphoric

I agree with ATT949. Food is not a reward! Listen to what your body needs, not your mind. Once I realised this, losing weight was so much easier. I don't hate food (people tell me that I do, which is just stupid) but I see it for what it is. Nutrients and fuel.

LuckyLeprechaun

I believe that busting my butt uses energy. I believe in fueling my body so it has energy. I believe in planning ahead.


Knowing I earned it, and indulging guilt free, is not the same thing as "I am rewarding myself with food".

misskerouac

It doesn't sound like the OP is using it as a reward though. She wants a snack. So in order to have the snack she is going to exercise.

If she exercised and then made the decision based on "well i exercised, good for me, I deserve something" then snacked that would be more a reward i would think.

Maybe I'm wrong

But her situation seems more like she wants a snack because she wants the snack. The exercise is just a matter of making her stay within her daily goal.

I don't see anything wrong with that?
I eat back at least half of my exercise calories all the time

wildestian

Is this a healthy snack.

I wouldnt exercise just to eat some brownies or something...lol

I dont think a light snack would hurt and a nice walk after dinnner

Hey! I exercise so I can eat a brownie. It is my motivation, lol. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where the calories come from.

qtiekiki

I do it.

ATT949

It doesn't sound like the OP is using it as a reward though. She wants a snack. So in order to have the snack she is going to exercise.

If she exercised and then made the decision based on "well i exercised, good for me, I deserve something" then snacked that would be more a reward i would think.

Maybe I'm wrong

But her situation seems more like she wants a snack because she wants the snack. The exercise is just a matter of making her stay within her daily goal.

I don't see anything wrong with that?
I eat back at least half of my exercise calories all the time

This isn't an issue of "eating back" - this is an issue of controlling appetite and "need" vs "want"


I read the OP's post again and I'm understanding it differently:

"after dinner I will be out of calories for the day, does it make sense to do some additional exercise later just to earn more calories so I can have a snack later? or is it just counter-productive "

The OP is pondering dinner and, as planned, she will have eaten up to her calorie limit when she finished the meal. She wants to know if she should exercise so that she can have a snack.

The first time I read her post, I didn't read it that way (I read it hastily).

With that understanding, first step is don't eat all of your cals if you want to have an evening snack. If you don't, you're overeating and that's how we ended up here.

In your example, you're rewarding yourself with food for exercising. Again, food is used as a reward. "I deserve something" - why?


It is not healthy to see food as a reward. Now, I could argue "What does the diet industry know when 90% of the people who try to lose weight don't keep it off long term?" but it's not the fault of the diet industry.

As long as food is a reward, there will be a tendency to get more rewards. That's just how most of our species functions.

Another approach is "Heh, I burned up 450 calories running three miles. I need to replace those calories with carbs and proteins so I'll have X." That is a much healthier approach. Exercise is not the reward. Food is not the reward. The reward is being healthy and exercise and food are both needed to achieve that goal.

What I think is happening here is the confusion of "want" vs "need". Problems arise when we confuse those.

CasperO

Hey, that's how I got my elliptical machine. I was starving, really miserable. I Dropped $300 at wally world, started spending 30 minutes on that thing ever morning, 'earned' an extra couple hundred cal's a day and wasn't miserable anymore.

I didn't and don't eat all my ex calories, because I found that if I did that I didn't lose weight. But I did/do eat 1/2 to 2/3 of them - and it made all the difference.

Smuterella

Food is a reward, food, I love food. Good, delicious, sexy tasting food is one of lifes great pleasures. Sigh.