redundant exercise calories question

fiddlechic

Ive read all the info on eating exercise calories but I was thinking this morning...why is it better to diet AND exercise if we're supposed to eat all our earned exercise calories? I think I have a few answers, I just wanted to get everyone else's input.

(the most weight Ive lost in a week was when I ate 1200 calories and didnt exercise...6 pounds. why oh why am I bustin my butt in the gym everyday and hardly losing 1-1.5#/week???)

thanks!!

fiddlechic

Ive read all the info on eating exercise calories but I was thinking this morning...why is it better to diet AND exercise if we're supposed to eat all our earned exercise calories? I think I have a few answers, I just wanted to get everyone else's input.

(the most weight Ive lost in a week was when I ate 1200 calories and didnt exercise...6 pounds. why oh why am I bustin my butt in the gym everyday and hardly losing 1-1.5#/week???)

thanks!!

12by311

A 1 or 1.5 pound loss per week is still really good.

The theory behind eating your exercise calories is based on the fact that MFP ALREADY factors in a calorie deficit for you. If you were eating pretty much your maintenance calories and then exercising. You wouldn't eat those back. Because your exercise would give you the deficit you need to lose weight.

amymeenieminymo

Well, the basic reason to eat your exercise calories is because your body needs fuel to operate, and if you burn off all of that fuel, what is left to operate on? MFP already calculates a calorie deficit, so you're already eating less then you did before....that alone will help you lose weight. Exercise helps to tone, strengthen, and burn fat, and then ideally when you eat back your exercise calories, you're replacing what you burned off, with good food and nutrients. Maybe look at it like changing the oil in your car....you're getting rid of the old, dirty oil and replacing it with clean, efficient oil.

Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but 6 pounds of actual fat loss in one week is unlikely.....unless a person has a LOT of weight to lose. It was more than likely a combination of fat and water weight. One pound a week is the safest, healthiest way to go and trust me, as you notice more and more differences in the mirror and how your clothes fit, it won't seem like your weightloss is all that slow. Hope this helped:happy:

justdoingit

Your body burns fat when you are working out at your target heart rate at the same time, you are building muscle, which also burns more calories than the extra fat that you have. So, by working out, you are actually getting your body to the point where it will burn more calories eventually, even when not working out. You eat the 1200 calories to sustain your basic body functions and you eat your excercise calories (I eat half of mine) to make up that deficit. The excercise cals you are eating aren't converting into fat in your body (hopefully) but are also being used as fuel.

I lost 7lbs in my first...I think...10 days back on the program and I have lost about 1.25lbs each week and I understand your frustration. But that is a healthy amount of weight to be losing every week. Remember that it does add up! I have lost 18lbs since January. Also remember that you are probably putting on muscle weight. You should go to your gym and get your body fat tested with a caliper and I bet you will have gained some lean body mass..

There are days when I just feel like giving up...but then I remember that I have gone down to a size 8 and then I get back on the wagon.:flowerforyou:

kerrilucko

losin mass amounts of weights everyweek may seem appealing, but it is extremely difficult to maintain. 1 to 2 lbs a week is a healthy, sustainable and maintainable rate.

exercise is important. It tones and builds muscles, strengthens your heart and acts as a MAJOR destressor. If you start off significantly overweight, the new muscle built will help to fill out your body (and the sagging skin) left behind by your weight loss.

annaliza

I work out so that I can have a nice toned body that you couldn't get from just dieting alone.

Not to mention that muscles will burn more calories thus making it easier to "maintain" your weight when you get to your goal.

All the health benefits out weigh just dieting when you exercise. Even your skin looks better, your posture is better, you body functions better.

Thats why I exercise rather than just dieting.

Good luck to you :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

The bottom line is this, there is a BIG difference between losing weight and losing fat.
If you eat correctly, and with a deficit but don't work out, yeah, you'll lose weight, but if you don't work out, eventually your body will see some of your muscle as excess, taking energy away from other functions that may need it, and your body will canabalize it. "So what" you may say, BUT. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, and less muscle means less definition, less ability to do activities, and less muscle means less fit.


Does adding muscle hinder WEIGHT loss, sure it does. The body needs to fuel those muscles, which means it stores more glycogen, sends more water to the muscle area to facilitate all sorts of extra activities, adjusts hormone levels, and temporarilly can slow down fat burning all to help build muscle, does this make it seem like you are no longer losing weight? Sometimes, but in reality you are setting the foundation for more sustainable fat loss, and more definition, and a trim, more healthy body.

Don't fall into the "I need to lose weight" trap. You don't need to lose weight, you need to lose weight from FAT (as just about everyone on here does).

lotusfromthemud

The bottom line is this, there is a BIG difference between losing weight and losing fat.
If you eat correctly, and with a deficit but don't work out, yeah, you'll lose weight, but if you don't work out, eventually your body will see some of your muscle as excess, taking energy away from other functions that may need it, and your body will canabalize it. "So what" you may say, BUT. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, and less muscle means less definition, less ability to do activities, and less muscle means less fit.


Does adding muscle hinder WEIGHT loss, sure it does. The body needs to fuel those muscles, which means it stores more glycogen, sends more water to the muscle area to facilitate all sorts of extra activities, adjusts hormone levels, and temporarilly can slow down fat burning all to help build muscle, does this make it seem like you are no longer losing weight? Sometimes, but in reality you are setting the foundation for more sustainable fat loss, and more definition, and a trim, more healthy body.

Don't fall into the "I need to lose weight" trap. You don't need to lose weight, you need to lose weight from FAT (as just about everyone on here does).

Preach it, brother, preach it!

(translation: I agree with this. )