I don't get it...WHY do I want to eat my exercise calories??

erickirb

My Doctor and Dietician both say you don't eat back your calories you work off.

But the intake they want you to have is probably higher then what MFP gives you.

say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" (doctor/nutritionist/etc) may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 cals different 12,150-11,900). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1750/day above. If you only ate the 1450 then burned 400 cals that would be like eating 1050 on days you don't workout, which is not enough to fuel your body.

jacksonpt

My Doctor and Dietician both say you don't eat back your calories you work off.

Without any context, this is useless.

chevy88grl

My Doctor and Dietician both say you don't eat back your calories you work off.

MFP is set up differently. The number of calories it has given you for the day already has a deficit in it - depending on your weight loss goals. So, by not eating them back? You're creating too large of a deficit. Too large of a deficit = stalled or stopped weight loss. Other weight loss sites don't factor in your deficit for you, they simply give you a number and you have to exercise to create the deficit. MFP isn't like that.

judypriv

Because unlike many other calorie-counting plans, MFP doesn't take count the calories you SAY you'll burn when they give you a calorie goal. That goal already includes the calorie deficit you'd need to lose weight without any exercise at all. MFP only adds the calories AFTER you log the exercise.

When you exercise, that creates a larger calorie deficit. Too large of a calorie deficit is not a good thing. One would think that it would simply mean you'd lose weight faster, but for many people it means that your body doesn't have enough fuel. Without enough fuel you may have low energy, you may lose muscle mass, you may slow your metabolism, etc.

So another site may tell you to eat 1800 calories, assuming you'll exercise for 30 minutes a day and burn 300 calories. MFP would tell you to eat 1500, then when you burn that 300 calories, your new goal would be 1800. The same end result, but a different way of getting there.

FINALLY I understand this now. THANK YOU!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Somebody 'splain to me like I'm 6.

Because we say so. And that's it, no more discussion

Haha, thanks Mom!

OK, I guess I understand it now. I still don't like it....sigh

Why I like it: 1) without it I wouldn't lose weight and 2) without it I wouldn't have enough fuel in the tank to exercise to the level at which I like to push my body (trust me I've tried) and 3) without it I wouldn't have enough calories to drink wine and eat all at the same time, I would have to pick one or the other and that's a tough call.

cbcw1964

thank you so much for the post and the response....i also wondered why this is....i have a hard time eating my 1200 calories a day...it is a real struggle for me...then if i work out...i am in real deficiet....thanks for the info!

jsapninz

It partly depends on how accurate your TDEE is, because it should take into your daily acitivity before exercise into acount.

AND it mostly depends on how accurate your calorie count for that burned by exercise is. If you have done your research (and/or have a HRM), you SHOULD eat them back.

But if you are using stock calorie counters, err on the conservative side because they tend to overestimate your burn.

hiswifetheirmommy

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

love this :flowerforyou:

LOL I like that!

jhefti13

bump

chevy88grl

thank you so much for the post and the response....i also wondered why this is....i have a hard time eating my 1200 calories a day...it is a real struggle for me...then if i work out...i am in real deficiet....thanks for the info!

Add in higher calorie, healthy foods - like nuts. A handful of almonds is 190 calories. Add in an apple and you're at nearly 300 calories. Easy, healthy way to get your calories in.

ArroganceInStep

My Doctor and Dietician both say you don't eat back your calories you work off.

And your doctor and dietician gave instructions tailored for you personally, not others

jacksonpt

It partly depends on how accurate your TDEE is, because it should take into your daily acitivity before exercise into acount.

AND it mostly depends on how accurate your calorie count for that burned by exercise is. If you have done your research (and/or have a HRM), you SHOULD eat them back.

But if you are using stock calorie counters, err on the conservative side because they tend to overestimate your burn.

People should not be eating back exercise cals if their daily goal is based on TDEE (i.e. TDEE - some amount to create the deficit). TDEE, by definition, accounts for exercise.

I think a lot of people think TDEE does not include exercise, which is incorrect. TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, and is just that TOTAL daily expenditure.

.

LabRat529

Somebody 'splain to me like I'm 6. I thought the point of exercise was to BURN the calories, why on earth would I want to cancel that out?

Simple math. Let's pretend your goal is to lose 1lbs a week. To do this, you must eat 500 calories less than you burn every day. Now let's pretend that you burn 2000 calories a day on a NON-Exercise day. How many calories should you eat on a non-exercise day so that you eat 500 calories LESS than you burn? Let's see!

2000 calories -500 calories = 1500 calories

Awesome. So you can eat 1500 calories on the days you do not exercise.

Now, let's pretend you exercise one day and you burn 500 calories while exercising. Nothing else has changed. You still want to lose 1lbs a week. You still need to eat 500 calories less than you burn every day to lose that 1lbs a week. So... the only thing that's changed is your exercise calories. How many calories should you eat on an exercise day so that you eat 500 calories less than you burn? Let's see!

2000 calories + 500 calories - 500 calories = 2000 calories.

Again, all this is assuming you have a goal of 1lbs a week.. You don't want to lose more or less than that. You therefore want to keep your deficit at 500. You therefore want to eat exercise calories because it keeps your deficit at 500.

But what if you don't care about keeping your deficit at 500? What if you don't mind having a deficit at 1000 one day and 500 the next? THEN you don't need to eat your exercise calories.

But I would advocate you don't let your calorie intake fall too low... it makes it really hard to stay on a diet when you're starving and nutrient deprived. You set yourself up for failure that way.

Dtho5159

My Doctor and Dietician both say you don't eat back your calories you work off.

Does your Doctor and Dietician know about mfp already putting in a calorie deficit before exercise? Mine knows and told me to eat them back or my deficit will be too large and I still have a little over 100lb to lose.

erickirb

It partly depends on how accurate your TDEE is, because it should take into your daily acitivity before exercise into acount.

AND it mostly depends on how accurate your calorie count for that burned by exercise is. If you have done your research (and/or have a HRM), you SHOULD eat them back.

But if you are using stock calorie counters, err on the conservative side because they tend to overestimate your burn.

People should not be eating back exercise cals if their daily goal is based on TDEE (i.e. TDEE - some amount to create the deficit). TDEE, by definition, accounts for exercise.

I think a lot of people think TDEE does not include exercise, which is incorrect. TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, and is just that TOTAL daily expenditure.

Yes, MFP uses calories burned from normal daily activity not TDEE, the number they use excludes exercise and can be found in the top right corner when you click on the goals menu under My Home.

Seminolegirl97

Try the search feature. This is discussed almost daily.

This

JustJennie1

Ill probably get some back lash for this... i dont eat back all of my exercise calories, sometimes i will but most of the time i dont!

Do what feels right for you, but please do not starve yourself. :-)

Good Luck!

xx

I typically don't either. It seems to be counter productive if I were to do that. If I'm in maintenance mode that's a different thing but right now I'm not. It seems to be working for me as well as my husband.

The only time I eat back my calories is when I know I"m going to over indulge. I see it as a "reserve tank" on that day. LOL.

714rah714

You can always count on someone saying that if you don't eat back your exercise calories you will end up losing muscle instead of fat. My guess is that excess muscle is not a problem that a lot of us have on this web-site, while excess fat is.

erickirb

Ill probably get some back lash for this... i dont eat back all of my exercise calories, sometimes i will but most of the time i dont!

Do what feels right for you, but please do not starve yourself. :-)

Good Luck!

xx

I typically don't either. It seems to be counter productive if I were to do that. If I'm in maintenance mode that's a different thing but right now I'm not. It seems to be working for me as well as my husband.

The only time I eat back my calories is when I know I"m going to over indulge. I see it as a "reserve tank" on that day. LOL.

The less you have to lose, such as yourself, the more important it is to eat them back to ensure your deficit is not too large. A large deficit will lead to a large % of lean muscle loss along with the fat. With the amount you have to lose your goal should be 0.5lbs/week (250 cal/day deficit) and eat back all the cals from exercise, assuming they are accurate). This along with adequate protein and a strength training program will lead to the least amount of lean muscle loss as you lose weight, meaning it may take longer to get to your goal weight but you will be a lower BF%, look better, and be stronger at that weight.

natyts

I earn around 2000 extra calories a week through exercise and i choose not to use them ...Regardless of sensible explanations i too do not see the point ,

Im loving the plan and i think not eating them is helping me shift the weight quicker , Each to there own i say good luck