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

susannamarie

im confused :-S wish id never posted now lol

I dont burn that many calories a day anyway, i dont feel tired or mal nutrurished for not eating them back and im losing weight steadily (7pound since last March is VERY slow) lol

So im wrong to be doing this?

x

If you're not burning that many and you're not at that big of a deficit it's probably not a big deal anyway. Where it gets to be a much bigger issue is when someone's eating 1200 and burning off 600.

ninakir88

Does that mean i'm losing muscle when I don't eat my exercise calories?

natyts

I say Just do what suits YOU ..to much info can be an overload , Like i said i dont eat mine im loosing it pretty nicely Getting great results and through the exercise everything is toning up getting leaner and tighter ...So all this skinny fat im sceptical unless youv'e had A GREAT deal too loose and your left with excess skin . If this is the case eating or not your exercise points wont change that

LorinaLynn

I say Just do what suits YOU ..to much info can be an overload , Like i said i dont eat mine im loosing it pretty nicely Getting great results and through the exercise everything is toning up getting leaner and tighter ...So all this skinny fat im sceptical unless youv'e had A GREAT deal too loose and your left with excess skin . If this is the case eating or not your exercise points wont change that

Not necessarily. Last time I lost weight, I had about 20 pounds to go, but I didn't lose it wisely. Too large of a calorie deficit. As a result, I did eventually get to my goal weight of 130 pounds, but I still had a muffin top, back fat rolls, double chin, etc. I lost a great deal of lean muscle and I wore a size 8.

This time around, I started with 30 pounds to lose. I ate my exercise calories, typically eating between 1800-2000 calories total. I was in a size 4 by 135 pounds. At 130, I'm in a 2 or 4, and able to fit into jeans I wore in high school more than 20 years ago when I was about 110 pounds. Photos here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/494091-i-just-don-t-care-anymore

The best part? Since I didn't train my body to survive on minimal calories, now that I'm in maintenance, I can pretty much eat whatever I want. I recently increased my net calories to 1840 from 1700 (still plus all my exercise calories) because I was STILL losing weight. I don't want to lose any more because I'm already having a hard time finding jeans small enough.

jnhu72

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

love this :flowerforyou:

Ha! :happy:

Armygirl67

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

My Dr. said the same thing.

missxjuicy

Because if MFP gives you 1200 calories for a day - 400 calories burned during exercise = 800 NET calories. Net calories are the actual number of calories you're giving your body to function on and let me tell you that 800 is far too low (for most people). If you were to eat back another 400 calories, your net is now right where MFP told you to be - 1200. You've consumed 1600 TOTAL calories, but you burned off 400 of those calories, sooooo.. your NET would be 1200.

And let me tell you that nearly ALL people think a larger deficit = quicker weight loss when in reality too large of a deficit = stalled or stopped weight loss. You HAVE to eat enough in order for your body to lose weight. End of story.

Here's the numbers without the words:

1200-400=800+400=1200.

easiest explanation for me to understand lol thanks

JaySpice

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

love this :flowerforyou:

OMG! Who did this?! *bookmarks*

Alexstrasza

There are 4 pages of replies....but here's how I explained it to a friend.

Think of your body like a car. Let's say your car (body) can go 100 miles on a full tank of gas. That 100 miles represents your daily life (without excercise).

Now let's say you had to drive an extra 50 miles that day for whatever reason, those 50 miles = excercise. Now your "car" is not going to make that same 100 mile distance because you just burned 50 miles worth of gas going out of your way.

So you need to add those 50 miles worth of gas back into the car to get to the end of your trip (day).

Hope that makes sense.

DisneySkaGirl

And... exercise calories taste better and make you sexier.

Best advice ever!

irisheyez718

I my exercise calories, they taste so good!

CyberEd312

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?

If your deficit is built into your plan using MFP's format than you need to eat back your exercise calories. Creating a bigger calorie deficit by not eating them back may buy you weight loss on the scale in the short term but in the long run you will be skinny fat and that to me was never an option so I choose to eat them back.. I know not all of us came to this website needing to lose weight, some are here to track, some to get in better shape but what I find amazing is the fact we (overweight, obese,etc) never had a problem eating excessive calories getting fat but when we join a way out of that lifestyle and are given a plan of action and told doing it this way you must eat back your exercise calories then see people oppose eating the extra calories you have earned.. It amazes me... lol

But I for one have and will continue to eat back the calories I have earned and fuel my workouts because it has helped me go from this:



To This:

emmaridling

Thank you to everyone who has been explaining this on the forums - I FINALLY get it! I'm overhaulling my entire regime now - I'll let you know how it goes

ArroganceInStep

I my exercise calories, they taste so good!

Exercise calories taste better...it's SCIENCE.

LorinaLynn

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," has it all wrong. It should be, "Nothing tastes as good as an exercise calorie."

Phestr

I look at it this way...if I exercise, MFP rewards me for exercising by giving me more food. I once saw a poster that says "You are not a dog, so don't reward yourself with food." TO this I have but one answer....





WOOF!

karimiller

I had a heck of a time with this concept. I didn't want to eat more when I was trying to lose weight! My personal trainer finally drilled it into my head though. Basically to break it down, your body needs the energy from calories in order to burn more calories. If you aren't getting enough calories, your body isn't breaking down fat.

If you eat 1200 calories a day, but burn 600 at the gym, your body does NOT have enough energy. Keep in mind that what you keep track of is just what you're consuming and what you're expending when you work out. But in reality your body is burning calories continuously throughout the day. It's hard to do, but you have to keep in mind that your body needs those calories. Just make sure they're healthy calories. Add a piece of toast with peanut butter into your day or an extra piece of fruit. Or with breakfast have an extra egg. It was a hard concept for me to grasp to eat more to lose more, but it's what your body needs.

Hopefully that helps!

LorinaLynn

I look at it this way...if I exercise, MFP rewards me for exercising by giving me more food. I once saw a poster that says "You are not a dog, so don't reward yourself with food." TO this I have but one answer....





WOOF!

I know... I trained my dog using treats, but one of the things I taught him was "leave it." I can drop food on the floor in front of him, but if I say, "Leave it," he'll turn his nose from it. He learned that ignoring food when he's supposed to ignore it, leads to bigger rewards later.

If my Pekingese can learn that way, so can I!

shadan87

the bariatric surgeon i work for says its not neccessary to eat them back! but make sure you are taking in enough protein!

Suzanne1307

I have read and understand that you need to keep the right amount of fuel in your body to loose and maintain a healthy balance diet .So why is it when I weigh myself after my excercise I will lose then after eating my quoted amount the very next day I weigh myself I put on a pound then the next day without any excercise it comes off... my weight goes up and down constantly but it flatulates all the time... I have lost over two stone then came off my diet recently returned to get the last few pounds but not moving really, does anyone think I reached a "Plateau" ?