Confused about calorie intake and exercise calories

sroseber

Ok, so I've been reading several posts where people mention "eating their exercise calories". I thought we did exercise to create more of a calorie deficit and therefore loose more weight? Why would you want to eat what you exercise? If you do that then what's the point in exercising in the first place? other than toning and building muscle to burn more calories than fat...I know that but if you are just doing it to lose weight and you can be satisfied on your number of calories then why exercise if you are just going to eat those calories back?

MFP says I should be eating 1200 cals/day to lose 1.1lbs/week. If I wanted to lose 2 lbs/week wouldn't the rest of the calories I need to burn to equal 2 lbs. come from exercise? Why would I eat those back?

I'm confused. I've been at a plateau/VERY slow loss for the last couple months and now I'm wondering if this is the problem. Am I putting myself into starvation mode? When I first started my diet I wasn't exercising nearly as much and I was losing more which has been part of the frustration for me lately because that doesn't make sense to me.

Can someone please explain? Is the calorie amount that MFP gives me a deficit from what my body uses daily? or is it the amount my body uses daily and I need to cut calories or do more exercise to create a deficit from that? (Not supposed to go under 1200, right?)

Hermit4Hire

Read this--have fun.

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

naugustyniak

The calorie amount MFP gives you is what you would need to lose 1 pound a week (or whatever) by doing your daily things, no exercise. Your body needs fuel to burn efficiently. If it doesn't get fuel it starts storing the fat to kind of "save it up". You don't necessarily have to eat ALL of your exercise calories back but I wouldn't go below 1200 or 1300 calories a day including your exercise calories. There are a lot of people on here that can explain it better than me, but that is the way I do it.

pannellkat

Honey I asked the same question in another topic lol. It can get confusing. I mean I dont want to exercise my butt off and then go home and eat those calories I burned, just doesnt make an ounce of sense to me.

QUESTION:
Okay so I totally get what BMR is = calories burned just laying on your butt, picking your nose, checking the mail, watching Judge Judy, etc.
I also understand that if my BMR at sedentary allows me to consume 1800 calories per day, that if I eat 500 less calories a day for a full 7 days, ideally, I should be losing a pound a week. That is all based on the assumption that eating 500 less calories a day for 7 days = 3500 calories I did not consume and 3500 calories = 1 pound.
So...now in the equation my goal is to lose a pound 1/2 per week. So what I do is I go to the gym 5 days a week to burn 350 calories minimum doing cardio. Burning 350 calories in exercise per gym visit will burn 1750 calories per week and thats how I assume I will lose another 1/2 lb. along with my calorie consumption deficit.
I keep seeing that if I burn these 350 calories in exercise that I should eat that back in consumption of more food or at least half of that. But why? I want to lose a pound 1/2 a week so if I stick to my regimen then I should at least be close to my weekly goal. If I consume those calories burned, mathematically I do not see how I can continue to lose 1 1/2 lbs a week. Can someone confirm this? Want to know why it is necessary to consume those extra calories burned.