Adding back calories burned

HonkyTonks

Unlike almost every other diet/calorie counting site out there, MFP does not include intended exercise in your calorie goal. That means if you don't eat the calories you burn exercising, you will go from having a moderate calorie deficit to having a very large one. That mean you will in effect be eating a very low calorie diet (VLCD) and while they have their place (a person who is morbidly obese and MUST lose weight due to immanent health reasons) the long term results from them are they result in a great loss of muscle, they mess up a person's hormone balance even a year after stopping, and they are not maintainable all of which mean people doing them pretty much always regain the weight they lost. If you eat your exercise calories you maintain that moderate deficit and thus make the diet less aggressive, less damaging, and more likely to be able to stick to it, and to maintain the loss after you go back to maintenance.

Well put, as usual!

Exercise = extra calories to eat. I save mine for icecream!

kyt1206

I think they should change the calorie goal to NET calorie goal, it has a little more meaning put that way.

Your goal is to have net positive 1200+ calories at the end of the day but less than what you normally burn.

Falling2Grace

I always attempt to eat back all of my burned calories.
If i dont eat them back, i dont lose weight. ...im 18lb down and losing about 2lb per week (sometimes only 1lb), but it works.
When i dont eat them back, the scale never budges down..and oddly enough the water weight increases...i dont understand it, but thats just my anecdotal evidence

AmyRhubarb

I eat some or all of mine back, depending on how hungry I am. I've been doing that for a few months now, and today I bought new jeans - a size smaller!! :bigsmile:

shrinkinginQualicum

I also use the Curves gym system, which also has you eat MORE anytime you plateau for 3-4 days. You do that for a few days, then drop back down, and immediately you start losing again. Because it raises your metabolism, which had slowed down - hence the plateau.

annew1952

Ok I just weighed myself after my second week and I stayed the same. I am a little disappointed but it
could have been worse. I could have gained instead. Glad I could vent. Maybe this week I will eat a little less
of my calories burned.

annew1952

Anyone out there hit a plateau in the second week? I worked my butt
off this week at the gym and ate well.
Inch wise I see a change and my pants feel looser. I am not into measuring body parts. I wont give up though.
I miss my few drinks every so often.

deksgrl

People tend to initially show a loss that is water weight, not fat loss. When you work out hard, the muscles will retain some water for repair. That is normal and what they need to build. That isn't a plateau.

SWhite0513

I also use the Curves gym system, which also has you eat MORE anytime you plateau for 3-4 days. You do that for a few days, then drop back down, and immediately you start losing again. Because it raises your metabolism, which had slowed down - hence the plateau.

That definitely helps you to keep losing. Do you eat more for a day or two, and then go back to your regular eating?

TheWinman

I actually lose more weight when I burn back most (but not all) of those calories burned.

moekels7

I eat some of my burned calories but if I would be really hungry I would eat all of them back no doubt about it!

thanks for feed back didnt lose a pound and worked my *kitten* off this week and was starving ! didnt eat back those workout calories some days being 700! so i think i went into starvation mode thanks for help!!:

covert7

I actually used a calorie calculator from a different site (had a few more details with it) to figure out what I should be taking in each day. This calculation already takes into account my exercise amounts so I don't eat back my burned calories. I pretty much use MFP just as a diary for my calories and exercise since I feel it really excels in this role.

So depending on where you're getting your caloric info, you might not want to eat those burned calories. Unless of course you're attempting to put on weight.

ltinsley52974

Bump

microburst20

I only work out so i can get extra calories to eat!!!!!!