i dont think anyone understand my question

ashleyjea1985

lets say you eat 1200 calories..
and burn 600 running.

myfitness pal says your goal is now 1800 calories instead of 1200.

if you eat all the calories you just burned off, isnt the exervcise wasted?

it just doesnt make sense..

why not just eat 1200 and NOT work out
instead of eating 1800 and working out.

your telling me its basically the same.


at that rate i may as well not exercise if your telling me to EAT all the calories i just burned through exercise.

ashleyjea1985

lets say you eat 1200 calories..
and burn 600 running.

myfitness pal says your goal is now 1800 calories instead of 1200.

if you eat all the calories you just burned off, isnt the exervcise wasted?

it just doesnt make sense..

why not just eat 1200 and NOT work out
instead of eating 1800 and working out.

your telling me its basically the same.


at that rate i may as well not exercise if your telling me to EAT all the calories i just burned through exercise.

juliara

You're right. That's just to maintain. I tried it. If i don't eat the calories i burned i lose the weight. If i eat what i burned then i stay the same, the weight stays the same.

avr1321

my fitness pals already gives you 500 calories for weight loss.
so you should eat most of the calories you burn.

krazykayzy

We understand your question....when MyFitnessPal calculates your daily calories it has already accounted for a 500 calorie reduction.

In otherwords if your requirement is 1200 calories to lose 1 lb per week then you would need to eat 1700 to MAINTAIN your weight regardless of whether or not you exercise....because you will have days where you don't, you need to maintain a 1200 calorie diet and add the calories from exercising.

IF you exercise you can eat the extra calories because your body has burned an ADDITIONAL # of calories.

Eg. My body requires 1800 cal/day to MAINTAIN my current weight.
To lose 1lb per week I reduce my calories to 1300/day

If I exercise for 1 hour and burn 600 calories my NET calories for the day would be 700 and that is not healthy. Therefore I have to consume that 700 calories to bring my TOTAL NET calories for the day up to 1300.

If this helps you let me know...if you need more clarification I will check back in a minute......

ashleyjea1985

yea but then why bother working out to lose calories?????

you may as well not exercice.

denmother46

Except that when you exercise, your metabolism speeds up and you will burn more calories throughout the day than if you didnt exercise.

I meet in the middle. Base calories 1200 - earn 500 for a total of 1700. I try to eat arounf 1300-1400 and have been losing 1 1/2 to 2 pounds per week fairly consistently

sundaygirl85

lets say you eat 1200 calories..
and burn 600 running.

myfitness pal says your goal is now 1800 calories instead of 1200.

if you eat all the calories you just burned off, isnt the exervcise wasted?

it just doesnt make sense..

why not just eat 1200 and NOT work out
instead of eating 1800 and working out.

your telling me its basically the same.


at that rate i may as well not exercise if your telling me to EAT all the calories i just burned through exercise.

This is all true, but it depends how much you want to eat. Look at it this way: exercising lets you eat more. If you don't wanna exercise, and are happy eating 1200 then that's fine. Or, if you want to lose 2lbs a week, but don't want to cut 1000 cals a day, then you could cut 500 cals, burn another 500 exercising and not eat these extra cals and so create the 1000 deficit you need to burn 2lbs a week. Hope this helps!

krazykayzy

p.s. exercise is never wasted....it has other benefits besides just burning calories......

lotusfromthemud

The primary tool of weight loss is diet.

Exercise has many, many other benefits and really shouldn't be used as a tool to "buy" extra calories in your day. On my heavier exercise days, I do eat more calories than my more sedentary days, but I do not eat all of the calories "given" to me. One of the reasons for this is that the calories you burn during exercise as given by a machine or a website are hardly ever accurate. Also, just because you exercised for an hour doesn't mean you've physically added an hour to your day. You burn calories being sedentary (not many, but around 75 per hour, so if you exercise for an hour and burn 300, you've really only burned 225 above what you would have burned sitting on the sofa).

However, if you are in negative calorie territory, this is either too much exercise or not enough food.

All that being said, this isn't an exact science. Everyone is different, and every day is different. Some days I feel great at the gym, I'm able to exercise harder and I'm sure I burn more calories. Other days, I have less energy and don't work as hard. The same goes for food. Some days I'm starving and some days I have to remind myself to eat. For me, eating more has led to: feeling better, being able to exercise harder to greater benefit and dropping ten pounds I though were stuck. The less you have to lose the smaller your deficit should be.

That was a long answer, but I hope it helps.

ashleyjea1985

if your telling me we exercise so our metaboism burned more calories during the day....
then you are contradicting yourself.


by your rules, i would then have to EAT the calories my metabolism is additionally burning cuz i NEED Them to survive.

dulceluva

EVERYONE RESPONDS DIFFERENTLY

Please just do what you are comfortable with without sacrificing your health.

Remember what doesn't make sense to you, makes perfect sense to someone else.

If you exercise so much that you are attaining 600+ calories burned a day, that give you the freedom to eat maybe more veggies, a bigger piece of whatever, maybe another yogurt, a treat for yourself...something.

Good luck

icandoit

Your body needs fuel just like a car, when you use it up, you have to refuel.

denmother46

You dont need them to survive, you need them to make your body work more efficiently. If you eat a mimimum of 1200 calories per day you will survive. But if you are working out alot your body needs more fuel to work properly.

vicky1

You exercise then you build more muscle this then increases your metabolism and makes your body more efficient because muscle burns more calories than fat the amount of calories everybody needs varies dramatically for woman 1000 to 1200 is just an estimate and how few calories before your body enters starvation made is also unknown despite what some people are saying.

What I have researched is that if you don't exercise your body will turn to fat because you won't be maintaining muscle then your body wont burn as many calories and if you continue you will gain weight.
However it can take 2-3 weeks for your body to recover from starvation mode (if that is the case) but it will recover.

Keep exercising maybe try interval training you know 1 more intense 1 min not so intense like sprinting for a min and the jogging for a min there is a lot of research out there to support that this works.

Have you maybe thought of taking some measurements you may have decreased your size by gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so that could be why the scales haven't changed I am in the same position no change on the scales but defo got looser jeans and straight out of the wash.

Stick with it. I personally eat around 1500 my goal is 1380 per day and I gain between 600 to 1000 extra by exercise my doctor told me around 1500 should be fine but increase by say a banana if you are stuck and see if it help.

Good luck

krazykayzy

I think sometimes we just have to remember that this isn't an "exact science" when it comes down to each individual little calorie. We have to "ball park" it. When someone's BMR is 1400 this is a calculation that has room for error by 5/10/15 calories (who really knows "exactly") So technically their BMR could be anwhere between 1385 and 1415. With any calculation there is always room for error.

I think maybe you need to step back and stop trying to analyze it down to the 'nitty gritty'....what you need to understaned is that you have a 'rough' calorie amount that you need to eat to maintain your weight (usually for women around 1700-1900)and to lose 1 lb per week you need to reduce it by 500 (or so) calories. Exercising has benefits besides granting you extra calories.

if your telling me we exercise so our metaboism burned more calories during the day....
then you are contradicting yourself.


by your rules, i would then have to EAT the calories my metabolism is additionally burning cuz i NEED Them to survive.

These extra calories that are burned during the day are calculated into your profile when you chose what your lifestyle is.....if you are sedentry/lightly active/moderately active/very active. If you're exercising a couple hours a day or have a physical job then MFP would calculate that if you chose the moderately active lifestyle option. Again I think maybe you're trying to analyze each individual calorie too much when you say you need to eat the calories burned during the day by your metabolism. Most of these numbers are calculated for you when you set your profile.

sr2000

You dont need them to survive, you need them to make your body work more efficiently. If you eat a mimimum of 1200 calories per day you will survive. But if you are working out alot your body needs more fuel to work properly.

Exactly!

Now these are rough estimates, everyones intake is different and everyone burns calories differently.

Eat (about) 1200 calories everyday instead of 1700 you'll lose some weight.
Eat (about) 1200 everyday, burn about 500, eat those 500 back, you'll lose some weight and have healthier muscles, ie your heart. (total intake 1700 but still NET ONLY 1200!)
Eat about 1200 plus burn about 500, (net calories drops TOO LOW to 700!) your body says oh, no, what's happening!? I can't let go of weight now, I need to conserve it to live and function!

If your only goal is to lose weight, just stay at the recommended reduced calorie intake., roughly 1200, (depending on each person.)
If you want to improve your overall health, add excercise to that reduced caloric intake, and eat back most of what you burned in order to Stay at that recommended intake.
Does this make sense?
This is a confusing process and we all probably struggle with it a bit.

JulieB21

You're right. That's just to maintain. I tried it. If i don't eat the calories i burned i lose the weight. If i eat what i burned then i stay the same, the weight stays the same.

I have always eaten my exercise calories and continue to steadily lose weight. I have lost 57 pounds & over 30 inches since the beginning of September.

TinaM

Wow, you people are all really patient!! I hope everyone takes the time to read your comments carefully and tries to understand.

sr2000

SEE DISCUSSION TOPIC "For those of you who don't believe" In general discussion

ashleyjea1985

Eat (about) 1200 calories everyday instead of 1700 you'll lose some weight.
Eat (about) 1200 everyday, burn about 500, eat those 500 back, you'll lose some weight and have healthier muscles, ie your heart. (total intake 1700 but still NET ONLY 1200!)
Eat about 1200 plus burn about 500, (net calories drops TOO LOW to 700!) your body says oh, no, what's happening!? I can't let go of weight now, I need to conserve it to live and function!


THATS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS ASKING !!

THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE NOW! THANKS

flabbyguy

Exercising builds muscle which in turn burns off calories much faster in your body.Makes your body leaner and you look and feel better.It gets your hearth pumping and blood flowing and generally keeps you much healthier....