Eating exercise calories - Help!!

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reddevil29
reddevil29 Posts: 169 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am on mfp 10 days now and I just wanted to know what the general thoughts were on eating exercise calories. Am I supposed to eat only some of them and if I use them all will I still lose weight?

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  • Jph6701
    Jph6701 Posts: 55 Member
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    Eat all your calories back that you burn.
  • Superchikanthem
    Superchikanthem Posts: 362 Member
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    Your going to get a lot of both answers but honestly just try both ways and see how you feel which ever works the best for you is what I would recommend.

    I do eat mine back otherwise I feel so blah
  • C00lCountry
    C00lCountry Posts: 282
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    Depends on how you have you calories set up.
    If you include your exercise in your daily routine then no.
    If you don't include it into your daily routine then yes.
    You can try various things to see if it works for you.
    Also remember you can be off on calories by a few if you just use the guide here instead of a Heartrate Monitor.
  • hellokomrade
    hellokomrade Posts: 3 Member
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    I'm really curious about this as well. I'm assuming it's best to eat them, to keep up your metabolism and not lose weight too quickly (lest you should gain it all back). I'm new to this diet and I'm struggling to stay under 1200 calories, so I've been jogging every day for between 45 and 90 minutes. I'm trying my best to ease my way in, but I don't know if I should be more focused on restricting my calories and staying under 1200, despite the daily increase in allowance due to exercise.
  • braign
    braign Posts: 89
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    I'd feel starving without mine. My body needs fuel for my normal daily routine AND exercise, and it can't do both without both sets of calories :P and with MFP's built-in 300-500 calorie deficit, I am still losing 1lb a week too so don't have to worry.
  • reyopo
    reyopo Posts: 210 Member
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    I was eating about half of mine back and losing, then I went up to eating all of them back and gained a pound this week. Experiment, clearly everyone is as different as their opinions on this subject...
  • bearxfoo
    bearxfoo Posts: 81 Member
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    It's different for everybody.

    Some people can go without and still lose weight, others can go without, lose weight but feel absolutely starving. And still others can eat them all up, lose weight, and feel fine.

    The trick is find what works for you. It may take a few weeks of trial and error, but once you get there, you'll know.

    For myself, it's a combination. I usually only eat if I'm hungry. If I'm not, I don't bother. :)
  • bagpuss64
    bagpuss64 Posts: 14
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    I use a fitbit which logs my general excerise and,links into MFP automatically for me and I generally eat back every single calorie lol!! I look on it as a way to get that little extra treat, if I want something "extra" I have to work for it! It is working for me anyway. I tried to do a lower calorie diet for a bit, one of the ones where you stick to a really low calorie intake but find that I lose more weight when I eat more, strange I know but that's the way it works for me! I generally try and stick to 1200 calories and anything extra I get during the day I add onto the evening
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    People have reported varying degrees of accuracy with the burn MFP reports from calories. You may not want to eat them all back because of this.

    If you are feeling tired/constantly hungry (not just peckish, but tummy rumbling etc), then eat more.
    If you have been eating them and are consistently not losing or gaining, try eating a bit less.
  • Lindamack5987
    Lindamack5987 Posts: 121
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    some times I do and sometimes I don't just depends on how my day is going. I have my calories set at 1500. And losing about a lb. a week.
  • nikkiprickett
    nikkiprickett Posts: 412 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538943-how-to-calculate-calorie-goals-according-to-nrolfw


    I'm sharing this link that a friend gave me and I also bought the new rules of lifting for women book...
    do this to calculate your cals...and yes you should eat them back...although don't eat them if you're not truly hungry...your body will tell you what it needs, just listen :)
    I used to force myself to eat them back just to do it, but I thought about it and that prob doesn't help anything so I'm just eating when I'm hungry and eat clean foods, don't go out to eat just because you have 1000 calories left, that won't help either :)
  • reddevil29
    reddevil29 Posts: 169 Member
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    Thanks for the info everyone...I was very confused...I guess I will just listen to my body and see how I go from there....How do I know if my calories are set up for me to lose a pound a week or if my exercise is already included in my daily calorie allowance???
  • reddevil29
    reddevil29 Posts: 169 Member
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    I worked my calories out from that link Nikki and it is giving me 100 calories more than MFP on a non workout day...should I maybe increase my intake so?
  • gaia3rd
    gaia3rd Posts: 151
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    There are a couple of links at the beginning of these threads that are great for newbies to read. However, the short answer to your questions is yes, eat your exercise calories - that's how MFP is designed to work. They already have your deficit to lose weight figured it to your daily allowance. When you log in your exercise, you will see it increases your allowed calories by that amount. The easiest thing to do is start with that plan and see how you're doing after 3 to 4 weeks. During that time, read up on things like BMR and TDEE, exercise, and anything else that interests you. After a month, if you're having difficulty, you can play around with the numbers and see if something else might work better for you.
  • reddevil29
    reddevil29 Posts: 169 Member
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    Thanks Gaia, I will see how I go... :-)
  • nicehormones
    nicehormones Posts: 503 Member
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    I try to eat my exercise calories but sometimes I burn so much it is hard to eat them all back in a day, so I often go over my calories on some days in the week to make up for it.


    MFP sets you up with a deficit already. So- if you do not exercise and eat at your calorie goal, you will lose weight. If you do exercise and eat every calorie burned, you will break even and still be at a deficit because it is already set for you.


    I exercise for fitness, not to just burn calories. You can technically lose weight either way- whether you exercise or not. So exercise to do good for your body :)
  • reddevil29
    reddevil29 Posts: 169 Member
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    Yeah I think I had chosen lightly active but that was because I was including my exercise....however I have now changed this and so if I eat extra it will be from burning calories....I actually do not feel right if I don't work out now even though I have been advised to not do more than 4 days in a row at the gym!!! Anyway sound advise there nicehormones, appreciate it :)

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