So if I exercise and earn extra calories...

rockerchick81

I'm assuming I still don't use them and stick to my original set of calories. Is this wrong?

sophiesummerdiet

I eat mine otherwise I don't net enough!

ThinUpGirl

I eat mine otherwise I don't net enough!
[/quote
I don't really understand the NET. Yesterday I NET about 800.

ElizabethRoad

If you weren't supposed to eat them, it wouldn't say you earned them.

MoganHorse

Ya, Your fine! In fact your great! you can stay at your base and exercise. They are just telling you that you could go up if you want to, but you dont have to. Just make sure you are at least consuming your baseline or you will have big issues later on!

runfatmanrun

I try to eat mine. I say try because sometimes I am just not hungry.

ladyraven68

There are some very usefull stickied threads at teh top of this forum for new members - starting here

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

janeite1990

MFP says to eat them because they have already figured your calorie deficit. Depending on how many I burn, I try to eat them, but when you eat them, eat healthy. Don't think that calories in the bank is license to splurge on junk.

red_hatorade

If your goal is 1300 calories a day and you burn 500 calories, then that means your net caloric intake is 800 calories. The consensus is that you should stay at 1200 calories or more per day, net.

ironanimal

If you weren't supposed to eat them, it wouldn't say you earned them.

And this is the first time I have ever agreed with anything Elizabeth posted :drinker:

If you don't eat them, you make your deficit bigger and potentially counter-productively so. Do a forum search for TDEE and get to reading.

nasja1984

I'm assuming I still don't use them and stick to my original set of calories. Is this wrong?

you can use them or not, it depends on if you "need them" or not. If you are overweight, you won't starve without them. Personally, I didn't use them often. I did use them occasionally.

kazza2cats

Eat them and enjoy them!

indiepops

ok there is a very divided opinion about whether to eat them back or not. personally why bother, we've all already put all this weight on, to exercise and burn calories is how to get rid of the excess weight, right? so why eat them back? you might as well stick to your calorie allowance and not bother exercising! its alright people saying well if i burn X amount of cals then i only have X amount of net calories for the day, but you havent, your exercising to burn the fat that you're trying to lose. thats how i do it, i never feel deprived, i am healthy and i lose about 1.4 to 2 lbs a week. started a new regime now so today was my new starting weight ive lost 12lbs since jan x

Nerdy_Rose

EAT IT.

Jorra

Take a look at this thread in the Unofficial MFP FAQ for multiple explanations for why eating exercise calories are a part of the MFP program.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390145-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories

Umeboshi

You need to eat enough of them to net at LEAST 1200. Other than that I'd still recommend eating most of them.

nikkiprickett

you have to eat them back....check out this link...
I've also struggled with that...only eat them back if you're hungry or your body is telling you to...just listen to your body


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538943-how-to-calculate-calorie-goals-according-to-nrolfw

tigersword

If you weren't supposed to eat them, it wouldn't say you earned them.

This. Pretty simple concept, really.

nikkiprickett

ok there is a very divided opinion about whether to eat them back or not. personally why bother, we've all already put all this weight on, to exercise and burn calories is how to get rid of the excess weight, right? so why eat them back? you might as well stick to your calorie allowance and not bother exercising! its alright people saying well if i burn X amount of cals then i only have X amount of net calories for the day, but you havent, your exercising to burn the fat that you're trying to lose. thats how i do it, i never feel deprived, i am healthy and i lose about 1.4 to 2 lbs a week. started a new regime now so today was my new starting weight ive lost 12lbs since jan x

i've researched and read and heard from trainers that you need to eat them back...
also, I've lost 12lbs since march 28th (when I started on here)
by eating them back....again, dif things work for dif people BUT for long term, you'll want to eat them back-it is possible to
be depriving your body and not know it because your body is getting used to it..
1200 calories isn't enough for anyone who have long term goals or intend on keeping the weight off.

sandown12

Thing is you have to know exactly the calories you ate burning to eat
There's different calculators different HRMs and fitbits
Nothing is exact we all burn differently

I eat slightly above my BMR but only for the last 2 weeks I was eating 1200-1300 gross but felt lethargic so joined the group Eat more to weigh less it explains a lot

I totally agree with why eat exercise calories when they ate to burn fat & calories to get fit & tone up
Go with -20 TDEE = total daily energy expenditure
Meaning total your body burns - 20%

You will find the right way for you most of us this is a new start a proper way of living a healthy life so slowly wins the race

I started Jan 2012 after many 'diets' I'm never starting another diet I'm on a plan for life x

megsmom2

MFP says to eat them because they have already figured your calorie deficit. Depending on how many I burn, I try to eat them, but when you eat them, eat healthy. Don't think that calories in the bank is license to splurge on junk.

This! Exactly this!

santini1975

Some people insist on eating them back... it doesn't make sense to me. If you are going to eat them back, that's pretty much the same as just eating 1200 calories and sitting around all day. I used to use the calories I worked off as a cushion for my "hungry" days. But then I hit a plateau for about 3 months, so I quit. BAM! Broke the plateau.

lillebanon

Please take a few minutes and read my blog post that explains what BMR, TDEE, cuts, etc. are and why eating more is important...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/lillebanon/view/my-take-on-eating-more-to-weigh-less-254554
Another great link...to the Eat More to Weigh Less group:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

tigersword

ok there is a very divided opinion about whether to eat them back or not. personally why bother, we've all already put all this weight on, to exercise and burn calories is how to get rid of the excess weight, right? so why eat them back? you might as well stick to your calorie allowance and not bother exercising! its alright people saying well if i burn X amount of cals then i only have X amount of net calories for the day, but you havent, your exercising to burn the fat that you're trying to lose. thats how i do it, i never feel deprived, i am healthy and i lose about 1.4 to 2 lbs a week. started a new regime now so today was my new starting weight ive lost 12lbs since jan x

OK, I'll break down the math simply. Eating 1200 calories and burning 600 calories from exercise is the physical equivalent of eating 600 calories a day.

Do you think eating 600 calories a day is healthy? I mean, if we exercise to burn off all the calories to lose weight, why bother eating at all? Just stop eating, and you should lose weight even faster, right? After all, who cares about being healthy? :huh:

stephyy4632

you earned them eat them read the link below ( its even stickied at the top of this page)

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

mzhokie

I have been losing weight steadily since I started making sure my NET is 1200 calories. I eat back at least enough of my exercise calories to NET 1200. When I wasn't doing that my weight loss stalled.

I know the opinions are divided here on it but I have lost more since I started to eat more. It's working for me.

LovingLisa2012

from the help section on this site

We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:

Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories

What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.

Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.

jfaure23

Eat 'em up. Please net at least your daily caloric allowance. Do not give your body the chance to starve itself. If you exercise, it is a bonus. If you build muscle, even better. Whenever you lose 5 lbs, re-evaluate your goals.

AFitJamie

ok, so there are a few posts with really bad advice in this thread, and a few more rational - so if volume of responses helps in your decision making: (I can't figure out why people keep giving advice that is really bad advice and unhealthy when the data and details are readily available to read...)

*IF* you are using MFP as it is basically set up and you let it determine your calorie target for you based on what you wanted to lose (and assuming those were reasonable goals, etc) then it is already taking into account what you should eat to lose weight at that pace (remember these are estimates... you may need slight adjustments to the targets for yourself, but these typically are a good starting point.) SO, if you exercise then you should eat them back to maintain the same caloric deficit.

(But WAIT! someone asked - What the point of working out then???? It DOESN'T MAKE SENSE??!) Yes, it does. Working out provides you a number of benefits - resistance training will help you maintain the muscle you have while you lose - so a greater portion of your loss is fat and not muscle. Also cardio will provide improved cardiac fitness... It isn't all about weight.... there are other benefits... this could go on and on and on.... but on a basic "calories in" -vs- "calories out" level, you should eat approximately what you burn so you do not create too much of a deficit. This is, I believe, Tiger's point - If you eat 1200 cals and then work off 600... you are left with 600.... now lets take out the workout: If you only ate 600 and did no workout, everyone around you would agree that isn't a healthy approach to weight loss. So I can't figure out why some people INSIST on constantly saying it is ok.... it isn't healthy to eat 600 net... or 800 net...

Eat your exercise calories - or most of them anyway (it can be hard to get great estimates of what you really have burned through exercise so it isn't like this can be worked out the the precise 1/2 calorie or anything - MFP tends to estimate your calorie burn a bit higher than is likely the real calories you have burned for a given exercise). The people who are saying "it works for me" and are essentially advocating that you eat at a very low calorie level are not helping you approach this is a healthy manner.

... sorry /Rant :explode:

off to bed

Jorra

You rock, Jamie! Everyone please listen to this man.

Jules2Be

Soon as i started eating some of my exercise calories back I lost 5 pounds in 3 weeks...AND i feel like getting to the gym and lfiting, and not dragging.!