Do you eat your exercise calories???

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jazzrose007
jazzrose007 Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I have been on MFP for about a week now and I never eat my fitness calories back. I'm I supposed too? Does'nt that defeat the purpose of doing the exercise, which is to create calorie deficit in order to lose weight. I can understand eating them back to maintain, but not to lose weight. What do you do?
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Replies

  • melanie3103
    melanie3103 Posts: 246 Member
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    bump.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
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    Yep.

    I still lose weight.

    Must be rocket science.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Every last one of them!!! I don't work my A@#$ off to let them go to waste..... lol
  • cindyhoney2
    cindyhoney2 Posts: 603 Member
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    I don't always eat all of them. But yes you've earned it, take it!
  • nightsrainfall
    nightsrainfall Posts: 244 Member
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    MFP estimates your metabolic burn based upon your lifestyle (the bmr). While this is an estimate, it is what is used for the deficit. If you want to lose a pound a week, then that's ~3500 calories per week deficit or 500 cals per day. If your bmr is 2,000 and mfp tells you to eat 1500 calories then your body should already have a deficit of -500/day. When you exericise you add to that deficit. Some people might believe that not eating back your calories, or keeping your food in calories low will help you lose weight faster, but generally this can be a very unhealthy loss. Muscle needs calories to renew itself, be built, repair, etc. Sadly, our bodies generally will break down muscle first over fat, which is one reason why exercise is important - don't use it, you lose it type concept.

    Eating back your calories won't deter you from your goal of loss/week technically. Not eating them back, might not only deter you, it may eventually cause your muscles to not get enough calories themselves. Also if your net calories end up too low over an extended time, it could cause future health problems.

    Anyway, I suggest googling both sides of the topic anyway - just to decide for yourself what's best. :-)
  • nill4me
    nill4me Posts: 682 Member
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    Yep.

    I still lose weight.

    Must be rocket science.

    Its a bummer that we aren't all as smart as you are...
  • TheWinman
    TheWinman Posts: 700 Member
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    I don't always eat all of them. But yes you've earned it, take it!

    It's not about earning it, it's about what your body needs and it aids in weight loss. :)
  • ines25
    ines25 Posts: 107 Member
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    no i never eat back the calories i exercise i have my calories set i just reach that and sometimes if im hungry i go over my calories for 100-200cal thats it
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    MFP estimates your metabolic burn based upon your lifestyle (the bmr).

    lifestyle does NOT equal BMR.
  • qtiekiki
    qtiekiki Posts: 1,490 Member
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    Yes. Sometimes I exercise, so I have more calories to eat. What can I say... I LOVE foods.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    MFP calculated a calorie deficit for you without including exercise. This design is because not everyone WILL or CAN exercise.

    By exercising (and not eating the extra calories) you increase the deficit. The theory is .... "I'll just lose weight that much faster." This may be true in the short term ...... however, your body requires a bare minimum calories for everday functions (heart, lungs, etc.) ... without these bare minimum calories your body will burn existing muscle if it has to.

    Eat the extra calories .... if you want to keep your existing muscle mass.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    MFP calculated a calorie deficit for you without including exercise. This design is because not everyone WILL or CAN exercise.

    By exercising (and not eating the extra calories) you increase the deficit. The theory is .... "I'll just lose weight that much faster." This may be true in the short term ...... however, your body requires a bare minimum calories for everday functions (heart, lungs, etc.) ... without these bare minimum calories your body will burn existing muscle if it has to.

    Eat the extra calories .... if you want to keep your existing muscle mass.

    That! And I find exercise calories MUCH more tasty and satisfying LOL.
  • jazzrose007
    jazzrose007 Posts: 51 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.

    Thanks, but I did research but I just wanted to know the opinons of other people, which some give without any other smart remark. I thought that people could ask any question they wanted without being judged. Guess I was wrong!
  • Sapporo
    Sapporo Posts: 693 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.

    Thanks, but I did research but I just wanted to know the opinons of other people, which some give without any other smart remark. I thought that people could ask any question they wanted without being judged. Guess I was wrong!

    ahahaahahahaha what message board do you think you're on? not be judged.... funny....
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.

    :laugh:

    Seriously though, I eat them. I ate them last year when I was here under a different account and lost around 30 pounds, and I eat them now that I'm back and trying to get lean. Exercise calories are DELICIOUS.
  • Myobi
    Myobi Posts: 129 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.

    Thanks, but I did research but I just wanted to know the opinons of other people, which some give without any other smart remark. I thought that people could ask any question they wanted without being judged. Guess I was wrong!

    To be fair, this shows up quite often in all of the forums, so there are lots of opinions out there. That being said, they were a little snarky, which is never fun.

    OT: I eat most of my exercise calories back. Here are my main thoughts.
    1: The program already has a deficit built in for you to lose weight with no exercise. Not eating your exercise calories back CAN lead you to having an unsafe deficit. (Note the wording - it will vary from individual to individual, depending on how much weight they want to lose a week. Due to some health stuff I have, I stick with 1 pound a week (500 calorie deficit built in a day). If I burn 250 calories in exercise, that just bumps me up to a 750 calorie/day deficit, which is good for 1.5 pounds a week. Because I know what works for me and what my body needs, I try to stick to a 500 calorie deficit.
    2: I don't eat ALL of my exercise calories back because I don't know that the estimate burned is entirely accurate. If I had a heart rate monitor and had a more accurate burn estimate, I'd probably eat a bit more back than I do. I also know that on the weekends I tend to eat a bit more, so I try to give myself some allowance there.

    Hope that helps. :)
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Yes. And I search before I post.

    Thanks, but I did research but I just wanted to know the opinons of other people, which some give without any other smart remark. I thought that people could ask any question they wanted without being judged. Guess I was wrong!

    Give me a break. No one is judging you. I don't think less of you because you are one of the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 people to post an exercise calorie thread on these boards.

    And if you did in fact research, you certainly didn't do it on these boards, thus my point.

    And if you actually want information/advice, the question isn't whether or not people do eat them... it's why... but few people ever ask that.
  • nikkiprickett
    nikkiprickett Posts: 412 Member
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    YES!! Don't force yourself if you burn something crazy like 1000 cals or something, eat when you're hungry-LISTEN TO YOUR BODY :)
  • heytherestephy
    heytherestephy Posts: 356 Member
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    I usually eat about half of mine, not because I don't want to eat them but because I can't eat enough to eat them LOL.

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