Adding the calories you burn to your total calorie intake

kmgt · January 2013

I'm new here, so take this for what it's worth, but...

Biggest Loser Jillian Michaels is in the business of weight loss. So, when she speaks of weight loss, then YES, the purpose of exercise FOR WEIGHT LOSS, is to create a calorie deficit. HOWEVER, most people know, or should know, that there are far more benefits of exercise than just weight loss! Oh, you know, overall health?

If the sole purpose of exercise was to create a calorie deficit and lose weight, then those folks who have reached their goal, would stop exercising.

In essence, Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper etc. etc. must not be exercising anymore since they don't need to create a calorie deficit.

drusilla126 · January 2013

Because you want to fuel your body to do what you want it to. Your NET calories (calories eaten - calories burned) should equal something reasonable. If you create too big of a deficit you can run into trouble where your body thinks it is starving. It's like putting gas in your car. If you want it to go you have to give it fuel.

kikih64 · January 2013

Why did you post, if you don't want people to explain it to you?

XXXMinnieXXX · January 2013

If you've got 40/50+lbs to lose don't add them. Big deficits are fine. If your close to goal you need to eat more. Any dietitian and research will show you that. That being said if your weak or wobbly eat more. I used to eat 1400 at 300-240lbs now 1700. All closely monitored. My tdess are after 3000-3500 x

Zara

triathlete5301 · January 2013

So why did you ask for advice if Jillian already told you everything?

vim_n_vigor · January 2013

Sounds like you know everything about weight loss, so I don't know why you asked the question.

BrettPGH · January 2013

Jillian Michaels is a reality tv show host who does what she does to get ratings and sell merchandise.

MFP will help you lose a healthy amount of weight and keep it off, yourself.

Trust the people and the advice here as opposed to tv shows and marketing gimmicks. MFP works and is a healthy and sustainable way to lose weight. The Biggest Loser is a tv show made to get ratings and sell products.

bathsheba_c · January 2013

You asked what the rationale behind eating back exercise calories is, then made fun the people who gave you an answer . . . because they aren't Jillian Michaels? I think you may already be the biggest loser.

vim_n_vigor · January 2013

kristy6ward · January 2013

What was the point of the original question again?

CyberEd312 · January 2013

If your not figuring your calories based on TDEE and are using the MFP method, then your caloric deficit is already built in to your daily totals so any exercise that you are doing is putting you in an even larger deficit which is not a good idea so you eat back those calories to fuel your workouts... I use the MFP method so I eat them back. I eat back 85% of those burned calories leaving 15% for error in logging and whatnot.. Have managed to lose a few pounds using this method..... Best of Luck

wahmx3 · January 2013

Exactly! The deficit is already built in and you want to not just lose weight but also keep it off.... eat back your exercise calories (or at least half of them since some of the estimates are too high).

knowwhentoshutup · January 2013

It comes down to two things.

Your BMR - your base metabolic rate - and your activity level.

For example: my BMR is 1634. That is the amount of calories I need to consume on a daily basis, just to keep my body functioning properly. This is the amount of calories I would be fed at the hospital, if I were on complete bed rest and a vegetable. It keeps your vital organs working.

For obvious reason - you don't want to net calories below this number. (Meaning, I like to keep breathing, thinking, and having hair grow).

The other number you need is your TDEE - total daily energy expenditure. This number is based on your activity level. The more you move - the more you eat.

Most people find the best success eating about 20% below their TDEE, losing weight and fueling their body.

Of course, this is based on the following formula: Calories In (Food) - Calories Out (Exercise) = Net Calories.

Now, the method MFP uses is similar to these numbers, but it figures most of the math out for you. When you enter your goals, you tell MFP how much weight you would like to lose each week, how many times and for how long you plan to exercise, and your current weight. It assumes you will eat your calories back from exercise, hence telling you have earned x-number of calories from exercise. Unless you have a very reliable heart rate monitor to track your calorie burn, everything is based on estimates anyway.

sunshine_gem · January 2013

If you knew the answer then why did you bother asking the question? Jillian is a fitness professional yes, but is she a dietician? Plenty of people have given you sensible answers about the way MFP works you're just choosing to ignore it and go with what you want to believe in, which is fine, everyone's entitles to their own opinion and everyone has different ways of losing weight. But don't yell at people for answering a question you asked cos that's just rude.

SunshineKisses_2012 · January 2013

Wow.

And this. I eat until I am satisfied, not full. If I eat until I am full, I feel like junk. If that means I eat some of my exercise calories back, then so be it. If I don't properly fuel my body (with good and healthy food), then I feel like crap. Same goes with underfueling. I feel like crap. Starvation mode will mess your metabolism up BIG TIME. Sure, you will shock your body into losing initially, but it will figure out what you are doing and start holding onto fat for dear life.

Good luck on your journey. I hope it works out for you.

jlapey · January 2013

If your daily calorie intake is LESS than your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) then you should eat your exercise calories back in order to give your body what it needs to fuel the activity and repair the muscles afterwards. Your calorie deficit is already accounted for with your diet. When you exercise, you create an even bigger deficit which can be detrimental to your health as well as your progress. This is how MFP is set up. This way, you lose weight without the exercise.

If you included your workouts in your activity level then you don't need to eat them back because it's already accounted for.

For easier to understand guidelines go here and read the threads with the red pins next to them. VERY informative.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

wahmx3 · January 2013

Totally agree here!

veganbaum · January 2013

Why ask the question to begin with? You seem unwilling to even try to understand what others have attempted to explain. Jillian's way of looking at things is using exercise to create a deficit. MFP uses daily calories to create a deficit. Both create a deficit, just in different ways. This is MyFITNESSPal, not MyWeightlossPal. MFP is designed to help people begin by creating a deficit through calories eaten. On MFP, exercise is about health and wellness, and, well, being FIT. So, it does not defeat the purpose to eat back exercise cals - just the opposite in fact. If you have set up MFP wisely, you have a healthy deficit and by eating back exercise cals you maintain that healthy deficit while helping your body to become more fit.

And by the way - I like Jillian Michaels for a lot of reasons, but she is a trainer, not a dietician. And, MFP is not set up like the common weight loss calculators, so what she says about exercise and deficits has even less applicability here.

Why am I even explaining this? You've made up your mind. But maybe others will understand more by reading this thread.

lglg11 · January 2013

She has to be trollin .. please someone tell me she is . So much good information in this thread and she still doesn't understand because Jillian Michaels didn't say it .

SMH

DarkAngel262 · January 2013

Also, why are you capslocking on us....relax

Adding the calories you burn to your total calorie intake

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