So you exercise to eat?

Pedal_Pusher

I absolutely love this!!!

What do you love about it? The ignorance or the condescending tone?

BronnersHarris

Beyond tracking exercise to eat - I've seen people gain calories for drinking cold water!! Surely that's clutching at straws even more than logging a walk around the mall.

When I had my cals set low that I needed to work for exra cals I could see why people would log everything. I didn't, but on hungry days I was tempted!! Lol

KarenReichel

Here's my personal rant. And NO it's not about you! But if you feel like it's about you then someone has probably thought it about you

If you are tracking EVERYTHING you do (shopping, walking the 4 houses down to visit your neighbor, etc) then you are exercising to eat. You are trying to gain that extra calorie not so you can be "correct" or "accurate" but so you can sqeeze that hersey's kiss out of the day! Let it go!

Oh, and yeah, you can go running without a HRM. You'll survive if you don't know exactly how long or how far we ran. It was only about 20 mins, it wasn't a half marathon in which you actually burned significant calories that make you need to eat more. Also, please stop talking about the donut shop at the end of the 5K race...you (especially since you took so many freaking walk breaks) can't complain you're not losing weight when you get a donut every freaking time we're done with a run.

It's one thing to know you are going to your brother's B-day party and are probably going to eat more so you do an extra workout that morning...but when you live every day of your life based on whether or not you can track the calories for your workout or what you are eating then you're not living.

And lastly...please stop getting mad at me when I tell you I've lost more weight when you ask me how I'm doing. I've told you how I do it and you refuse to believe that eating to fuel your body will help you lose weight. Oh, FYI...I haven't worked out in 3 days and the scale is down another pound...but I'll wait to tell you when you ask me Friday and tell I can tell you its down 2 pounds!

Just curious how many people get jealous of the 2 pounds you have lost? Must be enough to make you angry enough to write this garbage.

kathym59

. Do you really work up a sweat strolling through the mall????
[/quote]

Depends if the sales are on, !!!

Renae_Nae

Question - I'm new to MFP and am confused on the counting of calories. If i'm allowed to eat 1200 a day and then exersice and it now says my daily goal intake of calories is 1400 - should I still be only eating 1200. won't it say that I'm not meeting my calorie intake? Will my body think that I am starving it or is the 1200 enough? Can someone please explain who this works? Thanks. Tina

I "break the rules" when it comes to MFP. I eat 1,700 calories a day and don't count exercise (unless I run more than 10 miles). If you are eating less than a net of 1,200 calories then you can do damage to your body. There are several people on here who eat less and are "fine" and lose weight. I personally can't eat under 1,500 calories and lose weight. If I do a long workout and I'm hungry then I have an extra protein shake. I'm not scared to go 100-200 calories over my daily goal and often I'll do more. I don't even track my workouts and in the last 8 days I've lost 3 pounds (I just haven't added the last pound to my ticker). I lost 20 pounds last year (til I started dating my fiance and landed the most stressful job ever where I was surrounded my junk food and sweets constantly.). I gained 10 back and I'm around 3 pounds down My goal is 130 by Oct and I have no doubt in my mind I will make it and mantain it because I'm not restricting myself to the point of cracking and I'm doing something I can live with for the rest of my life!

TeaBea

Question - I'm new to MFP and am confused on the counting of calories. If i'm allowed to eat 1200 a day and then exersice and it now says my daily goal intake of calories is 1400 - should I still be only eating 1200. won't it say that I'm not meeting my calorie intake? Will my body think that I am starving it or is the 1200 enough? Can someone please explain who this works? Thanks. Tina

I eat all of my exercise calories back. MFP is designed this way because it does not ASSUME that you will exercise. Some people can't/won't exercise. The calorie deficit is built in .... if you exercise the deficit is even bigger. Too much deficit can stall weight loss, among other problems.

Be careful when calculating calories burned .... many machines & MFP overstate. Some people eat a % of calores back.

zyxst

You know, I exercise to burn off the accumulated fat I have, not to be able to eat more. I'm sure this will piss off the OP: I'm walking to Dairy Queen and having a dipped cone. :P

NavyKnightAh13

Donuts? I ran my first 5k this past Saturday (and yes i got laughed at by quite a few people because i am fat and i run) but instead of diving into the muffins like a lot of people (i did have one), i chose to get a banana and a nature valley bar and walk the extra 1/2 mile that i parked my car instead of taking a golf cart.

hippypippy84

This made me laugh and pee a little!! (Thats gotta be a pound off?!?)

Melyssaks

I've read multiple times that running and walking actually burns the same number of calories (not sure how but that's what they claim). So if someone wants to multitask and put the 5 or 6 hours they walked around the mall for exercise....just for it! It's still exercise and it's not like walking for 6 hours around the mall is a daily thing.

The same goes for cleaning. I sure wouldn't bother tracking making the bed, doing the laundry, etc....but there are some heavy spring cleaning sessions at the lake house which isn't used for months or mowing our 3-lot lawn in 100 degree weather where I am just as exhausted as when I get done with a run or Insanity session.

Point is, you can't control someone's else's workout. As long as they are working out and showing success, good for them. If they're complaining they're not losing weight fast enough, ignore them. Deep down they know why.

dvisser1

I've never run a 5K race where donuts were handed out at the finish......where do sign up for one??

Really? The last 5K I ran, the finish line buffet consisted of donuts, beer and pizza...among other things! It was awesome! :bigsmile:

I need to go running with you! :flowerforyou:

The 5k trail run I did saturday only had bottled water. Pancakes and bacon were for sale for another $5.... :grumble:

cubizzle

I love posts like this more than anything. The crows come out *****ing about an OP being judgmental or whatever when the irony is they are judging the OP and condescending to them about their opinion. Just like I am here, right now, and you will be when you respond to this, and then I will be when I respond back. It's the inevitable chain of events when opinions and emotions are expressed. AND that is why I just make jokes and laugh.


Well when I'm not judging of course.

msdavis79

Somedays I have to count all the exercise just to get enough protein in my diet to build the muscle

ravennyx

Yeap Once a month I do count my house cleaning calories because Once a month I move all the furniture to clean under it and I clean out closets and cubards and such and so on.... I also mop the floors on my hands and knees and use the kitchen sink as my bucket so I have to keep getting up and down just to burn more cals I see nothing wrong with it and if I feel like it I will treat myself to something worth no more than half the cals I burned doing it .... Like Pedal_Pusher says you go do your thing and I'll keep doing my thing.

cubizzle

This made me laugh and pee a little!! (Thats gotta be a pound off?!?)

If your laugh pee is a pound off you may want to have your bladder checked

_stephanie0

i feel like it took a lot of effort to read this thread.... that means i earned an extra cookie, right!?

kidding. love this post.

themathelk

MFP calculates your calories to live, what you need to take in for your minimum daily movement. When you log additional physical exercise, you've burned part of your gas for the day so you have to add that amount to the total you need. So yes, if it says 1200 and you ran and burned 200 - that day you NEED to eat 1400. The 1200 is already below your comfort calories, lowered to give you the amount that will have you losing a reasonable amount of weight. Calories = Fuel. Don't live your life on an empty tank.

hazelovesfood

I dont know where you are taking this high ground from, so far you only lost 2llb and by the looks of your diary, you are not eating heallthy so your no expert, sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dvisser1

I've read multiple times that running and walking actually burns the same number of calories (not sure how but that's what they claim). So if someone wants to multitask and put the 5 or 6 hours they walked around the mall for exercise....just for it! It's still exercise and it's not like walking for 6 hours around the mall is a daily thing.

The same goes for cleaning. I sure wouldn't bother tracking making the bed, doing the laundry, etc....but there are some heavy spring cleaning sessions at the lake house which isn't used for months or mowing our 3-lot lawn in 100 degree weather where I am just as exhausted as when I get done with a run or Insanity session.

Point is, you can't control someone's else's workout. As long as they are working out and showing success, good for them. If they're complaining they're not losing weight fast enough, ignore them. Deep down they know why.

Running a mile vs walking a mile do burn sort of close to the same calories. Running for 20 minutes vs walking for 20 minutes, running wins by a large margin.

susannahcooks

I don't judge people though. No point. I don't burn any calories doing that.

LOL! Love it

Bilbobradshaw

I'm starting to find all these domineering//passive aggressive posts really irritating. It seems like there are more and more of them on lately. MFP is becoming a high school.

JanineHarrison

I think most of us exercise to eat to some degree, but I get what you are saying about people, or what sound more like a certain friend of yours, that chooses to log any and all activities so his/her diary stays in the green and if they don't lose anything they can say "I don't know what's going on, I'm always under, it must just be my body chemistry" or something like that.

Mindful_Trent

While I don't advocate overestimating exercise calories, as that is counterproductive, I do want to point out that if one is set as "sedentary" on MFP and has an active day (ex - running errands, doing some yardwork, walking around the mall, vigorous house cleaning, etc.) then it's completely plausible that calories above and beyond the normal sedentary daily calories will be burned. I wear a BodyMedia FIT - most days (before exercise) I burn ~2200 calories - that's my basic MFP setting under "Sedentary" and my BodyMedia agrees. That said, it's not uncommon for me to get up to 2500-2600 (pre-exercise) on active days. A few hundred extra calories to play with in one's diet while still maintaining the desired deficit can make a big difference. :drinker: If I have a busy/active day, I'm certainly going to log those extra activity calories (even though they're not "real exercise") so that I know where I'm really sitting as far as my calorie balance goes!

Gilbrod

I've never run a 5K race where donuts were handed out at the finish......where do sign up for one??

YEAH! screw oranges and bananas I want a freaking donut!

I got a mars bar at my 10k this weekend. I thought that was class.

That was class?! Is that the same as "that's so boss", or from Mean Girls, "that's so fetch?" LMAO!!!! I understand the cleaning part. But OP, how bout the chore of walking your dog?

Renae_Nae

Here's my personal rant. And NO it's not about you! But if you feel like it's about you then someone has probably thought it about you

If you are tracking EVERYTHING you do (shopping, walking the 4 houses down to visit your neighbor, etc) then you are exercising to eat. You are trying to gain that extra calorie not so you can be "correct" or "accurate" but so you can sqeeze that hersey's kiss out of the day! Let it go!

Oh, and yeah, you can go running without a HRM. You'll survive if you don't know exactly how long or how far we ran. It was only about 20 mins, it wasn't a half marathon in which you actually burned significant calories that make you need to eat more. Also, please stop talking about the donut shop at the end of the 5K race...you (especially since you took so many freaking walk breaks) can't complain you're not losing weight when you get a donut every freaking time we're done with a run.

It's one thing to know you are going to your brother's B-day party and are probably going to eat more so you do an extra workout that morning...but when you live every day of your life based on whether or not you can track the calories for your workout or what you are eating then you're not living.

And lastly...please stop getting mad at me when I tell you I've lost more weight when you ask me how I'm doing. I've told you how I do it and you refuse to believe that eating to fuel your body will help you lose weight. Oh, FYI...I haven't worked out in 3 days and the scale is down another pound...but I'll wait to tell you when you ask me Friday and tell I can tell you its down 2 pounds!

Just curious how many people get jealous of the 2 pounds you have lost? Must be enough to make you angry enough to write this garbage.

Well, when she goes off on me saying I lied because she saw "the crap" I eat (Yeah, I eat fast food and crap) and she's logging how many times she went up the stairs at work it does get to me. She also has a "business" relationship to me so I can't exactly tell her how I feel.

MerBear1FL

So does that mean I can't log "walking around a theme park for 12 hours" as exercise :sad:

meerkat70

That was class?! Is that the same as "that's so boss", or from Mean Girls, "that's so fetch?" LMAO!!!! I understand the cleaning part. But OP, how bout the chore of walking your dog?

Sorry you don't speak "Brit" as eloquently as most of us can manage your dialects....

(if you try really hard, I bet you can even understand me when I say 'tom-ah-toe', and could even have a bash at interpreting it when I pronounce the 't' in water.)

caiialily

I appreciate your desire to rant. Everyone has they're own pet peeves and sometimes the pets overwhelm us.

Still, I can't help but think I must be dense, but I had difficulty picking out exactly what behaviors you were upset about. People planning for and balancing out extra calories consumed by exercising? Or people who are meticulous about their activity tracking because it helps them on their path? Or maybe it was people who run 5Ks for the sense of accomplishment and really enjoy a celebratory donut? Or people who simply aren't as successful as you at losing weight?

We all have different journeys to take. Personally, I don't log any of my activity at all. Not the walking, not the running, not the HIIT, not the lifting, not the gardening. Not nothing, not ever. Why do I exercise? Because then I know when I've tracked all my food for the day, in the evening when I want that Hershey's kiss and it tips me over my calorie goal, I know I'm not really backsliding. And I don't need the numbers on the internet to tell me that. I know it even when the numbers turn red.

But some people do need the numbers to stay green. It motivates. It congratulates. It comforts. And if it helps them lose 0.25 pounds since their last weigh in, even while someone else is successful at losing 2? More power to them!

qtiekiki

Ummmm... I exercise to eat. I LOVE to eat. Some days, I go over my calories and just let it be.

Renae_Nae

So does that mean I can't log "walking around a theme park for 12 hours" as exercise :sad:

If you normally sit behind a desk then YES! 12 hours is a big deal. It's the 5 min walk around walmart that gets me lol.