What is the difference....

Saiklor

....between "exercising to eat" and "eating back your exercise calories?"

pastryari

Intent.

k8blujay2

Seems like the same thing just worded differently to me.

DesignGuy

It's just how you look at things I guess.

For me, exercise is about creating my caloric deficit.

pastryari

It's just how you look at things I guess.

For me, exercise is about creating my caloric deficit.

MFP already created a deficit for you regardless of exercise. Unless you figured out your TDEE & manually set it up?

Saiklor

So they are the same except in your justification of them? I mean, they are the same practice?

WhiskeyCity

Intent.

Winner.

pastryari

Eating back exercise cals is part of the MFP plan.
Exercising to eat would be acknowledging that you're only exercising so you can eat more, not just because it's good for your body. Most of the time in this case, people usually know about how much they want to eat so they will do whatever it takes to burn the appropriate amount of cals to fit whatever it is into their day.

That's what I meant when I said "intent".

katyejean

It just depends on whether you work out, and then eat back your calories because you have to, or because you exercise so you CAN eat more. Like a piece of cake, or a treat or something.

tkalsi

Intent.

I couldnt have put it better myself!

DesignGuy

It's just how you look at things I guess.

For me, exercise is about creating my caloric deficit.

MFP already created a deficit for you regardless of exercise. Unless you figured out your TDEE & manually set it up?

I went and did my own BMR/TDEE/etc. It's all manual now. I started out doing what MFP said, but then I realized I was eating under my BMR on non-workout days and didn't like not know what I was doing, so I have decided to get more serious.

NZGeekGirl

Eating back exercise cals is part of the MFP plan.
Exercising to eat would be acknowledging that you're only exercising so you can eat more, not just because it's good for your body. Most of the time in this case, people usually know about how much they want to eat so they will do whatever it takes to burn the appropriate amount of cals to fit whatever it is into their day.

That's what I meant when I said "intent".

Yup, this is what I would have said also.

Capt_Apollo

Intent.

this. exercising to eat means you're going to run 5 miles because the big game is on tonight and you want to not feel guilty about the wings and beer later.

eating back exercise calories implies that you are eating to refuel your body with the proper stuff it needs to become a sexy beast

MrsR0SE

I think that for me, I eat less to lose weight, and exercise to get fitter. I have my calorie goal set at a level that is low enough to lose a pound a week and high enough to ensure I never go hungry or feel deprived in any way. I do try and eat my exercise calories on the whole, but that is only so that my calorie deficit isn't too big, not because I desperately need or even want to eat more on any given day.

pastryari

It's just how you look at things I guess.

For me, exercise is about creating my caloric deficit.

MFP already created a deficit for you regardless of exercise. Unless you figured out your TDEE & manually set it up?

I went and did my own BMR/TDEE/etc. It's all manual now. I started out doing what MFP said, but then I realized I was eating under my BMR on non-workout days and didn't like not know what I was doing, so I have decided to get more serious.

Gotcha. Good for you and congrats on the 19 lbs lost so far!

Bobby_Clerici

No difference to me.
Really, I would not exercise as much if there was not that underlying motivation that more exercise equals more to eat.
I have no problem with the notion.
I eat around 3000 calories daily - LOVE IT!
And God love all of you angels who exercise only because it's the right thing to do.
I never, ever do anything just because it's right.
I need something more than that warm, fuzzy feeling:devil:

taunto

....between "exercising to eat" and "eating back your exercise calories?"

Fairly thin line but essentially its the same thing.

I eat back all the calories I burn in workout. That is the plan that I stick to.

But if I overate today and didn't worked out and am in the negative red for my calorie count, then I might go outside and workout a bit to burn those extra calories to get back in the green. That to me is exercising to eat

Also, some of us like eating and hate working out. So for us exercising is a way to eat more and not feel guilty about it

DavPul

So they are the same except in your justification of them? I mean, they are the same practice?

yes

myfitnessnmhoy

Eating back exercise cals is part of the MFP plan.
Exercising to eat would be acknowledging that you're only exercising so you can eat more, not just because it's good for your body. Most of the time in this case, people usually know about how much they want to eat so they will do whatever it takes to burn the appropriate amount of cals to fit whatever it is into their day.

That's what I meant when I said "intent".

^^^^ This exactly.

I eat at a deficit to lose weight. I exercise to improve my fitness. I honestly see those as two separate but closely-related things.

Exercise is not relevant to my weight loss, it is very relevant to both my overall fitness levels and sense of well-being. If my exercise ALSO gives me extra food to eat in a given day, that's an extra incentive to exercise on a day that I might not feel like doing it.

But, most importantly, in order to support vigorous exercise, I know I need to feed my body. So I try to track exercise as accurately as possible so I can feed my body back the extra calories I burned. And that means occasionally tracking things that other people consider "minor" or "incidental" if there are enough of them to add up to something significant.

I will also get off my backside from time to time and exercise specifically for the purpose of earning more food. I'm like a little Pavlovian dog that way. But it isn't hurting my weight loss, and it's increasing my exercise. ANYTHING that gets me off my pasty white tush and moving around (or even standing instead of sitting at my sit/stand station) is a Good Thing, as long as I'm being reasonably accurate and realistic about my burn.

About the only thing I feel is wrong (for me) is to over-log an exercise intentionally and "pretend" that eating those calories back is maintaining the deficit I need to lose weight. But, honestly, the only person I'd be cheating is myself anyway.

bcattoes

So they are the same except in your justification of them? I mean, they are the same practice?

I would think so. In either case you are exercising and then eating more as a result. Whether you exercise so you can eat more, or you eat more because you exercised, the means and end are the same.

LorinaLynn

Depending on the day, I might need to eat a helluva lot of food to fuel the amount of exercise I do that day. Otherwise, I would end up with too much of a calorie deficit and not have enough energy and run the risk of losing muscle.

But I admit there's some days when I might go for a long run just because I know I'll be able to eat pretty much whatever I damn want and still have it fit in my calorie goal.

So... yes. It's the intent.

jofjltncb6

Personally, exercising to eat (more) doesn't make sense to me. I exercise to improve my health. I eat to fuel the machine *and* to provide necessary/appropriate nutrients to improve my health. I don't understand eating for the sake of eating without regard to health (but perhaps it's because I'm just wired that way that I haven't had a real struggle with excess weight).

Saiklor

I appreciate the descriptions of intent and such, I was more just curious about the process. But question=answered, I think that they are the same process.

Melyssaks

In reality it's because of intent....at the same time i don't think the intent really matters as long as you're getting the exercise done.

Exercise is exercise.