Do I have to use calories earned from Excercise?

christiangandy

right and wrong.....muscle is not "heavier" as it does indeed take up less space.....what she should have said was... "muscle is denser than fat" Grams per cm squared, muscle is denser, than fat

Koshkaxo

Sorry to stray from your topic OP

To all those getting up in arms about muscle weighs more than fat, it is implied by volume that muscle weighs more. No one truely believes the properties of physics can be altered. Do you all feel intellectually superior for pointing out the obvious? The horse has been dead a long time, stop beating it lol.

brandivestal

I personally do not eat mine back. I stick to my routine!

laungier

I've not been eating them back as it seemed excessive but I think there may be something in what people are saying in that I'm not eating enough. I've been sticking to the 1200 so I think I'll up that to maybe 1500 provided I am excercising as I am i.e. 3 days a week in gym and one day 10K brisk walking.

KittyMarie13

I, too, cringe when I hear the old adage, "muscle weighs more than fat does". Not true. A POUND of muscle weighs the same as a POUND of fat. The difference is in the SIZE of that pound. Muscle takes up less volume, so a pound of muscle takes up much less room than a pound of fat. The best way to tell if you're losing weight is by how your jeans fit -- honestly. A good pair of jeans can tell you more about your weight loss than any other piece of clothing in your closet. If your jeans are getting loose, especially when they have just been taken out of the dryer, that's a good sign. Hang in there! It will come if you keep with it.

I think that old adage just rolls off the tongue better than "a pound of muscle is more dense and therefore takes up less space on the human body than a comparable pound of fat". At least its easier for me to say to myself when the scale hasn't moved but I've been working hard and my clothes fit better. I guess it's really a matter of perspective, because if you held up a one inch diameter ball of fat and a one inch diameter ball of muscle then the muscle would, in fact, weight more than the fat.

NatalieWinning

People are often saying that the calorie burned amounts are incorrect so I wouldn't suggest eating all the calories at all. I've seen some people eat only 80% back and leave 20% uneaten.

Sometimes MFP estimates too high, but sometimes it's estimated too low. eg: I walk "moderate pace" and for me it's more of a "really brisk walk" or "slow run". My treadmill has a HRM built in, it's 100 calories overall too high. You really don't know until you get your own personal HRM what your more accurate estimate of calories burned is. But I went over half a year eating back calories burned just by using the database and lost half my weight. The only difference when I got a HRM and began eating more (because overall I was burning more than MFP estimated) was that I got to eat more and still continue to lose weight all the way to my goal. My husband lost all his 65lbs without a HRM. He just got his first one last month. It's great! But don't mistrust MFP, it does okay overall for a good general estimate.

christiangandy

Always remember that : Muscle weighs more than what fat does!

I have to respectfully disagree with this quote. Muscle does not weigh more then fat. Muscle takes up less space then fat but weighs the same. If you can, you should have your body fat % calculated and your measurements done.

I do eat back my workout calories. Since January only twice have I gain and that was about a lb each time. Last Monday I gained a pound and this monday I was down 1.8lbs. There are days where I just can't eat all of it back because I'm just not hungry.

Best of luck on your journey. :flowerforyou:

Frankly, neither of these statements make any sense. You need to put it into context. Think about it for a second.

Which weighs more - muscle or fat
Answer
This is a common myth. The easiest way to understand this is to look at it this way...

5 lbs. of fat is much bulkier than the 5 lbs. of muscle, but five pounds is still five pounds. Muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than with five pounds more muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds.

A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

Taken from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_weighs_more_-_muscle_or_fat
[/quote

and even easier way to explain it, is to say that what they all actually MEAN is DENSITY

MUSCLE is DENSER than FAT...... grams per cm squared for example a cube of muscle measuring 1cm x1cmx1cm would weigh more than the same sized cube of fat

arathena720

I eat back some of my exercise calories, but usually not all of them. I would look to what you're eating, too. Are you eating 1200 calories of mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, or 1200 of mac and cheese? There's a big difference. Also, look at your percentages of protein, fats, and carbs. I found out by logging that I eat too much protein during the day. Good luck to you!

laungier

I eat back some of my exercise calories, but usually not all of them. I would look to what you're eating, too. Are you eating 1200 calories of mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, or 1200 of mac and cheese? There's a big difference. Also, look at your percentages of protein, fats, and carbs. I found out by logging that I eat too much protein during the day. Good luck to you!

Hey - yep I'm eating loads of stir frys with heaps of vegetables, I'm eating more fruit too - definitely not using my calories with fatty foods. Found the same issue too with the protein - what's the consequence of too much protein in the diet do you know??
Best of Luck to you too!
Thanks
Liz, Dublin - Ireland

Dani_wants_to_be_fit

I've also been wondering this. MFP has set me on 1200 net cals and I am pretty sure that's a little low with being active (so there are untracked calorie burning) and my BMR. In 2 weeks despite working out and eating 1200 net cals I have lost 0.5lb) Today for the first time in 2 weeks I actually went over the net cals (I burn around 500 a day on tracked cals so gave myself an extra 200) and will try this out for 2 weeks to see if it makes any difference

doubglass

Found the same issue too with the protein - what's the consequence of too much protein in the diet do you know??

You overwork your kidneys. You will urinate more, you are more likely to get dehydrated, in some cases you can loose calcium. In some cases constipation. You are more likely to develop stones. This is why the high protein diets seem to work quickly --- they tend to dehydrate you.
However, keep in mind that MFP is on the low side on protein and that if you are really working out a lot and building lean muscle you can take in more. If you don't want to add more protein, add more carbs before your workout but make them slower to digest carbs--whole grains like steel cut oatmeal, brown rice, legumes, pilafs, etc. Despite what others will say you need a good deal of carbs, but you want to make sure they are the right kind. IE: slow to digest ones that come packed in fiber rather than over refined wheat and rice.

laungier

After weeks of frustration - I have upped my net calorie intake to around the 1400/1500 mark and finally have started to see a weight loss - 4lbs to date. Nothing huge but psychologically to no longer see 11stone something on my scales is a great motivation! 10st 13lb now.....another 7-10lbs to go and I'll be happy!
Turns out I wasn't eating enough for all the excercise I was doing - I didn't believe it but had to try eating more to see what difference it would make. Happier now!