I need to eat the calories I burn?

deedysgirl0183

I'm new to the site and I'm a little confused, hoping someone can help. I don't understand why the calories I burn during a workout go into my calories to consume for the day? How will I lose weight if I eat the calories I'm burning?

Jb27

Today is my first day as well and i have the same question?

RockNRollWeekender

Your deficit is already figured out from your daily routine. So it gives you your target caloric intake for a day.

If you work out you burn *extra* calories.....if you don't eat them...you'll have too much caloric deficit which will make your body think it's starving.

I'm no expert, but that's what I think makes sense.

TNTPete

Because your initial calories before exercise are set approx 500 calories less a day (for a 1lb/wk) and if you exercise you'll go below what is considered a healthy amt of food for running your basic needs as you burn through more calories and reducing your overall intake to less than 1200. That number (approx) puts you in starvation mode and won't help you lose weight. You have to eat the calories for the weight loss and any exercise calories to keep yourself running healthy and properly. I will try to "bump" up a few helpful threads. Keep an eye out for them!

Shelley130

This link will explain everything.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

smican

This section from the link above states it in the best terms I have ever heard, "Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight. The important thing to understand is (and this is REALLY important) the closer you are to your overall healthy weight (again, your metabolism views this a a range, not a specific number) the more prominent the survival mode becomes (remember, we talked about efficiency). This is because as fat becomes scarce, muscle is easier to break down and transport. And thus, the reason why it's harder to lose that "Last 10 pounds". "

pannellkat

I usually dont eat my exercise calories, sometimes I do but not all of them and I have been losing weight just fine. I just rejoined not too long ago so my ticker only shows 5 lbs lost but when I first got on this site and followed that rule of not eating the exercise calories back and sometimes I do, I lost 13 lbs in 8 weeks and was happy with that. And I had free fridays where I ate what I wanted. I guess everyone is different.

LittleSpy

If you have a *significant* amount of weight to lose, eating your exercise calories isn't as important as it is for folks who have less to lose. Personally, for now I'm not eating most, if any, of my exercise calories on most days. I'm aware, however, that at a certain point, I will need to eat my exercise calories in order to lose weight in a healthy way.

If you're set to lose 2 pounds a week, you're already set at a 1,000 calorie a day deficit. You need to have a deficit of 7,000 calories a week to burn 2 pounds of fat. So that 1,000 calorie a day deficit you start with here already takes care of that. That's why you can potentially eat every single calorie your burn with exercise and still be on track to lose 2 pounds a week.

I've been eating my daily calories recommended by MFP and exercising enough to burn an additional 3,500 calories a week. I'm averaging a loss of 3 pounds a week at this point (37 pounds lost in 13 weeks). BUT, I had about 120 pounds to lose when I started which put me in the category of being severely overweight which means my body is unlikely to go into "survival mode" because I have so much extra fat to burn for energy. If you don't have a very large amount of extra fat and you're not eating your exercise calories, it's possible your body with either try to conserve every calorie you eat (preventing/slowing weight loss) OR your body could also begin consuming lean muscle which is certainly not something you want to happen.

I just thought I'd note this because often times I notice folks here don't mention that extremely overweight people can get by and lose weight faster (but still healthy) by not eating exercise calories. :flowerforyou: Probably because most people here aren't severely overweight.

deedysgirl0183

Thank you for the information everyone. It was VERY helpful! I was wondering why my daily calorie total was so low. I didn't realize MFP already subtracts the calories so you can lose a certain amount of weight weekly.
JLB I definitely have a significant amount of weight to lose so I too should be ok for at least the first 50 lbs or so not eating my exercise calories burned. :flowerforyou: