Do I need to log exercises?

Sam7310

I seem to eat more when I see the extra calories that I have earned from exercises, which to me seems backwards. We're supposed to work out to lose weight, not keep eating, right?

So is it necessary to log any exercises, or should I just not put them in there to help?

j_g4ever

I personally log it but I don't eat it. I talked to my doctor and she said that I don't need to eat my exercise calories until I'm at my goal weight.

kann007

I log my exercises...but I just ignore the added calories:)

mamaturner

I personally log my exercise and then eat perhaps half of those calories. You need to replace some of those calories that you've just burned to keep your metabolism up and going for you. Just have an after exercise snack that's healthy.. fruit, nuts, cheese something of that sort!

ebkins7

I agree. I do log my exercise just to see my progress. I don't eat all my exercise calories tho. When I see that large number of calories it says I'm supposed to eat, I ignore it basically and continue with my day as planned. BUT with that said, i don't freak out either if I go a little over! It's a balance in my life that works for me, but may not necessarily work for anyone else!

ccdo

i log it but i dont eat it whats the point really if your tryin to loose weight :flowerforyou:

littlemissyme

I don't log all of my exercise calories. Out of sight out of mind.

tanzmitpalmer

I log it, but don't eat it. I know my numbers, so even if I've "earned extra calories" from exercising, it feels wrong to me to go over my defined limits.

Kizster

I log it for sure, and sometimes eat the calories, sometimes not. I shoot for eating half of them, just because I've read of so many people hitting plateaus for not eating any of them.

lisawest

Some people need to eat those calories to keep losing weight. Some people can lose weight eating none of them. Other people do something in the middle. Personally, I've done all three. When I started I ate every calorie MFP gave me. At about 15lb lost I hit a plateau, so I changed it up and stopped eating my exercise calories. That got me losing again. After I lost about 5lbs more, I hit another plateau, so I changed it up again and starting eating some of my exercise calories. Another 5lb down, so it's working. You just need to figure out what works for you and go for it. If you're starving and have exercise calories left, eat something. If you have cals left, but you aren't hungry, don't eat. You will need to figure it out for yourself. None of the possible answers are going to work for every person all of the time. Find what works for you and stick to it until it stops working. Then try something else.

Good luck on figuring out what works for you!

BrendaLee

I log all exercise, and eat all exercise calories. I have since I started MFP. Lately I've been slacking, but when I was following MFP's guidelines, I was easily losing 2 pounds/ week.

SHBoss1673

The deal is that MFP creates a deficit for you, the exercises KEEP you in that deficit range. Not eating exercise calories increases that range. There is a sweet spot to creating a calorie deficit, make it too small and progress will be minimal, make it too big and you risk stunting your metabolism, canabalizing your lean tissue, and adding more fat. That's why MFP adds exercise calories back.

Look if you want to create a bigger deficit than MFP gives for you thats fine, but you should probably know that by doing this you're creating a larger deficit. This is all described for you in the sticky posts in the general section (the posts with the thumb tacks).

Iceprincessk25

The deal is that MFP creates a deficit for you, the exercises KEEP you in that deficit range. Not eating exercise calories increases that range. There is a sweet spot to creating a calorie deficit, make it too small and progress will be minimal, make it too big and you risk stunting your metabolism, canabalizing your lean tissue, and adding more fat. That's why MFP adds exercise calories back.

Look if you want to create a bigger deficit than MFP gives for you thats fine, but you should probably know that by doing this you're creating a larger deficit. This is all described for you in the sticky posts in the general section (the posts with the thumb tacks).

Exactly. I think a lot of people forget that MFP has already created a caloric deficit for you.