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emmychaos
emmychaos Posts: 5
in Introduce Yourself
When I enter the information in the logs (Both my workouts and my meals) it says that I burned so many calories and that I have so many allotted cals left for consumption in that day. But it adds more calories to my total day allowance when I workout. Am I really to eat more if I work out? I dont get it. Shouldn't it encourage you to stay under your allotted cal allowance despite working out for the day? Help!!!!

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  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    It's kind of like a bank. Calories are money. Your job is to exercise. Exercise earns you more "money". MFP puts you at a deficit to begin with, so... YES, you're supposed to eat back your workout calories. You earned em. Enjoy them!

    EDIT: You don't HAVE to eat them back, but it's advisable
  • gennyvieve
    gennyvieve Posts: 83
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    if you don't eat at least a portion of them back then your body will go into starvation mode because it's not getting enough fuel. it sounds crazy but it works!!!!
  • emmychaos
    emmychaos Posts: 5
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    really? wow. I have never heard of this. So it helps me to lose weight to eat more in sync with a workout? Is that correct?
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    Preeeeetty much! Eat more to weigh less. The way it works out in my head is that you shouldn't go below 1200 calories in a day. So if you eat 1600 calories, and burn 700 in the gym, you've gone below that 1200 threshold. Maybe it doesn't make sense, but it's working for me :)
  • sdirks
    sdirks Posts: 223 Member
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    Here's a sticky post from the main board that explains, in detail, what we mean when we talk about "starvation mode" and why you should (try to) eat your exercise calories.

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

    hope this helps! and welcome! ^_^

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