Interesting news!

meganwojo

So I went to my nutritionist today and I asked her if you are supposed to be eating back your exercise calories. She said its a big debate, but she said not to. She said think of exercising as brushing your teeth. Just exercise and go about your day... & not to change the amount of food I intake. Don't think about eating the calories you burn, there is no need to compensate for them. Drinking fluids is a must though after workouts. I am so glad she informed me because i burn between 700-800 calories a day and I was eating back at least half. Ill stick to my 1200 calories. :flowerforyou:

fooja

i always thought it didnt seem right to eat those extra cals, especially if u wanna lose weight. a cpl times i have eat some, but i usually dont. thanks for the post!!

2kidzlater

I do. 1200 calories isn't enough. I usually come in under my calorie goals but I don't sweat it if I'm on the mark. But I have often wondered about that, so thank you. I also am managing to lose about 1.25lbs. a week. Which at first I wasen't so happy about it but 8lbs. in 1 month isn't a bad run.

ckmama

I've heard both arguments. If you don't eat them back you lose weight faster usually but I would also think that you could damage your metabolism.

I eat them IF I am hungry and only then.

I eat at the maintenance calories for the weight I want to be and that way I will never have to change my calorie target again. I may lose slower but it is easier to maintain.

I lost most of my weight originally by not eating back my excercise calories.

epoeraven

When I first started on this sight I had the same question. I could not fathom how if you wanted to lose weight you would eat back what you had just exercised off.

My doctor said the same thing about how many professionals are split in their opinions about the debate. He went on to say that he believed that a person (unless they are morbidly obese) should eat at least 1200 calories per day. So it is not as important for someone on a 2000 calorie per day diet to eat back their calories as it is for someone who is on only a 1200 calorie per day diet. He also stressed to me that what you eat while trying to lose weight is just as important as how much. He said there is definite support about really low calorie diets do put your body into starvation mode.

I have always tried to eat back all of the calories that I earn through exercise unless I am truly just too full. I have lost 1-2 pounds per week since I started - which is what I am targeting for.

deedysgirl0183

In the past I have never been in agreement with eating back my burned exercise calories. However, in my case, on MFP I am on a 1290 calorie plan. So when I go to the gym and burn 450-500 calories that means I've only consumed 790-840 calories for the day. I think it's key to remember that on MFP it creates your daily caloric intake based on if you want to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week. The site then subtracts the amount of calories from your daily intake to accommodate this loss without you even having to workout. Therefore if you are adding in workouts its creating a higher calorie deficit. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

meganwojo

I am comfortable eating only 1200 a day, my body never seems to be hungry, probably because i drink tons of water and crystal light throughout the day so that fills me up! However, Im not going to deprive myself of food if I am absolutely starving that day! Even if i ate 200 calories from what i burned during exercise, its still 600 calories off! :happy:

iRun4wine

Oh boy... where's Banks?? He's probably foaming at the mouth... :laugh:

meganwojo

who is Banks?

mromnek

I have been thinking about this debate for several days. Hearing that the "pros" are debating the issue isn't a surprise. I think that it all has to do with where a person is to begin with. If you calculate a lot of exercise into your TDEE, then you shouldn't eat the extra calories, because the calories are already accounted for. If you are like me, and your TDEE is set at a sedentary level, then you should eat the calories, because they aren't accounted for.

In other words, if you claim to work out like a horse, your BMR will be multiplied by a large multiplier, to account for the calories you burn working out. Likewise, if you claim to sit on your backside for 99% of your life, your BMR will be multiplied by a small multiplier. If you work out, you could send yourself into starvation mode, unless you eat the calories.

Additionally, as mentioned above, if you are set to eat at or near your BMR or 1200 calories, you should definitely eat the calories to avoid starvation mode. If, however, you are set to eat 2000-3000 calories, you could probably skip the extra calories without going into starvation mode.

mromnek

And silly me, I just got into the routine of eating my exercise calories. :ohwell:

Sarandipity

Banks collected several threads in the below link that will explain it better than I ever could. I eat my exercise calories and it has worked for me (95lbs in a year)


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition