feel stupid..but why eat your workout calories?

luera

If you dont eat the right amount of calories like your workout ones you will not have eaten enough to keep fit. Also if you dont enough calories you will lose muscle instead of fat, if you lose to quickly.

pastryari

I don't. Like you said, it just gives me a greater deficit.

Why even eat at all?

_Timmeh_

luera

If you dont eat the right amount of calories like your workout ones you will not have eaten enough to keep fit. Also if you dont enough calories you will lose muscle instead of fat, if you lose to quickly.

megsmom2

MFP automatically figures your calorie deficit in before you exercise, I think. So, add a few hundred calories lost due to exercise on top of that and you could be sitting at an unhealthy deficit for long-term weight loss.

This..exactly!

Blondie_05

I don't eat my exercise calories back everyday but on days that I feel extra hungry & I know that I burned lots of calories I don't think twice about it I just get a healthy snack!

Sarauk2sf

Because those calories are the most delicious. Sometimes, I like to drink them back to surprise my metabolism into getting drunk.

I like the way you think

ObtainingBalance

BECAUSE MYFITNESSPAL TELLS US TO.



Lol

merkuri22

Losing weight and being healthy are two different things. You can eat nothing but M&Ms all day and lose weight. Or you can eat nothing but organic fruits and veggies and gain.

You should exercise to be healthy, not just to lose weight.

I eat back my calories because otherwise I get hungry. It also motivates me to exercise more. I can either sit on my butt and watch TV, eating nothing, or walk on my treadmill for an hour and watch TV and have a snack later, or a larger dinner.

It's working for me. I've lost over 10 lbs in less than two months and am continuing to lose. If I let myself feel hungry by not eating back my exercise calories then I wouldn't have kept up with it for this long.

maqsmj

I may be the minority here...but my advice is to not eat exercise calories back until you have a 100% understanding of energy balance.

Many folks here undersestimate calories in and overestimate calories out. When you do that....you get stuck...then if you "Eat your Exercise Calories Back"...you gain weight.

Its called Measurment Systems Analysis....how accurate and precise are your calories in and calories out?? Thats why on "The Biggest Looser" everyone wears a Body Bugg on there arm...they don't estimate calories out...they MEASURE it.

For instance...In summer I bike to work....at my current body weight and pace(14.5 MPH) it estimates my calorie burn at 1800 cals/day. Measured Calorie Burn usingt a heart rate monitor is closer to 800 cals/day. HUGE ERROR

Same witn calories out....unless yoiur eating boring/simple foods...its very difficult to get the calorie count for complex recipies. So if you are say making turkey meatloaf...well unless you sit down and do the math...you may not get realistic numbers from using"Turkey Meatloaf, Generic" listed on this site.

Folks that want to be very lean will generally practice what I call Front Loading...rather than eating something and logging it in...they will create menu's that stay within there daily calorie and macronutrient balance, then they will eat those meals/menus.

Once you determine that your measurement system is sound...then eating exercise calories has merit.

Totally agree

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

you do not eat your calories back if they are lifting weight, im not sure about cardio but i guess it is better to keep them where they are

Sarauk2sf

I may be the minority here...but my advice is to not eat exercise calories back until you have a 100% understanding of energy balance.

Many folks here undersestimate calories in and overestimate calories out. When you do that....you get stuck...then if you "Eat your Exercise Calories Back"...you gain weight.

Its called Measurment Systems Analysis....how accurate and precise are your calories in and calories out?? Thats why on "The Biggest Looser" everyone wears a Body Bugg on there arm...they don't estimate calories out...they MEASURE it.

For instance...In summer I bike to work....at my current body weight and pace(14.5 MPH) it estimates my calorie burn at 1800 cals/day. Measured Calorie Burn usingt a heart rate monitor is closer to 800 cals/day. HUGE ERROR

Same witn calories out....unless yoiur eating boring/simple foods...its very difficult to get the calorie count for complex recipies. So if you are say making turkey meatloaf...well unless you sit down and do the math...you may not get realistic numbers from using"Turkey Meatloaf, Generic" listed on this site.

Folks that want to be very lean will generally practice what I call Front Loading...rather than eating something and logging it in...they will create menu's that stay within there daily calorie and macronutrient balance, then they will eat those meals/menus.

Once you determine that your measurement system is sound...then eating exercise calories has merit.

Totally agree

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

you do not eat your calories back if they are lifting weight, im not sure about cardio but i guess it is better to keep them where they are

You already said that and I already explained why it was wrong.

ohheyy125

I don't. Like you said, it just gives me a greater deficit.

Why even eat at all?

Well, because I enjoy food and eating, but never feel the need to eat the exercise ones back. I don't want to eat them back just because I'm "supposed" to. If I don't feel hungry for them, I'd rather have the greater deficit. (an extra 1200-1500 calories/week deficit!)

m0ll3pprz

Because you're already in a deficit without exercise. That's the way MFP works. I swear I don't understand how people sign up to use this site and don't educate themselves on the simple way it works.

That's what the forum is for :-) If we knew the answers we would all be thin and healthy and have no use for MFP! Most of us want to learn from each other without being made to feel "uneducated." That why she mentioned she was embarrassed to ask~

foleyshirley

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

No it isn't. MFP will give you the same calories no matter what you put. Tri it. I did.

maqsmj

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

Hang on, guys, I got this. Just give me a minute.

sure i did dude xD

maqsmj

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

No it isn't. MFP will give you the same calories no matter what you put. Tri it. I did.

thats why i didnt use mfp to calculate my calories as it has 1 major thing missing which is BF% ( Body fat % ) and without it you cant have a proper look into your calorie needs so i used another source to do so

lrob100

I NEVER eat back my exercise calories --- EVER. Except on Thanksgiving or Christmas maybe. I tried eating them back, and all weight loss stopped. I think they are grossly overestimated on MFP. I've lost 80 lbs in 5 1/2 months diet of 1200 calories per day and intense exercise. I do not buy into starvation mode at ALL.

sixpackdream

I agree with Irob100, I think the exercise calories are very overestimated. I did MFP a few years ago and experienced the exact same stop in weight loss whenever I included the exercise calories. I completely ignore it now.

slkehl

Many folks here undersestimate calories in and overestimate calories out. When you do that....you get stuck...then if you "Eat your Exercise Calories Back"...you gain weight.

Once you determine that your measurement system is sound...then eating exercise calories has merit.

Great point.

chocl8girl