Earned Calories from Exercise?

cloza12

Im new here and I just logged in some exercise. It's telling me that I just earned 188 calories from exercise. What does this mean.? I don't want to eat my calories burned.

theladyxena

That's the cool thing. You don't have to. It's a good thing to eat the calories for your plan, but the exercise calories are all yours to do with as you like!

cloza12

but I noticed that it was added to my daily calorie intake. Will I still lose weight if I eat those calories back?

rockerbabyy

if you follow the site here and use it as intended, you should eat them back. youll still lose weight if you eat them
basically MFP works differently, and doesnt calculate or figure in exercise until after you actually do it. so instead of someone being told to eat 2000 calories and exercise off 500 per day, they are told by MFP to eat 1500 and then if you exercise, you get to eat more. the math is the same, its just a different way of figuring it. for a lot of people its very helpful to see that they can lose weight even if they dont have time/the ability to exercise.

tryclyn

This will help.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

cloza12

if you follow the site here and use it as intended, you should eat them back. youll still lose weight if you eat them
basically MFP works differently, and doesnt calculate or figure in exercise until after you actually do it. so instead of someone being told to eat 2000 calories and exercise off 500 per day, they are told by MFP to eat 1500 and then if you exercise, you get to eat more. the math is the same, its just a different way of figuring it. for a lot of people its very helpful to see that they can lose weight even if they dont have time/the ability to exercise.

Ohhh ok I understand. Thanks

MrsMJZ

It's added to your calorie intake because it's affecting your net calories. For example, per MFP I am supposed to eat 1200 calories per day. I usually burn around 500 calories a day at the gym. If I never ate those calories back, I'd only be netting 700 calories a day. That's way too low! Not only would I feel sick but, I wouldn't have the energy to exercise the next day. So, it adds it to my allowable intake so that I refuel back to my original 1200 calories. Make sense?

cloza12

This will help.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

Thanks a bunch!

cloza12

It's added to your calorie intake because it's affecting your net calories. For example, per MFP I am supposed to eat 1200 calories per day. I usually burn around 500 calories a day at the gym. If I never ate those calories back, I'd only be netting 700 calories a day. That's way too low! Not only would I feel sick but, I wouldn't have the energy to exercise the next day. So, it adds it to my allowable intake so that I refuel back to my original 1200 calories. Make sense?

Yes. Thank you!

buzzcockgirl

I dont eat back all of my exercise cals. I'm not exercising to eat more-- I'm exercising to lose! Sure- if I burn 500 cals swimming for an hour, I will probably be more hungry and may eat 1/2 of those back. But I am a little weary of how MFP calculates the exercise cals (it's probably close, but not exact)... so I wouldn't go eat 500 cals back if it said I burned that-- because what if I really only burned 400? Eat the 1200 they tell you, and if you need a little more food because you're working super hard-- then have another light, healthy snack. (a yogurt, an apple, etc...)
Just my opinion.... but it's been working for me. Almost 70lbs gone in 7 months! Good luck!!

Firefox7275

If you are doing the right type and intensity of exercise you won't just burn those calories, you are boosting your metabolism for a few hours up to a couple of days, and working towards building lean ('toned') muscle which will burn additional calories day in day out for as long as you have it.

cloza12

I dont eat back all of my exercise cals. I'm not exercising to eat more-- I'm exercising to lose! Sure- if I burn 500 cals swimming for an hour, I will probably be more hungry and may eat 1/2 of those back. But I am a little weary of how MFP calculates the exercise cals (it's probably close, but not exact)... so I wouldn't go eat 500 cals back if it said I burned that-- because what if I really only burned 400? Eat the 1200 they tell you, and if you need a little more food because you're working super hard-- then have another light, healthy snack. (a yogurt, an apple, etc...)
Just my opinion.... but it's been working for me. Almost 70lbs gone in 7 months! Good luck!!

Wow, 70 lbs? That's great!

cloza12

If you are doing the right type and intensity of exercise you won't just burn those calories, you are boosting your metabolism for a few hours up to a couple of days, and working towards building lean ('toned') muscle which will burn additional calories day in day out for as long as you have it.

Thanks

GoNuri

Thanks for this thread. I had the same concern/question about earning exercise calories. It appears that MFP is designed to help you lose weight even without working out when you keep to your Calorie Intake Daily Goals. I guess the exercise just helps increase your calorie deficit for the day. I agree with Buzzcockgirl, I may not eat all my exercise calories back if I'm not very hungry but I guess it's nice to know I can earn some bonus calories to do what I want with (weekends, parties, dining out, etc), because I find depending on the day I'm having I'll eat more some days and less on others. I just try to net the right amount of calories by the end of the week. Not everyday I want a high calorie treat, just on occasion. This approach helps me feel like I'm still on track even when I indulge which makes the whole lifestyle change much more realistic and easier to stick to! This way I never feel like I'm totally off track and in fact I feel like I'm always on track or not far off which means I'll still see some progress and that's a great feeling! I guess this is what they mean when they say "you can have your cake and eat it too". This must be what skinny girls feel like when they sit down to have a cheesecake and still have bikini body's and no one can understand how they can have both. We'll apparently we can have both too!

honkytonks85

Thanks for this thread. I had the same concern/question about earning exercise calories. It appears that MFP is designed to help you lose weight even without working out when you keep to your Calorie Intake Daily Goals. I guess the exercise just helps increase your calorie deficit for the day. I agree with Buzzcockgirl, I may not eat all my exercise calories back if I'm not very hungry but I guess it's nice to know I can earn some bonus calories to do what I want with (weekends, parties, dining out, etc), because I find depending on the day I'm having I'll eat more some days and less on others. I just try to net the right amount of calories by the end of the week. Not everyday I want a high calorie treat, just on occasion. This approach helps me feel like I'm still on track even when I indulge which makes the whole lifestyle change much more realistic and easier to stick to! This way I never feel like I'm totally off track and in fact I feel like I'm always on track or not far off which means I'll still see some progress and that's a great feeling! I guess this is what they mean when they say "you can have your cake and eat it too". This must be what skinny girls feel like when they sit down to have a cheesecake and still have bikini body's and no one can understand how they can have both. We'll apparently we can have both too!

So well said, good on you

j6o4

MFP is deisnged for you to eat back your exercise calories. Some people only eat part of them back because MFP is not too accurate on calories burn, so it is a good idea to get a HRM to get a more accurate calorie burn and you can eat all your exercise calories back. You will find that some people dont eat back exercise calories because they are doing the TDEE method which acounts for their exercise, and other people who are doing it the MFP way and not eating back their exercise calories just dont know what they're doing.