exercise calories

Caroline523

it is ok to not eat any of your exercise calories? i have 1,200 calories allotted for the day and I ate just about all of them (1,113). But I added an extra 1,000 calories with exercise, so it says I have "1,137 calories remaining". am i fine to leave it at that?

tlynnweb

WOW---what the heck did you do to get 1000 calories back in exercise? that's impressive. And yes, you should eat your exercise calories, esp. if you are hungry. This has been said and done a million times I'm sure but you have to look at it this way

If you are given 1200 calories a day, MFP has already taken out 500 a day for you to lose weight. So technically your body needs 1700 calories a day to maintain your weight which obviously you don't want to do or you wouldn't be on here. If you exercise and burn 1,000 calories, you are technically only eating 200 calories a day which is obviously not enough for anyone to live off of. To not eat them here or there is one thing but if you continue to just consume "200" calories a day your body will go into starvation mode and you will start to hold onto your weight. Just keep that in mind. There are tons of posts on this topic if you want to read them in more depth. Good luck!

jenniferjames

This is a topic everyone ask but I don't think everyone agrees with each other. This is how I feel why would I work so hard to burn calories and then turn around and eat them. I know this isn't much help. Go to the search and put in exercise calories you will get alot of answers.

CinthyNair

Sometimes I eat a portion of the exercise calories, other times, I am under. I guess it really depends on the individual on any given day.

However, you have to ensure the minimum calories you consume in a day does not go below 1200, else your body will go into starvation.

cmurphy04722

This pops up on MFP nearly every day. Please look through the Push-pinned posts under the General section of the forums.

Mainly, this post should help:

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

In the short: yes, eat your exercise calories. If you look at the math, consider my statistics.

I am 23, about 5'4 and about 165. I need roughly 1700 calories per day to maintain this weight.
MFP has me set to eat 1200 calories, leaving me with a deficit of 500 calories per day.
A pound is 3500 calories basically, so a deficit of 500 calories per day would give me a weight loss of 1 pound per week (because 3500/500=7 days)

So if I burn 500 calories at the gym and do not eat the extra calories, that would be a deficit of 1,000 calories per day, leaving me with two pounds of weight loss in a week.

Sounds great, right? Except the body does not like being deprived and is not meant to drop pounds that quickly. If I weighed 250, losing 2 pounds in a week might be healthy. At my weight, 1 pound per week is doable. But if I burn calories that I do not eat in addition to the deficit already created in my diet by MFP, I'd be starving my body. Not just of calories, but of protein, vitamins, fiber, etc. So then starvation mode comes in, and you can read about that in the post I linked above. But to summarize in my understanding: the body thinks I'm starving and just hoards everything. Work with your body, not against it.

Eat them! And love it!

Caroline523

ahh thank all of you for your input!! i always get confused about this stuff. the thing is, i'm genuinely not hungry. If i ate anymore, it would be "boredom" eating which i also hear is a huge no-no for dieters. but I also don't want my body to hold on to my extra weight. i don't FEEL like i'm in "starvation mode".. not even close. I'm completely full. if i ate more now, i'd just feel too full and kinda guilty. this whole dieting thing is way harder than i originally thought! i thought the more calories left over, the better. shoot!!

oh and tlynnwebb- i ran cross country for 8 years and i am a running addict so that's how i managed to burn 1000 calories today!

kwardklinck

I'd say go by how you feel. If you're going to bed hungry at night, you're not eating enough. I usually try to stay within 50 cals of what they tell me to eat based on my activity for the day. However, if I'm not hungry, I don't eat. I have gone about 200 under on some days. Every person is different. The best part for me about this whole process is learning what my body does and what does or doesn't cause me to lose or gain weight. It helps me keep track of everything I'm doing and lets me make adjustments based on my results. You really should try to eat at least 1200 cals a day. It's just really not possible to get the nutrition you need if you go under every day.

kellygirl5538

I looked at you exercise log, I really think that you are working out too much with cardio. You should be able to get a good cardio workout in one hour. I suggest that you add some strenth training. If you are planning to work out this much you need to eat much much more.

dogmeat

No matter how you feel, having 1000+ calorie deficit WILL muck up your metabolism and won't do you much good.


This is a common newbie question, it's been addressed in many threads and the consensus is that YES, you SHOULD eat your exercise calories. It makes NO sense not to.

Caroline523

ok so i've done my research and i'm listening to you wiser people, and i will definitely try to eat up more of my exercise calories. but i have one more question! (last one i promise!) what are good foods to eat when you've already eaten all your meals and you just need some good calories to bring you to your goal? for example.. i have sun chips and traditional chex mix in my room. are those fine to munch on to help my deficit?

dogmeat

NUTS!

Nuts are very calorie dense (easy to eat and just small volume gives you lots of calories), and they have lots of healthy fats in them.

Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds! Hooray!