eating back exercise calories..the point?

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akilahleemarie
akilahleemarie Posts: 80 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have been testing out different numbers that this site gives me in order to lose weight. I understand that bigger people can afford to lose weight faster than smaller people. I'm female, 135 pounds and 5 fooot 8.5...I work as a waitress 4 days a week. I have tracked my steps at work,,and I know just in steps I burn about 500 calories a shift. from october 23, i started at 145 lbs and december 10, got down to 130 pounds. I was eating 1200 calories a day, and interval training 5-7 days a week an hour at a time burning about 600 calories a workout. and im a single mom of 3 young children. so I am a pretty far from a desk job. Anyways...after I hit 130 i went to 133 a week later (still was following my diet faithfully)..it didn't go away...it would not go back down to 133. i started feeling mentally agitated and emotionally unstable and had a mini break break down. So for the last week now i have been eating like a normal person and have not been working out. in a few days i am going to try to lose weight again. before i was happy at losing 2 pounds a week atleast...and I always was able to lose that. I am a little confsed about the "eat your calories back" thing everyone keeps talking about on this website. After doing me research I know that my bmr is about 1430...and it makes sense why 1200 gross (consumed) calories was a bad idea...beucase it literally was not enough to be in coma. But I don't understand the point of busting your butt for an hour and burning 600 calories and then eating 600 extra calories to cover it...or working out for 20 mins and burning 200 calories and eating an extra 200 calories to cover it. no one on this website seems to talk about the point of working out, if you have to eat back what you just burned. to me its like making $500 and 2 minutes later going out and wasting all of it..you worked hard for that $500 and now you have no money left. can someone please explain to me the point of working out????? i only was working out to burn the 600 calories of fat.
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Replies

  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    read up
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    you are already at a calorie deficit.

    exercising will make more of a deficit.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    If it takes 1800 calories for you to break even for the day, then for weight loss, you need to eat a little less than 1800, like maybe 1500. If your goal is 1500 per day, and you burn 600 in exercise, that leaves you with 900 net calories for the day. You need to keep the calories you eat at 1500 everyday. That's why. It's easy. Don't over think it ir try to make it complicated.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Imagine identical twins...
    Both net exactly the same calories, one exercises and eats back, the other one doesn't exercise.

    Which one would be:
    Fitter, healthier, better bone density, look hotter, be leaner, eat lots more tasty food, have more energy?
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Perhaps if you are 5'8" and 130 pounds, you don't need to lose weight. Eat at maintenance, exercise moderately, and get on with your life.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    You exercise to be fit and healthy not to lose weight. 90% of weight loss will be determined by your diet. Whether you're at a healthy goal weight with nice lean body mass or a flabby blob will be determined by your exercise.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    At your height and weight, you are already at a healthy BMI. If you are trying to lower your BF%, you can do so with a small deficit and strength training exercise. You should not have a large deficit with your stats. Even if your body fat is high, you should still have a deficit of less than 300 calories from maintenance.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    Losing weight and getting fit are two different things..often hooked together and confused. You eat at a deficit to lose weight..and your exercise to get fit and lean. I find the "eating exercise calories back" a godsend. I never heard of it before coming to mfp. For me, it makes losing weight much more manageable because I can enjoy more food on days I work out...and still lose. You also feel better and it helps make the connection that being active means you can eat more normal and not get fat.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    If your only concern is losing weight, with no regard for lbm:fat or overall health, there isn't a point.

    If you want to be fitter, read the above linked topics.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Your premise assumes that the purpose of exercise is to burn calories. There are WAY more important benefits to exercise than calorie burn.

    In your $500 metaphor, it's more like you immediately go out and spend the money on things that make your life better in general.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    I just calculated the calories for my homemade totally from scratch apple pie. It's fcking awesome apple pie. One slice is 348 calories. If I wasn't going to eat back my exercise calories it would be way difficult for me to fit a slice or two of that pie into my calories for the day. I would be missing out on some of the finest goddamned apple pie to ever grace a fcking plate. That would be a huge tragedy. Don't live a tragic life, eat pie instead.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I just calculated the calories for my homemade totally from scratch apple pie. It's fcking awesome apple pie. One slice is 348 calories. If I wasn't going to eat back my exercise calories it would be way difficult for me to fit a slice or two of that pie into my calories for the day. I would be missing out on some of the finest goddamned apple pie to ever grace a fcking plate. That would be a huge tragedy. Don't live a tragic life, eat pie instead.

    That's another good point- I try to meet my major nutritional needs with my base calories, and allow some treats with exercise cals. That alone makes it worth it. Tragic life averted.
  • Cptrob
    Cptrob Posts: 80 Member
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    a lot of bad information in this thread.. like most "don't eat less than what MFP tells you" posts tend to go... hilarious
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    What is this bigger people can "afford" to lose weight faster than smaller people??????? Afford? Really?

    I think that regardless of size, losing weight and getting healthy/fit is something that needs to be done smart, not fast.

    This kinda annoys me. I've heard a few people say that in regards to both height and weight and it just irks me because it is like you are trying to give an "okay" to do some kind of crash diet. -.-
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
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    a lot of bad information in this thread.. like most "don't eat less than what MFP tells you" posts tend to go... hilarious

    Actually, the information in this thread being give to the OP is spot on, and really good advice.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    a lot of bad information in this thread.. like most "don't eat less than what MFP tells you" posts tend to go... hilarious

    Are you going to enlighten us, oh All Knowing Interweb Guy, or are we supposed to figure it out all by our bad information believing selves?
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    I just calculated the calories for my homemade totally from scratch apple pie. It's fcking awesome apple pie. One slice is 348 calories. If I wasn't going to eat back my exercise calories it would be way difficult for me to fit a slice or two of that pie into my calories for the day. I would be missing out on some of the finest goddamned apple pie to ever grace a fcking plate. That would be a huge tragedy. Don't live a tragic life, eat pie instead.

    That's another good point- I try to meet my major nutritional needs with my base calories, and allow some treats with exercise cals. That alone makes it worth it. Tragic life averted.

    That's because all you do is win!
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    a lot of bad information in this thread.. like most "don't eat less than what MFP tells you" posts tend to go... hilarious

    Actually, the information in this thread being give to the OP is spot on, and really good advice.

    I agree. There is some good info getting thrown out here. I don't agree with the whole I'm going to eat 1200 calories or less...even with exercise...mentality.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Here is some more info if you'd like to read on it:

    If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

    Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance

    And if you are looking for foods to help with upping your calorie intake, I suggest checking this out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/410771-i-can-t-reach-my-calorie-goal-it-s-too-much-food
  • YDIXON713MYFITNESSPAL
    YDIXON713MYFITNESSPAL Posts: 2
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    LOL

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