Do you eat your exercise calorie?

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  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
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    I'm 5'5 and 40 years old. I lost my weight eating a total of about 1700-2000+ calories... about 1350-1700 plus exercise calories. I'm currently maintaining on 2300, and which already includes my exercise so I don't add extra.

    When I tried just eating low cal, weight loss was painfully slow. I felt like a failure, because by the math, I should have been losing 2 pounds a week, but in reality, I was losing a half pound every other week. What I know now is that I had too large of a calorie deficit and was making things entirely too hard. And when I stopped eating that way, the weight came right back on.

    Eating exercise calories was like discovering the holy grail for me. It made weight loss effortless. I was losing at the predicted rate, which I since learned was one pound, then a half pound a week... I didn't have enough to lose to aim for 2 pounds a week. I've been at my goal for over a year and a half... maintenance is a piece of cake. And I can eat cake, too. :happy:

    What she said. Upping the calories helped me lose faster and made me a happier person. I'm 10 years older so my maintenance calories are a bit lower, but still very satisfying. Others have different experiences and don't eat exercise calories back but I'd rather eat cake.
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
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    P.S. I just noticed we're around the same age. You can totally do this! And remember -- slow and steady wins the race. Losing weight too quickly can be a recipe for having it come back quickly.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    It s important that if you are eating them back, you are accurately estimating how much you are burning. Most people feel that MFP ove vestimates. For cardio exercise a HRM is more accurate but people say its not accurate for weight training. I've read a Bodymediafit is not too bad for that bits all estimation though which is why lots of people seem to eat back half of their exercise calories.
  • itali614
    itali614 Posts: 53 Member
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    If you understand why MFP advises that you eat your calories back then you can choose not to. Simply not doing so because you think you'll lose weight faster is going to have you starting a thread "Why has my weight loss stalled? :(:(:(". This thread will have lots of people rightfully abusing you for eating 1 calorie a day.

    I would aim for a reasonable daily target that is 10% less than your TDEE or do what MFP tells you to.

    Caveat: I don't believe the estimated calories burnt are correct.

    This!!! :smile:
  • snarkymom72
    snarkymom72 Posts: 32 Member
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    Me too. When I first started on MFP, I was at 1200 calories and barely losing a half pound every two weeks. It was so frustrating!!
    Then I upped my calories to 1500-1600 calories and finally started losing the weight! I do not normally eat my exercise calories back, I just try to stay around 1600 calories unless I have a really great exercise session then I will if I want to especially on the weekends!!
  • jlo9871
    jlo9871 Posts: 26 Member
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    Thanks! Just had my "Aha Moment."

    I was always afraid of eating those exercise calories and wondered why MFP would even tell in the first place.

    I do 30 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes on circuit machines, 6 days a week.

    Knowing I should eat those calories (clean eating, of course!) makes this Wisconsin Girl VERY happy!!!
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    I use to eat 1200, I'm now netting 1700. When I was eating 1200 I was over 150lbs and I seemed to be losing a lot of hair down the drain. I got to 120lbs netting 1700...you chose.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    read this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • MissTD
    MissTD Posts: 40
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    YES!!!! You might be able to lose weight fast for the first 2 weeks but after that NO!! I would eat 1300 cals & workout burning at least 300 cals and eventually my body went n2 STARVATION MODE. IMO body refused to lose weight. It was bad!!! I workout, drank tons of water, ate right & nothing. I actually even got bulkier. I was at a complete STALL. I'll never do that again. Now I eat 1500 cals. Workout 5 days a week burning about 300 cals. In the last week I loss 3 pounds. I'm a happy camper now. Pls don't do it to yourself. I promise it will backfire. Slow weight loss is ALWAYS better then fast! Good luck!
  • afhowell757
    afhowell757 Posts: 8 Member
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    I just started on MFP and I was so excited that they easily calculated how many calories you should eat even when you exercise. I have had the same exact problem not knowing my calorie deficit with other apps & websites I have used prior to MFP. They made it too difficult, especially when they incorporated calories burned just by resting.

    A health coach told me that I wasn't eating enough calories for the exercise I was doing. She actually told me to eat more. But I didn't know how to balance it out, and eventually I ended up gaining some of my weight back. I just started using MFP this week and have already dropped weight. The last two months has been a gradual weight gain.I also use a HRM so I know exactly how many calories I am burning through exercise.

    After reading all the posts, if you noticed, those who have lose 25 lbs or more, suggested to eat your exercise burned calories. I am following suit. You don't have to tell me twice.
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
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    I swear I'm going to copy and paste this response into a text file so I don't have to keep retyping it. :-) This is an incredibly common question, and lots of people have give pretty good advice. I'm going to add this bit since I haven't seen anyone else say it. If you're burning relatively small numbers of calories working out, eating them is pretty optional as lots of people have said. You'll lose a little faster if you don't, but you'll lose either way. If you burn a lot of calories working out (the definition of "a lot" sort of varies based on height and weight, but say more than 500 calories 4 or more days a week for an "average" person) you probably want to eat back at least some of them. Me personally, I burn around 600-1500 calories most days running 5-12 miles and doing strength training. I don't think I could keep that up if I didn't eat at least some of them back.

    If you're walking a couple miles three time a week, by all means let them just add a bit more to your deficit. If you're running 5 or 6 miles 5 times a week, eat them or at least some of them.

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