Eating BACK the calories you just burned off???

ShimmyMeli
ShimmyMeli Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok I feel like I am way out of the loop or missing something here......Why are we supposed to eat BACK the calories we just burned off during exercise if we are trying to lose weight? I am so confused. Someone please explain to me...Wouldn't that be counter-productive? I just need an explanation. Thanks :)

Replies

  • darthmolly
    darthmolly Posts: 26 Member
    My understanding is it is a metabolism thing. Exercise keeps your heart and muscles healthy and promotes fat burn-throughout your day. It is really good for keeping the life support system supporting life. :) Remember that the goal is to burn fat, not muscle and that new muscle is built during exercise. Toning down the fat is a gradual process.

    If you do not eat the calories you burn you may kick your body into starvation mode, thus prompting your metabolism to store fat rather than build muscle.

    I was not eating my exercise calories and I literally did not loose one pound, even though I was eating less! This was over MONTHS of being faithful to the program, and I was about to give up. Someone told me to eat my exorcise calories and I thought, why not? Once I started eating my exercise calories I started shedding weight. Even though I often go over my calorie consumption (by maybe 100 here or there, not by a lot) I am now loosing 2-3 pounds a week even though I was set for one pound a week.

    I'm not an expert. It may very well depend on where you are in your fitness and weight loss goals.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    If you are going off the calorie amounts to eat a day from what this site gives you, eat your exercise calories back.

    This site already takes a deficit into account when setting up your profile which is why you are supposed to eat back your calories. Too large of a deficit is not a good thing and can lead to muscle loss.
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
    This site already takes a deficit into account when setting up your profile which is why you are supposed to eat back your calories. Too large of a deficit is not a good thing and can lead to muscle loss.

    ^^^This
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
    Not to be rude- but I'm sure it'll come off as such... Use the search feature on this site - it's been a highly debated topic.

    You're in good company though - as 90% of these threads are in need of using the search feature
  • 1965maggie1965
    1965maggie1965 Posts: 8 Member
    Even though it wasn't my question. The answer is very helpful
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    Test for yourself here on MFP

    my home > settings > update diet/ fitness profile
    plan 0 minutes of exercise, save and view your calorie goal
    now plan something crazy like 3600 minutes of exercise... save and view your identical calorie goal.
    Your calorie goal contains the deficit you require to lose weight at your selected rate (0.5-2 lbs per week) assuming you haven't hit the 1200 calorie floor.

    MFP doesn't "believe" you on your "exercise PLANS" until you actually log it as complete by putting it in your exercise diary. Logging your exercise builds your deficit larger than your "desired rate of loss" so you can eat them back and keep your deficit to lose at the rate you have chosen to.

    Other sites may give a higher calorie goal initially but they are using the exercise to BUILD the deficit... MFPs deficit is provided in your initial food goal.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

    Read this.
  • ShimmyMeli
    ShimmyMeli Posts: 15
    lol, yes I should have done that..oops
    Not to be rude- but I'm sure it'll come off as such... Use the search feature on this site - it's been a highly debated topic.

    You're in good company though - as 90% of these threads are in need of using the search feature
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Ok I feel like I am way out of the loop or missing something here......Why are we supposed to eat BACK the calories we just burned off during exercise if we are trying to lose weight? I am so confused. Someone please explain to me...Wouldn't that be counter-productive? I just need an explanation. Thanks :)

    Because a caloric deficit is already built into MFP's goal provided you set your profile correctly. You need a caloric deficit to lose weight, not necessarily exercise. If you're exercising while eating at a caloric deficit, you need to eat them back so that you don't create too big of a deficit or include them in your activity estimate (read the road map). Too large a deficit will ultimately result in metabolic stall and you will cease to lose weight and/or the weight you do lose will be from lean body mass rather than fat.

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