why should you eat the calories you burned

coke_momma

I just don't understand if you exercise to burn calories then why are you suspose to eat them back. It makes no sence to me. I hope someone can explain this to me.

lorcart

Because the way MFP works is it the number of calories you're given are already at a deficit. THAT number is the number to eat to lose "X" amt./wk. So when you burn some of them off, you get to eat them back.

Graelwyn75

Because mfp already builds in a calorie deficit to lose between half a pound and two pounds per week.
Not eating back the calories you use through exercise will leave you with a very large deficit and potentially stall your weight loss, and be detrimental to your health. The body does need a certain amount of energy to function.

AmyRhubarb

Exactly what they said. ^^

If you did no exercise at all, but ate to the daily goal MFP has given you, you would lose weight, because that goal already has the deficit built into it. That's why when you log exercise, MFP gives you those calories back - they expect you to eat them so you are not creating too large of a deficit, which is no good.

AshyyMM

ahaha.. woww!!! I didn't know this until right now.. like I always realized they tacked my calories burned back on..but I've never eaten them.. I find that I'm never hungry to continue to eat what I've burned.. maybe this is why I'm not actually losing much anymore...

CristinaL1983

You don't have to. I haven't 'eaten back' any calories in 3 months and haven't had a stall. (I'm not particularly far away from my goals.)