***EVERYONE READ PLEASEEEE!****

esco2186

ok soo i know people have been asking about the exercise calories and if you should or shouldnt eat them and most have said eat them....well thats wrong haha i went to see my nutritionist and i asked her whats up with the exercise calories and if you eat them or not and she said no that there is no point in workin out if you are just going to eat the calories you worked off even tho MFP tells you that you have this many extra calories you can eat DONT EAT THEM! if you are hungry then feat some fruits or veggies or something light but if your not hungry your good! just wanted to let you guys know what my nutritionist said to me today cus she told me to post it on here so that everyone knows not to eat the calories if you arent hungry she said being at negative balance (ex.-800 cal til your MFPgoal is met) then you are fine and if you stay under even if you are working out then you will have more weightloss...hope this helps you guys

girliegirl1822

bump

questionablemethods

It doesn't make sense to eat them if your calories are at your maintenance level and you want to create a deficit. However, if the allotted calories are already calculated at a deficit then not eating them might mean that you are not getting enough fuel in your body (creating too large of a deficit). Of course this all depends upon how much of a deficit your allotted calories are set for.

leavinglasvegas

Did you make sure to tell her that MFP already calculates your deficit? So if you do not exercise, you are eating at a deficit. No offense to you or your nutritionist, but you should have all your info correct before you post something like this. Try reading the permanent posts in regards to this topic. They explain everything in detail. When you go back to your nutritionist, take her the correct information.

Please, anybody reading this, read the info that has already been posted to understand how this site works. If you feel it is not correct for you, speak to a medical professional about yourself and follow accordingly.

I don't think this is going to go over well, lol.:laugh: I'm just sayin..................

tutujoli

Your nutritionist should probably not be making blanket statements. :grumble: Like Kaitlin said, if you're using excersize to create your calorie defecit, then no...you should not eat them back. But if you already have a defecit, not eating them can create too large of one.

There are lots and lots of other reasons for excersize, besides calorie burn.

It increases your endurance.
Strengthens your heart and lungs.
Overall conditions your body.
Strengthens your bones and helps prevent osteoporosis.
Supports your joints and spine with stronger muscles.
Allows your body to burn more calories at rest.
Provides a natural mood lift.
Can function as a social outlet.
Helps regulate your sleep, and other processes in your body.
Relieves stress.

So, while I understand that someone might not see how the math and science works, calories are not the be all, end all, of excersize.

healthbug

Thanks for the post! I eat mine a lot of times because I am usually hungry at the end of the day. Sometimes I work out just to earn some extra food, but I see how it could be very beneficial not to eat them.

healthbug

As I understand it, her nutritionist knows we're already eating at a deficit. She is suggesting that more of a deficit is not a bad thing. I've heard this advice a lot lately. That starvation mode does not happen unless under very extreme circumstances and that having a few hundred more calories burned than what MFP already accounts for is perfectly healthy and will speed weight loss.

MTGirl

:noway: Not again.

This site sets you up with a deficit to lose weight at the recommended 1 - 2 lbs per week. Without exercising. But you have to work with your body!!! Some people HAVE to eat all their exercise calories to lose weight. Some eat about 1/2 to lose regularly. Please make sure you fuel your body properly. If you need info about this, there are some links in my signature line you should read. At least give the system a fair shot the way it is set up. If it doesn't work after 4 - 6 weeks of doing it this way - then start playing with the numbers a little! You have to give your body time to adjust and start functioning properly, especially if you haven't been fueling it adequately for a long time!

rjadams

I don't understand why you would come here, as a newbie, you joined in March of this year, and tell everybody that what they are doing is wrong. Maybe it is wrong for you and your nutritionist but it is pretty agrogant to come to a site that has a premis and tell everyone on here that they are all wrong. This site is about being healthy and it has people who have followed a healthy way to loose a very specific rate of weight loss. It works for a lot of people and there are people who have been here for years. So I will continue to follow the advice of the veterans of this site and ingnore your mandate that they are all wrong. Thanks anyway.

cbnorris

you know, I think even nutrionists, personal trainers and doctors all are going to disagree on this. fact of the matter is everyone is different and what worked for you once before, may not always work the next time. i think that you should just listen to your body and keep track off what works for you and what you feel comfortable with and if you hit a plateau, switch it up.



and on the topic of exercise calories.... I found this online, and it kind of makes sense to me. So, if you DO eat your exercise calories back, this may be a worthwhile read to you....

Mistake #2: Overreporting the "extra" calorie expenditure of exercise

Most people count the calories they spend exercising as "extra" calories. There is a difference between calories burned while exercising and "extra" calories burned exercising. Here is an example: you burn 300 calories on the treadmill instead of your usual activity (watching TV at home); in reality, you have to subtract the calories you would have spent watching TV from these 300 calories to calculate how many additional calories you burned. Let's say that watching TV, you would have burned 80 calories. In this specific case, you have expended 300 calories while exercising, and 220 "extra" calories.

Calorie counters mindlessly add the calories burned exercising as "extra" and in some cases, this practice can significantly influence the calorie calculations. Hence, calorie software counts the part of your usual activities that overlaps with the extra activities twice.

How to estimate the "extra" calories burned exercising?

In order to make the calculations more accurate, I shall first introduce the concept of MET values. MET values are a convenient way to calculate the calorie cost of activities. MET values are multiples of the resting energy expenditure per time. In plain English, a MET = 3 means burning 3 times more calories than resting. A MET = 1 signifies how many calories you burn at rest (your Resting Metabolic Rate or Basal Metabolic Rate). Whatever you do, you burn calories at a rate of at least MET = 1 with the only exception being sleeping which has MET = 0.9. During the day, most activities include sitting and walking which have MET values between 1.2 and 3. Your total daily energy expenditure is calculated by multiplying your Resting Metabolic Rate by the average MET of all your activities. Is your head spinning?

Let's use a real world example. Consider a female person with a Resting Metabolic Rate of 1200 calories a day. One day has 1440 minutes. Our example lady is burning 1200/1440 = 0.84 calories per minute at rest, which signifies a MET = 1. Let's say our example woman just returned from an aerobics class, where she exercised for 30 minutes. General aerobic class training has a MET = 6. Our example lady has just burned 30 (minutes) x 6 (MET) * 0.84 (calories per minute) = 151 calories while exercising. Suppose our lady would have chatted on the internet instead of exercising (MET = 1.5). In this example, the woman substituted chatting on the internet with aerobic exercising. Remember, that every time you do something you substitute one activity for another. In order to get the extra calories, we have to subtract 1.5 (chatting) from 6 (exercising). Now let's calculate the extra calories: 30 (minutes) * (6 - 1.5) (MET value) * 0.84 = 113 calories.

Let's consider what a standard calorie counter would have done. First, it will assume an average calorie burn rate of 1 calorie per minute. Then the counter will find that exercising for 30 minutes will yield 30 (minutes) * 6 (MET) * 1 (calories per minute) = 180 calories. The calorie counter will add these 180 calories to your daily expenditure without considering that a part of these 180 calories is already accounted by your usual activities.

Do you now see the difference between 113 calories and 180 calories? If that woman spends 5 hours a week in that aerobics class, the standard calorie counters will overreport her calorie output by: (180-113) * 10 = 670 calories a week. The woman will be fooled that her metabolic rate has dropped while she just overestimated her calorie expenditure. Enter weight loss plateau, wasted time and efforts. Do you have the time for trial and error calorie estimations?

AwMyLoLo

:noway: Not again.

This site sets you up with a deficit to lose weight at the recommended 1 - 2 lbs per week. Without exercising. But you have to work with your body!!! Some people HAVE to eat all their exercise calories to lose weight. Some eat about 1/2 to lose regularly. Please make sure you fuel your body properly. If you need info about this, there are some links in my signature line you should read. At least give the system a fair shot the way it is set up. If it doesn't work after 4 - 6 weeks of doing it this way - then start playing with the numbers a little! You have to give your body time to adjust and start functioning properly, especially if you haven't been fueling it adequately for a long time!

Yeah, wow... :grumble:

I like that you have the links right in your signature. There should definitely be a tutorial that new members must go through before starting on MFP, that goes through the basics of defecits and exercise calories.

leavinglasvegas

:noway: Not again.

This site sets you up with a deficit to lose weight at the recommended 1 - 2 lbs per week. Without exercising. But you have to work with your body!!! Some people HAVE to eat all their exercise calories to lose weight. Some eat about 1/2 to lose regularly. Please make sure you fuel your body properly. If you need info about this, there are some links in my signature line you should read. At least give the system a fair shot the way it is set up. If it doesn't work after 4 - 6 weeks of doing it this way - then start playing with the numbers a little! You have to give your body time to adjust and start functioning properly, especially if you haven't been fueling it adequately for a long time!

Thanks girl!

courtney_love2001

oh gosh, good luck when the crap hits the fan later and everyone reads this...

kicklikeaGIRL

Did you make sure to tell her that MFP already calculates your deficit? So if you do not exercise, you are eating at a deficit. No offense to you or your nutritionist, but you should have all your info correct before you post something like this. Try reading the permanent posts in regards to this topic. They explain everything in detail. When you go back to your nutritionist, take her the correct information.

Please, anybody reading this, read the info that has already been posted to understand how this site works. If you feel it is not correct for you, speak to a medical professional about yourself and follow accordingly.

I don't think this is going to go over well, lol.:laugh: I'm just sayin..................

I agree with this statement. Make sure you tell your nutritionist that you are already using a deficit. Depending on what you put in your goals (1 pound per week = 500 calorie DAILY deficit). Since MFP automatically calculates your deficit depending on how many pounds you want to lose per week, you SHOULD be eating your exercise calories. Because, even if you do eat your exercise calories, you will have 500 calories deficit at the end of the day, which equals to 3500 a week, which equals one pound per week.

If you have anymore questions or have any confusion, feel free to PM me. I'd be more than happy to share with you why you need to eat your exercise calories. But, if you do choose to not eat your exercise calories, you will find that in a few weeks or months you will reach a point where weightloss will stop and you will wonder why, and I guarantee that it is because you aren't eating your exercise calories and your body is running on less calories than it should be functioning on, especially if you are exercising. Your body needs the fuel, don't deprive it!! I've successfully lost 20 pounds eating my exercise calories, and many people on this site have lost weight eating exercise calories.

JJRunning

Ohhhh boy.

:noway:

kicklikeaGIRL

oh gosh, good luck when the crap hits the fan later and everyone reads this...

I agree, the title of this post is a little misleading.... maybe next time try a title that has to do with your post I know you are probably really confused because your trainer is telling you one thing and MFP consistently tells you something else. If you want more information, the creator, Mike, has bookmarked some important links under the "General Weightloss" topic. Go check it out! He didn't bookmark them for any ol' reason. They are great posts to help us all achiveve our goals and help us understand healthy weightloss. They are great great posts! You will find them helpful!!! Good luck to you. I know it can be confusing but losing weight is going to take time and hard work, but you can do this!!!




On another note--- not that all trainers do this...but their goal is to keep you as their client, because thats more money for them. And this is just a thought-- I'm not saying this is for every trainer out there. But, could it be possible that they want you to lose weight as quickly as possible so that they get the credit for helping you reach goals? And then once you reach a plateau (which you are bound to hit if you don't eat your exercise cals) you will need to keep going to them to help you get off the plateau. So, in my mind...I'd do some hard research and talk to people who have had success on here and read the "How I lost my Weight" stories, because I guarantee they didn't eat less than 1200 net calories to get that way! In fact, there is a girl on here named Tamtastic (hope she doesn't mind I'm talking about her ) But, she lost 135 pounds....and she never ate below 1400 calories. How great!

sonjavon

Ok... ya know what... you're right. You've been here for what? A month tops... so surely you know exactly how MFP works... and I'm SURE that your nutritionist knows exactly how MFP has calculated your calories, right? Whatever! I'm SO tired of this argument over and over again. Do whatever you're going to do... and when you hit a plateau and can't figure out why... THEN go back and read the posts that explain exactly how MFP works, exactly what the "exercise calories" are and what the reasoning behind it is.

Ask your nutritionist this: What is the maximum deficit that I should have? Maybe that will help.

I knew that I should NOT have read a post entitled "Everyone Read Pleaseeeeee"

I do not understand why someone would come onto a website to learn how to lose weight and then continue to argue that they know better... if you knew better to begin with - why do you have weight to lose?

Done

pmjsmom

I have now lost 80 pounds (20 of them with the help of MFP) by eating at least half of my exercise calories each day! I want to end up with a healthy body--not just a thinner one!

ZebraHead

Blood + Water = Sharks

:sad: :sad: Can't we all just get along?? :sad: :sad:

pmjsmom

I knew that I should NOT have read a post entitled "Everyone Read Pleaseeeeee"

Done

:laugh: :laugh: Me, too!

hmiott

I am sure you wrote what you thought would help everyone else out and thank you for your thoughts. It is very important that we remember everyone is on the same path but our journey is different. What is good for one person may not be good for another and I am sure your nutritionalist is aware of this. If not, you might consider finding someone new...

Being fairly new to the site as well, I have found the information posted on the site to be very helpful; however, you have to be able to take the information provided and twist it to fit your lifestyle.

I have to say I think you really opened a can of worms with this discussion...Yikes!

chgudnitz

Crap. Apparently I did this wrong. I guess it was a lucky random act of kindness that I was sucessful at losing weight by eating my exercise calories. I thank you kindly as well as your nutritionist in correcting the error of my ways.

Or... The purpose of exercise should be to make you healthier, improve your cardiovascular system, increase lean muscle mass, tone your (potentially) floppy behind (I can say that, been there, done that :laugh: ) increase your metabolism, make you feel better about yourself, and generally make you an all around more fit person. Maybe... I don't know.

Good luck with the course of action you decide to take. There are many many different ways that people go about this whole getting healthy thing and nobody knows 100% which is the best way.

MTGirl

Ok... ya know what... you're right. You've been here for what? A month tops... so surely you know exactly how MFP works... and I'm SURE that your nutritionist knows exactly how MFP has calculated your calories, right? Whatever! I'm SO tired of this argument over and over again. Do whatever you're going to do... and when you hit a plateau and can't figure out why... THEN go back and read the posts that explain exactly how MFP works, exactly what the "exercise calories" are and what the reasoning behind it is.

Ask your nutritionist this: What is the maximum deficit that I should have? Maybe that will help.

I knew that I should NOT have read a post entitled "Everyone Read Pleaseeeeee"

I do not understand why someone would come onto a website to learn how to lose weight and then continue to argue that they know better... if you knew better to begin with - why do you have weight to lose?

Done

I you Sonja!! I know even as I was opening it that I shouldn't. :smokin:

lisawest

Please read the newbie posts! Several of the people who began those posts, and others who give information in them, base their comments on scientific studies. I admit that some of those were confusing for me at first. Here is a link to one that explained it in a way I could actually understand! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/79181-dogmeat-s-thoughts-on-weight-loss Here's another one that's really good. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories And another. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

I know where the logic of "less is better" comes from. Been there, done that. I can also tell you that if you workout a lot, and burn a lot everyday, your body will slow its rate of loss (it won't STOP, just slow WWWWWAAAAAAAYYYYYY down). Not exactly what we want. To top it off, when you stop working out as much, but continue eating the same, or when you start eating more, your body will store everything it possibly can as fat. It will NOT use the extra calories to build muscle. Again, NOT what we want! That is how "yo-yo" dieting happens (sometimes).

If you don't trust the information from this website, run a simple google search on caloric deficit, or eating exercise calories, or any other phrase you can think of. The more detailed the search phrase, the more exact the answers you find will be!

Good luck!

Laceylala

I think that the OP was probably just trying to be helpful but came off in a majorly wrong way. Youch! Please people remember that. It does no one any good to immediately tell people off about their posts.

Here is my suggestion to the OP and others who think it might work: Try it. See if it does. But maybe also do a search about eating exercise cals on MFP and see what the general consensus is regarding this topic. That way you have even more knowledge in your head so when and if you hit a plateau then you have something else to consider to try to break it.


This post, among other ones that have got many irritable comments about the same thing being posted over and over is a VERY good example of why a tutorial or some kind of more in depth explanation of how the site works should be part of the sign up requirements.

MTGirl

:noway: Not again.

This site sets you up with a deficit to lose weight at the recommended 1 - 2 lbs per week. Without exercising. But you have to work with your body!!! Some people HAVE to eat all their exercise calories to lose weight. Some eat about 1/2 to lose regularly. Please make sure you fuel your body properly. If you need info about this, there are some links in my signature line you should read. At least give the system a fair shot the way it is set up. If it doesn't work after 4 - 6 weeks of doing it this way - then start playing with the numbers a little! You have to give your body time to adjust and start functioning properly, especially if you haven't been fueling it adequately for a long time!

Thanks girl!

:drinker:

Nikki143

oh gosh, good luck when the crap hits the fan later and everyone reads this...

amen!!

cds2327

does your nutritionist realize that MFP already figured in a calorie defecit?
If i were you, i'd be looking for a new nutritionist. If i went to her, and she told me to not eat my exercise calories, then i'd be eating about 800 calories a day.
while i think this information may hold true for some, this is not something that everyone needs to follow. everyone is different, and i just hope that they all realize that.

cbnorris

This post, among other ones that have got many irritable comments about the same thing being posted over and over is a VERY good example of why a tutorial or some kind of more in depth explanation of how the site works should be part of the sign up requirements.

Most people would just skip over it like a "terms of Agreement" clause....

questionablemethods

This post, among other ones that have got many irritable comments about the same thing being posted over and over is a VERY good example of why a tutorial or some kind of more in depth explanation of how the site works should be part of the sign up requirements.

Most people would just skip over it like a "terms of Agreement" clause....

For those interested, here is a suggestion I put forth. It goes beyond a tutorial (because yes, I think those get ignored too often). I think this confusion could be eased by just making the calculations more explicit in each person's diary so they see that there are many ways at getting to a deficit that is going to cause them to lose weight. I put it in a thread here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/89496-suggestion-to-end-the-exercise-calorie-confusion

LittleSpy

A few points:
1. You forgot to mention to your nutritionist that MFP has already created your calorie deficit through your diet -- that's where the "negative balance" (ie, calorie deficit) comes from! If you set your goals on MFP to "maintain current weight" and then entered your exercise & got your exercise calories (because then, you'd be using exercise to creat the deficit), your nutritionist would be 100% correct. In that scenario, no, you would not want to eat your exercise calories because otherwise you'd be maintaining your current weight (which is obviously not losing weight like you want to do). If you're confused, maybe you should go about it this way.

2. ANYONE can call legally title themselves a "nutritionist." A Registered Dietician is who you want to see about any of your nutrition needs.

3. If some people create too large of a calorie deficit they *will not lose weight.* Our bodies are equipped with a wonderfully efficient survial mechanism and can learn to cope decreased energy consumption by decreasing our metabolism. This is real. It does happen. And I'm living proof.

4. The point of working out when you've already set your calorie deficit through diet isn't so much about weight loss. It's about health. It does help weight loss a little, though, because as you activate more muscle, your metabolism increases which means it's further increasing the calorie deficit you are creating through diet even if you do eat 100% of your exercise calories.

Not everyone has to eat their exercise calories. Some people's bodies apparently don't defend against starving to death. My body, however, apparently has a will to live. I ate 1200 calories for 4.5 months & lost a lot of weight (53 pounds) and then my weight wouldn't budge. My body was desperately clinging to every bit of fat I had left. This is self-preservation & I can't blame it. I started eating more. 1350 + 50% of my exercise calories. Guess what -- my body is comfortable releasing fat again because it's not under the impression that I'm starving to death anymore.

There are countless people on MFP who have had similar experiences. We have no reason to lie to you.

Print off my post & take it to your nutritionist if you want.