TO EAT OR NOT EAT EXERCISE CALORIES??.....(calm down)

llpaq

Just tell me you knowitalls .:happy: :happy:

Please.:ohwell: Don't get angry at me for asking :grumble: ...... I just want to know. I KNOW I'm doing something right- because I've lost weight but if I can do it SMARTER AND QUICKER (2 lbs a week opposed to 1) I like most of the worlds population trying to lose - would rather do that. :bigsmile:

Eat them back?

Don't eat them back?.

5'5" tall - 165 pounds - exercise at least six times a week for at least 40 minutes. wants to lose 10 more pounds. <- don't think this matters but it might.

eowynmn

1 lb a week is pretty spot on for your current weight, so keep doing what you are doing (which is what? are you eating them or not right now?)

BaconMD

If you REALLY wanted to know, I suspect you would have read one of the approximately 26343982343 other threads on the matter.

JesterMFP

quicker ≠ smarter

diannethegeek

This one is stickied at the top of the General Diet & Weight Loss board, in the Newbies Please Read topic:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

cwolfman13

quicker ≠ smarter

This^^^

Safe and healthy weight loss is very gradual. The less you have to lose, the slower it should be. It looks like you only have about 10 Lbs to lose...personally, I'd dial it back to .5 Lbs per week and eat 80% (to account for error and BMR calories) or so of your exercise calories back and go really slowly. You'll preserve more lean body mass that way.

twinketta

1 lb a week is pretty spot on for your current weight, so keep doing what you are doing (which is what? are you eating them or not right now?)

I agree with this reply

Serah87

Try this. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

:flowerforyou:

llpaq

If you REALLY wanted to know, I suspect you would have read one of the approximately 26343982343 other threads on the matter.

Unlike you I don't have time to read the other 26343982343 other thread but since you opened this one up - you obviously like them so maybe you can just tell me huh?

loril13

I eat most of them back. I get hungry, light headed and overall cranky when I don't. I need the energy.

llpaq

1 lb a week is pretty spot on for your current weight, so keep doing what you are doing (which is what? are you eating them or not right now?)

I'm kind of all over the place, sometimes I do- sometimes I don't. Because I'm just not sure. :ohwell:

DrLabRat

Pick one

It really doesn't matter one way or the other. What matters, in the end, is the calorie deficit that you can best maintain over the long run. Too great a deficit = too hard to sustain for long. You get hungry and grumpy and binge. To small a deficit = too easy to 'opps' by miscounting and not have a deficit at all.

I personally prefer to eat my exercise calories because it helps motivate me to go to the gym! I'd rather work out and eat 1700 calories a day than not work out and only eat 1500 calories a day.

lina1131

I have read 238923892 threads on this and let me tell you this, there really isn't a right or wrong answer (IMO).

Everyone is different. You have to see what works for you. If you are not eating them, try to eat them and see what happens. If you are eating them, try not eating them and see what happens. See how your body responds and how you feel and then make a decision based on your experience.

How is that for an answer? :bigsmile:

llpaq

quicker ≠ smarter

This^^^

Safe and healthy weight loss is very gradual. The less you have to lose, the slower it should be. It looks like you only have about 10 Lbs to lose...personally, I'd dial it back to .5 Lbs per week and eat 80% (to account for error and BMR calories) or so of your exercise calories back and go really slowly. You'll preserve more lean body mass that way.

Thank you so much! :flowerforyou: A helpful answer is a breath of fresh air on MFP!
I was talking to a trainer momentarily today and he said that 2 pounds is always safe- that's what had me thinking if I could be doing this just a smiggen faster. Not that I want to lose 3 lbs a week or anything- but I just want to be summer ready so I'm working my tail off- literally
Thank you again for your kind response! :flowerforyou:

schaskes

I didn't - it worked for me. I lost 39 pounds in 6 months. I think that by not eating them back it made up for any over counting of exercise calories and/or imprecise logging. But I never had any serious plateaus or other issues that might have made me question what I was doing. Now I'm maintaining, and it's easier for me just to eat a certain amount no matter how much I exercise. But I understand the science of eating them back. I would say everyone is different, so try one and if it doesn't work, try the other! Or eat some but not all. It will take a while to figure it out, but everyone is individual.

llpaq

Pick one

It really doesn't matter one way or the other. What matters, in the end, is the calorie deficit that you can best maintain over the long run. Too great a deficit = too hard to sustain for long. You get hungry and grumpy and binge. To small a deficit = too easy to 'opps' by miscounting and not have a deficit at all.

I personally prefer to eat my exercise calories because it helps motivate me to go to the gym! I'd rather work out and eat 1700 calories a day than not work out and only eat 1500 calories a day.

My thoughts are very similar - at first I was not eating enough and not been really hungry at all- and now I really have started working out a lot more so I'm finding I'm just a little hungrier throughout the day then I have been in the past month and a half. So I'm seeking out advice And yours helped! Thank you:flowerforyou:

llpaq

I have read 238923892 threads on this and let me tell you this, there really isn't a right or wrong answer (IMO).

Everyone is different. You have to see what works for you. If you are not eating them, try to eat them and see what happens. If you are eating them, try not eating them and see what happens. See how your body responds and how you feel and then make a decision based on your experience.

How is that for an answer? :bigsmile:

Well it's an answer....... thank you!

BaconMD

If you REALLY wanted to know, I suspect you would have read one of the approximately 26343982343 other threads on the matter.

Unlike you I don't have time to read the other 26343982343 other thread but since you opened this one up - you obviously like them so maybe you can just tell me huh?

OK, well, the answer is: neither.

MFP is designed in such a way that you are supposed to eat your exercise calories back, but many people here are too stubborn or scared to do it that way, so they end up eating 1200 calories, often less, and screw themselves over.

MFP is NOT designed to NOT eat back exercise calories, and it does a piss-poor job of communicating that since these threads continually come up every ten minutes. :P

But you don't HAVE to do it the way MFP was designed. The arguably better way is to figure out your TDEE and your BMR using one of many calculators out there, and then set your MFP calorie goal to your TDEE minus a percentage (10-20% or so is good). The exception being that if your calculation results in a number lower than your BMR, I would suggest you eat at least your BMR, preferably more if you so much as stand up once throughout the day.

I used to log my exercise calories and eat them back, and that worked fine, but it's easier and far more liberating to just eat more every day and not track my exercise. Whatever makes this **** easier is the way to go, in my books.

llpaq

I didn't - it worked for me. I lost 39 pounds in 6 months. I think that by not eating them back it made up for any over counting of exercise calories and/or imprecise logging. But I never had any serious plateaus or other issues that might have made me question what I was doing. Now I'm maintaining, and it's easier for me just to eat a certain amount no matter how much I exercise. But I understand the science of eating them back. I would say everyone is different, so try one and if it doesn't work, try the other! Or eat some but not all. It will take a while to figure it out, but everyone is individual.

I think I will eat some, but not all back and see how it goes- I'm afraid to eat them all back- but I'm working out more and feeling a little more hungry than I have been the past month and a half so I just wanted to try and clarify the correct way.
THANK YOU for your kind response :flowerforyou:

llpaq

If you REALLY wanted to know, I suspect you would have read one of the approximately 26343982343 other threads on the matter.

Unlike you I don't have time to read the other 26343982343 other thread but since you opened this one up - you obviously like them so maybe you can just tell me huh?

OK, well, the answer is: neither.

MFP is designed in such a way that you are supposed to eat your exercise calories back, but many people here are too stubborn or scared to do it that way, so they end up eating 1200 calories, often less, and screw themselves over.

MFP is NOT designed to NOT eat back exercise calories, and it does a piss-poor job of communicating that since these threads continually come up every ten minutes. :P

But you don't HAVE to do it the way MFP was designed. The arguably better way is to figure out your TDEE and your BMR using one of many calculators out there, and then set your MFP calorie goal to your TDEE minus a percentage (10-20% or so is good). The exception being that if your calculation results in a number lower than your BMR, I would suggest you eat at least your BMR, preferably more if you so much as stand up once throughout the day.

I used to log my exercise calories and eat them back, and that worked fine, but it's easier and far more liberating to just eat more every day and not track my exercise. Whatever makes this **** easier is the way to go, in my books.

BaconMD THANK YOU!!! That breakdown actually helped me a ton to figure out what I should be doing!! You ARE A NICE HELPFUL HEART Though I think that since I've been working out pretty hard this past month or so I may have to change my caloric intake- possibly? I've only lost ten pounds but I'm HUNGRY now. Last night I was craving chocolate cake and I'm a total meat and potato lady so I wasn't sure if maybe now I should start eating them back all the time or change something else.
Thanks again- this has helped me and I won't have to be yet another post again But maybe I can help someone now too :bigsmile:

deksgrl

With only 10 pounds to go, it will be slower loss, as others have mentioned, half a pound a week is to be expected. You also need to start acclimating your body back to maintenance level of calories. Setting your goal to half a pound a week will increase the amount you eat. And, yes, if you are using MFP method, do eat exercise cals. But as you may know from reading here, calories burned entries in the database can be inflated.