New member, 6 days in.

taradukaczewicz
taradukaczewicz Posts: 3
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm Tara, brand new member. I'm loving the format so far but I am dubious about one thing. When I add in my exercise it says I've earned as many calories as I've burned. Isn't that defeating the purpose of burning them? I want 'em, believe me, I'm starving. I just don't want to sabotage myself. Would appreciate some advice, thanks!!

Replies

  • bonnie_w
    bonnie_w Posts: 22
    I try to never eat back my exercise calories but other people chose to .....MY thought is I worked to hard to burn them to eat them back good luck on your weight loss journey:smile:
  • JasonRM79
    JasonRM79 Posts: 28 Member
    Hi Tara,

    I am by no means a pro at this but I try not to eat back the calories I have earned. But that's because I am trying to loose a lot of weight still. My thought is that number, that is calories earned from exercise, is helpful in that it tells you how many more calories you can eat because you have worked out and stay on track toward your fitness goal.

    Jason
  • avababy05
    avababy05 Posts: 930 Member
    The calories set by MFP are already calculated at a deficit.

    In other words,Those are the calories you would eat to reach your goal prior to any exercise being entered.

    So, yes,you would still want to eat back the calories.It confused me at first too.

    And I usually only eat back half.
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    Hi Tara -- I think that the reason is that MFP calculates your deficit before you exercise. So if you are trying to lose a pound a week, it's set for -500 calories from maintenance. If you are trying to lose a pound and a half a week, it's set for -750 from maintenance, etc. When you exercise, you deepen that deficit. So it depends partly on whether the net deficit is reasonable and sustainable. I tend to stay set at losing a pound a week, and usually don't eat all of the exercise calories back, in order to try to do a little better than that. That's preferable, for me, to setting a more aggressive target and then struggling or being hungry on rest days.
  • taradukaczewicz
    taradukaczewicz Posts: 3
    Okay, I'm glad I questioned that before running to the fridge!!! LOL Thanks for advice and nice to meet you all!
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    No!! You SHOULD EAT your exercise calories if you are following the MFP set-up! Your deficit is already calculated into the calories it gives you for the day and it expects you to exercise. You should eat them so that your body has the nutrients it needs to keep giving you energy. Sorry to say, but if you're not fueling your body you're not going to have the energy to want to keep doing the awesome workouts you're doing!

    Just to add, I'm 5'4", 135 lbs, exercise almost daily and I eat around 1900 cals/day and I'm still losing weight because I eat right.

    You can do this!
  • taradukaczewicz
    taradukaczewicz Posts: 3
    Oh, okay, that's good news!!!! Yes! I was facing going to bed hungry because I had a rueben for lunch at work.
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    Yup -- you should eat them back! I realize in retrospect that my answer was confusing....
    Some people eat "most" of them back, or "half" of them back, but the rationale behind that is that they suspect that the exercise calories are overcounting. But you should eat them back.
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    No!! You SHOULD EAT your exercise calories if you are following the MFP set-up! Your deficit is already calculated into the calories it gives you for the day and it expects you to exercise. You should eat them so that your body has the nutrients it needs to keep giving you energy.


    ^This. Eat them back or at least most of them.

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