Managing calories burned with Exercise

caska1147

My question is .... If I burn 300 calories doing cardio, do I have to eat all these calories in my daily intake to ensure my metabolism stays up and my body's nutritional needs are met?? I notice that when I complete my diary at the end of the day and I have not eaten the extra 300 calories of exercise, that the notes say that I was under my calorie goal. I always thought that exercise was a "bonus" for calories burned and that all I would need to eat in a day was the base amount of calories ???

123Cyn123

I'm glad you asked this question.....I need it answered too. Somedays my net calories are only 800-900 but I ate 1400. I really don't think I could eat 1900-2000 without having Pizza.....

Mr_Excitement

I always do. If you have a target calorie level of, say, 1800, and you do 300 calories worth of exercise, then you can eat 2100 calories and still be running a deficit that will result in weight loss.

123Cyn123

So then you always eat back your exercise calories.......wow. I don't...........only if I'm really hungry then I'll eat a little something extra.

DopeItUp

The way this site is designed is that you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. Too large of a caloric deficit is not beneficial in the long term. I have eaten every single exercise calorie back for almost two years and have lost around 83lbs without problem. Netting 800-900 after exercise is NOT a good idea and will lead to health problems and your weight loss will eventually stall as well.

caska1147

Thanks so much ... appreciate all the feedback!!