Survey, eating exercise cals.

krislshoe

I always eat at least half of my exercise calories.....I was stuck at the same number for over a week and someone suggested eating back most of my excercise calories so I tried it and continue to lose at a nice steady pace.....so yes...eat back those exercise calories.

funkyspunky871

I'm only weighing myself once a month, and not due to weigh in again until the 1st, but I know that I'm very close to hitting my final goal way ahead of schedule.

Was just reading through everybody else's posts and you've got me so excited for your weigh-in! I really hope you hit your goal! Promise you'll tell everybody on MFP.

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No, I don't eat my exercise calories, because I don't really exercise that much. I'm going to start very, very, very soon, but I still don't think I'll eat them back. Seems to me like it defeats the purpose of exercising? Calories in, calories out... And more calories in? Not for me right now. Besides, I heard that if you get stuck, that's the best time to start eating them back (or half of them).

SHBoss1673

I eat most of them, leave a little for a margin for error. I'm also reasonable about it. Yesterday I was on the bicycle for over 3 hours and burned off about 2500 calories, which gives me about 4500 to eat for the day. Nope, not happening, Paul Bunyan didn't eat that much.

maybe not, but Michael Phelps ate about 11000 a day during his training (granted, he trained 6 hours a day, but still).

lvfunandfit

Yup! I eat them and I look forward to it!

Chelsinicole63

I usually most of them and I am consistently losing 1lb a week. Have you tried zig-zagging your calories? Some poeple swear by that.

no i havent, what do you do for that?

somigliana

I definitely do eat most of them and try my best to make it "good and healthy" calories or at least a protein shake.

Because I'm close to my goal weight, I have to be careful about having a large calorie deficit. My body is very skittish about not getting enough calories.

canstey

No, I don't eat my exercise calories, because I don't really exercise that much. I'm going to start very, very, very soon, but I still don't think I'll eat them back. Seems to me like it defeats the purpose of exercising? Calories in, calories out... And more calories in? Not for me right now. Besides, I heard that if you get stuck, that's the best time to start eating them back (or half of them).

You have that backwards if you are using MFP. MFP has already determined your maintenance calories and then deducted the 1-2 lbs per week deficit needed to reach it without having to do any exercise. The reason so many people have it in their heads that exercise is what creates the deficit is that is what is needed if you don't change your eating habits. If you are following MFP's guidelines then you have changed your eating habits, have a healthy calorie deficit, and your weight loss cannot be increased by adding exercise. Otherwise what can happen over time if you exercise regularly and don't eat them is your body has to start making choices.

Body: "Hmm. I was doing fine with the nutrients I was getting from this lower calorie diet and had enough fat reserves to make up the energy deficit but now there is all this extra muscle to repair. I don't have enough nutrients to cover everything and the energy gap is larger than the fat reserves can accommodate. Time to start stealing nutrients from the less important organs and slowing down the process. Also, maybe I should just use some of the muscle for energy because it is just wasting energy anyway. Less muscle, less energy needs."

Exercise increases the need for nutrients and calories. Either you were eating too much before you started exercising or you are eating too little after starting to exercise. Now with the minimum MFP daily calorie intake of 1200, some people might actually be getting more than enough nutrients and calories to support all the normal functions and moderate exercise without having to go over 1200.

I eat my exercise calories because I am at the limit without exercise. If I don't eat them then my workouts fall apart from lack of energy. As it is it takes my body about 4 days to fully restore my energy reserves after a maximum effort ride so I can do another maximum effort ride.

Bee28

I usually most of them and I am consistently losing 1lb a week. Have you tried zig-zagging your calories? Some poeple swear by that.

no i havent, what do you do for that?

Here's a link that explains it. Also, if you search zig-zagging on the forums here on MFP, there's a bunch of info about it people have posted.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

xonophone

I eat them, each and every one! And consistently lost 1-2 lb per week, while my goal was to lose only 1 pound per week.

ccgisme

I've been stuck for a while, so I'm trying to stick to 1900 calories per day (which is 1.5 lbs loss per wk for me) and leaving my exercise calories uneaten. This seems to be working in the short term. If I feel really hungry, I will eat those calories, but I try to eat lean protein, vegetables and fruits.

Although, if I find a bag of these Mr. Wong's Dragon Fire Doritos that Valqis is talking about, the I will plan a special work out so I can eat a small bag on top of my normal meals. :bigsmile:

ccgisme

I've been stuck for a while, so I'm trying to stick to 1900 calories per day (which is 1.5 lbs loss per wk for me) and leaving my exercise calories uneaten. This seems to be working in the short term. If I feel really hungry, I will eat those calories, but I try to eat lean protein, vegetables and fruits.

Although, if I find a bag of these Mr. Wong's Dragon Fire Doritos that Valqis is talking about, the I will plan a special work out so I can eat a small bag on top of my normal meals. :bigsmile:

Hey, that was my 100th post. :laugh:

a1schwei

i eat most of them most of the time there have been days when i've dragged my butt to the gym simply so i could eat what i wanted for dinner/dessert!!! i try not to eat them all everyday though for some room for error

lzcffy

Zig Zag dieting is sort of what I was doing on my own but I didn't know there was a name. I am just trying to keep my intake low sometimes hitting the mark at 1,200, sometimes slightly over or under. And work out 3-5 times a week. My "THING" is Zumba! I wear a calorie counter and several others do too. It is fast and intense and after 45 minutes we burn between 700 and 1,000 calories. Fantastic!

Rhonnie

I tend to eat them, at least a good portion of them. I play soccer 4 times a week and that adds almost 900 calories to eat, yet takes 3 hours of my day away when I could be eating so it can be hard to eat 'good calories' and eat that much. But I also have a hard staying under my 1200 calories on non-soccer days so I figure I average the right amount of calories a day if I eat about 600-700 of my exercise calories and save the 200 or so left over to cover the non-soccer days when I go over.

-r

lilmissy2

Just before I tell you what I do, keep in mind that I don't really use this site to monitor my calorie intake.

Now, I generally eat the same pattern of food everyday which has the same amount of calories - 1500. As a dietitian, we would usually tell any healthy, mobile (ie able to walk about the house) and less than say 50 years of age person not to eat less than 1500 a day because it risks nutritional deficits. For the record, MFP tells me that my goal is just under 1400 to lose 2 lbs per week. I'm not slagging MFP, I think their whole intention is that you are supposed to exercise so you end up eating more than the minimum of 1200 you are 'allowed'.

When I exercise, I still eat the same but most of the time I am eating slightly above what MFP recommends as my baseline. Sometimes if I've had a particularly hard workout I have an extra treat food - maybe 100-200cal.

I say eat your exercise cals but maybe keep a small margin of deficit in case something is being estimated wrong

leix

Ive only recently found this out.
Ive gone also 5 months not eating them lost 44lbs
Now i eat maybe 1/4 of then but thats it.

rybo

Yes I eat all of mine back. (within 100 cals +/-)

I run anywhere from 3-5 days a week & am generally fairly active otherwise. I didn't have much to lose starting out. I set things up with a big deficit off the bat (2 lbs/week). It turned out to be WAY too few calories for me to get thru a day. I had no energy for my runs and was always hungry. I kept on adjusting my base calories up until now I am only around a .3 or .4 lbs/week deficit and I've felt the best & trimmed down the fastest at this setting.
So this is what worked for me.

de1amo

Just before I tell you what I do, keep in mind that I don't really use this site to monitor my calorie intake.

Now, I generally eat the same pattern of food everyday which has the same amount of calories - 1500. As a dietitian, we would usually tell any healthy, mobile (ie able to walk about the house) and less than say 50 years of age person not to eat less than 1500 a day because it risks nutritional deficits. For the record, MFP tells me that my goal is just under 1400 to lose 2 lbs per week. I'm not slagging MFP, I think their whole intention is that you are supposed to exercise so you end up eating more than the minimum of 1200 you are 'allowed'.

When I exercise, I still eat the same but most of the time I am eating slightly above what MFP recommends as my baseline. Sometimes if I've had a particularly hard workout I have an extra treat food - maybe 100-200cal.

I say eat your exercise cals but maybe keep a small margin of deficit in case something is being estimated wrong

Chelsinicole63

Thanks everyone :bigsmile:
I started eating more this last week, (upped my intake to 1400)
and ate my exercise calories....
Lost 2 pounds in less than a week!
Its been over a month since i had any weight loss...
and i get to eat so much im never hungry!

So I now understand why everyone is saying to eat all your calories

bluiz13

right now i'm not....unless i have a "cheat" day...i typically try to leave at least 500 calories on the plate at the end of the day in the positive if that makes sense...

i have 1560 to eat a day...i eat them...whatever exercise i do if it is more than 500 calories i might use a few but i try very hard to leave those calories plus the deficit myfitnesspal.com gives me as part of my bmr/living calories burned each day...so in essence on the days i work out and earn about 500 calories, each day i should have a 1000 calorie deficit for a 2lb loss each week...

i have only done 1 full week of not eating them and only eating what i am given but it worked last week cause i lost 2.2lbs...
we'll see how i do this week on saturday's weigh in....