Can't get my head around eating what I earn in exercise!

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beckssmith70
beckssmith70 Posts: 45
in Health and Weight Loss
I must admit I have a slight problem getting my head around this.

10 years ago I did Body4Life I went from 73kg to 56kg and gained 3kg of lean mass, I had a nutritionist and trainer, the nutritionist had me eating 1400 per day and 45 mins cardio & roughly an hours weights 6 x a week, now the results show that this works.

What I cannot get my head round is with this dieting I am expected to eat what calories I burn whereas above I didn' yet still saw results, and very good ones, while I appreciate that rapid weight loss is not the 'best way' regarding maintaining I just cannot see how eating more will get results.

Anyone any thoughts on this?
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Replies

  • wattsj56
    wattsj56 Posts: 94
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    i'm the same exact way. i don't eat back my calories either. it makes me feel like exercising was pointless lol!
  • chanixxx
    chanixxx Posts: 64
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    I am in your boat. I just keep my total intake under 1400 and the exercise is gravy. It confuses me alot tho :p
  • SMJ1987
    SMJ1987 Posts: 368
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    The calorie recommendation that MFP gives is based on a sedentary lifestyle, meaning thats the amount of calories you should eat to lose the weight if you are sitting around doing nothing all day. If you exercise, your net calorie intake goes below that amount and even though you will probably still lose weight doing that (maybe even faster), it will not be as sustainable in the long term as I think you probably experienced with Body4life.

    A lot of people say that you could go into starvation mode too if you don't net at least 1200 calories, which you might not if you don't eat back exercise. I'm not sure if this is true or not but its another reason to not eat too little for your level of activity.
  • ChantalFiset
    ChantalFiset Posts: 32 Member
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    Here's my humble opinion on this (shared by my nutritionist): the calories you gain by exercizing and that you don't eat back are weight you're gonna lose, so I NEVER eat them back, I stick to my 1,400 calorie plan. I'm not judging anyone who does, but it sure works for me as I have lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks :wink:
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Read this... it's all explained here.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/383956-exercise-calories-explained?hl=exercise+calories+explained
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    The calorie recommendation that MFP gives is based on a sedentary lifestyle, meaning thats the amount of calories you should eat to lose the weight if you are sitting around doing nothing all day.
    Unless they've changed it recently, no it's not. You get to chose your activity level.
  • ThePTrain
    ThePTrain Posts: 18
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    Honestly I never heard of it either. I just try to keep it to the suggested initial calorie total and ignore the earned ones.
  • helehcim
    helehcim Posts: 20
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    I can see both sides of this...but for me personally if I don't net at least 1200 calories a day I feel horrible. Headaches, exhaustion, and eventually I just feel like I'm getting sick all the time. I've tried this twice, each time after about a week of not netting what my body needs I decided it wasn't for me. But that's ME. So, if I burn a ton of calories I will "eat back" until I have net 1200-1500 calories in a day. Sometimes that's eating all those burned calories up, and sometimes it's not depending on my day. After reading lots of messages on this topic I have come to realize some people can get by burning darn near everything they eat in a day. More power to them and I will admit to being a little jealous :)

    So...whatever works for you go for it as long as you feel good and you're healthy!

    **edited for really bad spelling**
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Here's my humble opinion on this (shared by my nutritionist): the calories you gain by exercizing and that you don't eat back are weight you're gonna lose, so I NEVER eat them back, I stick to my 1,400 calorie plan. I'm not judging anyone who does, but it sure works for me as I have lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks :wink:

    With all due respect, most of us aren't working with your nutritionist, or have the same goals/restrictions you have. So your advice doesn't apply.
  • professorRAT
    professorRAT Posts: 690 Member
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    In one sense, it is weight loss vs. fat loss. You may start to lose muscle if you do not eat enough calories (or create too large of a calorie deficit). You will lose weight, but some of it will be muscle and that is not desirable for both health and metabolism reasons. It will, then, be harder to maintain your desired weight if you have decreased your muscle mass, which you need to help burn more calories.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/392158-fat-loss-vs-weight-loss/
  • biggergirlsrun2
    biggergirlsrun2 Posts: 56
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    I usually eat back a portion of my burned calories- maybe 20-30% throughout the day and mostly in low-carb, protein, and fiber. The reason being that it does help keep your metabolism going, keeps your insulin levels in check (super important!), and it also helps you rebuild muscle tissue as opposed to losing it (this happens when glycogen levels get too low).
  • frando
    frando Posts: 583 Member
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    The thing is everyone is different.

    When you entered your information and chose your life style and how often you work out etc. the MFP machine worked out how many calories you need and still factor in a deficit. So even without working out you're loosing weight.

    Cardio increases this deficit- which is yay if say you want to treat yourself- it is advisable to eat as close to your target as possible, to make sure you take in at least the base level of energy. Really once you've covered that, in my opinion, it's up to you whether you eat it all back. I rarely eat it all back, but if I'm hungry I'll eat it and if I'm not I won't.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    I hear ya. With the whole 'calories in, calories out' theory, if you eat all the exercise calories back, it does seem to be counter-productive. Now grant it, your metabolism gets a boost for awhile after a hard aerobic effort, it still nets out to a lot of work done for nothing. I don't eat back my calories. I shoot for 1200 a day with 30 minutes of exercise. The exercise takes care of any mistakes in counting calories, or an occasional day going over. For some people it works eating back the exercise calories, but for me, at 49 and not doing heavy weight work outs, I have to stay at 1200-1400. Whatever works for you, do that.
  • gopgirl425
    gopgirl425 Posts: 140 Member
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    I don't eat back my exercise calories. I eat 1200-1400 per day and 60 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. I have a lot to lose and this is working great for me. It has been 10 weeks and I have lost 30 pounds. I do what works for me and I am not hungry at all. I am enjoying the ride~!
  • professorRAT
    professorRAT Posts: 690 Member
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    I should add that doing strength training can help maintain muscle while losing fat. This will help with maintenance later (as well as give you many other health benefits).
  • SMJ1987
    SMJ1987 Posts: 368
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    Here's my humble opinion on this (shared by my nutritionist): the calories you gain by exercizing and that you don't eat back are weight you're gonna lose, so I NEVER eat them back, I stick to my 1,400 calorie plan. I'm not judging anyone who does, but it sure works for me as I have lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks :wink:

    With all due respect, most of us aren't working with your nutritionist, or have the same goals/restrictions you have. So your advice doesn't apply.

    Yikes...a little moody? That's why she said it was HER opinion and its working for HER. I don't know what makes your advice more applicable than hers.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Do people realize that there actually is science and reason behind all this?
  • SMJ1987
    SMJ1987 Posts: 368
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    The calorie recommendation that MFP gives is based on a sedentary lifestyle, meaning thats the amount of calories you should eat to lose the weight if you are sitting around doing nothing all day.
    Unless they've changed it recently, no it's not. You get to chose your activity level.

    Pardon me. I guess what I meant was your "normal" lifestyle, not including exercise. Any exercise above what you do on a normal basis would decrease your net.
  • KIMBAILEYWILLIAMSON
    KIMBAILEYWILLIAMSON Posts: 258 Member
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    I must admit I have a slight problem getting my head around this.



    ^^I have the same slight problem. I am losing weight slower now because (I think it is the reason why) I am getting closer to my goal but when I do eat some of my exercise calories back that is when I see the scales move (in the right direction). It blows my mind but for me it has happened. I don't do this all the time because I just don't understand it but it has happened to help me at times to eat those calories back and get the scale moving again. Good Luck!
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    If your goal is to lose weight, then starving yourself is one way to do it.

    If your goal is to lose fat, retaining most of your current muscle mass, and keep it off, then eat back the calories.

    Eating back exercise calories is an ongoing debate on MFP, but people don't get that if your body needs energy, it is going to either get it from food, fat, or muscle. Personally, I want it to get the energy from fat and food and leave my LBM alone - just me.

    To the OP, I mean no disrespect by this, but keeping the weight off is a huge goal of mine. It has been proven time and time again, that slow, methodical weight loss is more likely to stay off. Obviously, what you lost before under your PT's advice didn't stay off. Why would you want to do the same thing again, to see good results, then lose them because you didn't change your habits?

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