For those confused or questioning "Eating your exercise calo

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  • wmchick81
    wmchick81 Posts: 273
    I've been wondering how exercise calories work. I have saved and printed out the information, so I can read it tonight. It was far too long for me to be able to read on the computer. I have been very confused as to how many calories I am actually suppose to eat on days when I exercise. This should help!
  • lisa811
    lisa811 Posts: 363
    It really does! Plus, now that you've responded here, this topic will be under your "My Topics" so you can go back and read it any time. That's what I do. :smile:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    And all these great posts are in the sticky posts at the top of the" General Weight Loss" . Scroll through this one - I add on new links all the time - and there are 12 pages of the best and the brightest!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
  • wmchick81
    wmchick81 Posts: 273
    Now my question is how much of my exercise calories do I eat? All of them? A percentage? I'm still confused.
  • rmccully
    rmccully Posts: 319
    BUMP
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Now my question is how much of my exercise calories do I eat? All of them? A percentage? I'm still confused.

    all of them
  • lisawest
    lisawest Posts: 798 Member
    Bump!
  • Jamiebee24
    Jamiebee24 Posts: 296 Member
    i need to read this later! :)
  • sbalster
    sbalster Posts: 1
    Thanks for the information. This is really helpful!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Part two bumpage. TGIF everyone.
  • cjm0014
    cjm0014 Posts: 118
    A bump for me, a bump for all!
  • Krickette_16
    Krickette_16 Posts: 56
    I'm coming back to read this one later. I've been curious about this same thing. Thanks for sharing.
  • illusionary
    illusionary Posts: 2
    So here's my question, for those who might have been where I am now...

    I've been maintaining the same (too high) weight for years, and come to find out, I've been eating too little. My body has been in starvation mode for a long time, and now that I've been eating more and healthier food, I'm dropping weight, without even exercising.

    I'm now to the point where I want to start exercising, but the thought of eating my calories burned is daunting, because I have a hard time eating enough to reach my daily goal as it is. Does it get easier over time to eat more than you are used to?

    I know I'll be hungrier when I'm exercising, but it seems like that would make my current goal comfortable - without eating my exercise calories!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    So here's my question, for those who might have been where I am now...

    I've been maintaining the same (too high) weight for years, and come to find out, I've been eating too little. My body has been in starvation mode for a long time, and now that I've been eating more and healthier food, I'm dropping weight, without even exercising.

    I'm now to the point where I want to start exercising, but the thought of eating my calories burned is daunting, because I have a hard time eating enough to reach my daily goal as it is. Does it get easier over time to eat more than you are used to?

    I know I'll be hungrier when I'm exercising, but it seems like that would make my current goal comfortable - without eating my exercise calories!

    short answer is yes, it get's easier. Longer answer is: it takes the body a little while to adjust to any new routine, whether that be a change in eating habits or exercise, so don't expect changes to be overnight, there may be a delay before you see improvement. Also remember, when adding a new exercise routine, there's a strong possibility that you could actually gain a little weight before you lose. This is normal, it's mostly from the activation of previously dormant muscle fibers, which force your body to store more glycogen, which is heavy stuff, it can add 2 or 3 or even 4 lbs onto your frame and counteract what would normally be a loss.

    hope this helps.

    -Banks
  • LifeAfter50
    LifeAfter50 Posts: 38
    Bump again .. and again..

    This is great ... Thank You!:drinker:
  • illusionary
    illusionary Posts: 2
    It does help...thanks so much!
    It's been a week since I posted that, and I have noticed it's getting a bit easier to reach my goal now.

    Thanks for the tip on the possibility of gaining a bit when starting out exercising...I would have been devastated to gain after starting to exercise!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    bump-1.gif
  • txcwgirl
    txcwgirl Posts: 127 Member
    Bump Da De Bump :flowerforyou:
  • citizen72
    citizen72 Posts: 10 Member
    Bump ta!
  • StuAblett
    StuAblett Posts: 1,141 Member
    Bump!

    This is a great topic, the original post here.....

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

    is well worth reading!
  • Fancy_Nancy2
    Fancy_Nancy2 Posts: 545 Member
    Ok so I have been on a weight loss plateau now for 2 mounts and been getting really confused I am eating good and working out I do eat back some of my exerciser calories so hear is my question. MFP has me to eat 1410 calories a day and when I set up my goals I said I workout 6 days a week for 45 min (been only make 5 days lately) So dose MFP just figure I am working out and add it to my calories for the day or do I still need to add them and eat them? Also I burn any where from 350 to 450 calories so is it okay if I just eat hafe of them back? I have 30 more pounds that I would like to lose and I want the scale to move agine for me.
  • johnmcc22
    johnmcc22 Posts: 8
    just read the original thread...


    BUMP!!
  • Fancy_Nancy2
    Fancy_Nancy2 Posts: 545 Member
    I did 3 times and still trying to figure it all out.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Ok so I have been on a weight loss plateau now for 2 mounts and been getting really confused I am eating good and working out I do eat back some of my exerciser calories so hear is my question. MFP has me to eat 1410 calories a day and when I set up my goals I said I workout 6 days a week for 45 min (been only make 5 days lately) So dose MFP just figure I am working out and add it to my calories for the day or do I still need to add them and eat them? Also I burn any where from 350 to 450 calories so is it okay if I just eat hafe of them back? I have 30 more pounds that I would like to lose and I want the scale to move agine for me.

    MFP only adds exercise calories if you actually enter an exercise. You should probably be re-examining your goals if you've gone 2 months with no weight loss. I don't know what you set your goal to for lbs per week, but if it's too high for your body fat level, you can easily plateau. Other things to think about are nutritional value of the calories you are eating, are you directly measuring your food or just "estimating"? Incorrect serving sizes are one main reason people fail. Are you drinking enough water? Are you meeting your calorie goals daily (coming within 50 calories of what MFP tells you? If you aren't then, I'm sure you can see why that would be a detriment to your plan.

    All things to think about.

    -Banks
  • 55tolose
    55tolose Posts: 510 Member
    what if your only burning 250 with exercise and losing 250 with dieting? thats 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week so if you ate half the calories you burned you would not lose that pound.? Im soooo confused the only thing i got out of that article is that you need to not starve yourself in order to lose weight.

    but how in the world do you know how many calories your exercise calories are and when you do your report on mfp what does it mean you earned such and such calories?
  • 55tolose
    55tolose Posts: 510 Member
    When I burn 300 calories+my basic rate of 1700 my overall burn for the day is about 2000 calories....so I eat 1500 giving me a 500 deficit.
    When I burn more like 700 calories+my 1700 I eat around 1700-1800



    found this on a comment on another site this i can understand

    also i saw something that said something like you burn 250 calories exercising when you would have burned like 80 calories sitting on the couch watching tv so your extra calories you actually burned by exercising is 170 right? this is too confusing i guess ill go with the flow if im hungry and im not losing i eat a little more : )
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    When I burn 300 calories+my basic rate of 1700 my overall burn for the day is about 2000 calories....so I eat 1500 giving me a 500 deficit.
    When I burn more like 700 calories+my 1700 I eat around 1700-1800



    found this on a comment on another site this i can understand

    also i saw something that said something like you burn 250 calories exercising when you would have burned like 80 calories sitting on the couch watching tv so your extra calories you actually burned by exercising is 170 right? this is too confusing i guess ill go with the flow if im hungry and im not losing i eat a little more : )

    Starve yourself?

    Where did I write anything like that? I most certainly did not. In fact this is about doing the exact opposite, making sure you eat enough calories so that you don't force your body to enter a state of semi-hibernation and fat conservation (which is what starvation mode essentially is)

    Try not to overwhelm yourself. These are two separate issues.

    to answer your first question, if you would like a 500 calorie deficit, you set a 1 lb goal in the goals wizard and eat everything MFP says to eat, assuming you put your numbers in correctly there's no need to over think it. If you accurately enter your numbers for both goals and exercise, don't think about eating or not eating exercise calories, it's done by MFP for you. In other words, exercising won't change how much you lose UNLESS you don't eat the calories.

    As to your second question, it's true that unless you have an HRM that does it for you, you need to remove resting calories from workout calories. My polar doesn't do this, and for a male my age, size, and activity level, I burn about 120 calories per hour resting, so I subtract that (or the fraction of that if it's less than an hour) when I work out. Most people burn between 90 and 135 calories per hour when at rest. It's relatively save to put in about 110 as a best guess and go from there, after all, being off by 10 or 20 calories a day really won't be a big deal for overall weight loss. There's more margin for error in the food labels anyway.
  • 55tolose
    55tolose Posts: 510 Member
    When I burn 300 calories+my basic rate of 1700 my overall burn for the day is about 2000 calories....so I eat 1500 giving me a 500 deficit.
    When I burn more like 700 calories+my 1700 I eat around 1700-1800



    found this on a comment on another site this i can understand

    also i saw something that said something like you burn 250 calories exercising when you would have burned like 80 calories sitting on the couch watching tv so your extra calories you actually burned by exercising is 170 right? this is too confusing i guess ill go with the flow if im hungry and im not losing i eat a little more : )

    Starve yourself?

    Where did I write anything like that? I most certainly did not. In fact this is about doing the exact opposite, making sure you eat enough calories so that you don't force your body to enter a state of semi-hibernation and fat conservation (which is what starvation mode essentially is)

    Try not to overwhelm yourself. These are two separate issues.

    to answer your first question, if you would like a 500 calorie deficit, you set a 1 lb goal in the goals wizard and eat everything MFP says to eat, assuming you put your numbers in correctly there's no need to over think it. If you accurately enter your numbers for both goals and exercise, don't think about eating or not eating exercise calories, it's done by MFP for you. In other words, exercising won't change how much you lose UNLESS you don't eat the calories.

    As to your second question, it's true that unless you have an HRM that does it for you, you need to remove resting calories from workout calories. My polar doesn't do this, and for a male my age, size, and activity level, I burn about 120 calories per hour resting, so I subtract that (or the fraction of that if it's less than an hour) when I work out. Most people burn between 90 and 135 calories per hour when at rest. It's relatively save to put in about 110 as a best guess and go from there, after all, being off by 10 or 20 calories a day really won't be a big deal for overall weight loss. There's more margin for error in the food labels anyway.






    where did i say that you said anything? I never those first three lines are off of a whole different website...
  • 55tolose
    55tolose Posts: 510 Member
    what if your only burning 250 with exercise and losing 250 with dieting? thats 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week so if you ate half the calories you burned you would not lose that pound.? Im soooo confused the only thing i got out of that article is that you need to not starve yourself in order to lose weight.

    but how in the world do you know how many calories your exercise calories are and when you do your report on mfp what does it mean you earned such and such calories?



    Im soooo confused the only thing i got out of that article is that you need to NOT starve yourself in order to lose weight.

    I repeat I said NOT starve yourself!!!!!!!!! learn how to read


    what i meant was if your eating 2000 calories a day to maintain then by dieting you drop that by 250 calories a day and then exercise to burn 250 calories a day that equals 1500 which is losing a pound a day but if you ate back half of the 250 then you would not be getting that 500 calorie deficiat between the 2000 to maintain and the 1500 to lose.... thats all i meant which is why eating back the calories you burn exercising doesn't make sense to me
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member


    Im soooo confused the only thing i got out of that article is that you need to NOT starve yourself in order to lose weight.

    I repeat I said NOT starve yourself!!!!!!!!! learn how to read


    what i meant was if your eating 2000 calories a day to maintain then by dieting you drop that by 250 calories a day and then exercise to burn 250 calories a day that equals 1500 which is losing a pound a day but if you ate back half of the 250 then you would not be getting that 500 calorie deficiat between the 2000 to maintain and the 1500 to lose.... thats all i meant which is why eating back the calories you burn exercising doesn't make sense to me

    Yeah, ok, you can figure it out without my help. I will not be insulted. Saying something like "learn how to read" isn't the best way to try to ask someone to help you.

    good luck

    -Banks
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