feel stupid..but why eat your workout calories?

I feel the same way. I do not eat them back

Well, there are a couple different opinions I've heard on this subject.

1. Eat back PART of your exercise calories - still gives you a bit higher of a deficit, but doesn't cross over into "not eating enough" territory.

2. MFP has calculated how many calories you need to eat to lose weight. Let's say it gives you a goal of 1370 each day, which will average out to ~2 lbs a week of weight loss. If you have a big calorie burn (let's say 500 cals), and you only eat the 1370, you're body is actually only getting about 870 calories worth. It's not enough for your body, and it starts trying to hold on to whatever calories it can, storing them as fat.

There are tons of opinions on this. Some people say do, some say don't. I usually try to eat back at least half my exercise calories (or more, depending on how big a burn I have, and how hungry I feel). I would suggest just trying a couple ways, and see what works for you.

The whole point of working out is to become fit.

One way to look at it is that MFP "rewards" working out by showing you how many extra calories you can eat.

More to the point, however, MFP sets you at a calorie deficit to begin with, meaning it sets your daily intake calorie goal lower than the number of calories you're burning daily. When you work out and keep your calories the same (in other words, you don't increase intake) you have more of a deficit. When you eat back your exercise calories (but not more) you are still at a deficit (the one you started with). The point of eating back calories is to make certain you fuel your body so you can exercise more and continue to lose weight without becoming fatigued, crabby, stalling your weight loss or your exercise, etc.

It doesn't hurt anything if you don't eat back all your calories. Some people don't. Some people have to or they stall, feel fatigued, etc. Most people eat back some. Up to you.

The key is to make sure you maintain caloric intake sufficient to increase exercise over time (become more fit), build more muscle mass (means you can eat more, by the way), but still eat at a deficit so you lose weight.

The rest is pretty much up to you.

It all depends on how you set up your profie. If you put that you were sedentary then you should eat back your exercise calories because the system thinks your spending your day on your butt. If you put that you were active every day then I wouldn't eat them all back, just if you were really hungry that day. Personally I set it to sedentary and then that motivates me to earn more calories that I can eat. I don't eat them all back but about half of them makes me happy.

I thought the whole point of working out was to lose weight? so why do you eat those calories back?

I completely disagree. To lose weight, you eat less food. To change your body composition, you exercise and make sure you eat mostly healthy foods.

Now, if you eat a LOT less food than you need *and* you exercise a lot, then you will create an energy deficit in your body that is too high. MFP sets your calorie goal without including exercise, so if you stick to the calorie goal, then you already have an energy deficit, so additional exercise just increases the deficit. And if it's too big of a deficit, over time your body will suffer from the stress and actually hinder your weight loss goals. (hormone production/metabolism, etc.)

when you calculate your calouries and u oputed in there 3 times a week it is calculated in your calorie intake , then u do not eat them back

I may be the minority here...but my advice is to not eat exercise calories back until you have a 100% understanding of energy balance.

Many folks here undersestimate calories in and overestimate calories out. When you do that....you get stuck...then if you "Eat your Exercise Calories Back"...you gain weight.

Its called Measurment Systems Analysis....how accurate and precise are your calories in and calories out?? Thats why on "The Biggest Looser" everyone wears a Body Bugg on there arm...they don't estimate calories out...they MEASURE it.

For instance...In summer I bike to work....at my current body weight and pace(14.5 MPH) it estimates my calorie burn at 1800 cals/day. Measured Calorie Burn usingt a heart rate monitor is closer to 800 cals/day. HUGE ERROR

Same witn calories out....unless yoiur eating boring/simple foods...its very difficult to get the calorie count for complex recipies. So if you are say making turkey meatloaf...well unless you sit down and do the math...you may not get realistic numbers from using"Turkey Meatloaf, Generic" listed on this site.

Folks that want to be very lean will generally practice what I call Front Loading...rather than eating something and logging it in...they will create menu's that stay within there daily calorie and macronutrient balance, then they will eat those meals/menus.

Once you determine that your measurement system is sound...then eating exercise calories has merit.

MFP thinks I should eat 1510 calories a day, so I aim for that, and I never eat back my exercise calories. On a rare occasion I have eaten about 100 of my exercise calories. I've been on MFP for 140 days, but I've been doing this for 16 months and it's working for me.

My personal trainer tells me to aim for 1500 calories too, and he doesn't recommend eating back exercise calories.

MFP puts you at a deficit. So by eating back your exercise calories, you are still going to lose weight at a steady rate, AND you will be able to eat more. There is nothing wrong with that, and everything that is good.

Because some people are successful that way and they like it. I am equally successful either way and I don't enjoy eating them back, so I don't do it.