Eating Calories Earned by Exercise

stizzef
stizzef Posts: 39
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

A little confused - when i work out it gives me more calories to eat. Isn't the whole point of exercising to burn off what you've already eaten? Why would i eat more?

Replies

  • whitesox56
    whitesox56 Posts: 85
    it's like the activity points you get for Weight Watchers..defeats the purpose. I have 2105 calories a day I can eat. I stay below that as much as possible usually around the 1700-1900 range, I won't go over even when I work out.
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
    Hi there!

    WHen MFP calculates the amount of calories you should eat in a day, it does so assuming you won't do any exercise. Therefore, you're already at a deficit. When you exercise and don't eat any/some/all of your exercise calories, you're at a much larger deficit than you should be.

    Hope this helps!
  • a_certain_shade_of_green
    a_certain_shade_of_green Posts: 134 Member
    i always eat mine back. the people on here who sell that idea are very convincing :] it's all about net values, not about having a set amount and you stick to it. thats like saying if you go for a drive with a full tank of gas but run out before you get home you cant put any more in...
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    MFP already has you set at a deficit, if you don't eat your exercise calories, the deficit becomes steeper. This can be unhealthy-- and seeing as you only want to lose 10 lbs or so, you should stick close to your calorie goal and eat back the exercise calories to preserve lean muscle mass.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    When you set up MFP, it does not account for your exercise. It's set up based on your job / lifestyle, ie. sedentary, lightly active etc. It's setting your calories (loss, maintain, gain) based off of that figure, so if you go and burn 500 calories, in order for you to stay on track with your goal, you would have to eat those exercise calories back.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    sometimes I cheat, sometimes I don't. I go to the gym 5 days a week and still monitor my food but had pizza tonight and now only have 68 calories left.... lol.....
  • HarlCarl
    HarlCarl Posts: 266 Member
    Food is fuel, if you exercise you need fuel for your body to perform. I'm sure you'll get a lot of longer winded explanations....more than you'll care to read through.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    I eat nearly all of my exercise calories back, and am still losing weight. If I don't eat those calories I find I am ravenous in the evening.
  • beachbums6
    beachbums6 Posts: 13 Member
    I was confused by this too. I wish the extra calories was a separate line item and not added to my daily calories.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    Do a search on this and you'll find lots and lots and lots of posts about this topic.
  • Litlbeast
    Litlbeast Posts: 340 Member
    I was eating back calories earned until this week. I had lost a good deal of weight, but my daily intake was very low, between 12 - 1400.

    Because my activity level has increased a lot - I've started jiu jitsu classes, plus weight training and running at least 5 days a week, I'm trying to increase my caloires, and so I'm following the guidelines that you can find detailed in the group here 'Eat More to Weigh Less.'

    It's basically figuring out how many calories you'd need to maintain your goal weight if you were already AT your goal weight, depending on your current age, weight and activity level. I can't say whether or not it's working for me because I'm still in the first week. But I'm giving it a try for about 4 weeks to see if I can finally reach that goal weight and also maintain a higher, healthier daily caloric intake.
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    I was eating back calories earned until this week. I had lost a good deal of weight, but my daily intake was very low, between 12 - 1400.

    Because my activity level has increased a lot - I've started jiu jitsu classes, plus weight training and running at least 5 days a week, I'm trying to increase my caloires, and so I'm following the guidelines that you can find detailed in the group here 'Eat More to Weigh Less.'

    It's basically figuring out how many calories you'd need to maintain your goal weight if you were already AT your goal weight, depending on your current age, weight and activity level. I can't say whether or not it's working for me because I'm still in the first week. But I'm giving it a try for about 4 weeks to see if I can finally reach that goal weight and also maintain a higher, healthier daily caloric intake.

    I used to be a 1,200/calorie per day gal, and I was terrified to up my calories. Currently a 2,100-2,500 calorie/day gal, and I'm slimmer and stronger than I ever was on lower calories. I know it's hard, but keep it up. It's awesome.
  • jennyshadel
    jennyshadel Posts: 2
    I was really skeptical about eating back my calories. With MFP in the past I always just wanted to do the 1200 calorie baseline and then exercise just made my potential loss all the more. I used MFP as a place to log the info - not as the tool that it is. I never really stuck to it and never really got results.

    In September I decided I really needed to get serious about losing weight. I started Medifast and for three months I lived on 800-900 calories a day. Just about anyone will tell you what a bad idea that is. But I learned how to stick to a program and I lost 20 pounds that way.

    Starting in 2013 I have decided to go back to MFP. I was worried about adding calories back into my life. When I include the calories earned by exercise, I am eating 1500 calories a day (give or take). This is almost double what I was doing before, and sine the beginning of the year (9 days) I have lost 5 pounds. Bottom line: I have learned to trust the numbers that MFP gives me. This is a healthier weight loss and the results are coming much more quickly than I anticipated. I'm loving it.

    3967671.png
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  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Please read this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • IrishSoul
    IrishSoul Posts: 14 Member
    In my opinion..you dont gain weight in a day.... and if you earn points, I keep them on my list for a few days... meaning, I burn 800 Calories on Monday, I dont add all 800 calories to that day, but spread it out.

    I do agree you should try to consume what you burn, but I dont think it bad if you DONT use ALL of it... Eat a banana, some protien, some healthy fats (raw nuts etc).....

    I would be interested in other thoughts about spreading out what you earn over a couple of days (banking).... I dont agree you should keep the bank....and feel like you can keep pulling from it....week(s) out :)
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    In my opinion..you dont gain weight in a day.... and if you earn points, I keep them on my list for a few days... meaning, I burn 800 Calories on Monday, I dont add all 800 calories to that day, but spread it out.

    I do agree you should try to consume what you burn, but I dont think it bad if you DONT use ALL of it... Eat a banana, some protien, some healthy fats (raw nuts etc).....

    I would be interested in other thoughts about spreading out what you earn over a couple of days (banking).... I dont agree you should keep the bank....and feel like you can keep pulling from it....week(s) out :)

    The problem with this is for women on 1,200 that really is a bare minimum, so banking on some days leaves them with too much of a deficit that is unhealthy. For someone with a little more padding in their calories this would be fine.

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