Do you use your excercise calories?

glubben
glubben Posts: 45 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I work out every morning ussualy burning 300-500 calories. to this point i have only been eating my original calories aloted to me by MFP. Should I be eating all the calories I have?
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Replies

  • glubben
    glubben Posts: 45 Member
    (Bump)
  • jackswife1207
    jackswife1207 Posts: 59 Member
    I think it's a matter of choice. If you want to use them you can but don't have to. But you probably will lose faster if you don't use them.

    When I was a WW member, the leader used to say "of course I use my activity points, that's the whole point of exercising!" ;)
  • blanhe2
    blanhe2 Posts: 88
    I do, and I recommend you eat at least half of them. Your body needs them, since your cal target is already a deficit from your maintenance cals.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Every single one of them.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I don't
  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
    Never. I don't even log them.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
    I work out every morning ussualy burning 300-500 calories. to this point i have only been eating my original calories aloted to me by MFP. Should I be eating all the calories I have?
    I eat my exercise calories back no matter what.
    Why?
    Because if our calorie deficit is too great, we can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.
    Check out this topic:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux?hl=700+calories

    I try to just stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Good Luck To You
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I just eat them if I'm hungry!
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Yes, I use most of them. When you set up your account MFP builds in a defecit, meaning you will lose weight without any exercise. Then you add in exercise making that defecit larger and increasing your chance of losing muscle and slowing down your metabolism making it that much harder to lose weight. Keep a modest defecit and you will lose mostly fat, have more energy, retain more muscle, keep your metabolism up and lose inches like crazy. At least that's my experience! Good luck!
  • stfuriada
    stfuriada Posts: 445 Member
    Nope.

    No calorie burn counter is ever accurate, so I'm never sure how much I burn.
  • reemer884
    reemer884 Posts: 11 Member
    I would use them only when you really feel like you need to. There is no point in eating more if your body isn't telling you to do so.
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
    down 70 pounds and I NEVER do.... if you are more than 50 lbs overweight ( OBESE) its a waste of time to do so...NO OBESE PERSON will go into STARVATION MODE!!!!!! your body has enough fat in storage to fuel it...


    as you get closer to goal weight, your body will need more energy to burn off fat so you will then have to up your calories (energy)
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    I drink the ones I don't eat. :laugh:
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
    I exercise more to eat more... that's the point... or so I thought?!

    On my days I don't exercise, I still eat about the same thing, if not more to trick my body so it doesn't become stagnant.

    You don't want your body to go into starvation mode, then you will be completely stuck and the scale will not budge.

    When you do eat and EAT your exercise calories, make sure it's healthy foods (fruits, veg, nuts, seeds, etc) and not junk (like I sometimes tend to do - so guilty!)
  • Ta2dchic20
    Ta2dchic20 Posts: 376 Member
    I eat most of mine back. When I started on MFP, I tried not to, but the more you exercise, the more your body needs for fuel so EAT THEM. nomnomnom
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
    There are sooooo many topics posted on this. It may help to use the search function and read what others have said about it in the past. I personally do eat some but not all of my cals back. It just depends on how hungry I am. To each their own, just do what works for you,
  • sozisfitnow
    sozisfitnow Posts: 209 Member
    Hi I dont use my exercise calories but i am not worried about using a small percentage, for the reason that its an estimate any way
    and I dont excercise everyday :)
  • kingkoopaluv
    kingkoopaluv Posts: 147 Member
    sometimes, usually only if i'm going out to dinner drinking, eating,and raging.
  • eaturnermdt
    eaturnermdt Posts: 24 Member
    I usually eat most of mine. I try not to hit negative... But right now I have my cals at 1200 a day, so any extra I gain from exercise isn't going to hurt at all, especially since MFP already puts you at a deficit.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
    I try to eat every single one back! lol I also watch my macros though, so I'll eat as much as I can without going over on my carbs and sodium.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
    I work out every morning ussualy burning 300-500 calories. to this point i have only been eating my original calories aloted to me by MFP. Should I be eating all the calories I have?
    I eat my exercise calories back no matter what.
    Why?
    Because if our calorie deficit is too great, we can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.
    Check out this topic:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux?hl=700+calories

    I try to just stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Good Luck To You
    When you have a lot of weight to lose, losing muscle mass is the least of ones concerns.
  • luperaz
    luperaz Posts: 26
    For me it just depends on the day. I think keeping your body confused is important. one day eat them all back, one day eat 1/2, another day just eat your base.
    I feel that making sure I hit my base calories is whats more important.
    Exercise calories are the great equalizer when you eat too much.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Of course.

    I'm bulking right now, trying to bulk without eating your exercise calories is a comical waste of time.

    When cutting, losing with precision is important to me, this it is important to account for exercise calories.
  • arcticfox04
    arcticfox04 Posts: 1,011 Member
    I'll eat generally around 50% to 100% of mine. Depends on the quality of food I have during the day.
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
    I work out every morning ussualy burning 300-500 calories. to this point i have only been eating my original calories aloted to me by MFP. Should I be eating all the calories I have?
    I eat my exercise calories back no matter what.
    Why?
    Because if our calorie deficit is too great, we can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.
    Check out this topic:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux?hl=700+calories

    I try to just stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Good Luck To You
    When you have a lot of weight to lose, losing muscle mass is the least of ones concerns.


    Ive lost 70 lbs since Labor Day.... I WISH I had started weight training earlier... losing muscle mass has impeded my success, despite my success being pretty good...
  • blondie0942
    blondie0942 Posts: 146 Member
    Personally, I eat back half of them on most days. It really depends on my hunger for the day- sometimes, I find myself being suuuuuuper hungry and having to exercise so I'm not going over my caloric goal for the day! :laugh: what can I say, I like to eat. But like I said, it depends on whether I'm hungry or not. If you find yourself hungry and you have extra exercise calories, go for it!
  • jesssonj05
    jesssonj05 Posts: 14 Member
    I use some of mine. I have cut down to 1200 calories a day and with exercise I burn between 300 to 500 calories. I use some of them so my body does not go into starvation mode and hold on to the weight. Also, if you are able exercise in the morning , it will help jump start you metabolism. Good Luck-- Feel free to add me

    Jessica
  • marias2gaa
    marias2gaa Posts: 118 Member
    I use them if I get hungry which usually I dont
  • Meg_Shirley_86
    Meg_Shirley_86 Posts: 275 Member
    I didn't for the longest time, but now I do and have better results because I eat foods that help my muscles repair. I want to burn more fat, so I try to gain muscle. It's quite possible that I couldn't gain muscle because I wasn't fueling them for repair. FYI, I just learned that during the time your muscles spend on recovery, your metabolism is actually raised. However, if you can stay under your calorie goal and use efficient post-workout fuel, go for it!
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    What do you have your calorie goal set at? Mine's over 2200 per day because I only have my goal set to lose 1 lb per week. If your goal is higher like that, I don't think it's as big a deal to eat them back. If you are closer to 1200, then I'd definitely say aim to eat some back. For me, I eat them if I need to. Last weekend one day I had 1100 exercise calories left (over 2 hours of total activity) and didn't touch them. The next day I had 50 calories left. I try to follow my appetite more than the numbers. That being said, I'm rarely ever under 2100 calories per day, so I definitely eat.

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