Extra exercise calories.

suzruiter
suzruiter Posts: 1
edited January 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Am I supposed to eat the extra calories that I got for exercising every day?

Replies

  • BiohazrD
    BiohazrD Posts: 48
    Just ignore them, it's really inaccurate and you'll slow your weight loss down.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Yes, you are. You should be meeting your goal or at least close to it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Just ignore them, it's really inaccurate and you'll slow your weight loss down.

    That is only true if you include your exercise as part of your daily lifestyle. If you follow MFP, then you should eat them back. Now MFP can over estimate, so eating 50% of them is a better approach. Also, too large of a calorie deficit can be a bad thing too.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • akinsgre
    akinsgre Posts: 1
    It might be safe to ignore the calories expended during exercise if there aren't that many. But depending on how much you're working out, if you aren't replacing those nutrients, then you're going to sabotage your diet.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Just ignore them, it's really inaccurate and you'll slow your weight loss down.

    No, ignore this. ^^^^


    If you're following the system MFP has, yes eat your exercise calories.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Just ignore them, it's really inaccurate and you'll slow your weight loss down.

    If you are using TDEE then I agree but if you are using the MFP method then your caloric deficit is already built into your goals so any calories burned should be consumed to fuel your workouts. That being said I would make sure you are getting an accurate calorie burn, I use a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor to track mine and eat back 85% of my calories burned leaving 15% for error in logging..... Best of Luck.....
  • debt2309
    debt2309 Posts: 1
    I don't want to eat them back. Very confusing. When I eat them back, at the end of the daily journal it says "keep doing this and you won't loose weight" (I'm rephrasing that, of course). If I don't eat them back it says "Not healthy, increase calories" But what was the point of all that exercise if I'm just going to eat it. Might be fine once you are at your target. Would like to have option to choose whether the daily log adds them in or not to food goal.
  • martine329
    martine329 Posts: 2 Member
    I find this very confusing myself. Isn't one of the reason why we exercise to burn more calories a day than we take in so we can lose weight? I have a small protein shake or healthy snack to protect muscle tissue and energy levels after a workout, but I never reach my calorie goals on workout days. It's just too much food. I worked in nutrition for a while. The only thing I'd recommend is on workout days have a protein rich/low cal snack after the workout and have the same 30 minutes before bed to help your muscle tissue recover over night.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I don't want to eat them back. Very confusing. When I eat them back, at the end of the daily journal it says "keep doing this and you won't loose weight" (I'm rephrasing that, of course). If I don't eat them back it says "Not healthy, increase calories" But what was the point of all that exercise if I'm just going to eat it. Might be fine once you are at your target. Would like to have option to choose whether the daily log adds them in or not to food goal.
    I find this very confusing myself. Isn't one of the reason why we exercise to burn more calories a day than we take in so we can lose weight? I have a small protein shake or healthy snack to protect muscle tissue and energy levels after a workout, but I never reach my calorie goals on workout days. It's just too much food. I worked in nutrition for a while. The only thing I'd recommend is on workout days have a protein rich/low cal snack after the workout and have the same 30 minutes before bed to help your muscle tissue recover over night.

    It's not confusing at all. It actually couldn't be simpler. There is a line item in your diary that says "Your daily goal". That's pretty self-explanatory. Try to get as close to that as possible (say, +/- 100). Done.

    If you don't want to eat them back then don't. No one has a gun to your head. If you're following MFP's design then you probably should, assuming you are getting reasonably accurate calorie counts all around. If you're not getting the results you want, adjust. Simple!
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