Do you eat your exercise calories?

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IsMollyReallyHungry
IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,350 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you eat your exercise calories? If so why or why not? Thanks in advance for your replies.
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  • awellday
    awellday Posts: 14
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    That is a really good question. I am also interested to hear what you all do.

    For me, it depends on the exercise, if it is one of the weight lifing days, then i definatly do since i am usually starving after burning all of those calories. If I just do cardio or go for a walk, i don't.
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
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    I tend to eat them - yup. I've never had a problem eating ALL my calories :D
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
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    When I first started MFP, I did not eat my exercise calories......and I didnt lose much. But now I eat most of them, atleast half sometimes more depending on my workout. Once I started eating the extra I started losing, but it took a few weeks for my body to adjust to the extra food. (just make sure the extra is healthy protein/veggies.)
    Good luck!
  • Natalie43
    Natalie43 Posts: 122 Member
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    I dont aim to eat my exercise calories as a rule and that works perfectly well for me. i feel it is my bonus to me in losing weight.
    However if i have a day when cravings get the better of me i dont beat my self up as i know i have a buffer there in extra calories.
    Good luck with your goal Mollie :flowerforyou:
  • Always_lil_j
    Always_lil_j Posts: 57
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    Nope, I never eat my exercise calories. I have a hard enough time just eating my regular calories, I cant imagine trying to add the rest
  • weidner
    weidner Posts: 127
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    I try to eat at least half - depending how hungry I am. But if I am not really hungry - I at least try and eat half of my calories.
  • ron2282
    ron2282 Posts: 2,772 Member
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    I don't. When I first started using MFP I didn't, but I kept hearing from everyone here that I should and it's bad for my body if I don't, so I started to eat the exercise calories. As soon as I started doing that my weight went up - a lot and really quickly. I spoke to my doctor and he told me to go back to what I was doing before. I just eat my normal calories, if I go over every once in a while I don't beat myself up about but I don't eat them on a regular basis.
  • jamie31
    jamie31 Posts: 568 Member
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    personally i burn way too many calories while exercising to eat all of my exercise calories. I burn between 1500-2300 calories a day working out ( im addicted). MFP says i should eat 1700 (sedetary lifestyle no working out) but I normally try to eat around 2000. So I still have about 1200 or more calories that MFP says I should be eating everyday. I never noticed a problem before with losing ( Ive lost 130lbs so far) but now that I am at a healthy weight Ive noticed that the more I eat the easier the weight comes off.

    I would say if you are trying to lose 50lbs or more you can get away with NOT eating your exercise calories but once you get closer to your goal weight you should get closer to eating those exercise calories
  • newbierun14
    newbierun14 Posts: 23 Member
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    I tend not to use my exercise calories, I know it can only help with weight loss. I listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry. If on an exercise day I get headaches, I know it's probably because my sugar is low, then I eat some of my exercise calories. And then everyone once in a while on the weekends I'll use this them all up, particularly if I am going out to the bar. So far it's been working pretty well, so I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    I haven't been here long and to be honest, I'm not really using the site as it is intended. I just like the support networks.

    But

    If I was trying to lose weight I probably wouldn't eat all of my exercise calories but I would make sure I at least reached the original calorie setting (ie not BMR, the setting that allows for whichever expenditure you put in e.g. lightly active). The reason for this is that it is very difficult to estimate how much is burnt doing exercise because we are all so different. For example, my partner and I entered the same walk and it came up higher calories burnt for me than for him because I weigh slightly more. It didn't take into account that males burn a large amount more than females when working out because they have a much higher muscle mass. My point is, the estimates are just that. So I wouldn't be trying to eat right down to the last calorie of exercise.
  • jerseynomad
    jerseynomad Posts: 7
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    When you starve yourself, thats when weight loss becomes difficult. Youre body goes into storage mode instead of calorie burning mode. If you're excercising and not compensating be eating more, then you will have trouble loosing weight.. . not to mention be crabby from being hungry. So I tend to eat more when I work out, but I definitely don't try to eat as many calories as I burned.
  • oliveoil7979
    oliveoil7979 Posts: 112
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    I would have to say I follow my mom's age old advice "if I am hungry then I eat, if I am not then I don't" SInce starting on this "journey" I have really begun to listen to my body more. I think about what exersize and work I will be putting it though and I try to have enough fuel to get though it, and at the end of it, if I am still hungry then I get something to eat. Sometimes I am so hungry I end up having an entire meal. Sometimes an apple is the extent of my post workout eating. It really just depends.

    I think to say you should do something "everytime" is not healthy. Just listen to your body and think about if you want to eat or need to eat.
  • la4et
    la4et Posts: 134 Member
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    If I am hungry, I will eat some of them but never all. It has worked for me
  • shanerylee
    shanerylee Posts: 298 Member
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    oh my god, what kind of excercise do you do that you burn so much, thats awesome
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
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    I don't now...but only because I'm better off NOT entering them here at MFP. It just gets confusing and varies with my exercise (which I'm not even 100% sure that's actually accurate on a calories burned basis and doesn't take into account cals burned during anaerobic weightlifting, but I digress!) and I like this formula better. My mathy brain likes to know why the numbers are what they are!

    I use the Harris-Benedict equation:

    BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
    BMR = 655 + (4.35 x 139) + (4.7 x 60) - (4.7 x 26)
    BMR = 655 + 604.65 + 282 - 122.2
    BMR = 1419.05

    Activity multipliers - factoring in lifestyle and workouts
    Little to sedentary = 1.2
    Light (1-3 workouts / wk) = 1.375
    Moderate (3-5 workouts / wk) = 1.55
    Heavy (6-7 workouts / wk) = 1.725
    Very Heavy (i.e. crayzay) = 1.9

    So, take the BMR calc and multiply it by your multiplier of choice:

    1419.05 x 1.55 = 2199.53 (needed to maintain my body at my current weight)

    Now for the weight loss part, factoring in a deficit...
    3500 calorie deficit per week = 1 pound expected loss per week

    Per day, that's a 500 calorie deficit (average)

    So, based on that, my calorie goal per day, factoring in activity is:

    2199.53 - 500 = 1699 calories/day to lose 1 pound weekly

    I believe I rounded mine down to a 1650/day calorie goal. Some days I go above, some days under. What I'm REALLY looking for is that 3500 calories/week deficit.

    Typical recommended deficits SHOULD NOT exceed 1000/calories per day unless otherwise advised by a doctor.
  • medrewiske
    medrewiske Posts: 51 Member
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    I think if you are hungry and you have earned extra calories, go ahead and eat something. But I wouldn't base what I ate on using up all of the calories I had left (I wouldn't keep eating after I was full just to use up the calories)
  • katieann2
    katieann2 Posts: 26
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    Exercise is good for you; never use it to punish youself for eating too much or to earn the right to eat more!

    Food should be to satisfy hunger!
  • cmw72
    cmw72 Posts: 390 Member
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    I personally do not eat all (or even most) of my exercise calories, but then again, I have a lot to lose.

    If I'm hungry, I'll eat something healthy. I wont eat just for the sake of eating unless I'm way low on calories for the day, but usually I try and plan better than that. On a non exercise day, I'll try and keep it under 1600. On a day where I go to the gym, I'll burn about 1500 calories, so I might eat anywhere between 1600 and 2000. At a bare minimum, I'll make sure to at least eat as many calories as I expended from exercise.

    There is actually a formula for determining your maximum calorie deficit for fat loss:
    http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/lyle_mcdonald/maximum_fatloss

    Basically, it's 31calories per day for every pound of fat you have. That is the maximum rate at which the body can convert fat stores to energy. So, if you know your body fat percentage, you can calculate how much that fat weighs, and multiply that by 31. That is the maximum calorie deficit you can have without the body consuming lean body mass as an energy source.

    Body Fat% * Body Weight * 31

    So for me, I could in theory run a deficit of just over 3500 calories a day without sacrificing LBM. Considering that number is much higher than my actual RMR though, I'm nowhere near that kind of deficit.

    As I'm losing body fat though, that maximum deficit is decreasing, which is why it's so much easier to lose weight in the beginning, and why the last few pounds are so hard to lose.
  • Positively_Me
    Positively_Me Posts: 1,500 Member
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    bump
  • sonderson
    sonderson Posts: 2
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    It's great hearing what everyone else does. I treat myself to half of what i have earned. I have started swimming and do 1 hour of laps at an average pace. This earns me 875 calories back. I try to leave myself at least 500 by the end of the day and that way i feel that I am getting both benefits. A cup of tea and two jacobs mikado's does the trick for supper. approx 150 calories.

    Just started mfp four days ago so will see how i get on lol. All the best.

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