Eating Excercise Calories???

georgette70
georgette70 Posts: 158
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I really don't "get it" when it comes to eating the excercise calories....I thought I got it but I'm still kinda confused.

If my total calorie allowance for the day is 1300 and I earn 500 calories from doing cardio....does that mean I can now eat 1800 calories for the day??

OR, am I ok if I eat at least 1300 calories and not eat the excercise calories......so confused?????

Help :huh:

Replies

  • lobsterhug
    lobsterhug Posts: 8
    MFP automatically gives you a calories deficit when you sign up and tell it how much you want to loose per week. If you have a 1300 calorie goal and then you need to net 1300 calories. That means your food calories minus calories burned must equal 1300. If you burn 500 calories and don't eat those calories back, you will only net 800 calories. Not good.

    Think of food as fuel for your body. You will not be able to maintain an exercise routine if you don't eat enough. You won't have enough energy because you're not getting enough fuel.

    I hope that makes sense.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    Search the forums for a thread called.

    "for those confused or questioning eating your exercise calories" (for whatever reason I can't link to it)

    short answer: eat them, at least most of them. This becomes more important the closer you get to your goal weight.

    The long answer is in the thread I mentioned, but it's definitely worth the read to clarify for you.
  • bubbledelicious
    bubbledelicious Posts: 6 Member
    I think that if you don't eat enough of the 'exercise calories' your body will go in to starvation mode because it is not getting the calories it needs. I try to eat at least half of my exercise calories and I still lose weight and tone up at the same time. I hope this helps :)
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    It's best to eat them all or about 1/2, at least give it a shot and then go from there. Undereating can bring your weight loss to a stall. For some they feel eating them all back simply doesn't work for them.

    Lots of mixed reviews here but I think since it's your walk, your path of weightloss trying it out first is best then see how your body reacts. Someone here compared it to a car, you need fuel for a car, you are allowed 1300 cals a day, you work off 500, what does that leave you with? NOT MUCH FOOD to fuel your body with:noway:

    Our bodies fuel every move we make, even sitting still, sleeping everything! Check out your BMR on the site to see what I"m talking about.

    You might drop more weight in the short term not eating them, but do you want to be healthy or simply skinny and unhealthy and chance gaining all the weight back.

    I for one would much prefer to be healthy, able to workout (gotta have pleny of fuel to keep that up) and keep the lost weight off for good!

    Hope something there helps clarify a bit,
    Becca:flowerforyou:
  • h_eloise86
    h_eloise86 Posts: 124
    I would at least eat the 1300 and then try to eat some of your workout calories.
    I have this problem a lot of days. I gain between 300-600 of workout calories a day, but I don't always eat them all.
    Just do what you can, but remember never under-eat. We wouldn't want our cars running on empty so we certainly don't want our bodies to either :)
  • SugaNess
    SugaNess Posts: 14 Member
    I was a little confused with that also. So I decided to ask someone is a nutritionist and I was told to definitely not eat my exercise calories if my goal is to loose weight. The main thing is to always burn more calories than you eat...and the more you burn the better your weightloss program will be, as long as your calorie intake is not under 1200 calories which is what they say you need to not go into starvation mode...smile:
  • rjadams
    rjadams Posts: 4,029 Member
    if you plan to eat all of your exercise calories remember to subtract what you would have burned during that exercise time with out exercising or you will be over eating. example. walk an hour and burn 300 calories. if you didn't walk you may have burned 100 calories during that hour. which is already part of your MFP plan so you should only log 200 calories burned extra if you are going to eat them all. This is why so many only eat some of them back.
  • thendrick
    thendrick Posts: 102 Member
    I see this topic a lot and the one question I still have after every answer is.............
    Why even bother working out then? (Ok, I get that it is good for you to work out!) I mean, in terms of losing weight...........I struggle to find the time to workout.........perhaps I don't need to if they are just going to cancel each other out i.e. calories earned/burned and calories eaten.
  • mzmoonlight
    mzmoonlight Posts: 160
    I've just read something interesting, that we should be subtracting our bmr calories from the calories burned during exercise to give us the net calories we can eat safely.

    http://caloriecount.about.com/eating-back-exercise-calories-ft35823
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    I see this topic a lot and the one question I still have after every answer is.............
    Why even bother working out then? (Ok, I get that it is good for you to work out!) I mean, in terms of losing weight...........I struggle to find the time to workout.........perhaps I don't need to if they are just going to cancel each other out i.e. calories earned/burned and calories eaten.
    Toning definitely beats ugly lose skin hangin off your body, stronger heart muscle from cardio, strength from weight lifting. a calorie does NOT = a calorie

    Working out is not all about calories, ppl that don't have an oz. to lose work out to keep their bodies strong and in shape and their organs healthy. You don't have to work out but I would highly recommend it if you want to have a healthy body and keep it healthy:flowerforyou:
  • DarcieC2389
    DarcieC2389 Posts: 146
    Thanks for this post. I realize now I haven't been eating enough to fuel my body. Yesterday I had 191 calories from my eating that I didn't use, plus the 563 calories that I burned thru exercise. So I had a total of 754 calories in one day that I didn't use. I realize that I won't lose and meet my weekly weight loss goal that way. Thanks for the eye opener everyone!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    MFP automatically gives you a calories deficit when you sign up and tell it how much you want to loose per week. If you have a 1300 calorie goal and then you need to net 1300 calories. That means your food calories minus calories burned must equal 1300. If you burn 500 calories and don't eat those calories back, you will only net 800 calories. Not good.

    Think of food as fuel for your body. You will not be able to maintain an exercise routine if you don't eat enough. You won't have enough energy because you're not getting enough fuel.

    I hope that makes sense.

    OMG......can I hug you please?! You just made me cry:cry: A happy cry.

    Eating is good!
  • abredbenner
    abredbenner Posts: 125 Member
    I was a little confused with that also. So I decided to ask someone is a nutritionist and I was told to definitely not eat my exercise calories if my goal is to loose weight. The main thing is to always burn more calories than you eat...and the more you burn the better your weightloss program will be, as long as your calorie intake is not under 1200 calories which is what they say you need to not go into starvation mode...smile:

    I think you need a new nutritionist. MFP has already calculated a calorie deficeit (sp?) based on your goals. So you are already burning more than you are eating without exercise. When you exercise, you need to replace most of the calories or your body has nothing to run on. For example, my calories are at 1200/day and I burned 700 exercising today. If I did not eat my exercise calories back, my body would only have 500 calories to run on. I could not keep that up for the rest of my life. It is not good for long term HEALTH! Maybe you will drop weight quickly in the first few weeks (especially if you have a lot to lose) but it should not be your long-term strategy.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I see this topic a lot and the one question I still have after every answer is.............
    Why even bother working out then? (Ok, I get that it is good for you to work out!) I mean, in terms of losing weight...........I struggle to find the time to workout.........perhaps I don't need to if they are just going to cancel each other out i.e. calories earned/burned and calories eaten.

    Honestly, in the beginning my motto was "Will work for food!". I hated exercise......but if I got to 4 pm and had 200 calories left, I straped on my HRM and burned another 200 so I could have a decent meal. If I wanted a roll with it I had to burn more!!

    I remember one night dinner was held up for 15 minutes so I could have butter on my roll!! It was all psychological for me then.

    Now I realize I am running this machine I call my body with some durn good fuel..........and I eat at least 1/2 my exercise calories. As listed above, I remove what I would have burned in a normal every day work
  • FabulousFifty
    FabulousFifty Posts: 1,575 Member
    I see this topic a lot and the one question I still have after every answer is.............
    Why even bother working out then? (Ok, I get that it is good for you to work out!) I mean, in terms of losing weight...........I struggle to find the time to workout.........perhaps I don't need to if they are just going to cancel each other out i.e. calories earned/burned and calories eaten.

    You might initially this...but...if you are doing this for the right reasons, better health, long term weightloss, lifestyle changes....then WORK OUT! Here's some real motivation. When you work out, you build muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat. You will become a calorie burning machine as you get in shape....and you will feel better. Exercise is good for your body, your mind, and.....you will look cute in your jeans! Work it girl! :bigsmile:
  • lobsterhug
    lobsterhug Posts: 8

    Honestly, in the beginning my motto was "Will work for food!". I hated exercise......but if I got to 4 pm and had 200 calories left, I straped on my HRM and burned another 200 so I could have a decent meal. If I wanted a roll with it I had to burn more!!

    I remember one night dinner was held up for 15 minutes so I could have butter on my roll!! It was all psychological for me then.

    Now I realize I am running this machine I call my body with some durn good fuel..........and I eat at least 1/2 my exercise calories. As listed above, I remove what I would have burned in a normal every day work

    I do this too! I love food and doing an hour of exercise means I can eat what I want, within reason :-)
  • JesseD
    JesseD Posts: 18
    QUOTE - Honestly, in the beginning my motto was "Will work for food!". I hated exercise......but if I got to 4 pm and had 200 calories left, I straped on my HRM and burned another 200 so I could have a decent meal. If I wanted a roll with it I had to burn more!! (Okay...I don't have the hang of this quote thing....)

    I'm really trying to do this too! Tonight I'm quite tired, so I decided not to walk...I'd like toast with dinner, but unless I want to work some more will just have to skip the toast, because I've had pretty much all my cals today already.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    So far I have been eating my daily plus exercize cal, but tommorrow is my first weigh in so we will see how it worked for me!
  • georgette70
    georgette70 Posts: 158
    Thanks Everyone! I really appreciate the comments and advice :happy:
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    The general consensus is eat back 1/2 of them and make sure you're over 1200 a day.

    Likely the calories showed burned on the equipment are not necessarily accurate.
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    I was a little confused with that also. So I decided to ask someone is a nutritionist and I was told to definitely not eat my exercise calories if my goal is to loose weight. The main thing is to always burn more calories than you eat...and the more you burn the better your weightloss program will be, as long as your calorie intake is not under 1200 calories which is what they say you need to not go into starvation mode...smile:

    You haven't explained things correctly to your nutritionist.

    MFP automatically sets you at a deficit (unless you've selected to MAINTAIN your weight & have been given calories based on that choice). That deficit is how you lose weight and that deficit will be there even if you eat 100% of the calories your burned through exercise.

    HOWEVER, if you were eating calories to maintain your weight, you can use exercise to then create a calorie deficit. If that were the case, the NO, of course you wouldn't want to eat those calories back.

    **Examples:**
    How MFP works:
    Setto lose 1.5 pounds/week, MFP automatically creates a 750 calorie/day deficit and then gives you your base calories:
    Maintenance calories - desired calorie deficit = base calories
    I weigh 199 and my maintenance calories are right around 2000/per day. This is how much I'd have to eat each day with my current activity level (sedentary) to maintain my current weight.
    2000 - 750 (calorie deficit I need each day to lose 1.5lbs/week) = 1250 calories

    I'd need to eat 1250 calories each day to lose 1.5 pounds per week.

    If I exercise, I'm increasing that 750 calorie deficit by how ever many calories I burn. So, say I exercise and burn 750 calories. That makes my calorie deficit 1500! Well, after 8 months here, I know my body and I know it absolutely HATES calorie deficits over 1000/day at this point. I won't lose weight if my deficit is too high (I have been battling "starvation mode" for months now. Take my word for it -- not fun). So, I need to eat those 750 calories back so my deficit remains 750 calories for the day. So, that means I'm eating 2000 calories for the day. I will still lose 1.5 pounds a week doing this because my calorie deficit hasn't changed.

    Now, if it helps you to look at it as though you're creating your calorie deficit with exercise, you need to set your goals on MFP to MAINTAIN your current weight. If I were to do this, MFP would give me about 2000 calories per day as my base calories.

    If I wanted to create a 750 calorie deficit each day, in this scenario, I'd need to eat my 2000 maintenance calories and then burn 750 calories through exercise. That puts me at a 750 calorie deficit for the day and doing that will keep me losing at 1.5 pounds/week.
    Wait a minute... that exactly the same thing I was doing in the first example, just worded differently. :wink:
  • thendrick
    thendrick Posts: 102 Member
    I was a little confused with that also. So I decided to ask someone is a nutritionist and I was told to definitely not eat my exercise calories if my goal is to loose weight. The main thing is to always burn more calories than you eat...and the more you burn the better your weightloss program will be, as long as your calorie intake is not under 1200 calories which is what they say you need to not go into starvation mode...smile:

    You haven't explained things correctly to your nutritionist.

    MFP automatically sets you at a deficit (unless you've selected to MAINTAIN your weight & have been given calories based on that choice). That deficit is how you lose weight and that deficit will be there even if you eat 100% of the calories your burned through exercise.

    HOWEVER, if you were eating calories to maintain your weight, you can use exercise to then create a calorie deficit. If that were the case, the NO, of course you wouldn't want to eat those calories back.

    **Examples:**
    How MFP works:
    Setto lose 1.5 pounds/week, MFP automatically creates a 750 calorie/day deficit and then gives you your base calories:
    Maintenance calories - desired calorie deficit = base calories
    I weigh 199 and my maintenance calories are right around 2000/per day. This is how much I'd have to eat each day with my current activity level (sedentary) to maintain my current weight.
    2000 - 750 (calorie deficit I need each day to lose 1.5lbs/week) = 1250 calories

    I'd need to eat 1250 calories each day to lose 1.5 pounds per week.

    If I exercise, I'm increasing that 750 calorie deficit by how ever many calories I burn. So, say I exercise and burn 750 calories. That makes my calorie deficit 1500! Well, after 8 months here, I know my body and I know it absolutely HATES calorie deficits over 1000/day at this point. I won't lose weight if my deficit is too high (I have been battling "starvation mode" for months now. Take my word for it -- not fun). So, I need to eat those 750 calories back so my deficit remains 750 calories for the day. So, that means I'm eating 2000 calories for the day. I will still lose 1.5 pounds a week doing this because my calorie deficit hasn't changed.

    Now, if it helps you to look at it as though you're creating your calorie deficit with exercise, you need to set your goals on MFP to MAINTAIN your current weight. If I were to do this, MFP would give me about 2000 calories per day as my base calories.

    If I wanted to create a 750 calorie deficit each day, in this scenario, I'd need to eat my 2000 maintenance calories and then burn 750 calories through exercise. That puts me at a 750 calorie deficit for the day and doing that will keep me losing at 1.5 pounds/week.
    Wait a minute... that exactly the same thing I was doing in the first example, just worded differently. :wink:

    Now THIS makes sense to me!!! Thanks!
  • krislshoe
    krislshoe Posts: 459 Member
    I was stuck at the same weight for over a week and couldnt figure out why I wasnt losing any more..I was very good about exercising and hadnt cheated at all on my food.....asked the same question on my fitness pal and someone asked if I was eating my exercise calories and I wasnt.....as soon as I started eating back most of my exercise calories I started to lose again....my body didnt have the fuel to burn any calories because I wasnt eating enough......now I continue to lose and am never hungry:0)
  • georgette70
    georgette70 Posts: 158
    Likely the calories showed burned on the equipment are not necessarily accurate.
    [/quote]

    I found that out today when I borrowed my friends HRM...The equipment calories were way high :( But now I'm on the right track so on I go :) Thanks
  • Frankilou25
    Frankilou25 Posts: 57 Member
    bump x
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