Don't want to eat extra calories burned off... good idea or

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Melis25Fit
Melis25Fit Posts: 811 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, you know how I am eating like 1200 cals a day, and then I burn 300-400 when I work out in the afternoons. Well is it a bad idea if I don't want to eat those calories back that I burn? I generally eat 150 of them back with dinner. But what do you think? I just want to see the best results on my body and scale each Saturday at weigh in....

Replies

  • kmassey
    kmassey Posts: 5
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    I've done both. My new trainer says not to eat them....so that is what i'm trying to do now. I just try to make better decisions throughtout the day.

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  • skygoddess86
    skygoddess86 Posts: 487 Member
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    If I don't eat my exercise calories I don't lose weight. Every ones different though.
  • sarahdal
    sarahdal Posts: 4
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    Well it seems like it will definitely work to get you smaller faster, but it doesn't sound super healthy. Maybe you should only eat a small portion of them, maybe half of the burned calories?
  • bjberry
    bjberry Posts: 665 Member
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    I think you both are right. I normally eat somewhere slightly below or above 1200 calories a day, no matter how many exercise calories I have completed. I keep losing about a lb a week. Just do not eat less than 1200 calories a day--that seems to be the key.
    In my humble, slowly learning, opinion. ;)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I've done both. My new trainer says not to eat them....so that is what i'm trying to do now. I just try to make better decisions throughtout the day.

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    Just an FYI, you said your trainer, a trainer is not a nutritionist. Just be careful and if you are hungry eat those extra calories.
  • 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 :smile:
  • jennylynn84
    jennylynn84 Posts: 659
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    Everyone is a little different with this. Keep your health in mind rather than just the numbers on the scale.

    If you are strictly eating the minimum of 1200 calories and you work out and burn say 300 calories then you are consistently eating only 900 calories. And I know for me 300 is a modest workout. So you could end up forcing your body to work at an extremely low calorie deficit.

    Personally I try to eat only 1/2 - 3/4 of my exercise calories for two reasons:

    1. I do not have an HRM so all my numbers are estimated and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

    2. MFP does not, as I understand it, consider the calories you would have burned anyway in that same time period. Just like an HRM it will tell you that you burned 300 calories in x minutes. You have to consider that in x minutes your body would have burned up some calories anyway based on your BRM.

    And I know what a lot of people say - what is the point of working out if you're going to eat those calories back and have the same deficit anyway? And really there are two reasons - firstly, for more food. I had a really hard time making only 1200 calories a day. Exercising gave me some wiggle room to make it more comfortable. Secondly, you increase muscle activity, which means you'll burn more calories at rest than you would have if you hadn't been working out. And you can't discount the overall health benefit of activity, even if you're not trying to lose weight. Besides, studies have shown that people who are physically active are more likely to keep the weight off.

    Make sense?

    Anyway, that's just my two cents on the whole exercise calories thing.
  • Michellerw1
    Michellerw1 Posts: 367
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    I sort of gage it by my stomach. I typically eat about half of my excercise calories. I do burn at least 400 calories on workout days, sometimes double that. But it just depends how I feel. I know it is creating a defecit, so if I am miserably hungry I will eat more than half. If I am feeling good, I will eat less than half. I just feel that if my stomach is talking to me that much I should not ignore it.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,737 Member
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    I just want to see the best results on my body and scale each Saturday at weigh in....
    The best results on the scale may not be what's best for your body. The way I look at it, the 1,200 calories is what's good for the scale at weigh-in if you're not exercising. If you're working out, that's even better for your body, but to fuel those workouts and have the healthiest body possible, you should eat your exercise calories. You'll be getting the best of both worlds and keeping everything in good balance.
  • spaul82478
    spaul82478 Posts: 709 Member
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    I used to not eat them.. But then I did weight watchers and they gave you the extra points a week, plus the extra points if you worked out...THing is.. If you eat 1200 cals a day which is already a deficit, and then you burn 500 of them... your functioning on 700 calories a day....no one can live on that.. your body will go in to starvation mode.. NOW I am not saying if you burn 500 eat 500 in fat and grease.. be healthy.. but also don't "not eat certain foods because they are bad.. this is not a diet.. its a life altering way of living... If I ate only what i was allowed with what I do in working out.. i would drop from starvation... but To eaches own.... it also depends on what YOUR EATING... Basically its to each persons own body.. My aunt eats under 1200 cals a day basically, and works out almost every day... shes loosing about a lb a week... it works for her....but for me.. not so much.. i am a very hyper active person.. so I burn more than an average joe... What ever makes you comfortable, and as long as your loosing :bigsmile:
  • KZOsMommy
    KZOsMommy Posts: 854 Member
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    All I can do it tell you my personal experience. When I first came here I did not eat them. I worked out A LOT and was able to eat 1200 calories and feel fine ( I also at the time did not have a heart rate monitor and did not have the knowledge that I have now thanks to all these wonderful people!) . I lost 50lbs and then hit a wall. I have not lost since then and in fact have gained weighted and yet still eat healthy and work out A LOT. I now work hard to eat half my calories ( I know have a HRM :) ). I can always tell if I have not been eating enough because a couple of days of not eating enough I get really hungry and just have that feeling of can't stop eating.

    Good luck!
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    I am of the team that says you should eat them. I know it seems counter productive, but MFP builds in a calorie deficit when you set up your info. So say you were eating 2000 calories a day, and in order to lose a pound a week, MFP says you need to eat 1200 calories a day, which is a deficit of 800 calories. Most people need a MINIMUM of 1200 calories a day to function, so if you're already eating 1200 and then you burn off 400 in exercise but don't eat it back, your body is now only getting 800 calories to function on. For most people who are not strictly under a doctors care, this is WAY too few calories to be consuming.

    Your goal is to lose weight, not stay the same or actually gain because your body is in starvation mode. And keep in mind that sometimes not being hungry can be a sign of starvation mode because your body is kind of shutting down and it doesn't know what it wants. Eat your 1200, eat your exercise calories and be honest about all of your calories consumed and you will lose that pound a week (sometimes more), I promise.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I started off eating most if not ALL my exercise calories and was losing weight consistently. But slowly I realized how hard it was, because I was eating healthier LOWER calorie foods...so I was leaving 2-400 consistently. I was on a plateau for a month for other reasons as well, but I went up to 1400 and have been trying to leave less than about 80 consistently and I FEEL like I'll see a drop next time I weigh in. :) So, just saying it works for me.
  • boffo
    boffo Posts: 22
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    I look at "losing weight" and "getting in shape" as 2 different activities. I eat less to lose weight, I bike to tone my body, build my heart and lungs, and feel better. I don't get as good of a workout if i don't consume the fuel i need to power it.

    I'm burning about 9000 calories each week (biking... 120-150 miles over the course of the week). I find that eating about half of what i'm going to burn before my rides gives me the energy I need for the ride. Half the time I'm super starving the next day, or even 2 days afterwards... I try to save some of those calories for when that happens.

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