I Don't Understand :/

KSoto2014
KSoto2014 Posts: 22
in Fitness and Exercise
Do you have to eat back the calories you burned exercising? Isn't the point of exercising to burn more calories than you eat? And what about pre and post workout snacks, do they reall help and give you better results?

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Example:

    TDEE: 2300
    Daily Goal/amount you eat total: 1800
    Deficit: 500 a day

    That's a 500 calorie deficit so you're already burning more than you're consuming just by doing daily activities.

    Add exercise to that and you get this:
    TDEE: 2300
    Daily Goal: 1800
    Amount you eat: 1800
    Exercise: 300
    Net Amount: 1500
    deficit: 800

    You're now at an 800 calorie deficit. You could eat those exercise calories back, because over all your goal still puts you at a deficit. By eating them back, it will give you the 500 calorie deficit you have when you don't work out.

    edit: Forgot to add

    TDEE: 2300
    Amount You eat: 2300
    Exercise:300
    Net amount: 2000
    Deficit: 300

    If you were to eat at maintenance and work out, then you wouldn't eat your exercise calories. This is because the exercise calories would be creating the deficit, instead of you creating it by limiting your intake.
  • harrisonda1
    harrisonda1 Posts: 3
    If you don't eat enough you will put your body into "starvation" mode. It will hang on to every ounce of you for dear life! Yes, I eat back most of the calories I burn exercising - however, every body burns calories differently and MFP only gives an average. Many factors contribute such as weight, age, and metabolism. There are other websites out there that will let you enter in those variables to give you a closer estimate.
    Also, if you don't have enough calories to fuel your exercising body, your body may choose to burn muscle instead of fat.
    I am not an expert by any means, but make sure you are consuming a healthy amount of calories, especially if you are hitting the gym hard. I notice that I lose weight faster at 1200 calories/day than at 1000 calories/day, with no workout.
  • KSoto2014
    KSoto2014 Posts: 22
    Thank you guys so much! Makes more sense now. :D

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