Why exercise if you're just going to eat the calories back?

I do the same, I hardly eat more than 1/2.

I do it coz this come for a quote "We can reverse years of damage to our bodies by deciding to raise our standards for ourselves, then living differently. Old wounds heal, injuries repair, and the whole system improves with just a few changes in what we put into our bodies and how we move them."


and


"If you did have a million-dollar racehorse, would you let him stay up half the night drinking coffee and booze, smoking cigarettes and eating junk food?" "Would you treat a 10-dollar dog or a 5-dollar cat that way? What about your billion-dollar body?"

IMO, weightloss is best at a slow and constant rate. This being said, if you figure in your exercise and get your TDEE and then do a -20% from that, then no do not add back your exercise calories, but if you do it with the MFP settings then it is designed to eat back your exercise calories to keep you eatting above your BMR, if you want more information and knowledge about such things read this.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

Eating at a deficit alone, you will lose weight in the form of fat and muscle.

Exercising, especially strength training, will help keep hold of that muscle, plus if you exercise, you can eat more, you will feel better, the weight will come off quicker and you will be stronger for it.

If you exercise and dont eat your calories back, your body will eventually realise its not getting enough energy and will start clinging on to the fat making it harder to lose.

Finally, someone who sees things my way! I have NO IDEA why you're supposed to eat your exercise calories back - surely that just means you have effectively done nothing for your body except make it sweat?

I never eat mine back, which is why I eat usually 1500 calories a day and net out at around 1000. People tell me it's bad, but I eat at least six portions of fruit and veg every day, healthy amounts of fat and protein, so why should "the numbers" be wrong? I take multivitamins as well, but people tell me I'm low on nutrition, when obviously I'm not.

And besides, I can't eat any more than I do because I eat to satiation every meal. I'm not going to force food into myself just so some arbitrary website is happy.

PrimalGirl

Okay so i understand that exercising improves your general health and fitness and that it is important to do it.
BUT talking in terms of weightloss, what is the point in working out for an hour say, burning 500 calories if you're then just going to eat the 500 calories back? like myfitnesspal suggests
i tend to eat about the same on workout days because i feel like otherwise working out is pointless (again, in terms of weight loss)

thanks!

Say youre eating 1200 calories a day, and you exercise and burn 500, you are only 700 calories a day. If you eat them back you're netting 1200, which is still set at a deficit to what you need to eat to maintain a steady weight. Does that make sense?

Because I want to preserve my muscle mass and only lose fat.

Because I do not want to suppress my metabolism by working my body hard but not fuelling it well.

Because eating low cal long term makes my body rebel and makes binges more likely to occur.

Because this is a lifestyle change and I want a sustainable plan that I can keep up for the rest of my life.

Because I want to preserve bone density and cardiovascular health as I age.

MFP already has a calorie deficit programmed in, so if you eat the right number of calories and do no exercise, you lose weight

if you exercise and don't eat back your exercise calories, you can end up with a deficit that is too big, which can lead to all kinds of problems including: excessive hunger, binge eating, feeling tired all the time, feeling grumpy all the time, loss of lean muscle mass, loss of bone density, and if you keep it up for a long time, your metabolism can slow leading to your weight loss stalling.

The healthiest way to lose weight is slowly and steadily. Exercise helps to prevent loss of bone density and lean muscle mass, which can happen if you're sedentary even if your deficit is not extreme. Exercise has many, many other health benefits, although if you are not eating enough to support the amount of exercise you're doing, that can make your health worse, not better.

Also, change your focus from weight loss to fat loss... the human body can't burn that much fat in a week... big losses in scale weight are mostly not fat, they're mainly water and could be loss of lean muscle or bone density. And change your view of exercise... exercise is to keep your bones and muscles strong, and you need to eat enough to support the exercise, for it to work. The deficit you need for slow and steady fat loss is already built in to your MFP calorie target, so you will still lose weight while eating back exercise calories.

It depends on your goals. I want to maintain my weight and I do intense workouts. I burn as much as 1000 calories an hour in my workouts. I need the carbs, protein and healthy fat that come with those high numbers. Someone trying to gain weight may need to eat over their numbers. Someone trying to lose will need to eat under their numbers but all people need the proper nutrients in order to perform.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937709-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

Read this!

Exercise is MORE THAN loosing weight. It is about keeping the body function at optimum levels and without physical exertion, you can't achieve that.

So that you don't lose too much muscle mass.

I enjoy exercise and want to lose weight.......

Problem I notice with some people on here is they seem to log massive calorie burns for some exercises when they probably don't actually burn as much (like posting 900 calories when i know its probably half that at 450)......if you did that then ate your calories back you would need to watch.

because exercise (lifting weights) makes my body look better.

its not just about under-eating to lose weight.

Its not calorie for calorie. Food intake is differnt than exercise burned calories. Depending on what type of food you replace the burned calories will make the difference in your progress. Keep movin' on :-)

MFP already has a calorie deficit programmed in, so if you eat the right number of calories and do no exercise, you lose weight

if you exercise and don't eat back your exercise calories, you can end up with a deficit that is too big, which can lead to all kinds of problems including: excessive hunger, binge eating, feeling tired all the time, feeling grumpy all the time, loss of lean muscle mass, loss of bone density, and if you keep it up for a long time, your metabolism can slow leading to your weight loss stalling.

The healthiest way to lose weight is slowly and steadily. Exercise helps to prevent loss of bone density and lean muscle mass, which can happen if you're sedentary even if your deficit is not extreme. Exercise has many, many other health benefits, although if you are not eating enough to support the amount of exercise you're doing, that can make your health worse, not better.

Also, change your focus from weight loss to fat loss... the human body can't burn that much fat in a week... big losses in scale weight are mostly not fat, they're mainly water and could be loss of lean muscle or bone density. And change your view of exercise... exercise is to keep your bones and muscles strong, and you need to eat enough to support the exercise, for it to work. The deficit you need for slow and steady fat loss is already built in to your MFP calorie target, so you will still lose weight while eating back exercise calories.

All of this.

Food is fuel. Do you put the same amount of fuel in your car knowing that you're going across town as you would for a trip across country? Yes, your body has fat reserves of some level from which it can draw, but it doesn't draw exclusively from there, and in the absence of enough food for fuel, it will pull from muscles also. I hope muscle loss isn't part of your fitness goal.