Does anyone NOT count their Exercise calories??

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  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I don't always count all of my walking, because I don't think it rises to the level of exercise beyond my normal activity level. I do, however, eat back my exercise calories. I'm trying to stay at the same weight, AND, equally importantly, keep ALL my hard earned muscle mass.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    I log it but don't count it. I have no clue what all this "eat it back" talk is. The site is calculating your tdee based off average daily activity so what would one have to even eat back?
  • Jess1caLe
    Jess1caLe Posts: 31 Member
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    Our bodies need fuel... if you're eating, for instance, 1200 calories a day (which isn't enough for me as it is) and then you burn 400 calories through exercise your net calories would be 800 calories.

    The recommended daily intake for a 1 year old baby is 900 calories. So eating 800 calories is really unhealthy.

    Your body needs fuel and it needs to repair. Even if you eat back all your exercise calories there is still a serious POINT to exercising...:

    1) Exercise builds up your lean muscle. Lean muscle burns more calories per day than fat does. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you'll be burning just by being alive

    2) An exercised body is a healthy body. For now and for the future. Do you want to be the old lady that's stuck at home or do you want to be the old lady who still gets out and about when she's 85?

    3) Being fit is awesome. Muscle is awesome. Not only will you FEEL great, but you'll LOOK great.

    4) Following on from 3.... FIT is the new skinny.

    BUMP.
  • battyg13
    battyg13 Posts: 508 Member
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    I log but dont count them as i generally fuel my body during the day taking into account my evening exercise regime
  • Stargrace2
    Stargrace2 Posts: 48 Member
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    I log it but don't count it. I have no clue what all this "eat it back" talk is. The site is calculating your tdee based off average daily activity so what would one have to even eat back?

    This. MFP calculates your TDEE based on the exercise level you input and then averages it out as to what you should eat weekly if you INCLUDE your exercise.

    If you do NOT include your exercise when calculating your TDEE THEN you would eat them back.

    It's very simple. If your TDEE is calculated using your weekly exercise levels, don't eat calories back. If it's calculated without your weekly exercise levels, eat them back.
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    I'm starting back this week. I did awful with my calories last week and I'm sure I averaged under 1,200. Luckily, I didn't burn too many calories exercising since the 30 Day Shred does not burn a lot. But this week I am definitely going to follow MFP and eat back those calories. I am going to try to at least get within 75 calories of my goal every day (the Happy Hour I am attending on thursday should help a lot).

    Don't put in all this work for nothing. It sucks when you work hard and don't see any results so remember to EAT!
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    Our bodies need fuel... if you're eating, for instance, 1200 calories a day (which isn't enough for me as it is) and then you burn 400 calories through exercise your net calories would be 800 calories.

    The recommended daily intake for a 1 year old baby is 900 calories. So eating 800 calories is really unhealthy.

    Your body needs fuel and it needs to repair. Even if you eat back all your exercise calories there is still a serious POINT to exercising...:

    1) Exercise builds up your lean muscle. Lean muscle burns more calories per day than fat does. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you'll be burning just by being alive

    2) An exercised body is a healthy body. For now and for the future. Do you want to be the old lady that's stuck at home or do you want to be the old lady who still gets out and about when she's 85?

    3) Being fit is awesome. Muscle is awesome. Not only will you FEEL great, but you'll LOOK great.

    4) Following on from 3.... FIT is the new skinny.

    I'm calling BULL on this. What works for some doesn't work for others.
    I exercise and built lean muscle. guess how much weight I've lost, about a pound in 2 months. My clothes do not fit any better. My arms look better but thats about the extent of it and I do weight training three days a week and have been since March. Looks like that lean muscle isn't helping me burn any fat.

    If you can get 2000+ calories a day that's great for you, but personally I cannot and hope to lose any weight. in fact I gain FAT eating over 1800 working out 4-6 days a week. Not sure how that happens but it did.
  • paday
    paday Posts: 24 Member
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    1200 calories is very low. I was stuck in that mindset for a long time with little weight loss results. Now I eat well over that, continue my workout regime, and am still losing weight/toning up. I also eat back my exercise calories if I'm hungry and want food, which I normally do after working out.

    Sometimes I think MFP just automatically defaults to 1200 (which, by the way, is the number of calories your body would need to keep you alive if you were bed ridden!) It may seem counter-intuitive but eating more (especially more of the right foods) will not prohibit your weight loss goals. Try the Fat2FitRadio website and use some of their calculators (BMR, body fat %, etc). When you calculate your BMR, don't eat less than the number recommended by the Harris-Benedict Formula. You'll be surprised at how many more calories this will allow. I know for me personally it was almost 300 more than MFP suggested, and I feel much better/healthier eating this amount.

    In the end, weight loss is not an exact science that fits every single person. Find out what works best for your body but I can almost guarantee that exercising and eating a well-balanced, calorie filled diet (including treats) is the way to go if you're in this for the long haul and not just a quick swimsuit season fix.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
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    I don't. It's the only way I can lose weight.
    ymmv
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I log it but don't count it. I have no clue what all this "eat it back" talk is. The site is calculating your tdee based off average daily activity so what would one have to even eat back?

    Some of us set our activity level to sedentary, and log our exercise independently of activity level.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    Our bodies need fuel... if you're eating, for instance, 1200 calories a day (which isn't enough for me as it is) and then you burn 400 calories through exercise your net calories would be 800 calories.

    The recommended daily intake for a 1 year old baby is 900 calories. So eating 800 calories is really unhealthy.

    Your body needs fuel and it needs to repair. Even if you eat back all your exercise calories there is still a serious POINT to exercising...:

    1) Exercise builds up your lean muscle. Lean muscle burns more calories per day than fat does. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you'll be burning just by being alive

    2) An exercised body is a healthy body. For now and for the future. Do you want to be the old lady that's stuck at home or do you want to be the old lady who still gets out and about when she's 85?

    3) Being fit is awesome. Muscle is awesome. Not only will you FEEL great, but you'll LOOK great.

    4) Following on from 3.... FIT is the new skinny.

    I'm calling BULL on this. What works for some doesn't work for others.
    I exercise and built lean muscle. guess how much weight I've lost, about a pound in 2 months. My clothes do not fit any better. My arms look better but thats about the extent of it and I do weight training three days a week and have been since March. Looks like that lean muscle isn't helping me burn any fat.

    If you can get 2000+ calories a day that's great for you, but personally I cannot and hope to lose any weight. in fact I gain FAT eating over 1800 working out 4-6 days a week. Not sure how that happens but it did.

    Who said anything about eating 2000+ calories? Netting at least 1200 calories per day is just the standard advice for anyone who isn't being supervised by a doctor.
  • Ohnoes
    Ohnoes Posts: 98 Member
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    the exercise calories are the most delicious calories.:love:


    i eat about half of mine, its working!
  • csheltra26
    csheltra26 Posts: 272 Member
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    I'm quitting counting them for awhile because it did me no good. I didn't eat them all back most days, just some days. More often than not I only ate maybe 200 of them back. But it does seem counter productive if you burn 500 (supposedly) and eat it back...where is the deficit?

    If you are following MFP guidelines, it has already included a deficit. if you create too much of a deficit it can wreak havoc on your metabolism and make it difficult to maintain.

    I lost 50 pounds quickly by working out like crazy and eating 1200-1400 calories a day. Created a big deficit. and then the weight all came back while i continued to workout and eat low calories. It has taken me 5 years to figure out how to fix my metabolism.

    Most people on here have lost weight more than once - which means it wasn't easy to maintain after the loss because of VLCD. They have learned to do it right and are trying to help people to not make the same mistakes.
  • emzabee420
    emzabee420 Posts: 29 Member
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    i was religiously tracking with mfp a few months ago, and exercising 3-4hrs/week. and eating back every single calorie (with my polar HRM). didnt lose much.

    trying this again with fresh eyes. not saying i will never eat back my calories, but if i do i will make sure its not more than half, and only if im really hungry.....

    if you tell me i can eat more, i am going to eat more..... so that didnt work out to well for me! I am ready to end 2013 with a bang tho, i think 6 months is just the right amount of time i need to lose these 20 or so lbs....
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    My personal belief is that how you maintain the low weight has very little to do with how you lose it. My research and my doctor tells me that a metabolic slow down that is not easily resolved is a rare medical condition and not a commonplace occurrence. 1200 calories is not VLC and subtracting exercise calories is not a recognized practice in determining consumption. What you eat is your calorie input, period. Anyway, either way can work. The weight comes off faster if you don't add them back. If you do, just be very conservative about how much you add back.
  • 1fitnessplanner
    1fitnessplanner Posts: 63 Member
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    I was wondering this and came to this thread looking for answers and what I've come up with is eat when you're hungry just eat the right foods. i have my levels set to sedentary as I'm a SAHM with a crawling baby- I do the insanity workout 6 days a week (burning 300-900 calories a day) in line with the schedule and I go for a walk for 30-60 mins a day with a stroller and 1/2 dogs. I don't tend to eat back my exercise calories and if I do I allow myself 200-300 of them then it doesn't matter how active I've been or if it's a rest day :smile:
    I don't know if this is right but it's a healthier more manageable relationship with food and exercise than I had before and my current allowed calories is 1650 was 1800 when I started.

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