Should you eat more calories if you work out??

hollystone
hollystone Posts: 5 Member
edited September 21 in Introduce Yourself
Hello everyone!

I am working out a couple of times a week and noticed that this allows me to eat more calories but doesn't that defeat the point of exercising?

xx:heart:

Replies

  • JStarnes
    JStarnes Posts: 5,576 Member
    Search "Eating Back Exercise Calories" on the boards - you'll find a crazy amount of info on both sides of the argument.

    I, personally, always eat mine back.
  • hollystone
    hollystone Posts: 5 Member
    thanks Jess,xx
  • bonniejoy
    bonniejoy Posts: 9 Member
    I like to only eat half of mine back. This way I can eat a little more, but not feel so guilty.
  • bbeland01
    bbeland01 Posts: 9
    You should not eat more calories if you workout. If you feel that you will eat back all the calories that you have burned then the best way to add them in is not until the very end of the day!
    The point in adding your workout calories burned into your daily log isn't to get you to eat them all back, if that is the case you will most likely not see the scale move the way that you want it to.
    Hope that helped :)
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    Hello everyone!

    I am working out a couple of times a week and noticed that this allows me to eat more calories but doesn't that defeat the point of exercising?

    xx:heart:

    Short answer: Yes (you should eat most of them back)

    Long answer: check out these posts - two of the best I've come across (the search function on this site leaves a bit to be desired... lol)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • palua
    palua Posts: 1 Member
    I copy pasted this from one of the topics on here. Hope it helps: Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight. The important thing to understand is (and this is REALLY important) the closer you are to your overall healthy weight (again, your metabolism views this a a range, not a specific number) the more prominant the survival mode becomes (remember, we talked about efficiency). This is because as fat becomes scarce, muscle is easier to break down and transport. And thus, the reason why it's harder to lose that "Last 10 pounds".
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    You should not eat more calories if you workout. If you feel that you will eat back all the calories that you have burned then the best way to add them in is not until the very end of the day!
    The point in adding your workout calories burned into your daily log isn't to get you to eat them all back, if that is the case you will most likely not see the scale move the way that you want it to.
    Hope that helped :)

    check out the two posts I linked to - your deficit to meet your weekly weight-loss goal is already built into your MFP program, so you actually *are* supposed to eat exercise calories back. As long as you are honest about logging ALL your food and not overestimating exercise calories, you will still lose weight. It's not considered healthy to lose more than 2 lbs/week (in general), which is what would happen if your goal is set to lose 2 lbs/week and you don't eat any exercise calories back. At least in the short term... long term your body would get cranky with you and weight loss would become more difficult. The two links explain it in detail.
  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
    The calories allowance they give you is already at a deficit. IF you enterend your goals in for weight loss. They asked your activity level and how much you planned on working out. So if you are wroking out you need those calories. You never want to go to low in calories because your body will go into survial mode and store store store. So if your working out yes add some calories in and if your not dont.
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