How many exercise calories

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  • Lmns218
    Lmns218 Posts: 155
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    I was eating back my calories sometimes, but I realize after getting a heart rate monitor I was estimating my calorie burn on the higher side. But like most people say. I will eat them if I am hungry, or save them for a time in the week when I want to go out and have a few drinks or a fast food meal or something.
  • bermequeen
    bermequeen Posts: 57 Member
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    Cardio and weightlifting
  • bermequeen
    bermequeen Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm normally full by the end of the day I won't eat more, but if I feel a bit snacky I'll eat more but I feel guilty. Even though it's usually nuts or something like that. Just wondering some people say do others say don't.
  • TinaLRoman
    TinaLRoman Posts: 41 Member
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    I don't eat back exercise calories. I eat at a deficit, anything else I consider bonus.
  • bermequeen
    bermequeen Posts: 57 Member
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    I ate back some today but not many.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    This keeps coming up over and over and over again. Folks, there is a Search link on each forum page....

    But to give a short version of the answer: MFP calculates the calorie deficit you need based on your regular daily activity WITHOUT exercise.

    Let's say you need 2000 calories a day to maintain your weight, without exercising. You want to lose a pound a week, so MFP says you should eat 1500 calories a day.

    Now, let's say you go for a 2-hour bike ride at a decent pace. You burn 1000 calories.

    If you eat only 1500 calories, you're basically telling your body to survive on only 500 calories beyond what you burned in exercise. That's starvation rations. It won't provide what you need to stay healthy. If you don't eat those 1000 calories back, you're effectively aiming for 3 pounds a week, which is extreme unless you're quite big to begin with.

    Now, if you only do that 2-hour bike ride once a month, it's no problem. I've had a few days when my net calorie intake was negative, because I spent the whole day on my bike. But if it's day in, day out, you'll be depriving your body of what it needs to function well.

    If you've set MFP to lose 0.5-1 lb./week, you burn 500 calories a day exercising, and you're OK with losing more, then don't eat back your calories; 1-1.5 lb./week is still perfectly OK. But if you exercise more, or your MFP goal is set to 1.5 or 2 lb./week, then do replenish your body's stores by "eating back" those exercise calories.

    "Eating back" is misleading. Replenishing your stores, or filling the tank, is better. The only caveat is that many tables and sites, including MFP, overestimate how many calories are burned by exercise. So you might start by eating back 75% of the estimate, and then after a couple of weeks, compare your results with MFP to find out how many calories you're really burning.
  • echelonokie
    echelonokie Posts: 92
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    @bwogilvie This question may be all over the place on the site, but to me that just means we don't get it. I understand that at a sedentary life, my body needs X number of cals to exist and that I need to knock off 1000 cals/week to lose 2 lbs/week. BUT, at the end of the day, I am always under what it tells me (especially taking into account any exercise I do) but I'm too full to eat any more food.

    I'm like the OP and others, I really don't get why I need to eat if I'm not hungry.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    @echelonokie: If you're *really* not hungry, and haven't met your target, then that's great! Don't eat any more.

    But I think a lot of people are on MFP (myself included) either because our hunger feedback system is out of whack, or we confuse hunger with other feelings about food. If our hunger system really worked perfectly, we wouldn't need to lose weight.
  • carlosprats
    carlosprats Posts: 4 Member
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    HI THERE, I KNOW IT MIGHT BE A LIL LATE TO SHARE THIS BUT I BELIEVE THIS WILL HELP YOU.

    1. IF YOU ARE GOING BY THE FITNESS PALL ESTIMATE OF CALORIES BURNED YOU ARE WAY OFF BY OVER 50% OF THE REAL VALUE. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I BOUGHT A HR MONITOR FOR MY CYCLING TRAINING AND WHEN I PLACED MY MINUTES OF EXERCISE IN THE APP THE NUMBER WAS WAY OFF WHEN COMPARED TO MY GARMIN EDGE 500 CALCULATIONS WHICH ARE WAY MORE ACCURATE. A HR MONITOR IS THE CLOSEST TOOL TO MONITOR THIS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A POWER METER WHICH WILL BE THE MOST ACCURATE. ALSO, I WAS NOT LOOSING ANY WEIGHT USING THE FITNESS PAL APP B/C I WAS EATING SOME OF MY BURNED CALORIES AND SINCE IT WAS OVER ESTIMATING BY A LOT IT DIDN'T WORK.
    2. IN MY CASE I CYCLE 6 TIMES A WEEK AND IN A REGULAR TRAINING DAY I DO 40-45 MILES IN ABOUT 2 HR 15 MIN TO 2 HR 30 MIN, AVG SPEED 18-19. AFTER 2 MONTHS LOOKING AF WHAT I BURN DURING EACH SESSION I REALIZED I AM BURNING 1100-1250 KCAL ON AVG. I AM 205 LBS PLUS THE GEAR AND ALL THE OTHER STUFF ADD AN EXTRA 20-25 LBS TO ACCOUNT FOR. YOU CAN CHECK THE NUMBER ON THE APP AND YOU WILL SEE THAT AT THIS SPEED THE NUMBER IS AROUND 2300 KCAL.
    3. IF YOU WANT TO LOOSE WEIGHT ACCURATELY YOU NEED A HR MONITOR, THAT IS THE BEST TO ASSESS YOUR OUTPUT.
    4. YOU CAN EAT INTO YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES IF YOU WISH TO DO SO, ALTHOUGH IT DEPENDS ON YOUR GOALS. IF YOU ARE TRYING TO MAINTAIN WEIGHT YOU SHOULD EAT THEM EVERY DAY. IF YOU ARE TRYING TO LOOSE WEIGHT YOU CAN GO AS FAR AS 2 LBS PER WEEK WHICH IS 7000 KCAL. THIS IS THE SAFEST WAY TO DO IT TO ALLOW YOUR BODY TO ADAPT. IT TAKES ABOUT 2 WEEKS FOR YOUR BODY TO ADAPT TO THE LOWER CALORIC INTAKE.
    5. IF YOU KEEP ON EXERCISING AND DON'T EAT YOUR CALORIES YOU ARE GOING TO START EATING YOUR LEAN MUSCLE SINCE THE BODY WILL TRY TO KEEP FAT AT A HEALTHY NUMBER.

    WHEN I GET TO MY TARGET CYCLING WEIGHT WHICH IS AROUND 180 I WILL HAVE TO EAT ALL MY EXERCISE CALORIES OR I AM NOT GOING TO REPLENISH THE BURNED GLYCOGEN AND FAT, THEREFORE CAUSING DECREASED PERFORMANCE AND ENDURANCE SINCE MY MUSCLE IS GOING TO START BEING BURNED INSTEAD. I HOPE THIS HELPS, FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS.
    THIS IS A GREAT PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION ALTHOUGH IS NOT FOR THE LAY PERSON. IT GOES DOWN TO THE BIOCHEMICAL EXPLANATION.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kurilla2.htm
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    i eat 0 calories back. Let your exercise work for you. I've had great success.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Every single one.

    Edit: Crap, someone revived an old thread for no reason.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Every single one.

    Edit: Crap, someone revived an old thread for no reason.

    Oh, I thought it was so he could YELL his wisdom at us.

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