Question about eating calories burnt

ffattothin
ffattothin Posts: 3
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi

I notice that it says you can eat more calories if you burn them during exercise. Is this right? I am set at 1200 calories and go to the gym 3/4 a week and usually burn between 400-500 calories - should I be eating those extra calories - does it help with the weight loss? Just wondering as in the past I have eaten 1200 calories excerised as above and not lost any weight - could I not be eating enough!

Sorry for all the questions any suggestions would be greatly received.

Thanks

Replies

  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    I work out as well, but I dont trust the output when it comes to the equipment.....sometimes the tread mill says 300, and then the same workout routine it says, 340, so...........you just have to be careful

    some one in hre suggested, only using half the numbers you get from the gym.......kinda makes sense, you dont want to eat calories that you didnt accomplish at the gym.......hope this helped
  • angebean
    angebean Posts: 195 Member
    You are supposed to eat your exercise calories or you risk putting your body into starvation mode.

    There's a big write up about this here on MFP. Let me see if I can find it and I'll update the post.
  • CassiLyn6626
    CassiLyn6626 Posts: 50 Member
    Hello!

    I was just wondering the same thing!
  • chichi1967
    chichi1967 Posts: 54
    I dont eat extra to count the excercise calories...I focus only on staying at 1200...the extra calories is your bonus & what your burning. Sometimes I'll eat a extra snack cause I have room to do that.
  • cabrzama
    cabrzama Posts: 24 Member
    It's hard to know... you sorta have to play around with different things to see what works well and what doesn't. You should never eat below your BMR, however (unless you just lay in bed all day) as that is truly starvation mode. Just try to find that sweet spot above there where you are able to lose weight and not be hungry all the time.

    I agree about the machines too. If you want a more accurate reading on your workout, use a heart rate monitor that tracks calories spent. I did this and found I was over-stating my calories by 300-350 a day. Thought I was burning 1000 calories, but in reality was only burning 650-700--that's a pretty wide gap for anyone.
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
    Considering in the past you have ate the 1200 calories and not lose any weight, then try eating some of your workout calories and see how that works out for you.

    Each person is different, so not the same stuff works

    I try and zig zag my calories. Some days I eat only my base calories, some days I eat 1/2 my exercise calories and some days I eat all my exercise calories (I rarely do this one though), just to shake things up a bit.

    Goodluck
  • ffattothin
    ffattothin Posts: 3
    Wow!!

    Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

    I agree the machines at the gym can vary. I too thought I was burning about 800 each time and then found to my dismay that I wasn't.

    I think I will eat some of the calories on days when I am really hungry. I am aware of this starvation mode and I guess it is all about getting the balance right!

    Thanks again!
  • flattsfan22
    flattsfan22 Posts: 86 Member
    I suggest that you get an HRM to know exactly how many calories are burning. I am still fooling around with my calorie intake. I try to make sure I'm eating above 1300 calories. My BMR is 1572 so I try to stay close to that and do not drop below 1300. For example say I eat 1300 calories in a day and I then go burn 300 calories, I now have dropped below the 1300 cal mark so I would eat back those 300 cals. My Polar FT7 HRM has helped me tremendously on figuring out how many calories I am actually burning with each workout. I highly suggest getting one but I suggest getting a good one, the Polar brand is highly recommended by many on this site. If you go up to the search tool you can plug in HRM and it will bring up several threads on discussions about them. Good luck in your journey
  • momtofour
    momtofour Posts: 97 Member
    hi im new to the site and this is a fab post to answer some questions i had on this topic, i was getting confused about it all, but after reading this is makes it clearer, x
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    an oldie but goodie, a thread chock full of information, and a must-read for anyone confused on why exercise=more food :)
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