Do you guys eat your excersise calories?

Yasmine91
Yasmine91 Posts: 599 Member
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Well I did the other day but something didn't seem right :p don't think I'll be doing it often.

Replies

  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
    I do every time. That is why I exercise; to eat more. :happy:
  • ARSchaeffer
    ARSchaeffer Posts: 5 Member
    I've heard many people say that you can eat half of your exercise calories back. Two of my friends are doing it and they are consistently losing weight. Haven't had any problems yet.
  • Romba
    Romba Posts: 164 Member
    sometimes but not always. I mix it up
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
    If you need to lose weight you can;t eat your calories. if you are hardcore you have to eat those cals but in the right nutrients.
    My husband cut back on carbs while working on his run time. I don't think he did it on purpose but he has been in lagging for the last 2 weeks.
    Were as,I am trying to lose, and I don't eat them back. I aim for 6/200 meals and I have no issues and lots of energy.
  • dresdenkali
    dresdenkali Posts: 43
    I do and don't at the same time. In order to lose weight like I wanted, I planned in exercise to meet my caloric goals. One thing I don't do is that if I work out more, I don't eat more. I try and balance my exercise so that if I am feeling really drained I will tone it back some.
  • Kminor67
    Kminor67 Posts: 900 Member
    YES! That's the best part about exercising! I can eat more! Plus, if I had a bad meal (like yesterday's breakfast) I can work it off and not have to starve the rest of the day.
  • HippyGalore
    HippyGalore Posts: 18 Member
    I don't below about 300 exercise calories as that is just daily minimum and no real effort (dog walks and cycle commute). Above 500 I eat back half as I really feel I need to, I think I've reached a stage where I know when I need to, if it didn't feel right to you then don't do it. Occasionally my exercise calories are higher than my whole daily allowance, and I would be ravenous, in negative calories if I didn't. It also depends on your goals, if they are already at 2lbs a week I would be surprised if you could get away with not eating them, if 1lb then you still have some healthy leeway.
  • asallen7
    asallen7 Posts: 301
    I am not eating my exercise calories because I'm trying to lose weight. Those that are trying to maintain can eat their weightloss calories in order to break even.
  • carreen
    carreen Posts: 175 Member
    You can, but it depends on what your calorie goal is set on as to whether you should or not. My calorie goal is 1200 which is the minimum a person should take in and remain healthy, so when I burn 600 calories in exercise, that only leaves me with 600 net calories taken in, so I asked a dietician about that yesterday, and she said I should eat back half of them. If your daily calorie goal is higher (like 1600), and you burn 400 in a workout, then that's a safe #. You can choose to eat them back, but if you don't you will lose a little faster. Hope that made sense.
  • asallen7
    asallen7 Posts: 301
    Here is a post that deals specifically with that. I am not officially confused.:ohwell:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • Terryoke
    Terryoke Posts: 4 Member
    Yes, I have been. And I'm losing weight. I eat all the exercise calories too - not just 1/2 of them.
  • get_wrapped_by_me
    get_wrapped_by_me Posts: 19
    GREAT QUESTION!!!! When I exercise more I feel soo much more hungrier, I ignore my roaring stomach because I tend to get hungry after 9pm and tv shows alll types of food commercials so I have been testing my WILL POWER but to answer ur question I eat half of them, even tho seeing all of those EXTRA earned cals makes me want to pig out.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
    I didn't when I was losing. I was on a specific program and my normal exercise load was accounted for in my calorie allowance. I didn't even log it here.

    I do now that I'm maintaining but I don't do it exactly. (I.E., I don't necessarily eat them all the day I "earn" them. I might eat most of them that day but the rest the next day). I don't think our bodies turn on a dime like that. I know that my body knows I usually do a big bike ride on Sat. and so I tend to be hungrier on Friday, my rest day, and on Sunday as well because there is no way I can eat 3000-5000 extra calories in one day (Sat).
  • Jamiebee24
    Jamiebee24 Posts: 296 Member
    Nope, I do not. I eat some, but not all. How hungry I am depends on how much I cut into the exercise cals, but I never eat all of them. Some do, have success and some don't have success....you just need to figure out what YOUR own body needs! Good luck :)
  • healthysolutions
    healthysolutions Posts: 3 Member
    If you want to lose weight you need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. I was advised to not eat the exercise calories to lose weight.

    Good Luck.
  • Shawna_831
    Shawna_831 Posts: 316
    There are a lot of people who are confused on this. I see it posted all the time and then I see people who have no clue answer the question. (not attacking anyone).

    Once you set up your profile it gives you the total calories needed for the day. This is taking away some of your typical calories needed if you want to lose weight. That is why we pick 1/2 pound a week, 1 pound a week or 2 pounds. Your body needs this amount to survive. If you exercise then you are burning some of these needed calories away. You have to eat to get those calories back. If you do not eat your exercise calories on a normal basis then your body will go in to survival mode. It will start to store the fat to survive. If you stay under your calorie count once in awhile, no it won't hurt you. Just as if you go over once in awhile, it won't hurt you. Don't force yourself to eat just because you need the calories still. If you're full then you're full.

    I work for a weight loss doctor and once I started my weight loss journey I got all the rules handed to me. I hear about all the patients and what they are doing wrong. They all take the pills and get the shots and still gain the weight back. I just exercise everyday, count calories and eat pretty much the same foods....no sodas!

    http://www.georgiabariatrics.com/


    Here's her website. She has 100 weight loss tips on there and much more. She just won clinician of the year. She knows what she's talking about and I'm not just saying that because she signs my paychecks. :happy:
  • Steelytop
    Steelytop Posts: 145 Member
    I do not eat hardly any of my exercise calories. Nope. My goal has always been 1500 calories or less but never lower than 1200. There are occasions, usually 1 day, where I do eat up those calories. It's usually a day where a friend has a gathering or I'm going out to eat on those rare occasions. I not only avoid soda and fast food like it's stinky garbage but I limit my meals out completely.

    Soda has been no problem to quit even though it's what put a great deal of weight on me. But fast food is something you've been brainwashed to eat by 30,000 commercials a year since birth. It's harder to kick. And if you slide backwards with it, that is why you're gaining and not losing. Very simple. Sure, at your ideal weight you could have a fast food meal once or twice a month with no real issues but my metabolism doesn't process it or HFCS's. I'm certainly not perfect in my eating. Far from it. But I've had pretty good success since June 30th.
  • amandabrady
    amandabrady Posts: 203 Member
    I do because this website already puts you at a deficit. Mostly everybody here has there's set to 1200, which is also the minimum of what you should have for the day, bottom line. If you exercise and don't eat anything back, you are putting yourself way below minimum nutrition for the day! I love getting to work out because then I can eat more, and it still puts me back to my calorie goal. Some people say they don't eat them back, and they're fine; for others, the weight didn't really start coming off until they started eating them back. It probably depends on your body. Do what works for you, just make sure you're being safe and eating enough!
  • Hova1914
    Hova1914 Posts: 82 Member
    i TOTALLY eat back my exercise calories. and I've been losing 2+ pounds weekly. Being able to eat more is my SOLE motivation for working out! its like my reward for the work I put in. However, I will say I don't set out trying to purposely eat them all back everyday. Some days I'm left with 1000 calories at the end of the day, others I'm left with 5. Just depends on how hungry I am
  • lt3ag4s
    lt3ag4s Posts: 835 Member
    I do my best to be within 100 calories of my daily total. If I am hungry at the end of the day, I will hop on my exercise bike and burn off 200-300 calories so I can have a snack.
  • Douniap
    Douniap Posts: 841
    You are supposed to eat your exercise calories or at least 90% of them. While setting up your profile, you already have indicated how many pounds per week you will be loosing. If you skip your exercise calories, then you are starving your body and you won't lose weight.. You will be slowing down your metabolism..
    so yes, have those exercise calories (or at least 90%), they are there to help you!!
    To your health
  • maroon58
    maroon58 Posts: 289 Member
    yes, i eat about 1/2 or less of them. i didn't for a bit and did't lose much weight. it makes since when you look at the post above. do what works best for your body.
  • Paige1108
    Paige1108 Posts: 432 Member
    Yes I eat my exercise calories. MFP has a deficit in my daily goal so I can eat my exercise calories and still loss weight.

    My maintenance calorie goal, when I get there, will be 1660 calories per day. Then I will bike commute and walk my dog, which I count as exercise, getting another 300ish calories. Making my daily maintenance calorie intake between 1660 and 1960 per day.

    MFP has calculated my deficit for me, so I'm given a goal of 1310, that's a deficit of 350calories per day to loss .5lbs a week. Then I bike commute and walk the dog, getting 300ish calories. And I eat them; making my daily "diet" calorie intake between 1310 and 1610. So I'm still running the exact same 350calorie deficit that I need to run to loss .5lbs per week.

    Now I just switched to .5lbs per week as recommended by someone on MFP for people very near their goal weight. But oddly I have still lost 1lbs per week in the last two weeks, I think I maybe biking harder than I think. Prior to this I was set at 1lbs per week. The only time I didn't loss at the rate I wanted to was when I thought I would get "hard core" and not eat all my calories. I stopped losing for 6 weeks and didn't start losing again until I started eating all my calories and trusting the math. Now I trust the math and I love it.
  • horizonflight
    horizonflight Posts: 75
    If you want to lose weight you need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. I was advised to not eat the exercise calories to lose weight.

    Good Luck.

    This is true providing that when you started a regimen of your weight loss you didn't cut down in calories and just exercised instead. However, if you've cut down in calories AND you're exercising it may be different. I personally pick and chose. Some people may log their exercise prior to exercising to determine how many additional calories you "should" consume in addition to your "minimum" or your "daily goal" to make up for the calories you will lose providing you are on a "minimal" calorie intake. Again, it varies with everyone. You have to figure out what works for YOU since what works for others may not necessarily be something for you.
  • Alioth
    Alioth Posts: 571 Member
    Yep. I eat'm most of the time, or pretty close to them. Sometimes I go over, sometimes I'm under. I try not to go more than 200 under or 500-600 over. 500-600 over is a maintenance day and usually happens the day after a major workout. A maintenance day now and then really doesn't hurt or hinder me. I've been losing weight faster than a pound a week, and not on purpose.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
    You have to eat to get those calories back. If you do not eat your exercise calories on a normal basis then your body will go in to survival mode.

    Not necessarily.

    First of all, calories burned in exercise are not magic calories that must be replaced with food. They are just like calories burned in other daily activities. So what matters is the net calories and there are many roads to get to the same net calories.

    For example, let's say one person needs 2200 calories to maintain. They eat 1200 calories per day plus they eat their exercise calories. They have a 1000 calorie a day deficit. No problem.

    Then we have another person who needs 2000 to maintain. They are given a 1200 calorie a day goal. This only gives them a 800 calorie deficit though. So they exercise another 200 calories a day (on average, some days they don't exercise and some they do more) and don't eat those calories to get a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Still no problem.

    Both people only have a 1000 calorie deficit and are losing 1-2 pound a week. One is eating their exercise calories and one is not. Both are getting in 1200 calories a day minimum from food. Neither is in starvation mode.
  • rafaelwall
    rafaelwall Posts: 16
    Both people only have a 1000 calorie deficit and are losing 1-2 pound a week. One is eating their exercise calories and one is not. Both are getting in 1200 calories a day minimum from food. Neither is in starvation mode.

    What you say is true, but Shawna is referring to the case in which people go under the essential 1200 calories a day the body needs to survive. If at the end of the day, your net calories are below this, you must eat in order to reach 1200 (or whatever goal MFP has set for you). Otherwise, the body triggers said survival mode.

    I'll use my case as an example. I'll be detailed just for those out there who are still confused:

    - I want to lose 2 pounds per week. MFP advised that I have a goal of 1310 calories a day.
    - Suppose I eat those 1310 calories by the afternoon. Good. Goal achieved. Net calories so far: 1310.
    - In theory, I shouldn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. But that's only if I don't do any kind of exercise.
    - Later, same day, I hit the gym and burn 500 calories.
    - Now my net calories are 1310 - 500 = 810.
    - What this means is that now I can eat 500 calories worth of healthy food so I can get back to the net goal of 1310.
    - If I don't do this, then I should AT LEAST eat 390 calories, so the net calories are the minimum of 1200 my body needs to survive.
    - If I don't reach that 1200 minimum, then after some days bam, my body goes into survival mode, and it won't let go those precious fat deposits.

    In summary, I eat all my exercise calories back from exercise as long as the net calories at the end of the day are still on the goal MyFitnessPal set for me. I've been constantly losing weight this way.

    Good luck everyone!
  • 12cindy3
    12cindy3 Posts: 1
    i have a 1200 calorie count per day and i eat about 1100-1200 calories per day. i also go to gym and burn about 500-600n calories a day. should i be eating 1700 calories per day? ty
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