won't be eating my excerise for a while

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Amarillo_NDN
Amarillo_NDN Posts: 1,018 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been a strong believer in the fact you eat your exercise calories and have been losing weight, slowly but surely. With that said, for the next month or so, I will not be eating them due to a class I am taking at the V.A. The dietitian there is from the old school belief that you eat a fixed amount of calories period, which for me is 1800.

In theory, I should lose more, but will see how I feel doing that. So far, I have a lot of energy and able to walk 4 miles easy, sometimes up to 7.

Replies

  • Thegent
    Thegent Posts: 6
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    Yes I'm the same going to stick with my daily limit..
  • platoon
    platoon Posts: 340
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    I'm doing the same thing for this week only...

    Good luck to you! You can do anything! :-)
  • tesshaney
    tesshaney Posts: 110 Member
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    I have been wondering about this for awhile. My personal trainer says not to eat your excercise calories while here, everyone says to. I will say that my eating as gotten a little to flexible since I started eating my exercise calories. More processed option and relying less of vegetables. It would do me a ton of good to maybe go back to eating only my original allotted calories which is 1240. Love to know how the weight loss goes.
  • bsexton3
    bsexton3 Posts: 472 Member
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    Keep us posted on the changes. I never eat all my exercise calories. In fact, I eat very few of them. But, my weight has stayed the same for the past three weeks. I wonder what it does for others.
  • azlady7
    azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
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    I have been a strong believer in the fact you eat your exercise calories and have been losing weight, slowly but surely. With that said, for the next month or so, I will not be eating them due to a class I am taking at the V.A. The dietitian there is from the old school belief that you eat a fixed amount of calories period, which for me is 1800.

    In theory, I should lose more, but will see how I feel doing that. So far, I have a lot of energy and able to walk 4 miles easy, sometimes up to 7.

    please keep us updated, i would be very interested to see how it goes for you!
  • lv2r1de
    lv2r1de Posts: 17
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    That's a good idea... I haven't lost for a few weeks, so I'm going to do the same. Thanks for the tip!
  • jimmydeanbakker
    jimmydeanbakker Posts: 333
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    If you do start to feel kind of weak, alternate days where you eat those calories with days that you don't.
  • msciccone1
    msciccone1 Posts: 288 Member
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    I don't eat mine because when I was I was barely losing or maintaning. Now I am losing consistently. Good luck!
  • Kaye8395BTS
    Kaye8395BTS Posts: 159 Member
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    Right now I eat about a 1/4 or a 1/2 of my exercise calories...I'd be very interested in seeing what works better. Keep us posted! Thanks :o)
  • Sporty98
    Sporty98 Posts: 321 Member
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    I am of that same belief.....I do not eat my exercise calories. BUT, now I am at a plateau and haven't lost anything in over 2 weeks. I work out 6 days/week, and take one day of rest. Yesterday I burned around 700 calories exercising (I don't track things like housework or gardening)....and still was up in weight today! Theoretically, I should be losing lots!
    Good luck and please keep us posted!
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
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    It's my theory that doing something different here and there will just keep your body guessing and working hard. Maybe it'll be a good change for a bit!
  • barty
    barty Posts: 729
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    Will be interesting to see how you get on ........please keep us posted !!! I didn't eat my exercise calories either. Good luck.
  • wh0a_is_me
    wh0a_is_me Posts: 41
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    Hm, yeah, I asked about this a few days ago, and it seemed like most people ate into their exercise calories. I think I may try avoiding it, but using them if I feel hungry.. but not as an excuse to eat more snacks.

    As everyone said, keep us updated!
  • Pamalaw
    Pamalaw Posts: 9
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    I'm coming from another site where you have a goal range no matter what you burned off.. here I think it's kind of nice to have a bit of flexibility all dependent on how much you burn off... there were times on the other site I had used that I would go over what they said was my calorie goal, but I had burned 1500 calories that day, didn't I need a bit more? Currently I am trying to go by my base goal but if I am going to go over I make sure I do a bit more exercise than planned.. so that way I try to keep around 300 or more calories left at the end of the day...

    my favorite example.. as unhealthy as it is, I like my cheeseburgers, so I'll try not to eat as many, as often, and making them smaller.. leaner meats if I'm making them at home and not grabbing fast food.. but if I do have a cheeseburger it's okay, I'll just do a bit more exercise to make up for it so I can stay under my goal for that day.. however I still can't do that EVERY day lol.. I try to maintain a deficit, I don't try to reach the goal..
  • angisnee
    angisnee Posts: 236 Member
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    I wonder if it's different for everyone because of how each person enters their daily activity level. I chose sedentary because I work at a desk 8 hours a day. But the other hours I'm chasing my 2 year old, hauling laundry loads up and down the stairs, vacuuming, etc. I don't log all that activity because it would give me a ton of extra calories I know I don't need.

    When I was not eating my exercise calories (from actual workouts), I would get easily fatigued and dizzy, plus my weight loss stalled. When I started eating them again, I got my energy back and the weight is coming off.

    Keep us posted as to how it goes for you and what further advice the dietitian gives.
  • Firesign
    Firesign Posts: 169 Member
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    I'm going to try it
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    I have been wondering about this for awhile. My personal trainer says not to eat your excercise calories while here, everyone says to. I will say that my eating as gotten a little to flexible since I started eating my exercise calories. More processed option and relying less of vegetables. It would do me a ton of good to maybe go back to eating only my original allotted calories which is 1240. Love to know how the weight loss goes.

    Question, though: did you tell your trainer that MFP already has you at a calorie deficit? A lot of trainers don't realize that, and that's why the advice to not eat your exercise calories back. 1240 is a pretty low base, especially if your workouts are intense. Just saying.
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    I have been wondering about this for awhile. My personal trainer says not to eat your excercise calories while here, everyone says to. I will say that my eating as gotten a little to flexible since I started eating my exercise calories. More processed option and relying less of vegetables. It would do me a ton of good to maybe go back to eating only my original allotted calories which is 1240. Love to know how the weight loss goes.

    Question, though: did you tell your trainer that MFP already has you at a calorie deficit? A lot of trainers don't realize that, and that's why the advice to not eat your exercise calories back. 1240 is a pretty low base, especially if your workouts are intense. Just saying.

    Exactly. Look at it his way. If you're allotted 1240 calories a day and burn, say 740 at the gym, you're asking your body to live on 500 calories. That's WAY extreme and will quickly set you in starvation mode.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    I'm sorry to threadjack here, but the thing about calorie deficits is that there isn't a "one size fits all" idea about whether or not to eat your exercise calories.

    Not eating them (and thereby having a larger deficit from your maintenance calories) is OK if you have a significant amount of weight to lose.

    However, for folks who are trying to drop 10-20 pounds, the math is different.

    Please, take the time to read this very helpful post and make your own decisions.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

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