DO YOU EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES?

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  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
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    Ok I'll get quoted for this but who the heck gaf.

    Yes I do eat them back, I have 1470 a day, and I don't want to eat less than that, so I eat all or most of them back. My logic is, that is the amount you are meant to eat a day, so why eat less from the ones you have burned, it's quite a bad behaviour to have towards calories, that to me could be the start of an eating disorder.

    If you want to lose more weight simply set your goal to 2lb or whatever you want. Not eating the calories from exercise back will give you more of a weightloss but it's just stupid. I personally exercise to be able to have more calories to eat again on whatever I want. It's recycling calories. In goes some food, it's burned, then you get to eat something else.
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
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    BTW I do exercise a lot and burn a lot so it's a necessity for me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    It is the way this tool is designed...if you're using MFP's calorie goals, they already include a deficit from maintenance WITHOUT exercise in your activity level setting. You just have to be careful not to overestimate your burn. Other calculators include an estimate of your exercise burn up front in your activity level so they are already included in the gross number that the calculator takes it's cut from...MFP only give you credit for it when you actually do it...thus you get the calories after you log exercise.

    That said, it really depends on where you're at...if you're extremely overweight you can get away with a bigger deficit so it's not as big of a deal...especially if your exercise is basically doing some walking, etc. If you're actually training or working out with any kind of vigorous effort and you don't have a ton of weight to lose it is vital to fuel your exercise activity. Creating too large of a calorie deficit burns muscle mass when you don't have the fat stores necessary to sustain said deficit.
  • RyanJK85
    RyanJK85 Posts: 580 Member
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    I eat if I am hungry....
  • 40andFindingFitness
    40andFindingFitness Posts: 497 Member
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    I eat if I am hungry....

    Ditto.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
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    Yes... I also eat caps lock keys.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
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    Yes, because I like to eat, a lot.
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    I try not to, but on some days I do. Particularly during the holidays where it allows me to enjoy a treat or two without guilt.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    mhm
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I eat if I am hungry....

    Ditto.

    for most people who have struggled with weight, hunger cues aren't exactly the best way to go about things. Overweight individuals and individuals who over-eat have higher levels of leptin which cue the brain that you are hungry even if you're not and do not require fuel; chronic under-eaters have substantially lower levels of leptin hormone...so they can eat like a little birdie and not feel hungry even though they are severely malnourishing their bodies...just ask an anorexic.

    Crappy advice is crappy...
  • zenophile9
    zenophile9 Posts: 1
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    You bet! I reached my goal and am just working on lifelong maintenance. Eating the exercise calories is my reward for exercising.
  • uk_ja
    uk_ja Posts: 143 Member
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    I figure out my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure ) monthly and then eat close to that number, I don't track the calories of individual activities themselves.

    Currently I eat around 3k a day which so far seems to give me about 1lb a week loss for this month so far
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Because following the MFP plan has worked so well for me I follow it in the way they designed it and that is to eat back exercise calories. I do use a conservative number and don't always log walks etc but any gym workouts are logged and generally eaten :happy:
  • Gilla22
    Gilla22 Posts: 28
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    Ok I'll get quoted for this but who the heck gaf.

    Yes I do eat them back, I have 1470 a day, and I don't want to eat less than that, so I eat all or most of them back. My logic is, that is the amount you are meant to eat a day, so why eat less from the ones you have burned, it's quite a bad behaviour to have towards calories, that to me could be the start of an eating disorder.

    If you want to lose more weight simply set your goal to 2lb or whatever you want. Not eating the calories from exercise back will give you more of a weightloss but it's just stupid. I personally exercise to be able to have more calories to eat again on whatever I want. It's recycling calories. In goes some food, it's burned, then you get to eat something else.


    ^this
    high 5 girl
  • WALKINGLADY14
    WALKINGLADY14 Posts: 15
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    thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I am going to eat my exercise calories and not feel guilty about it. That feels like a great start :laugh:
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Hi There, I just wondered if people out there ate their exercise calories? Would be interesting to hear your views. Thank you!

    Yes, although that's a function of burning between 600 and 1000 calories per session. Couldn't function if I didnt.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    Yes, I use TDEE though. Most weeks I burn over 3500 in exercise and I don't want my body to start burning lean mass along with the fat. I'd prefer to keep my lean mass and lose fat more slowly.
  • ab_1203
    ab_1203 Posts: 88 Member
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    Yes and you should eat them back if they make your net cals too low. 400-500 calorie deficit is good unless you can afford to go higher.
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
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    Ok I'll get quoted for this but who the heck gaf.

    Yes I do eat them back, I have 1470 a day, and I don't want to eat less than that, so I eat all or most of them back. My logic is, that is the amount you are meant to eat a day, so why eat less from the ones you have burned, it's quite a bad behaviour to have towards calories, that to me could be the start of an eating disorder.

    If you want to lose more weight simply set your goal to 2lb or whatever you want. Not eating the calories from exercise back will give you more of a weightloss but it's just stupid. I personally exercise to be able to have more calories to eat again on whatever I want. It's recycling calories. In goes some food, it's burned, then you get to eat something else.


    ^this
    high 5 girl

    kflngz3

    You're not 'winning' just because you ate under your calories that day. In fact, I wish MFP would remove that recognition for eating under calories. You either logged that day or you did not. Move on imo. So many people celebrate that 'under calories' thing and it's stupid, especially when they set their daily goal low to start with.

    As long as your balance for the week is netting under your TDEE, you're winning at losing. Don't be paranoid about fueling your exercise.

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