Eating back exercise calories

gena_c
gena_c Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
my calorie goal on mfp is 1200 and am trying to lose 2lb a week. with exercise cals it says you have extra to eat each day. is it really detrimental to eat these back? i usually burn around 400 a day really...

Replies

  • marilandica
    marilandica Posts: 88 Member
    Eat them back. You do not want to be under 1200 net calories. Just make sure you've picked the appropriate baseline activity level and that you're getting a reasonably accurate calorie burn count for the exercise you do.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    On the 1200/day, are you cranky? Hungry? Prone to binge at night on unhealthy things?

    If no, you can stick to 1200 if you want. There's nothing wrong with eating the 400 extra calories. MFP builds in a deficit, so if you exercise and log it, it will give you those calories as more food to eat, to bring your "net" calories back to 1200.

    If you are hungry during the day, maybe you should try eating back half of the extra calories? Just see how that goes, and how it makes you feel?
  • gena_c
    gena_c Posts: 8
    it's usually a long walk to/from the station from home so burns about 350-400 calories each way...
  • marilandica
    marilandica Posts: 88 Member
    How are you measuring that calorie burn? Unless you're walking at least 4 mph and walking over 4 miles each way you're not burning "350-400 calories each way."
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    First, 2 lbs is a bit aggressive for a person with your weight loss amount left. It should be max around 1.5. Second, just set your account to lightly active since you walk every day and do not worry about exercise calories. This way you are not over estimating.
  • Solartiste
    Solartiste Posts: 18 Member
    MFP calculate how you have to cut back from food to lose 2 pounds a week. Exercice will not help to lose weight, it will help you to be energic, to feel better, to have a better mood and be in better shape and more cut. If you dont eat your calories back, your metabolism will finish to be too low and eventually, you will not be able to lose weight more and you will gain weight very fast.
  • gena_c
    gena_c Posts: 8
    surely exercise can help lose weight'?! and i am looking to lose a lot, about 50lb, so i think 2lb a week is pretty mild, would prefer to lose more!!
  • Kaylee_Loren
    Kaylee_Loren Posts: 56 Member
    Damn, how far do you live from the station!?
  • mcrane4
    mcrane4 Posts: 18 Member
    I wished I burned 350 calories walking to the station, I would have to walk 10km with a high paced walk to get to the station, but if I was going to walk 10km I might as well walk to my destination
  • gena_c
    gena_c Posts: 8
    FAR!! used to get the bus, its over 3 miles to this particular station i need to get to - on a funny line
  • gena_c
    gena_c Posts: 8
    about a 45 min walk
  • danireyes14
    danireyes14 Posts: 11
    my trainer told me you dont HAVE to eat back the excersize back. i didnt question her. lol
  • marilandica
    marilandica Posts: 88 Member
    I think maybe you don't understand how MFP works. You enter in a baseline activity level. Read the descriptions of each level to figure out which one is most applicable to you. If you are "counting" your daily commuting walk in your baseline fitness level, then you do NOT calculate, log and eat back those particular calories. However, if you pick a baseline level like "sedentary" which would not account for your daily commuting walk , then you DO calculate, log and eat back those daily commuting walk calories (again, however, I think you're vastly over-estimating how many calories you burn on that walk). You're after 1200 or so NET calories. Fewer net calories than that should generally not be undertaken except under the advice of a physician when you have an extreme amount of weight to lose.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    surely exercise can help lose weight'?! and i am looking to lose a lot, about 50lb, so i think 2lb a week is pretty mild, would prefer to lose more!!

    Here are general guidelines to follow.

    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    about a 45 min walk

    you would be lucky to burn 200 calories during a 45 minute walk
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    you would be lucky to burn 200 calories during a 45 minute walk

    +1 this.
  • Of_Monsters_and_Meat
    Of_Monsters_and_Meat Posts: 1,022 Member
    Good luck on your weight loss journey. You seem nice, but nothing is going to deter your course of action. Please let me know when you post a "I am eating 1200 calories and not losing weight" thread.


    You should probably not lose 50 pounds first off. second, 0.5 - 1 lbs a week. Figure out TDEE and BRM, I bet BMR is over 1200.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    some things never change eh? :laugh:
  • jackpotclown
    jackpotclown Posts: 3,275 Member
    some things never change eh? :laugh:
    yeah, even after creating a website for should I eat my exercise calories back eh tazer??? \m/
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    my trainer told me you dont HAVE to eat back the excersize back. i didnt question her. lol

    There are methods that INCLUDE exercise up front........perhaps your trainer is referring to one of these methods (TDEE less a % is one).

    MFP is a different method.............it assumes you will do ZERO exercise....then calculates your deficit. When you exercise, you are increasing your deficit. Too large a deficit and you will lose fat+muscle.....as opposed to mostly fat.

    The problem with logging exercise......calorie burns are estimates......very often too high. Many MFP users adjust this number down (eating back a %).

    OP - at 1200 calories you are already at MFP's lowest default number. Exercising a lot & not fueling your workouts will help you lose "weight" faster................but do you really want the same body fat % as when you started dieting?

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