Eating the calories you burn

Jbet2011
Jbet2011 Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I've read a lot on why you should eat back the calories you burn, to keep yourself at your goal net calories... but my question is why do you workout at all, if you're just going to go eat the calories back?

Couldn't you just skip the workout and balance your caloric intake and still lose weight at the same rate as if you were exercising and eating the cals back?

For example, your net intake is 1500 cals with no exercise one week and the next week you eat the cals you burned back and still get a net intake of 1500... would you lose the same amount of weight for those weeks?

Replies

  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
    Yes you would lose the same amount of weight.

    Exercise is for fitness, not weight loss. If you want to improve your cardio ect, you should exercise.

    The site is designed so one can lose weight with zero exercise.

    I do often exercise so I can eat more, I have a ferocious appetite.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    It completely depends on what system you're using to monitor your calorie goal. If you are using MFP's goal, the deficit is built in for you, and the calorie burn adds to that, which is why you would eat back at least some of the calories you burn (assuming you have an accurate count of the calorie burn). If you are using the TDEE method, as you would on the scooby website, the calorie burn is part of the deficit, so you would not eat any of them back.

    and yes, you can not work out and lose weight, because weight loss is really about eating at a deficit, eliminating calories. Exercise is for fitness. You track the calorie burn because it affects the deficit.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    cardio would help with endurance, heart health and allow you to eat more.
    Strength training allows you to get stronger, maintain the muscle you already have so most of your loss is from fat, and allows you to eat more as well, just not as much as cardio does.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    MFP does not include exercise when it calculations how many calories you need. You will lose weight with diet alone. When you do exercise, you need more fuel for that, or else you would be eating at an unhealthy low level. (This is unlike most other weight loss methods which do include exercise, so you would not eat extra for exercise).

    Example:

    1500 (the amount MFP tells you to eat to lose 1 pound per week)
    -300 (the amount of calories you burned for exercise)
    +300 (the amount more you ate for exercise)
    =1500 (you are still at the deficit you need to lose 1 pound per week.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    I love to eat and drink. The exercise buys me the headroom to eat more. This may also have a benefit of ramping up my metabolism. No doctor or dietitian here but this is working well for me. I have developed a love for running which I have always hated in the past. Now I have added in a Nautilus workout three days a week. I feel incredible, I am in the best shape and lowest weight since high school. Another side effect is I have started really paying attention to not only the calories but the quality of food I eat. While weight loss is still possible I think adding exercise is a win win.

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