Exercise calories

Emilylind95
Emilylind95 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this question has probably been asked thousands of times, but I just don't understand the logic. Why would someone eat their exercise calories back? Say we cut 250 calories from our diet and burn 250 calories a day through exercise, thus meaning losing a pound a week. Why would I eat an extra 250 exercise calories? That would mean I just erased the calories I burned during my workout. Can someone explain this to me?

Replies

  • xfrlss22
    xfrlss22 Posts: 10 Member
    I could be wrong but I believe it is to help your muscles recover and for those that have already created a large deficit. For example if you cut back 500 calories from your diet and then burn 250, you should eat those 250 back to stay within a healthy deficit. If that make sense?
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Well....you're probably a bit low on your estimate.

    When you set up MFP it calculates how many calories you can eat per day to meet the lbs. lost goal, assuming you do no exercise. By eating exercise calories back you are properly fueling your body for the workout while staying at a mild caloric deficit. It isn't necessarily about how big the deficit you create is, it's more about making sure you're properly fueled while staying in that mild deficit.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    When you told MFP how many pounds/week you wanted to lose, they automatically set your daily calories to reflect that deficit.
    Example: I want to lose 1 pound a week. MFP might set my calories to 1500. (2000 is my TDEE - 500 cal. daily deficit to lose the 1 pound)

    Every day, your diary is set up to lose that 1 pound from the get go. You have 1500 cals to eat that day. IF you don't exercise - you still are in a calorie deficit to lose the 1 pound per week.

    When you exercise, you use more calories. MFP adds them back to ensure that your deficit stays at 1 pound per week.

    If you do not eat those calories you will be creating too large a deficit.
  • Krissy563
    Krissy563 Posts: 47 Member
    If you set MFP to lose 1 pound a week, you *already have a 500 calorie/day deficit built in.* So if you did no exercise, you'd lose a pound a week. If you do exercise, you can eat back all those calories and still lose a pound a week.

    If you are set for a 250 calorie deficit, then it sounds like you are set up for a 1/2 lb/week loss. Again... if you exercise on top of that and eat back all the calories, you will still lose a half pound a week.

    Will you lose more if you exercise and don't eat those calories back? Maybe, maybe not. As someone previously posted, you do need to make sure you are getting sufficient nutrition and fuel.

    There are indeed thousands of threads on this... everyone has a different way of explaining... do a search and perhaps one of the explanations will "click" with you. Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I know this question has probably been asked thousands of times, but I just don't understand the logic. Why would someone eat their exercise calories back? Say we cut 250 calories from our diet and burn 250 calories a day through exercise, thus meaning losing a pound a week. Why would I eat an extra 250 exercise calories? That would mean I just erased the calories I burned during my workout. Can someone explain this to me?

    Easy....

    Let's say without exercise you maintain your weight on 2000 calories per day....so to lose 1 Lb per week you would need a 500 calorie per day deficit...so you set your goal to lose 1 Lb per week and MFP gives you a goal of 1500 calories. You eat that and with no exercise whatsoever you lose weight.

    So you start to exercise and lets say you burn 300 calories per day. Well, if you were maintaining, you would now need 2,300 calories to maintain weight...and could lose that same 1 Lb per week eating 1800 calories because 2300 - 1800 = that same 500 calorie deficit you had before.

    It's just a matter of where you account for exercise...some calculators do it up front in your activity level...MFP does it after the fact when you log it.

    You should account for that activity somewhere...exercise is very beneficial from a health standpoint...but also very hard on the body. Your body requires energy (calories) and nutrients to properly recover and rebuild from exercise...you're doing yourself and your body a disservice by not fueling it properly and creating huge deficits with built in dietary deficits and then working off more with exercise.

    You don't have to build a deficit with exercise...it is most efficient to build your deficit into your diet which is what MFP and most calculators do...it's just a matter of where one accounts for that activity.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    MFP does not include exercise when it calculates 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.

    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.

    (This is unlike most other weight loss methods which do include exercise, so you would not eat extra for exercise).
  • FITmrsroe
    FITmrsroe Posts: 28 Member
    This was a very helpful post. Thank you to the OP for asking this question. I've been doing this for a year and wondering that same thing. And now I think I've figured out why I've hit a plataeu
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I know this question has probably been asked thousands of times, but I just don't understand the logic. Why would someone eat their exercise calories back? Say we cut 250 calories from our diet and burn 250 calories a day through exercise, thus meaning losing a pound a week. Why would I eat an extra 250 exercise calories? That would mean I just erased the calories I burned during my workout. Can someone explain this to me?

    In your example, you would set MFP for 0.5 lb/week loss and then add in 0.5 lb/week of exercise. Most of the time, for most people in such a scenario, your instinct is bang on - there is no need at all to be eating back those exercise calories.

    The real issue is with people who exercise a LOT, or try to maintain high activity levels on relatively high caloric deficits. If you really hit the workouts, it is important to refuel appropriately or your body will quickly hit a wall. For most MFPers, this isn't a consideration.

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