Eating workout calories

wiggleroom
wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone else have a hard time trusting the estimate of calories burned when you input your workouts? I want to track my exercise for accountability's sake, but am not confident enough in the estimates to allow myself to eat the calories that MFP adds back in because I've "earned" them. I'd rather set a calorie budget and stick to it, whether I work out or not. I'm thinking I'll input my workouts at the very end of the day just so I can basically ignore all the addition & subtraction.

Anyone else feel this way?

Replies

  • benbidder
    benbidder Posts: 35
    Yeah, I try and stick to the calories I have been 'given' and figure that any exercise I do is extra... :)
  • mfkfoster
    mfkfoster Posts: 331 Member
    I normally just add about half the amount back into my diet. Like you I just don't trust it, but I do get hungry so I do add some back in. I don't want my body to go into stasrvation mode and stop losing weight. I have way too much to lose for that to happen! :happy:
  • lindalee0315
    lindalee0315 Posts: 527 Member
    I do the same. I've read a number of times that we tend to underestimate what we eat and overestimate our exercise intensity. As a result, I stick to what I've been given, maintaining between 1200-1400 calories a day, regardless of what MFP "gives" me for exercise.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    I eat 1200 and I never eat back my exercise calories :))
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    I usually eat some of my exercise calories, especially if I have gotten a great workout (like Zumba) but not very many of them. I actually use my HRM so I know I'm getting a pretty accurate count, but if I am full on the calories I am given, I don't see the point in stuffing myself to make up the difference given by exercise.
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
    I eat mine. But I do not use the calories MFP estimates. Those are only estimates. I input what a HRM says I burned. Then I eat those. :bigsmile:
  • wiggleroom
    wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
    Good to know I'm not crazy.

    Or .... well .... that could be a different debate entirely ...

    Anyway, I stick between 1200 and 1400 also, whether I work out or not. It's easier for me to be accustomed to my portion sizes and be consistent on days I can't/don't exercise!
  • ontheheap
    ontheheap Posts: 12 Member
    I eat mine, but that's because I have my goal set to lose 2lbs per week. If I had it set to lose 1lb per week (but wanted to lose 2) I would not eat them. When I add the calories into MFP I subtract around 30% from what the machines tell me I've burned to give myself a buffer in the (extremely) likely chance that the machine isn't 100% accurate.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
    I eat 1200 and I never eat back my exercise calories :))

    Me too, I'm at about 1300 calories per day. I figure there is probably something about the calories that I'm missing or forgetting or simply didn't track right as everyone makes food differently. Unless it's recipe specific and all portions are measured, just doesn't happen in my world. I always eat only 1/2 my portion at a restaurant and make smaller qty for dinner than for lunch. I also taste sample when I cook for my family, and don't count those tablespoons in the mix as it's impossible to measure. I eat when I'm hungry and make healthy choices so I don't track calories from exercise.

    I also don't have a HRM so I don't know specifically where I'm really coming from.
  • JGCowboy
    JGCowboy Posts: 58
    Getting a HRM was the best thing I ever did. I never trusted the tmill or climbers so I use it everyday to see where I am at and log it in on my own in MFP....2 more hours and I'm outtta here (work)...Go clock Go!
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