Eating your exercise calories? Help!

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beansoverjava
beansoverjava Posts: 26 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My question for everyone and anyone is, Do you eat your burned calories? My daily goal is 1200 and I'm usually spot on, now my weight hasn't budged in months so I'm wondering if I should be eating those burned calories, or should I just be aiming towards getting my net at 1200, or just stick with what I've been doing and ignoring my burned calories and just get my 1200? This past week I've added a TON of walking in my daily life and I swear if that scale doesn't budge, I'm going to throw my hands up and eat a box of twinkies!

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    If you're using MFP's #s and you're logging accurately then yes - eat them. Or at least 1/2 of them.
  • beansoverjava
    beansoverjava Posts: 26 Member
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    I do use MFP's #'s. I'm also using my Fitbit, and Mapmyfitness. And I'm burning close to 500-600 in extra calories each day. So I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough calories.
  • asianrunner
    asianrunner Posts: 42 Member
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    I always eat all of my exercise calories if I'm hungry enough! I normally go over my calories, even with the exercise calories added in. Today is one of those rare days where I'm satisfied and still have about 150 left.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Yes, I eat my exercise calories. For those who think that isn't possible. . . I went from 136 to 103, with calories set at 1200 PLUS the exercise, around 250 more.
  • tahneesummers88
    tahneesummers88 Posts: 52 Member
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    Some days I do, and some days I don't. Depending on my level of hunger really.

    You are supposed to eat them back if you're doing it My fitness Pals way.. because the number that MFP gives you, is already in deficit. Try eating back half and see if that helps :-)
  • traceywoody
    traceywoody Posts: 233 Member
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    Please don't eat that box of twinkies. Just have one and log it! :wink: :flowerforyou:

    Edited to add this because I forgot - and yes I do eat my exercise calories back. I try to stick to around half, but sometimes eat more, sometimes less and I am consistently losing. Some weeks it looks like I haven't lost anything, but I keep up what I am doing and then....BAM....it comes off.
  • TeeEff
    TeeEff Posts: 2
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    OK, so Im super confused now.....whats the point of burning calories, if your just suppose to turn around and eat them back.
    I thought that you were suppose to burn more calories than you take in.
    I try to burn 1000 calories minimum, daily - am I suppose to be eating an extra 1000 calories a day....
  • beansoverjava
    beansoverjava Posts: 26 Member
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    Thank you everyone! Tomorrow I will start with eating back half my earned calories to see if that helps me. I'm tired of being stuck, I've even added more walking (it's my only exercise for now) and while my legs are burning and screaming at me cause I'm walking at such a fast past, the scale isn't showing the results!

    Also I hope you don't mind me adding a few of you :wink:
  • beansoverjava
    beansoverjava Posts: 26 Member
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    Please don't eat that box of twinkies. Just have one and log it! :wink: :flowerforyou:

    I'll stick to just one for now! LOL! :wink:
  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
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    Because burning calories in the form of excersise allows you eat more, improves your health and fitness, maintains or builds muscle and is an excellent stress reliever and source of endorphins.

    Sure you could lose weight by eating your 1200 calories a day and not doing any excersise but you may find that you have lost a lot of muscle mass along with body fat.

    I personally don't intentionally eat back my excersise calories unless I have burnt a lot and am starving but I eat a lot more than 1200 a day.
  • stef_monster
    stef_monster Posts: 205 Member
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    To answer your question, OP, I eat mine back if I'm hungry. Some days I'm just not. I'm more or less in maintenance now, so I usually end up eating at least half of them or I get grumpy. It's possible that adding in more exercise has caused your muscles to retain fluids- this can create a false stall or even a slight gain (that goes away once your body adjusts). Make sure you're weighing all your solids and measuring all your liquids, and keep at it.
    OK, so Im super confused now.....whats the point of burning calories, if your just suppose to turn around and eat them back.
    I thought that you were suppose to burn more calories than you take in.
    I try to burn 1000 calories minimum, daily - am I suppose to be eating an extra 1000 calories a day....

    If you have MFP goals set to lose, the number it gives you is a deficit. If it gives you 1200 calories and you eat 1300, you're STILL in a deficit, it's just smaller. That can lead to slower weight loss, but you will still lose. If you have 1200 calories and then burn 500 by running for an hour, if you ate 1700 calories you would STILL be in a deficit. I hope that helps!
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    OK, so Im super confused now.....whats the point of burning calories, if your just suppose to turn around and eat them back.
    I thought that you were suppose to burn more calories than you take in.
    I try to burn 1000 calories minimum, daily - am I suppose to be eating an extra 1000 calories a day....

    The point is that exercise is not just for burning calories, it is for overall fitness and health. Your deficit is already built in by mfp when you get your daily goal. So yes, you are meant to be eating back your calories from exercise, or at least half of them. That is how this site works. You will bugger up your hormones and metabolism if you consistently net below your bmr.

    And the majority of the successful people here...ate back their exercise calories.
    I eat mine back. 12% bodyfat. Has not done me any harm. ;)
  • SGibz
    SGibz Posts: 17 Member
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    It depends on what your goal is. Keep this in mind….a 3500 calorie deficit will get you a 1 pound loss and vice versa. If your goal is to maintain you want to feed your body the right amount of calories based on your activity level. So if you want to gain weight, you would want an excess of 3500 calories.

    One other important note is the quality of calories. You can hit your calorie #s eating cheeseburgers and get your desired weight but your fat/muscle ratio will be undesirable. Tracking your macros which is easy with this app will help you a long way.

    Good luck...
  • JonnyQwest
    JonnyQwest Posts: 174 Member
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    I know people freak out about this but I never paid any attention to exercise calories and/ or eating them back while losing the weight (I just now entered my maintenance phase). I exercised ALOT and dieted hardcore and just got the weight off as fast as I humanly could.....I am not one to have patience enough to consciously hamper my efforts by doing something as counter-intuitive as eating back my exercise calories. I don't care what science it's supposedly backed by, it just seems too crazy!
    The body is an amazing thing, it will tell you what it needs and as long as you give it what it needs (OK DONT listen to it when it tells you it wants a Twinkie LOL) then you should be OK. On days you feel depleted, eat a bit more-switch it up and eat more fruit, etc.....you may just need more of a certain vitamin/nutrient, etc. People on here try to over-complicate it IMO....it's really not that difficult.....eat at a deficit and you will lose, listen to your body and eat a varied diet with plenty of healthy options and you will be fine.
    Also, eat as clean as possible so that your body is getting all the vitamins and nutrients it needs. Eat a lot of protein and workout hard to maintain lean body mass while you are eating at a deficit.....I probably focused way too much on cardio initially trying to get the weight off as fast as possible....it worked but about halfway through my weight loss I started switching over to heavy weight training-I felt much better and I was actually to build muscle/tone as I lost the rest of the weight. You don't want to lose the weight only to become a skinny fat person. Weight training should be a part of everyone's program....male or female! The women (and men of course) with the best results on MFP are the ones that have realized weight training is crucial in body shaping--the weight training will give you proportion as you get to your goal weight.

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