How important is it to eat your burned calories?

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ShunkyDave
ShunkyDave Posts: 190 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I do exercise, my calories for the day increases. On The Biggest Loser, they're burning upwards of 9K calories a day, and they're taking in between 1200 and 2400. So if I'm burning 300-500 calories, how necessary is it that I eat those again later on? Would it not just accelerate my loss if I stuck to my original daily goal?

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  • wiggleroom
    wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
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    I try to eat maybe half of them -- I don't trust the calorie burn estimates, so I'm wary of banking on those calories.

    I just set my calories as low as MFP lets me, and my activity level as sedentary (even though it's not -- I'm a mom! Hello?!), then try (TRY) to leave a couple of hundred calories at the end of the day.

    Some days I'm hungrier than others, though, and I break that rule! =)
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    Check out these links to answer your question:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/69708-calorie-deficit-for-dummies-a-little-long
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • ShunkyDave
    ShunkyDave Posts: 190 Member
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    Thank you!
  • AndreaWyland
    AndreaWyland Posts: 142 Member
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    Hi, i struggle with this myself... I wear a heart rate monitor and count my cal burned that way but I know even with that its not 100% accurate, the same with the cal burned with this program. So what Ive tried to do is count only some of the cal burned, leaving room for error as at my weight and with my goals every cal counts. So if my goal is 1200 a day and I burn 800 during a run I would only use 500-600 of those for food and Ive been working hard to make those food choices clean, that makes a big difference. Fruit, vegetables, whole grain, liquids (soups, smoothies),etc. Good luck!
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    When I do exercise, my calories for the day increases. On The Biggest Loser, they're burning upwards of 9K calories a day, and they're taking in between 1200 and 2400. So if I'm burning 300-500 calories, how necessary is it that I eat those again later on? Would it not just accelerate my loss if I stuck to my original daily goal?
    That's a TV show for ratings, not real life like we're living.:wink: MFP already sets you up for a calorie deficit when you set up your account either 500 cals for 1 lb a week or 1000 for 2.lbs a week to cut that even lower simply doesn't make much sense if you want to keep the weight off after it's lost.

    We need to fuel our bodies after a workout not deprive them of nutrients. Looks like some members have shared some helpful links that you'll want to take time out to read so you have a better understand of 'why' it's important to refuel after working out.:flowerforyou:
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    See my signature LOL
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
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    I try to eat maybe half of them -- I don't trust the calorie burn estimates, so I'm wary of banking on those calories.

    I just set my calories as low as MFP lets me, and my activity level as sedentary (even though it's not -- I'm a mom! Hello?!), then try (TRY) to leave a couple of hundred calories at the end of the day.

    Some days I'm hungrier than others, though, and I break that rule! =)

    TOTALLY agree about not trusting calorie burn on anything!! So many things impack it. After losing 70#, I actually gained a bit of weight this past year , for various reasons. One of them was that I began to eat my exercise calories. The problem is, I still needed to lose a bit more. I cut my exercise calories back out and promptly lost 4 pounds.

    I have found in the past if I am still hungry, usually a piece of fruit will do the trick (about 100 cals).

    Assuming you are eating a well balanced diet, lots of studies have shown that you do not need to eat any differently for exercise unless you are participating in sustained cardio activity of an hour or more. I'm a runner, so I can usually bump up my calories when I am training for a race, but other than that. 1400-1600 is my sweet spot. If I keep my calories in that range, regardless of what I am doing for exercise, the weight will come off.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    See my signature LOL

    Great signature - Love it! :smile:
  • Dtermined89
    Dtermined89 Posts: 16
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    I've used tons of different cardio machines and no matter how hard I work they consistently are A LOT lower on their calorie burned results then MFP is. Regardless of the accuracy I deffinatly dont think you need to eat every last calorie you've burned as that seems rather redundant. A better bet is to make sure your net calories never drops below about 1200. If that means you get an extra snack well I don't see that as being a terrible burden lol at least for me it wouldnt be. :)

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