Why should I eat the calories I burned in exercise??!

Hafose
Hafose Posts: 6 Member
in Getting Started
Why is MPF asking me to eat the calories I burned back? I am burning those calories for a reason right? I want the calories out to be more than the calories in! I am supposed to eat 1200 Calories a day but when I worked out and burned 360 calories MFP recommended me to eat them all back. Isnt that a waste of workout ? since I am just doing cardio and not building any muscles then working out would be unnecessary at all. I am saying that because If I have to eat all the calories I burned back then what am I getting form that??

Replies

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,302 Member
    If you worked out your calorie goal using the MFP method - ie plugged your statistics into MFP and that is how you got the number 1200 - then 1200 already has a built in deficit, without any exercise.

    If you then burn off 300 doing exercise your net intake would only be 900 - and that is too low for your body to function properly on.

    If you are aiming for long term sustainable weight loss, eat at least most of those exercise calories back.
  • SteshaNicole
    SteshaNicole Posts: 42 Member
    That's a good question. I'm pretty new on here and I've wondered about that. At first, I was super excited b/c I got to eat more but then I thought the same...it's defeating the purpose of working out. Hmmm, interesting.
  • CanadianCountryGirl1973
    CanadianCountryGirl1973 Posts: 108 Member
    I'm not worrying about that unless I get a headache (a clear sign for me personally that I have not consumed enough calories). I consider those exercise calories as my "bonus" cushion for the weight loss. The data base is not foolproof, so I eat my "recommended" calories, try to stay within them, and think of the exercise time and calories burned as those which will guarantee the dropping of pounds. This is working well for me, and I am now averaging my 2 pounds that are suggested to lose. On the weekends, when I have more time to put into exercising (90 minute more aggressive walks in the hills) I also consider that to be my "bonus" (i.e. worked off that glass or two of wine without guilt!) I try to make sure that I'm on the plus end of my calories/exercise weekly and don't worry as much about it daily.
  • poohmebe
    poohmebe Posts: 1 Member
    The reason is because if you take in too few calories, your body will go into starvation mode and start storing fat- which isn't helpful in the weightless/metabolism improvement department; on average, 1200 net calories is as low as medically recommended for healthy loss. With a workout program in place with the recommended calorie intake (talk to your doctor, btw) you will still reach your goals. :)
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
    A modest calorie deficit is for fat loss.
    Exercise is for health and works better when fueled properly.

    More info
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1187899-in-place-of-a-roadmap-short-n-sweet-reposted
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/840082-a-sad-realization?hl=sad
    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    And a group to check out
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
    (read the stickies)
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    MFP is not telling you to eat the calories you burned, it's telling you, if you want, you can eat them.

    The only time MFP will tell you to eat more, is if you didn't meet the required 1200 calories, to keep your body from going into starvation mode. They have no problem with you eating the required 1200 but then burning off thru exercise a few hundred of those.
  • clairetomkinson84
    clairetomkinson84 Posts: 66 Member
    As was said, if you burn the calories in exercise then obviously your body is going to need more to function. By not eating properly you can mess up your system so badly and I'm talking from personal experience. Eating less is not always better when it comes to weight loss.
  • Frood42
    Frood42 Posts: 245 Member
    :huh:

    MFP is a NEAT calculator and already includes a deficit before any exercise (don't forget to set your activity level properly - this activity level is NOT exercise).


    The idea is to keep a steady deficit, which should help to maintain a steady weight loss, and hopefully make it easier for you to maintain the loss and make it easier when it comes to maintenance.

    It will hopefully also help to stop some people from going on an all out binge after having restricted their calories too much.

    Also with less weight to lose you should really choose a lower deficit.

    It is a fairly simple and straight forward idea and should help with stopping Yo Yo Dieting.

    Too great a deficit and you could end up tired, cranky and not able to perform at whatever task you are doing.
    At which point I would recommend a large bacon doorstop sandwich. :love:

    The more you weigh the greater the deficit you can afford, so if you have a lot to lose, than not eating back your exercise calories maybe ok until further along the line.


    In my case, not eating back my exercise calories would be a bad idea, as I cycle 50 miles a day.
    If I didn't eat back my exercise calories I would be in a negative NET, not to mention I could present a real danger to other traffic around me, especially if I were to bonk out while in fast moving traffic.


    Your body needs fuel to run, just like a car, if you have a lot of fuel already (i.e. fat) then you don't need to top up so much, as you have less fuel in the car the more you need to top it up to keep the performance up.

    .
  • tgraves9875
    tgraves9875 Posts: 16 Member
    I just started on here and my target # is also 1200. I earn about 260 calories with exercise per day and usually find that I don't feel the need to "eat them back". I haven't purposely made myself stay at the 1200 mark, but haven't felt the need to go over except once. In the past when I've dieted, I've set my limit at 900 without really exercising and felt crabby and hungry. I think I am going to listen to my body for now, as I figure the food I'm eating is not pre-packaged and I probably miscalculated something along the way.
  • Sarahrahi
    Sarahrahi Posts: 32 Member
    I do same....try not to exceed say 1300 calories in all...where i had already burnt 500 calories of the day and daily consumption is supposed to be around 1200. This way I still have 400 extra calories as a bonus which well honestly do get consumed over weekends etc. It should work. I also don't like the idea of consuming all my bonus calories from exercising. But in hind sight when I know I have a dinner or eating out planned for the day, I will clock in extra exercises so that I am well within my range even when I do eat stuff I shouldn't be :)

    Good luck!
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    If you're exercising purely to burn calories, you're exercising for the wrong reason. Massively increasing your deficit beyond what MFP already calculates is unnecessary, and will just hurt your recovery times and energy levels.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
    This question is asked hundreds of times on this website. The answers are all around you. Do a little of research...
  • elliej
    elliej Posts: 466 Member
    Truth: You probably need 1800-2000 cals to maintain your weight
    Truth: If you eat less than your maintenance amount you will lose weight
    Truth: If you're eating 1200 calories or less you are going to slow down your metabolism.
    Truth: Eating 1200 calories or less, and doing lots of cardio WILL burn muscle as well as fat

    Do you want to lose a bunch of weight, fat and muscle, erally fast and then as soon as you try to eat normally again put on a bunch of weight? Or do you want a steady, sustainable weight loss to get healthy? Something that you can then build on slowly to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life? I would suggest eating 1400 cals a day PLUS exercise cals.
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    Your calorie goal is based on your current stats and how much weight you want to lose in a week. The exercise will be above and beyond that… meaning (theoretically) you will lose weight faster. You will still lose weight by eating back your exercise calories. You do want to make sure you are getting a minimum of 1200 total calories to make sure your body is getting enough fuel and proper nutrition. As long as that is being met, you can consider your exercise calories as a "buffer." MFP will only "warn" you about not getting enough calories if your TOTAL is below 1200. Personally, I have not yet ever eaten back my exercise calories.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    A modest calorie deficit is for fat loss.
    Exercise is for health and works better when fueled properly.

    More info
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1187899-in-place-of-a-roadmap-short-n-sweet-reposted
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/840082-a-sad-realization?hl=sad
    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    And a group to check out
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
    (read the stickies)

    This. ^

    In reality you have two paths (and everything in between)

    1) modest deficit - reasonable loss with minimum impact to metabolism, improved adherence and long term sustainable. Feel well and train optimally.
    2) large deficit further fueled by exercise induced deficits - faster loss, including muscle, higher risk of metabolic change (including permanent change to things like thyroid...), possible adherence issues, not sustainable long term but delivers quicker results.

    Sometimes 2) makes sense (personality type, health issues, etc.) but usually 1) is more sensible.
  • funfang
    funfang Posts: 200 Member
    I try to eat back about half the calories I burn, lots times more, an I am loosing weight in a very steady pace, about 0.8 a week and I am very close to my goal. The thing is I would feel very hungry if I don't and there's no point to fight my body for not eating because I will be the one suffer in the end ( crazy craving for bad food, tired, depressed, cranky... you name it) I simply choose better food to eat. I find that I am a much happier person when I do that, the sweat and enjoying food really make me happy.

    I also think it's a long term goal not just for weight lose, I want to live healthy and happy. Loosing weight is only part of it, an active life style with food I can enjoy is more important.

    I also include some weight training in my excise and I am seeing good results. I didn't plan for building muscles, I just wanted to lose weight. It was a very pleasant surprise to find out I could actually have abs! I am now addicted to work out and doing more weight training.

    Eating less you will lose weight, but won't it be better to also gain a healthy life style and a good looking body? :-)

    61180394.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    Because MFP has set your deficit at 1200, and creating a bigger deficit than that can be dangerous to you health. It's also not sustainable. Try this calculator, which uses the TDEE method of creating a deficit:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    With this it will probably tell you to eat about the same as MFP's 1200 plus exercise calories. You're human, just like the rest of us, so don't mess with the science and the math, because you can't change your biology. People with a lot more education in nutrition, etc., have set this site up to help us all lose weight in a healthy and long-term way.
  • Grumbers
    Grumbers Posts: 111 Member
    As mentioned above, you need sufficient fuel to keep going.

    Personally I have a current daily target to net 2190cal per day. This should result in a 1.5lbs per week loss. With a bit of focus, I can do this reasonably comfortably when I'm not training.

    If I then go and stick a 10km run in, that'll put my daily net target up to around 3000cal.

    Now I'm not saying I'd eat all 3000 calories, but I'm certainly hungrier when I train. It's logical, if you're burning more energy you need to keep fuelled up. Personally the whole reason MFP works for me is that I DON'T spend any time feeling hungry. If you're hungry, surely you're more like to fall of the wagon?

    So on training days I probably average about 2600 calories consumed.

    Ultimately you're aiming at a net amount each day to achieved "x" loss. If you go too far off of that net target then you're just increasing risk to yourself and lowering your long term chances of actually hitting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

    Early on especially it's so easy to get sucked in to making the scales drop ASAP. Ultimately weight is only one small indicator of your health.
  • helsbelshms
    helsbelshms Posts: 93 Member
    Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to survive. Just sleeping you are burning calories. If you don't give yourself enough fuel to keep your vital organs healthy you'll have health problems down the line. That's where the generic 1200 calories comes in, but the bigger you are the more calories your organs need to keep functioning. Also, if you are petite, short and only have a few lbs to lose, slightly below 1200 might be safe.

    MFPs calorie goal is a NET goal meaning if you do exercise you have to eat back those calories to get your NET value back to 1200.

    Personally I've set mine to 1600 and so far this week my daily calories will be 1700, 1350, 1250, but the 1250 is after eating back some of my exercise calories (so I will actually eat closer to 1500). At a higher NET goal, I can afford to not eat back all of my calories as I'm still above that magic 1200 number. I do however plan on making up for those calories at the weekend!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Because the daily calorie goal you're given already has you at a deficit before exercise. Eat all your cals every day, do zero exercise and you'll lose weight. When you burn off more cals with exercise, you're creating too large a deficit. Food is fuel! The burned cals are added back into your goal because you are supposed to eat them back, bringing your NET cals up to, or very close to, your original goal, and you're still in a calorie deficit.

    Don't sell yourself short by thinking that slashing cals super low is going to get you to goal more quickly. We get countless posts around here every day from people who do this very thing, then complain about lack of energy, hair loss, saggy skin, frequent binging because they're hungry, yoyo dieting/falling off the wagon, loss of muscle, stall in weight loss, and the list goes on. Sounds fun, eh? :noway:

    Eat your calories. Drink water, exercise, take rest days, get good sleep. MFP is an awesome tool and works great when used correctly.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    MFP gives you a calorie goal based on how much you are burning a day. Unless you log exercise, it assumes you aren't exercising (whatever you told it your plans are), and calculates a goal based on the average burn of a non-exercising person of your size, age, and activity level. That's why someone who is 5'3, 140 will typically have a lower goal (even if they are trying for a recommended loss of 0.5/week) than someone who is 6'3, 350, and someone who works in construction (all else equal) will typically have a higher goal than someone who sits at a desk all day.

    The same principle applies to exercise calories. If I run 6 miles or bike 20 miles on a given day, I burn lots more calories than if didn't exercise. So if MFP calculates my goal based on my burn--my same goal that's supposed to give me a 1.5 lb/week loss--it will come up with a higher number of calories.

    If I were not to eat those back (as opposed to reducing them based on skepticism about the burn number that MFP or MapMyFitness came up with or flexing them over the week as a whole to allow me to eat more the next day or on the weekend), it would have the same effect as me trying to lose 3 lb/week instead of 1.5 lb and eating accordingly, or perhaps as the 350 lb guy above eating based on the goal to the 140 lb woman. In other words, it would be a goal that MFP would not typically be willing to give out, since according to the MFP process one is not supposed to eat less than 1200 net and is also supposed to have a deficit aimed at a loss of 2 lb or less per week.

    Now, under some doctor-supported plans you can aim for more, especially if extremely overweight, and I get that lots of people will say why isn't losing more inherently good, so the issue becomes why does MFP recommend not eating too few calories (as it defines it) and not too extreme a deficit? Generally, because it's important to maintain lean muscle mass as much as you can--we want to lose fat, not just weight--do as much as possible to avoid lowering our metabolisms, and have a sustainable plan where you feel good and energetic enough to make that exercise pay off.

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