Adding Calories after Exercise?

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museonlife
museonlife Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
A post by an online friend here said she had burned 1002 calories shoveling snow for 120 minutes. What I want to know is this -- do you eat 1002 extra calories to make up for it? If not, do you get that error message that says you are not eating enough calories? I just do not understand that - what is the point of the exercise if you cancel out the calories burned with higher food intake? Can someone explain?

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  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    read this!


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • pkd1
    pkd1 Posts: 170 Member
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    yes you have to eat those calories to reach you total net calories (on your home page) so if your calories were 1500 and you burned 1000, youve only consumed 500 and have to eat those calories back
  • butterflyfaerie
    butterflyfaerie Posts: 94 Member
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    This is what I've always thought, too. Surely the calories you burn exercising are null if you eat the calories back? In the past when I've had my exercise calories left over it's not given me the under calorie goal, message, if that helps?
  • ItsMeMaryW
    ItsMeMaryW Posts: 119 Member
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    I try not to eat the extra calories after I workout but if I eat a few more than normal it doesn't hurt me. You wont get an error message if you don't consume them, only if you go below 1200 calories.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    This is what I've always thought, too. Surely the calories you burn exercising are null if you eat the calories back? In the past when I've had my exercise calories left over it's not given me the under calorie goal, message, if that helps?

    The calories burned during exercise are not null. Say you are given a daily goal of 1200 calories but you burn 400. That leaves you with 800 calories for the day. That's not enough! It might work for a little while but eventually your body will stop burning fat and hold onto it because it thinks it's heading into a famine. This is the famine response (also know as Starvation Mode). You don't have to eat all of the exercise calories. I eat to get to at least 1200 and sometimes I eat the rest, sometimes I don't. 1200 is the general number used as the bare minimum to keep from going into Starvation Mode and any doctor will tell you the same.:happy:

    Our bodies are amazing machines but they need fuel to work properly.

    I ate well under 1200 for a long time and gained weight.

    You only get the "under goal" message if you are under 1200 for that day.
  • Mint_Berry_Crunch
    Mint_Berry_Crunch Posts: 27
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    healthy weight loss = having a caloric deficit of about 500 calories a day. If you need, say, 1700 calories to maintain your current weight, then 1200 calories a day would have you right on the money. If you then go out and shovel snow and burn through 1,000 calories, you are no longer at a 500 calorie deficit, you are at a 1500 calorie deficit, which means you are not providing your body with enough calories to even maintain basic organ functions.

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