excersise calories?! eat them or not

klynn97
klynn97 Posts: 3
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
So I'm 10 days in and loving this website! I am curious if it is safe to eat your excersise calories? I usually try not to but am hearing that I should? Any input or opinions would be great.
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Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You should eat at least most of them. MFP already gives you a caloric deficit to meet your goal, if you exercise that deficit grows, so to keep your deficit at your goal level you must eat your exercise calories.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
  • SamWTFx3
    SamWTFx3 Posts: 76
    It's really your choice.. But you at least need to eat the 1200 calories, for sure.
  • Laurine
    Laurine Posts: 1 Member
    I asked our fitness coach at work and he suggest not to eat the exercise calories. He said I would just be erasing the exercise I did. Made sense to me.
  • doggiemomma
    doggiemomma Posts: 68
    You need to eat some of them to reach what MFP says should be your calorie intake. Say you have a 1700 calorie intake. You burn off 700 working out. That only leaves you 1,000 calories for intake. That will put your body into starvation mode. You need to eat some but not all of them back. I usually make it a habit to eat about 1/2 of what I work off. So I burn up 700 at the gym and will put 350 pack into my body. Starvation mode for your body is bad and will make you start gaining or quit losing at all.

    Hope that helps.
  • debbielynn66
    debbielynn66 Posts: 9
    I'm still new too, and just found on another post that we need to be eating the exercise calories to lose weight..! Who knew??!! Anyway, now that I read that, gonna start eating the extra cals today!
  • Eyvette1
    Eyvette1 Posts: 76 Member
    I NEVER eat them. I know allot of people will tell you to eat them but I don't and have had huge success.
  • thelassiemickyjames
    thelassiemickyjames Posts: 197
    Yeah, I agree! You shouldnt be eating them because you would be putting to waste all the hard work in the gym. Theres no point in being on a 1200 calorie diet / excercise plan when you eat as much as you excercise.
  • chelsiburnett
    chelsiburnett Posts: 317
    I was like you at first and didn't know what I should be doing, but I tried to just eat my 1200 calories at first and lost about 8 pounds which was great, but then I hit a weight where the scale wasn't budging!!! i tried everything and nothing was working, so this last saturday I decided I was going to try and eat some of my exercise calories back and I have lost another 1/2 pound within those three days! I think it works, but that is just my experience!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    It's really your choice.. But you at least need to eat the 1200 calories, for sure.

    1200 Net, so if you goal is 1400 and you burn 400 you should eat between 1600 (1200+400) and 1800 (1400+400) If you goal is 1200 you should eat them
  • Sarean
    Sarean Posts: 77
    You should definitely eat at least 1200 a day. Then if you're truly hungry (not bored or upset) you eat some of your exercise calories, but don't force yourself to eat just b/c someone says you should eat half or all of those calories.
  • kvns83
    kvns83 Posts: 29
    I would say it depends on how you set up your goals. If you said you would work out for x # of days, for x # min., then your calories to reach your goal has been adjusted. If you didn't make fitness a goal and it is extra then you should eat them so you aren't at too much of a deficit. Worst thing for your body is to go into starvation mode. No matter what tho you will lose, the only thing that will change is how fast you lose.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Yeah, I agree! You shouldnt be eating them because you would be putting to waste all the hard work in the gym. Theres no point in being on a 1200 calorie diet / excercise plan when you eat as much as you excercise.

    Wrong, exercising will help develop muscle and when you lose weight you won't be "skinny fat". the only way you should not eat your exercise calories is if you have 100 or more pounds to lose, or if you are eating at maintenance calories. If you ate at maintenance you will get more calories each day and you can let your exercise create the deficit for losing weight. Eating too little Net calories is not healthy over a period of time.
  • dhutt2011
    dhutt2011 Posts: 77 Member
    I usually don't eat them and if I do, I only maybe tap in a few 100 calories. When you take an excercise from MFP database who knows if it is truly what you burned unless you use a HRM. It is up to you. There are a bunch of article on this topic as someone posted earlier.
    It appears to be really important to eat them especially if you are 10 pounds away from your goal as your body needs more fuel to for the amount of excercise you are doing. When you have a lot left to lose it isn't as critical.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You should definitely eat at least 1200 a day. Then if you're truly hungry (not bored or upset) you eat some of your exercise calories, but don't force yourself to eat just b/c someone says you should eat half or all of those calories.

    Hunger is not the best indication of nutritional requirements, if you exercise your body needs more fuel.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    I very rarely eat them. I see no point! I am trying to lose weight, eating those exercise calories just makes it a longer process. I eat around 1500 - 2000 a day. I think that is more then enough.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I very rarely eat them. I see no point! I am trying to lose weight, eating those exercise calories just makes it a longer process. I eat around 1500 - 2000 a day. I think that is more then enough.

    MFP does not recommend more than 2 lbs per week which is a 1000 caloric deficit/day so if you are set to lose 2 lbs you should eat your exercise cals or your weight loss may not be "healthy" and there will be a greater chance of burning off muscle, when you are really trying to lose fat.
  • maxolivia
    maxolivia Posts: 28
    I always eat my exercise calories and I have lost 26 lbs since Sept.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    I very rarely eat them. I see no point! I am trying to lose weight, eating those exercise calories just makes it a longer process. I eat around 1500 - 2000 a day. I think that is more then enough.

    MFP does not recommend more than 2 lbs per week which is a 1000 caloric deficit/day so if you are set to lose 2 lbs you should eat your exercise cals or your weight loss may not be "healthy" and there will be a greater change of burning off muscle, when you are really trying to lose fat.

    I don't believe that 2lbs a week thing is correct. I think each person is different. I know last time I had to drop some weight, I ate about 500 - 1500 calories a day. I dropped extremely fast. Never got sick or had any problems. I even worked out a lot more then because my job kept me really active.
  • chadam1015
    chadam1015 Posts: 58 Member
    Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    Wow there is a lot of confusion over this, even by so called trainers. It's really simple and I think you get different answers based on how your daily calorie load was calculated. There's couple ways to go

    All the calculators I ever use you enter height, weight, age.,non exercise related activity level (sedentary, light, moderate, etc) and your exercise level or calories burned through your exercise per week. The calorie level a calculator of this kind spits out for fat loss is what you eat every day, period. No less ,no more. You do not eat your exercise calories. They are included in the number you were given. Should you eat too much you may exercise it off. Should you eat to little, you must skip some exercise.

    Another way to do it is to get your current maintenance level of calories but they don't ask you about your exercise and often assume your sedentary. The calculator spit's out the level to lose fat but does not include your exercise and possibly not even your normal activity level. Any calories burned through exercise must be eaten! If you do not, you fall way to far below BMR, trigger starvation mode, and weight loss either doesn't happen and/or you end up "skinny fat". Skinny fat means yeah you lost weight, but it was your muscle, which means slowed metabolism. Not to mention the horrible stresses put on your body and very long list of possible health issues to go along with it. You will also put weight back on, probably more than when you started, rather quickly.


    So, it's up to you to think a little bit and make sure fully understand the number given by the calculator you use. I use http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm or the Beachbody calculator.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Here are some great threads that explain how MFP calculates goals, metabolism, and why it's important to fuel your body. MUST READS! (And btw, everything Eric has said is right on.)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

    Take the time to educate yourself! Good luck to you!
  • chelle1a
    chelle1a Posts: 143 Member
    I eat some of them but not all of them.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?

    I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!

    I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.
  • Lewzy
    Lewzy Posts: 54 Member
    Personally I don't like eating them back, well at least all of them. I'm satisfied with the amount I eat which is usually around 1,300 cals a day. When I exercise I usually burn off 500, my goal is 1,450 a day so to meet my goal I would have to eat another 650 calories. If I did eat all of those back, I'd just be doing it for the sake of it! Not because I'm actually hungry and want food. I usually eat 200/300 of them back maximum. This hasn't affected me in any way and I've been losing around 3-4lbs a week. I haven't been able to exercise for the last week due to a foot injury but I've still lost 2lbs in the last week. I expected to put weight back on considering everyone was telling me my body would be in starvation mode with my net calories averaging 900-1000 a day but I still continued to lose!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?

    I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!

    I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.

    Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.

    For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
    Take your time READ links ladyhawk00 posted!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Personally I don't like eating them back, well at least all of them. I'm satisfied with the amount I eat which is usually around 1,300 cals a day. When I exercise I usually burn off 500, my goal is 1,450 a day so to meet my goal I would have to eat another 650 calories. If I did eat all of those back, I'd just be doing it for the sake of it! Not because I'm actually hungry and want food. I usually eat 200/300 of them back maximum. This hasn't affected me in any way and I've been losing around 3-4lbs a week. I haven't been able to exercise for the last week due to a foot injury but I've still lost 2lbs in the last week. I expected to put weight back on considering everyone was telling me my body would be in starvation mode with my net calories averaging 900-1000 a day but I still continued to lose!

    I'd recommend you reconsider - and at least educate yourself on the science behind it. A Famine response (starvation mode) and its negative effects on the body systems does NOT happen in a week...or two...or three. It takes months to see the effects. Yes, lowering your cal intake drastically will make you lose weight quickly - FOR A SHORT TIME. It will slow down and stop, and you will begin to feel the negative impact on your body. And you will almost certainly gain the weight back - or be in a skinny body that has no muscle mass or tone.

    Lived my life that way for years. And I there is nothing I regret more.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,176 Member
    Something to ask yourself is whether you're more interested in losing fat or just losing weight, no matter where it comes from. I wnat to lose fat and keep the rest. You can lose only so much fat each week. You can certainly cut your calories drastically and lose weight faster, but that doesn't make the fat go away any quicker. Percentage-wise, you're actually getting fatter that way. :noway: No thank you.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    Spitfire, Did you keep it off when you stopped eating that way?

    I kept the weight off until I moved to a new state and started getting lazy and eating junk food. I worked in a pizza shop for a year and ate free pizza almost daily!

    I don't think it's safe to starve yourself or anything. Some of those days I just didn't have time to eat. Which is why I ate little to nothing sometimes. But to say you must eat your exercise calories, or you must lose no more then 2lbs a week is wrong.

    Depends ENTIRELY on your general health and how much you have to lose. Someone with a large amount to lose (100+ lbs) can usually withstand a little higher rate of loss (3-4 lbs/week). Someone with less to lose (50 lbs or less) will almost certainly not be able to handle and sustain a higher rate of loss, and will be losing more muscle than fat. Fast does NOT = good.

    For the majority of people, more than 2 lbs per week is NOT healthy because that large of a cal deficit means a very low cal intake per day, in which it is EXTREMELY hard to eat enough high quality food to meet all nutrient/mineral requirements. There is abundant evidence that losing weight slowly, while changing eating and exercise habits, is the best way to lose weight AND keep it off, rather than yoyoing.

    The "yo yo" weight gain is because of laziness. Nothing more. When I lost the weight mentioned above, I kept it off for almost 2 years. The only reason I put it back on was because I got lazy. I sat around playing games, sitting on the computer etc. I ate pizza and other junk foods.

    Like I said above, I think each person is a little bit different. And I would never suggest staving yourself. That certainly is not safe. But I do think it's ok to lose more then 2lbs a week.
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