Calories 'earned' from exercise

bump....so I can read later1

check on your goals sheet..me i burn 1600 calories just sitting around the house not doing any exercise...if i go and eat my goal of 1200 and then go exercise 400 off, i am burning 400 calories of fat,but when I eat those calories back healthy its not putting on what you just exercised off...when you burn calories off you are burning fat off...if you are eating healthy you are putting in fuel that your body needs (good stuff)...the more good stuff the more lean muscle you are putting on,not fat... .

A lot of people will tell you to eat back those calories, but I personally think that that is a misconception that this website does not clarify very well.

If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight. That's easy enough to understand. As far as starvation mode goes, it's not realistic. I talked to a nutritionist about this. Their version of starvation mode is based off the idea that a "healthy BMI" person would eat less than 1200 calories for a week or more straight. And it's mainly a concern because of nutrients, not because your body needs a minimum amount of calories. If you eat when you are hungry, and don't find yourself extra tired, you should be fine eating as much or as little as you like. I take a multi-vitamin to offset poor nutrition, because I only break 1200 every few days.

?????? If you eat back your calories, you will only maintain your weight? Based on the program parameters, this is not true at all. The nutrition portion of the program already has a daily calorie deficit built in based on your stated weekly weight loss goal. In my case, I chose 1 lb per week so my daily calorie deficit is 500 calories. If I work out and burn 400 calories and then eat those 400 calories, that does not affect the original calorie deficit caused by the reduction in food intake. I would still lose weight so I completely have to disagree with you there.

Plus, in the example the OP gave, they exercised 955 calories in a single day. I don't know what their daily allotted caloric intake is but mine is somewhere around 1500 calories, which includes the 500 deficit for weight loss. If I burn an additional 955 calories, the net effect is only 545 calories to maintain and fuel my body. The resulting daily deficit is 1455 calories (500 deficit from the eating plan plus 955 burnt from extra exercise). If I did that every day for a week, I'd have burnt an extra 10,185 calories for the week (1455 x 7). That equates to a weight loss of 2.91 lbs per week. Any doctor or nutritionist would tell you that if you lost that much every week, it would be an unsafe rate of loss. They would also tell you that 600 calories per day is not enough to maintain your body.

Now if you're just talking about one very active day mixed in with normal days of normal eating, it wouldn't mess you up, but if you are consistently consuming too few calories you will only cause yourself problems. If you are a heavy exerciser, you need to eat back at least some of those calories.

Bump just puts it to the top of your topic so others can see that it has been moved to the top of the list

Hi if you go to My home tab then click on goals You will see how it is worked out witha deficit already in place according to the information you gave MFP. If you are on 1400 cals. you burn 950 that will leave you with net cals of 450. You body will not tolerate that for too long.

check on your goals sheet..me i burn 1600 calories just sitting around the house not doing any exercise...if i go and eat my goal of 1200 and then go exercise 400 off, i am burning 400 calories of fat,but when I eat those calories back healthy its not putting on what you just exercised off...when you burn calories off you are burning fat off...if you are eating healthy you are putting in fuel that your body needs (good stuff)...the more good stuff the more lean muscle you are putting on,not fat... .

An excellent post and makes a lot of sense to me.

I have only been training for 3 weeks but have lost 6 kg so far. However, my nutrition has changed considerably and this is shown in my body fat drop from 35% to 25% (I have actually lost a lot more than 6 kg of body fat) and yet my weight loss has slowed - lean muscle mass has increased considerably in part offsetting the loss of body fat. My weight will still drop but will take time but I do follow the guideline of staying close to my daily net calorie goal. It clearly works for me. If I didn't put back those calories I burned off (with good nutrition) I indeed would be suffering and my lean muscle would be used to feed my body. I don't want that.

exactly.....you want ot lose fat and not lean muscle...weight loss may slow down but your lean muscle mass will increase and your weight loss will eventually catch up.

I don't quite understand that either but I try my best not to eat my earned calories. Sometimes, I do. But, I've still managed to lose weight. I think as long as you are eating healthy, and you feel fine, and exercising right, you should be ok. Do what you feel is right. Although this website is a big help, it is by no means, the perfect solution.

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

now say you are at the weight you want to be and your goal is 2000 a day and you go burn 900 off that will leave you at 1100 for the day.....if you stay at only the 1100 you will lose weight, but if you eat the 900 calories back you will maintain the current weight that you are...make sense???

Ah I understand now! I eat 1400 a day and burn off 950ish which leaves me with 450 calories a day to survive on which I know isn't healthy at all. Think I had a stupid moment there haha. Basically as long as I eat near to my recommended intake, even after exercise, I will lose weight healthily.

Exactly!!!!

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

Your welcome, I didnt understand either until I researched it for like 8 hours.....

My Fitness Pal calculates your daily calories by how much weight you say you want to lose each week. In order to lose one pound in a week you need to eat 3500 less calories than you burn, which equals 500 calories per day. That is the way your calorie goal is calculated. One pound equals 3500 calories. So if you burn 955 calories and you don't eat them back, then you'll lose more than one pound per week. When you reset your goals to maintain your weight instead of lose, your daily calorie goal will increase according to your activity level and current weight at that time.

MFP automatically takes away 500 calories a day for you to lose the weight that you choose......so if you put in 2 lbs per week and your daily goal is 1200 they already took away 500 calories from that so you lose your 2 lbs(or close to that) per week...but if you look on your BMR section your actual daily goal is like 1700 to maintain our weight.

So if I am eating just under 1400 a day and burning off 950 through exercise, if I were to eat those back that would take me over 2000 which is the recommended intake for women not on a diet/watching their weight etc............ BUT if it's healthy stuff that I'm eating (which it always is nowadays) then it's ok???

I keep seeing this math repeatedly on this forum but you're getting confused. If you're eating 1400 a day, burning off 950 and then eating 950 to replace the exercise calories that does not in any way add up to 2000. The correct math is 1400 - 950 + 950 = 1400.

In fact, the total picture is:

Calories in: 1400
Calories burnt just by living and breathing: -1900
Calories burnt by exercising: -950
Calories in to replace exercise loss: +950

1400 -1900 -950+950 = -500 A calorie deficit so you lose weight at about 1 lb per week

If you didn't eat back any of what you exercised off, you'd get:

1400 - 1900 - 950 = -1450 Too much of a calorie deficit

If you ate back half of what you exercised off:

1400 - 1900 - 950 + 475 = -975 A calorie deficit leading to an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs per week - maximum you would want to do.

No im putting in 1400 calories just to be healthy...no deficit....if your calories say 2000 or 3000 no matter if you burn 1000...to maintain your weight you keep your 2000 or 3000 daily......you will find all this in the BMR section......

That's not true. 1400 calories is your calorie recommendation from MFP that is set at a deficit based on how many pounds per week you told MFP you want to lose.

It is true...its different for every single person......look on your BMR section and look at your calories that you burn no matter if you exercise, then look at the calories that you have per day without them taking the 500 away....if you look at that and minus the 500 you will get what they reccomend you take in daily.