Calorie information

altazin0907
altazin0907 Posts: 188 Member
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
Ok I understand that everyone needs to eat their exercise calories, however I can't find any information on this, I tried the internet and the book store, has anyone found articles on this other than peoples post on MFP? :huh:

Replies

  • altazin0907
    altazin0907 Posts: 188 Member
    Ok I understand that everyone needs to eat their exercise calories, however I can't find any information on this, I tried the internet and the book store, has anyone found articles on this other than peoples post on MFP? :huh:
  • metco89
    metco89 Posts: 578 Member
    My Doctor says yes eat the exercise calories
  • kkcruickshank
    kkcruickshank Posts: 59 Member
    I have always been told that in order to lose weight successfully, you need to expend more calories than you take in.

    So tell me again why I should be eating my exercise calories? I don't, and it seems to be working out well for me.
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    I have always been told that in order to lose weight successfully, you need to expend more calories than you take in.

    So tell me again why I should be eating my exercise calories? I don't, and it seems to be working out well for me.

    Are you eating 1800 calories a day (or more)? That is a low estimate BMR.
    If you are eating 1200 calories a day, then you are in a DEFICIT of 600 calories.
    That is where you lose weight, in THAT deficit.
    If you eat less than 1200 calories a day, your body will eventually go into starvation mode and start storing weight instead of dropping it.
  • cnolovechild
    cnolovechild Posts: 179
    I have always been told that in order to lose weight successfully, you need to expend more calories than you take in.

    So tell me again why I should be eating my exercise calories? I don't, and it seems to be working out well for me.

    Because to begin with MFP gives you a daily calorie intake that is a deficit.....so even if you eat every single exercize calorie you will still not be under what you should be eating to maintain your current weight...that is why this is a slow steady weightloss. In the long run eating your exercize calories will help your body keep the weight off.:flowerforyou:
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    right... i have been looking for you and couldnt fing anything specific but,,

    what i did find is tons of information that says you need a deficit to loose weight, they all say 500 cal and for 1 lbs a week and 1000 cal a day for 2 lbs a week....

    that works wether you exercise or not ... if you already have a 1000 cal deficit a day (according to your activity level) then top it up with a 500 cal burned,,, that gives you 1500 cal deficits.. witch in the long run can make your body to be more efficient and hold on to the energy you do give it and therefor stop loosing weight,,

    although a lot of people on here is eating every single last of their excersi calories... i calculate it it in a way that makes more sense for me,,, here it goes..

    if you are to NOT do any excercise and stay at home watch tv, you are still burning calories, i took my bmr + my activity level calories (for me about 2000) divide that by 24h thats about 80 calories per hour(rounded up) now,,, im just about to go to the gym and burn about 450 cal,,, since i would have burned 80 calories in the first place i deduct that form my 450 cal.. = 370,

    because the calories for mfp are generaly higher that the reality, i normaly divide that by 2 ( i did an average with what the machine at the gym told me)

    so i always take about 200 calories or more out of my excercise calories,,

    does it make sense ??

    good luck ..
    may :flowerforyou:
  • cnolovechild
    cnolovechild Posts: 179
    ack....I left a "not " in there that wasn't supposed to be but you get the idea eh? lol
  • lowsam
    lowsam Posts: 21
    ok, here is what i do. I eat my exercise calories, but only to the point that i'm not hungry. I still usually have between 100 and 300 left over on good exercise days. So i think you should do whatever feel right for you. If you are really not hungry, don't force yourself to eat more just because you have some calories left over. And every day will be different. Some days you might eat them all, and others you will still have some left. Listen to your body and do what is comfortable for you.:wink:
  • altazin0907
    altazin0907 Posts: 188 Member
    ok, here is what i do. I eat my exercise calories, but only to the point that i'm not hungry. I still usually have between 100 and 300 left over on good exercise days. So i think you should do whatever feel right for you. If you are really not hungry, don't force yourself to eat more just because you have some calories left over. And every day will be different. Some days you might eat them all, and others you will still have some left. Listen to your body and do what is comfortable for you.:wink:


    That is pretty much what I do, I don't strees about how many calories I have left, I just eat till i am comfortable. However I always see people post about how you "must" eat every calorie, so I thought I would start doing some research on it. I usually have anywhere from 100 - 600 calories left over depending on how many workouts I do in the day. But I just wanted to see what others thought and to see if the people that say you "must" have any articles or books to back that up, ......not that they don't know what they are talking about, I just wanted to read it for myself.
  • saralaisblueeyes
    saralaisblueeyes Posts: 18
    I loose faster when i dont eat my eercise calories.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Of the weight you lose, how much muscle do you want to lose? 25% of the weight lost? 50%?
    THAT'S the reason you eat your calories. MFP builds in a deficit, and you eat 1200+ calories to maintain your muscle mass so that you can lose only 10% of that weight from muscle mass instead of 50%.

    Let's say you lose 40 lbs.

    If you fasted, 20 lbs will be from muscle.
    If you ate a VLCD (usually <1000 net cal. a day, some researchers use different numbers), 10 lbs will be from muscle.
    If you ate 1200+ net calories a day, 4lbs of that will be from muscle.

    It's your choice what to be left with after you lose the weight.
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    ok songbyrdsweet, thats interesting :) that explained alot

    does that always have to be true ? because on top of my calorie deficit, i have been working out and i can feel my muscle mass being much better, bigger arm, leg, abs, (even my bf is starting to be "scared" of me now .lol)

    so, do you nesceserly have to loose muscle ? maybe its just that i can feel the muscle better without that layer of fat ? or can you go against that principle and gain muscle mass from working out or is it that i would have had an even bigger muscle mass if i was eating all my cals ?

    thanks :flowerforyou:
    may
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    ok songbyrdsweet, thats interesting :) that explained alot

    does that always have to be true ? because on top of my calorie deficit, i have been working out and i can feel my muscle mass being much better, bigger arm, leg, abs, (even my bf is starting to be "scared" of me now .lol)

    so, do you nesceserly have to loose muscle ? maybe its just that i can feel the muscle better without that layer of fat ? or can you go against that principle and gain muscle mass from working out or is it that i would have had an even bigger muscle mass if i was eating all my cals ?

    thanks :flowerforyou:
    may

    Well, its true over an average of a TON (I mean hundreds) of studies.
    What you're experiencing is a combination of:

    Decreased body fat leading to more visible/palpable muscle mass.
    Swelling of muscle fibers due to changes in water pressure and an increase in stored blood sugar.
    Increased firmness due to improve neurological functioning in the muscles.

    However, you still have the same--or a little bit less-than what you started with. No matter how much you lift, if you aren't eating enough (which you're not, because you're losing fat) you can't add to the size of your muscles with more muscle tissue. You can add 'artificial' size through diet manipulation, but if you were to deplete your muscles of glycogen, they'd shrink and feel softer. One lb of muscle mass requires 2800 calories to be built...so even if you're eating 100 calories more than you need, it would take a month to gain just 1lb of muscle mass, IF your hormones were favoring growth and you were training correctly (it's harder for women than for men).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories