To eat, or not to eat? That is the question!

I've always wondered why so many people are preaching the need to eat your exercise calories. i'd agree if a person really wanted to stick to just the 1-2 lbs per week weight loss they've plugged into their goals, but for anyone who's okay with losing a bit more quickly why eat what you just worked so hard to work off?

I find that days I exercise, I get full WAY faster and can't eat all my calories. But today, I didn't exercise, and I went over my calorie goal by 100. Weird!

I think the reason why some people don't lose when they eat the exercises cal is that Mfp over estimates exercise, we over under estimate what we eat and Mfp may have maintenane cal over what they really are

Pre trying to lose weigh I had been gradually putting on as I run a lot and thought I could eat what I want.

I worked out that I was prob eating 2500 a day. I was running 60 miles a week as well as cycling about 20 miles and doing 2-3 sessions at the gym.

Mfp gives me over 7000 calories for that so that means an 1000 cal a day. My maintainane cal are 1900 so i would hace to eat 2900 a day, i put on on 2500 so would def put on on 2900

I have now alteres the figures and give myself 80 per mile and use 1100 as my target for the day based on the fact i thnk my maintenance is 1600 so if i break e ven it means a 500 déficit, i rarely eat lesa than 1500 cos i earn through exercise

That is a good point you make. I too don't eat back my exercise calories. If I do I gain weight. I consider exercise a bonus and more for my psychological state and over well being.

Just a thought if your not measuring EVerything by grams, if you don't compair 3 to 5 different calorie burned web sites, HRM. than it's all just numbers. Some guess high, some guess low it may not be about exercise calories but about the way you look and measure things.

This content has been removed.

yeah, i am having a difficult time eating all the extra calories added by my exercise and it will only get worse... i am training for a half marathon, so in about a month I will be burning over 1200 cal a workout. sounds like i should just listen to my belly.

Spaboleo, do you mean you gained 9kgs while eating 700cals a day, fasting 2 days a week and and burning 3500cals a week through exercise? Or that you gained the 9kgs after you stopped doing that?

I gained the 9kg while doing that!


Now that I have stopped that madness and since I am watching my calorie intake with MFP I have already lost 2kg again. (Working out even a little less and eating really twice as much. I just try to decree the net-calorie goal.)

I eat back my calories, but if I didn't I would be going below 1200 calories. I exercise every day and I would feel tired if I didn't eat enough. I think people forget that their bodies require fuel to function properly.

This content has been removed.

I was glad to read this post, because I have a lot of the same questions in my head. I feel like I am eating all throughout the day, just making WAY better choices than before. My usual intake is 1200-1600 calories per day and I never eat back exercise calories. I typically feel full and know that my diet is rich in nutrients and such. Why would I eat more when I am not hungry? Isn't that one of the bad habits that got me this heavy in the first place? Aren't I supposed to be training my mind to eat only when my body signals hunger, instead of the emotional cues that caused me to overeat?

I am of the mindset that there is so much belly fat to burn that dropping the weight fast now is ok. For smaller folks, this scenario might not be good. Personally, I have 100 pounds or so of excess that needs to go. Should my wife (who complains about needing to lose 10 pounds) be running this kind of deficit? No, that would be crazy. I have the fuel to burn off, she doesn't.

I understand the down side to rebounding and gaining it all back. But since I am having great results (so far 20 pounds and two inches around the waist), it just seems contrary to intentionally slow that down. I am assuming that it will eventually slow itself down as the available fuel (that is spelled FAT) is less available. It's not my plan to lower my intake any farther than I have, this seems like a pretty comfortable area for me. In fact, at some point my intake will probably go up naturally, as I get to the point where I allow myself to have foods with higher calorie contents. Like french fries. Someday, they will be allowed back in my life - only then as an occasional treat.

So, I guess my overriding thought is that it depends on two things-how overweight we are when we start and the way we approach the eating. Lowering eating to where you are not comfortable would be bad, fasting is bad. Eating and snacking all day long on heathful choices seems to be good and forcing more food into your system just to reach a calorie goal seems contrary to the whole mission.

Of course, my opinion may be worthless because I am not at all a health expert, trainer or medical professional. Just an overweight guy who is trying to shed a bunch of extra pounds.

I typically feel full and know that my diet is rich in nutrients and such. Why would I eat more when I am not hungry? Isn't that one of the bad habits that got me this heavy in the first place? Aren't I supposed to be training my mind to eat only when my body signals hunger, instead of the emotional cues that caused me to overeat?[...]

And that's the point. If you are not hungry, you shouldn't eat back.
(How often will I have to preach that...?)

But there are enough people in this board that stick to their calorie goal, workout like maniacs and start starving theirselves! That leads to an overall unhealthy lifestyle with a drastically cutback calorie-intake. (Like the effective 700kcal/day I tortured my body with.)


And once again:
EVERBODY should eat their burned calories back, IF you feel HUNGRY.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

==============================================================================================
Quote "At first I lost weight, too. But after half an year of living with that unhealthy "diet" I reached my ideal weight and were really lean. I wanted to maintain that weight and overall body condition. So I continued the "diet" (and workouts and fasting).

As I already mentioned above, all that lead to the fact that I was always tired and weak and lacked of concentration. I didn't accomplish much on all my days. It makes sense...without the required energy intake there is not enough fuel if most of your fat cells are already burned "
==============================================================================================



This is an interesting comment and speaks to a couple of things that I have been trying to bear in mind as I head down the weight loss journey. Since you have been through it, I would be really interested in your thoughts.

First, I agree that extreme dieting and fasting are not good. Eating at a healthy pace and consistently are much better. When I look at my "net" calories they are fairly low. I walk 45 minutes twice a day and MFP credits me about 600 calories for that. Eating about 1400 seems OK to me, but looking at the net seems low. But I have been feeling full, feeling heathly, energy level has gone up, I sleep better, etc. I try to eat lots of fruit and veggies, avoid anything processed or fried, etc. Water and iced tea combined equal about 15 cups of fluids a day.

Second, and I think you hit it on the head, is that our approach needs to be different depending on our current weight. Right now, I have the fuel reserves in the form of belly fat. Later (hopefully) that will not be the case. The key may be in recognizing that point in the process and adjusting eating habits to fit the lack of easy fuel for the body to burn. I believe that I am not destroying muscle now, but there is certainly that possibility down the road as I get smaller. And will need to make changes to how I eat then, just as I have made changes now. Thin people (and there are several that have posted here) should probably have a much different approach that those of us that are far, far away from being thin.

Thoughts?