What's the point of exercising?

frb2012
frb2012 Posts: 6
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
What's the point of exercising if I have to eat back the calories that I burned?
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Replies

  • JillyCornwall
    JillyCornwall Posts: 376 Member
    To get fit, to tone up & look good, to prevent all sorts of diseases that are associated with people who do not exercise but are overweight..need I go on.....
  • Blr31977
    Blr31977 Posts: 49
    I rarely eat them back... I work out in the evening and if I ate them back I would be eating all night.
  • skinnyme125
    skinnyme125 Posts: 396 Member
    to keep your blood flowing, to tighten you up and to build muscle so you are not skinny on the outside but fat on the weak on the inside. It is good for you in tons of ways.
  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
    Did you really just ask that question?
  • JillyCornwall
    JillyCornwall Posts: 376 Member
    I rarely eat them back... I work out in the evening and if I ate them back I would be eating all night.

    Hardly a reason, if you know you are going to work out you can spread the calories over the day..no problem!
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
    Body fat percentage!! And cardiovascular strength, avoiding health problems, and feeling great! A better question - what is the point of losing weight if you're not going to be healthy?
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    To get fit, to tone up & look good, to prevent all sorts of diseases that are associated with people who do not exercise but are overweight..need I go on.....
    I'll go on.. to replace the muscle you lose, to increase your metabolism, to feel strong, to stay young, to have the body you want not weigh what you want ... Anyone want to take over?
  • LauraLLee
    LauraLLee Posts: 210
    I may log my workouts but I try not to eat the calories I have burned, that way I achieve the weight loss quicker.
  • gburkhart2
    gburkhart2 Posts: 72 Member
    what is the point of losing weight if you're not going to be healthy?
  • Celo24
    Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
    What's the point of exercising if I have to eat back the calories that I burned?

    Go back and read all the links people gave you in your "what should my net calories be?" thread. Those will answer this question too.
  • TheKatzMeow77
    TheKatzMeow77 Posts: 47
    If you don't eat them back you will lose more weight, just make sure your not eating less than 1200 calories a day that is not healthy, I have lost 100.2 so far on my journey and I rarely eat my calories back (sometimes they sneek in there though lol):wink:
  • MommyRobot
    MommyRobot Posts: 268 Member
    They say because you need to net-calories in [minus] cal out [to equal] your calorie goal for the day. I don't buy it, but it's really worked for some people on here!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    so you don't lose muscle as you lose weight
    To feel better,
    to have more energy
    so you are not "skinny fat" thin with high BF%
    to become stronger,
    to become faster,
    need I go on

    You eat those cals to give you the energy your body requires from working out. Eating 1300 cals and not working out is the same at eating 1700 cals and burning 400 as 1700-400 = 1300.
  • barbsus1991
    barbsus1991 Posts: 46 Member
    The more lean muscle you have on your body, the faster you burn calories, therefor the more you can eat and still maintain the same loss, and therefor be able to keep it up for a longer period of time! If you want this to be a change in lifestyle and something you can maintain, you need lean muscle.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I may log my workouts but I try not to eat the calories I have burned, that way I achieve the weight loss quicker.

    quicker is usually not better. What is wrong with just meeting your goal loss/week?
  • AHealthierRhonda
    AHealthierRhonda Posts: 881 Member
    I rarely eat them back... I work out in the evening and if I ate them back I would be eating all night.
    Same here!!! I work out at 6-7:30p.m. I usually end the night with a bowl of cereal or a bowl of icecream after the workout. I view those as my time to cheat cals burned. I never eat them back at all! Normally I eat around 1270 a day and am allowed 1350. On exercise days, when I use my elliptical I burn over 1230 cals! no way I am eating back that many cals! Those are my awesome weight loss days! I only get "yelled at" by MFP when I eat under 1200 cals period. I listen to my body and if I am hungry I will eat, and try for something healthy, though it ain't always the case!
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
    exercise to the point of muscle fatigue (your muscles feel tired) tears them down so they come pack stronger and leaner. Eating back the exercise calories is a personal choice and if you are eating them back make sure it is with healthy lower fat foods.
  • yoghurtand
    yoghurtand Posts: 119
    You don't have to eat back all of them, firstly. Furthermore, exercise builds muscle and muscle uses up more energy than fat does. That means that when you lose weight, not only will you look better overall, as you are more toned, but you will be able to keep the weight off more easily, because you need to eat more to maintain your weight. Exercise is also good for your heart - not everything is about weightloss.

    And if you eat 1200 calories, burn 400 and then eat back that 400, you will still lose weight, but you will also have all the nutrients from the extra 400 you ate, but none of the calories (extra vitamins and minerals that are good for you).
  • wanderingpilgrim
    wanderingpilgrim Posts: 109 Member
    Body fat percentage!! And cardiovascular strength, avoiding health problems, and feeling great! A better question - what is the point of losing weight if you're not going to be healthy?


    AMEN!!!! Skinny does not equal healthy!!!
  • MommyRobot
    MommyRobot Posts: 268 Member
    I may log my workouts but I try not to eat the calories I have burned, that way I achieve the weight loss quicker.

    quicker is usually not better. What is wrong with just meeting your goal loss/week?

    What's wrong with it if you're doing what you feel is right (exercising and eating healthy) and it's coming off quick?
  • JenniferO1982
    JenniferO1982 Posts: 21 Member
    MFP automatically calculates a deficit for you—so not eating back your calories increases the deficit. I suggest eating them back. You need the energy if you are working hard, and it will help prevent your body from going into starvation mode. With only 9 pounds to lose (after losing 81), I find that I CANNOT have less than a 500 calorie deficit, or else my weight loss stalls. So if I exercise, I basically have to eat them back. It wasn't always the case, but certainly it is now.

    Hope that helps:)
  • roxie0920
    roxie0920 Posts: 41
    so you don't lose muscle as you lose weight
    To feel better,
    to have more energy
    so you are not "skinny fat" thin with high BF%
    to become stronger,
    to become faster,
    need I go on

    You eat those cals to give you the energy your body requires from working out. Eating 1300 cals and not working out is the same at eating 1700 cals and burning 400 as 1700-400 = 1300.

    Do you ever wonder how many times you're going to have to post this same exact information?
  • choley222
    choley222 Posts: 57
    I think the whole subject of eating the calories back is a preference and you have to see what works for you. I never eat my calories back, I never have and never will. I see my doctor on a regular basis and she knows what I am eating and how much I exercise so I am not doing anything she doesn't approve of. I also work with a personal trainer who agrees to lose weight you need to burn more than you are taking in. The point of exercising is many reasons but one of the top is heart health. When you strength train you build lean muscle that burns fat so you will lose weight quicker. Can you lose weight without exercise, yes you can. You will not be toned and you will have loose skin if you have a lot to lose. I would suggest at least something even if it's only 30 minutes a day.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    Because skinny fat is not the look I"m going for :glasses:
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    It has been done.
  • cupcakecarnivore
    cupcakecarnivore Posts: 267
    For heart health, general health overall, lower cholesterol, endorphins, and so you don't end up looking skinny fat with no muscle tone!
  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    Because skinny fat is not the look I"m going for :glasses:

    amen!
  • baghdaddymama
    baghdaddymama Posts: 3
    When you exercise your going to be building your muscle, giving yourself endurance and buring off "bad fat and calories" and junk that you have in your body that you don't want to have there in the first place. Then when you go to eat, your going to be changing your lifestyle all together because the things you put "in" your body will be what your body needs to replenish and keep on growing into a more healthier you. Hope this makes sense. Pretty much out with the bad in with the good and grow you go :)
  • frb2012
    frb2012 Posts: 6
    .
  • shanhawk
    shanhawk Posts: 44
    Exercise helps you feel good, build lean muscle, it decreases stress and it's good for you. You eat your exercise cals back because your body needs it to function properly!! The more you do the more "fuel" your body needs. You don't have to eat back all of them every day unless you want to...but you should eat back enough to be at a min. of 1200 net cals.
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