'Earned' calories

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I know this is probably a really silly question, but I am doing alot of cardio and therefore 'earning' calories. Am I supposed to eat those calories to keep on track for weight loss? Or do I use them as an added bonus for weight loss?

The reason I ask is because my rowing machine says I've burned x calories, but I'm worried if it's wrong I'm going to be eating more than I should = uh oh! and no results = giving up!

Thank you

xxx

Replies

  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    When you enter exercise, it adds them to your daily allowance for the day. At the beginning, I ate to within 50 calories of what the system told me to eat. I lost at a rate of about 2 pounds a week even though I only set my goals to lose 1 pound a week. Try eating the calories it tells you to for a week and see if you lose at the rate you're happy with (1-2 pounds a week). If you don't, eat a little less.
  • sandram82
    sandram82 Posts: 615 Member
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    Personally .. I eat back about half my exercise calories I burned and some days all of them.. You need to full your body, if your not getting enough your body will start to store fat.. and that will mean no loss!! To be sure of your accuracy invest in a HRM (heart rate monitor)
  • kevinbc
    kevinbc Posts: 34 Member
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    If I were you I would do it for a week or two and see how your body responds. When I started I didn't eat my exercise calories, then after reading threads and doing some research I started eating them and only lost .8 lbs in 3 weeks , so I decided to not eat them again and I have lost 6lbs in the last 2 weeks. I still get 1700 calories a day so I'm not starving myself.
  • egoplast
    egoplast Posts: 41 Member
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    All calorie counters on exercise equipment are only able to give you a estimate actual calories burned.
    The accuracy of any calorie counter is dependent on the amount if information the counter; the best will constantly monitor your heart rate.
    Normally I log the number of calories that my machine says I burned but do not eat all of the calories back.
    I leave a few calories (around 500) as a buffer.
    But I would not recommend not eating any of the earned calories.
  • l0lly77
    l0lly77 Posts: 8 Member
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    THANK YOU for your replies.

    Today is my 'day off' but I still did my rowing as the guilt started slapping me in the face :laugh: - my husband bought cheesecake, so I guess I'll be eating my earned calories back today anyway.

    Thanks again to everyone, I really appreciate it

    Keep up the good work, your tickers are inspiring :bigsmile:
    xxx