Personal trainer's advice: Eat ALL exercise calories

gracienkaidens_momma
gracienkaidens_momma Posts: 379 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
So I went to see my personal trainer today to develop a fitness routine to target my problem areas. Not only did we do this but she also talked to me about my diet. I knew I needed to cut down on carbs and sugar (my weaknesses) but she also told me about the importance of eating exercise calories. Not just some, but all of them. She explained that the body is like a car and if you are taking away it's fuel to exercise, that it has to be replaced somehow. She stressed, however, that the replacement should be wholesome proteins and other nutritional foods and not empty calories of sugar, carbs or bad fats. This makes perfect sense to me. I was not doing this a few weeks ago when I went to the gym. I'd net at the end of the day like 800-1000 which isn't good for my body. I'd also not feel that well while doing this either. For now on, I'm going to supplement with a healthy protein shake on days where I need to fill in some extra cals and make sure to net at least 1200 each day. Just some good information that most of you probably already knew!

Replies

  • dmanakho
    dmanakho Posts: 143 Member
    yes yes... so very true.
  • austepants
    austepants Posts: 356 Member
    Very true! Thanks for sharing its always good to hear it again!!
  • LillysGranny
    LillysGranny Posts: 431
    Thanks for posting. We all need to be reminded of this from time to time...so tempting to think that starvation is the answer!
  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
    hmmmmm
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    I almost always eat my calories and if I don't I wake up starving. I still eat the bad sugar and fat but in moderation. I am afraid if I give up all the sugar, I will fall off the wagon.
  • gracienkaidens_momma
    gracienkaidens_momma Posts: 379 Member
    Thanks. I've been on the boards here since I joined in November and I have seen sooooo much controversy over this topic. Here's the bottom line:

    Your body needs good fuel. If you exercise, you burn up its fuel supply so you need to replace it. If you just exercise to eat junk food and bad foods than you're defeating your goals to lose weight and get healthy; however, if you exercise to get healthy, fit, more energized, lose (or gain weight) and tone than do it right and replace that lost fuel with GOOD wholesome calories - protein (to help build and heal muscles after exercise)fresh fruits, veggies, whole grain, good fats.

    If you are netting like 500-700 cals a day, thinking you're doing your body a favor, well I'm sorry, you're not. As soon as you eat over you'll be more likely to gain what weight you lost back again because your body is starving for fuel and will be storing any and all calories it can get. Going under every once in a while won't hurt you but doing it consistently is like shooting yourself in the foot.
  • gracienkaidens_momma
    gracienkaidens_momma Posts: 379 Member
    I struggle everyday with going over in carbs and sugar. My weaknesses are chocolate and bread. I almost always like right on the line or over, so I am not perfect! It's been a journey and I still have a long, long way to go. My trainer (who's father was a body builder and who has been training people most of her life) said weight loss is about 75% nutrition and 25% exercise. That's why I posted this because I think it's so important to be fueling your body with good food and eating those exercise calories so you can see results faster. After all, that's what we all want, right?
  • GooBeGone
    GooBeGone Posts: 439 Member
    i wish i could sometimes. like 2day i did a half marathon. i burned 1538calories. plus i need 2 eat the 1200-1500calories for my regular day.

    that means i need 2 eat 1738-2038 calories 2day. if i'm eatin extremely healthy that's not gonna happen. :indifferent:

    but i will try hard 2 make that happen :tongue:
  • gracienkaidens_momma
    gracienkaidens_momma Posts: 379 Member
    Well for times like that I can see how extremely hard it would be. I see some people burn like 1000 or more calories at the gym and I think that's absolutely amazing and I wish I could do that, but I think about how much I would have to eat to replace those calories. I think it would be hard. Great job on your marathon! I would love to do one of those someday!
  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
    At weekends I play 2 rounds of golf (carrying, and its a hilly course) and do 4 hours of brisk walking delivering (minimum) , if i ate back my calories I would be eating about 4000 cals, so if that is the case, why bother with exercise ?

    im better off sticking to my daily allowance and not do any exercise at all !! make life a lot easier
  • watermelonstarfish
    watermelonstarfish Posts: 195 Member
    Exercise calories aside, I have issue with the default calories set by this site. I started at 165 pounds. Mfp said to eat 1200 calories. I'm now at 146 and it still gives the same number. I went from borderline obese to almost normal weight and this thing is telling me to have the same intake?!?
    My BMR is 1300, add 200ish for sedentary ~that's 1500. 1200 a day would give a deficit of 300 calories a day. multiplied by 7 = 2100 calories a week = not even a pound lost a week. If someone tries to tell me that losing a pound a week is unhealthy for being 146 pounds, well then that's just crazy talk.
    Even if you did eat all your exercise calories back, if your default was messed up in the first place your screwed from the start.
  • pixietoes
    pixietoes Posts: 1,591 Member
    i wish i could sometimes. like 2day i did a half marathon. i burned 1538calories. plus i need 2 eat the 1200-1500calories for my regular day.

    that means i need 2 eat 1738-2038 calories 2day. if i'm eatin extremely healthy that's not gonna happen. :indifferent:

    but i will try hard 2 make that happen :tongue:

    If you burned 1538 and your minimum number of calories for the day is 1200 then you need to eat at least 2738 today. Except.... we all have days when we fail to eat our minimum, and days when we go over. The body is not going to be completely messed up by a single anomaly. Did you take hydration along the way? Did you choose Gatorade over water? Did you use GU packets? These are calories that count (and that your body needs when doing exercise for more than 60 minutes) and help with your performance in the field. When you finish a race, have a Clif Builder bar, it's 270 calories and has 20 grams of protein. It's an easy way to start replenishing your body and you don't have to put a lot of thought into it.
  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
    well im very happy with the rate im losing weight, so i will stick to not eating my exercise cals, working very well for me :smile:
  • ronda_gettinghealthy
    ronda_gettinghealthy Posts: 777 Member
    I would say before you jump in and start eating ALL of your exercise cals- make SURE you know how many you are really burning. I try to eat about 1/2 to 3/4 but not all because I am still not completely sure how many I burn. I did purchase an FT4 so it is a bit more accurate,that said not eating ALL of them. :smile:
  • Girlypeekaboo
    Girlypeekaboo Posts: 85
    I do what my body tells me, I don't normally eat my exercise calories, but sometimes I will eat 100-200 of the calories if my body is feeling hungry otherwise I don't......its working for me so far, not just weightloss wise, but energy wise too...for example when I first did zumba last week I was sweating like 5mins into the 20min express video n panting like crazy!, then yesterday I did 20min express again n was sweating just some, felt so good I did the 20mins again!!
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    I do what my body tells me, I don't normally eat my exercise calories, but sometimes I will eat 100-200 of the calories if my body is feeling hungry otherwise I don't......its working for me so far, not just weightloss wise, but energy wise too.

    That's what I do, too. If I ate back my exercise calories, I'd be eating 2500-2700 calories a day. I just don't *need* that much. I'm eating when I'm hungry, but I'm not going to pack extra food in just to meet my MFP mandated calories.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Great post and something that's been hard to learn--but true!
  • erisfreenici
    erisfreenici Posts: 277 Member
    Exercise calories aside, I have issue with the default calories set by this site. I started at 165 pounds. Mfp said to eat 1200 calories. I'm now at 146 and it still gives the same number. I went from borderline obese to almost normal weight and this thing is telling me to have the same intake?!?
    My BMR is 1300, add 200ish for sedentary ~that's 1500. 1200 a day would give a deficit of 300 calories a day. multiplied by 7 = 2100 calories a week = not even a pound lost a week. If someone tries to tell me that losing a pound a week is unhealthy for being 146 pounds, well then that's just crazy talk.
    Even if you did eat all your exercise calories back, if your default was messed up in the first place your screwed from the start.

    MFP won't go under 1200 calories because that is the minimum anybody should consume. Toward the end of your weight loss, you won't be able to lose weight as quickly as you did at the beginning. If you want to go lower, you should only do so under the supervision of a doctor AND a licensed nutritionist.
  • megsican0600
    megsican0600 Posts: 2
    i'm reminded that michael phelps eats 12,000 calories a day and look how fit he is. he has to eat it to use it. that's insane! except, he's maintaining an athletic body, not losing weight. anyway, i just wanted to throw that in there. happy eating/working! :)
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