exercise calories

Constance1111
Constance1111 Posts: 8 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
so i know your suppose to eat back your exercise calories to fuel your body and everything i get that.. my question is if it has you are set up to lose so much weight without doing any exercise at all then why exercise.... kinda doesnt make since to burn say 1500 cal a day (about what i burn) then to turn around and eat that much.... that and i have hard time eating that much and if i do some of the other stuff - sodium fat sugars are over

Replies

  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    Exercise makes you healthier. Both cardio and strength training boost your metabolism so you can burn fat faster. Strength training also helps with bone health which is especially important for women, it helps prevent osteoporosis. And, if you didn't exercise you would end up burning muscle tissue along with fat. Cardio is also important for your cardiovascular health.

    I'm sure there are many other reasons why exercise is important.
  • vold94
    vold94 Posts: 256
    I may be wrong since I've only been in a month. But it's my understanding that you don't have to eat back all the calories that you burn. Due to you need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. 3500 calories burnt = 1 pound lost. I don't eat back all the calories. The only think I make sure to do is to make sure I at least get 1200 calories, which lots of days I get more, but with my burn I'm usually at 600-1000 net calories at the end of the day! Good luck!
  • hyde1977
    hyde1977 Posts: 476 Member
    To be honest I don't eat back all my exercise calories. Its hard to eat them all back but just make sure you are fueling your body after a work out....High Protein items....Shakes/bars whatever! If you are buring that much each time you exercise you need to replace.....
  • Kym1610
    Kym1610 Posts: 328 Member
    If your calories per day is around 1500 then your BMR (what you burn just be exisisting) would probably be around 16-1700. You can still lose weight by just sticking with a calorie minumum but if you are looking at this as a healthy lifestyle change then I see exercise is a part of that
  • 0Jaime0
    0Jaime0 Posts: 26
    I may be wrong since I've only been in a month. But it's my understanding that you don't have to eat back all the calories that you burn. Due to you need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. 3500 calories burnt = 1 pound lost. I don't eat back all the calories. The only think I make sure to do is to make sure I at least get 1200 calories, which lots of days I get more, but with my burn I'm usually at 600-1000 net calories at the end of the day! Good luck!

    Thank you for posting that. I've been really confused, and I'm pretty much doing what you're doing by trying to consume at least 1200 a day, and I will usually burn 600-700 with exercise and net500-600. I've see from your ticker you've lost weight, so you must be doing something right!
  • skinnyjeanzbound
    skinnyjeanzbound Posts: 3,932 Member
    Exercise helps ensure you are losing fat rather than muscle. Also--it boosts your metabolism (especially weight training), so even on days when you aren't working out your body is burning fat, or say you have a rare high calorie day (holiday, dinner out w/friends) your body will be better able to handle it.
  • Constance1111
    Constance1111 Posts: 8 Member
    not saying i wanna give up my exercising, im just curious as to how this works lol. im a stay at home mom so i have time to do it lol i go to the gym where i try to burn 800-1200 then i take a 3 mile walk with my daughter and dog after lunch and dinner
  • cm40
    cm40 Posts: 30
    What I do is eat my calorie goal, let's say currently I want to eat between 1900-2200 calories a day. That's roughly what a man burns in a day just living. I exercise and burn anywhere from 850 (today) to 1445 (yesterday) calories. But I don't try to eat anymore than my goal. No matter how grueling the workout was.

    If you keep your calories at the minimum to fuel your body, but not going too low that you risk of going into "starvation mode" (debatable), then any excess calories that you burn is just going to make you healthier and speed up the process. It kicks your body into it's natural metabolism, which also leads to fat reduction.
    So I don't see eating back the calories as effective as if you keep with your intake goal and burn the excess that your body has stored as fat.
    Also, be careful with only paying attention to calories. Calories come from different places. You want to stay away from carbohydrates and sugars. Protein bars are full of carbs and sugars, but have high protein. They're glorified candy bars.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    What I do is eat my calorie goal, let's say currently I want to eat between 1900-2200 calories a day. That's roughly what a man burns in a day just living. I exercise and burn anywhere from 850 (today) to 1445 (yesterday) calories. But I don't try to eat anymore than my goal. No matter how grueling the workout was.

    If you keep your calories at the minimum to fuel your body, but not going too low that you risk of going into "starvation mode" (debatable), then any excess calories that you burn is just going to make you healthier and speed up the process. It kicks your body into it's natural metabolism, which also leads to fat reduction.
    So I don't see eating back the calories as effective as if you keep with your intake goal and burn the excess that your body has stored as fat.
    Also, be careful with only paying attention to calories. Calories come from different places. You want to stay away from carbohydrates and sugars. Protein bars are full of carbs and sugars, but have high protein. They're glorified candy bars.

    Not true for everyone. Or even for most people. Starvation mode is real, it definitely happens. Why do you think so many people here stop losing so quickly? It's because they don't eat enough. Exercise is what keeps the metabolism going, but only if you eat enough.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories