working out just to eat more

xxoneluckygirlxx
xxoneluckygirlxx Posts: 52 Member
edited November 10 in Food and Nutrition
My MFP is set up so i lose 1.9 lbs per week...I work out only so i can eat more---- is this ok to do? is it counter productive? will i still lose? Is there anyone who succeeded that did it this way?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Replies

  • BruceHedtke
    BruceHedtke Posts: 358 Member
    As long as you're eating less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. If you burn more calories, you can eat more calories. When you exercise, you NEED to eat more to fuel your body.
  • xxoneluckygirlxx
    xxoneluckygirlxx Posts: 52 Member
    much appreciated-- thank you
  • UnicornAmanda
    UnicornAmanda Posts: 294 Member
    You will still lose as long as you burn more than you eat! Eating more is great motivation to work out!
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    It's fine to do in terms of losing weight. Won't hurt anything. But in the long run… for me it would be counter productive. What I don't like about it (and this is only for me!) is that it doesn't really encourage me to think differently about food and my relationship with it. I am trying to train myself to eat less. Period. I am trying to train my body to know that it can function just fine on smaller amounts of food. If I am working out just so I can eat more… that doesn't change my eating habits. It doesn't mean I don't exercise. I do. And I totally get that you need to fuel your body properly so it can do that exercise and you have the energy you need to get through your day. It's just the thinking behind it. I don't like the idea of exercising only so I can eat more.

    Again… I repeat. This is just for me and trying to deal with my own issues with food. It doesn't mean it's wrong.
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    That's pretty much what I do - set my weight loss goal to zero, my activity level to sedentary and eat maintenance. Then I exercise.
  • goddessofawesome
    goddessofawesome Posts: 563 Member
    Honestly I never could understand that philosophy. I exercise because I like it and sure I want to lean out and drop a few pounds. But exercise to eat more? No. That's like hitting DQ for a large blizzard when you're done with the gym because you "earned" it.

    Besides, the calories burned aren't100% accurate so you could very well be over-estimating your burn.
  • madrose0715
    madrose0715 Posts: 463 Member
    I have found more 'mental' success with the TDEE method (which calculates your weekly exercise into your daily calorie allotment). I didn't like the 'exercise as reward/punishment' to eating aspect that was being created in my head. Now, I plan my workouts for the week, pop that into my TDEE calculator and get a number that I eat daily. (also - this eliminates alot of the questions that arise around conflicting information regarding calorie burns from HRM's and the MFP database).
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    xxoneluckygirlxx wrote: »
    My MFP is set up so i lose 1.9 lbs per week...I work out only so i can eat more---- is this ok to do? is it counter productive? will i still lose? Is there anyone who succeeded that did it this way?

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks!!!

    Generally, not as long as you are in a deficit. Some people with eating disorders or compulsive tendencies might be better off staying away from this because it can be a trigger and lead them to disordered eating via compulsive exercise. For the majority of people, it isn't an issue.

  • brightsideofpink
    brightsideofpink Posts: 1,018 Member
    In my own experience, its been both good and bad. Those extra calories from exercise have allowed me to fit treats in easily, without feeling deprived or going over. So that's been great. You've seen those t-shirts, "Will run for chocolate." That's me. I honestly don't know that I'd have stayed on track as well if I hadn't had that calorie buffer (36 weeks, -50 lbs).

    However, and this is a big however, I do agree with a poster above that it can be damaging to your relationship with food, and can be detrimental to just learning how to eat less. On non-exercise days, I've struggled to stay in my calorie goals. I've also put off strength training for fear of losing those extra calories. Thats really not a positive outcome. So now I'm trying to transition slowly to a middle ground. I do heavier cardio days 4 days a week, and have added in 1 day of complete rest, and 2 days of heavier strength training with cardio only for warming up. That is 3 days without as much of a calorie buffer so I can explore lighter meal options, try a few days without as many sugar calories, etc.

    This is just my experience. I hope it helps.
  • peter56765
    peter56765 Posts: 352 Member
    goddessofawesome wrote: »
    Honestly I never could understand that philosophy. I exercise because I like it and sure I want to lean out and drop a few pounds. But exercise to eat more? No. That's like hitting DQ for a large blizzard when you're done with the gym because you "earned" it.
    Not everyone here is trying to lose weight. If you don't eat back your exercise calories, you create a deficit which may cause unwanted weight loss for some. And your example is a bit extreme. Large blizzards are like 1000+ calories. A 1/2 cup of ice cream or a couple pieces of fruit or even a candy bar to close the deficit? Sure, why not?
    Besides, the calories burned aren't100% accurate so you could very well be over-estimating your burn.
    True enough. There are many many conversations about this in the Maintaining Weight forums, however I think it's fair to say that for most people, the calories burned are sufficiently greater than 0 such that they should be accounted for.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    I originally started exercising just because I wanted to lose weight but was not prepared to restrict calories very severely at all. Now I love it and enjoy it for itself, but there are days where I cannot be bothered to do my planned workout, whatever that might be, but the thought of biscuits/cake/ice cream/burger/crisps will get me started.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2015
    sgthaggard wrote: »
    That's pretty much what I do - set my weight loss goal to zero, my activity level to sedentary and eat maintenance. Then I exercise.

    That's about where I end up anyway doing the TDEE method, so I've thought about setting it up that way. The only reason I don't (which applies to no one but me), is that I know I'll likely then think more about burning calories vs. following my planned workout schedule which is mostly focused on other goals, and worry overly if I decide I need a day off that wasn't already scheduled, and I don't want that in the back of my head.
  • laurielane6
    laurielane6 Posts: 10 Member
    Okay, silly question here, but unless you exercise, and burn what you eat daily (for instance 1200 calories) you won't start losing weight until you burn 1200 calories??
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    You burn a bunch of calories just by existing and non-exercise movement. Your MFP goal tells you what you can expect to lose without exercise. Exercise is extra on top of that, which is why you eat it back if doing the MFP plan as intended.
  • amtru2015
    amtru2015 Posts: 179 Member
    As everyone has said, as long as you're burning more than you eat youll lose. As far as eating back the calories you burn with exercise---personal preference really, I don't.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    It always has worked for me. I also think it ramps up your metabolism. I love to eat and drink, exercise gives me the headroom to do that and lose weight.
  • tjbnurse77
    tjbnurse77 Posts: 3 Member
    I'm guilty of this at times..I struggle with hunger and 1290 calories a day..often feel like I'm starving! So I exercise (Focus T25/Max Insanity 30) and enter my caloric burn from my polar FT7 and then I get so excited cause I "gained" an extra 590 calories..! I have lost 16 pounds in 14 weeks..not bad..:) :D However, I am not in it just for weight loss..I love the challenge.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    tjbnurse77 wrote: »
    I'm guilty of this at times..I struggle with hunger and 1290 calories a day..often feel like I'm starving! So I exercise (Focus T25/Max Insanity 30) and enter my caloric burn from my polar FT7 and then I get so excited cause I "gained" an extra 590 calories..! I have lost 16 pounds in 14 weeks..not bad..:) :D However, I am not in it just for weight loss..I love the challenge.

    1290 a day, I think that is my breakfast. Just starting back with running due to some holiday gains. I just can't seem to maintain or lose without running.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited January 2015
    I sort of do that. I exercise more so I don't have to eat less. By that I mean I wasn't overeating by much, so I didn't cut my calories, I just upped my exercise.
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    lauriedenneyknowles wrote: »
    Okay, silly question here, but unless you exercise, and burn what you eat daily (for instance 1200 calories) you won't start losing weight until you burn 1200 calories??

    When you set up your diary on mfp it gives you a deficit based on a number of factors, BMR, activity level, lbs per week to lose chosen.

    You don't need to exercise at all; however calorie burn from exercising is over and above this deficit and so mfp gives you those calories back to maintain the original deficit.

    Common wisdom is to eat only half of the exercise calories back in order to fuel your workouts appropriately.

    cheers

  • xxoneluckygirlxx
    xxoneluckygirlxx Posts: 52 Member
    thanks guys-- I've read all of your post and appreciate the advises :)
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    lauriedenneyknowles wrote: »
    Okay, silly question here, but unless you exercise, and burn what you eat daily (for instance 1200 calories) you won't start losing weight until you burn 1200 calories??

    You will likely burn 1200 (probably more) just being alive. Your organs, digestion, breathing, standing, sitting, thinking, etc. All that takes engergy to complete. If you are eating only 1200 calories per day as a base, you should follow the MFP plan and eat more calories when you are not sedentary.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    xxoneluckygirlxx wrote: »
    My MFP is set up so i lose 1.9 lbs per week...I work out only so i can eat more---- is this ok to do? is it counter productive? will i still lose? Is there anyone who succeeded that did it this way?

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks!!!

    Let look at the math...Let's say WITHOUT exercise you get a calorie goal of 1200 calories to lose about 2 Lbs per week...this means that MFP is estimating your maintenance without exercise to be around 2200 calories per week (1,000 calorie deficit). Now lets say you exercise and burn 300 calories. Your new estimated maintenance would have also increased with that activity to 2500 calories which means you could lose the same amount of weight eating 1200 + 300 = 1,500 calories.

    It's all just math.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    lauriedenneyknowles wrote: »
    Okay, silly question here, but unless you exercise, and burn what you eat daily (for instance 1200 calories) you won't start losing weight until you burn 1200 calories??

    You don't need to burn what you eat...you "burn" calories 24/7 just existing...then you have your day to day type of stuff. WITHOUT any exercise whatsoever, the average female is going to maintain weight at around 1800 - 2000 calories...that 1200 calories is already a big deficit from that maintenance number to lose weight...again, WITHOUT any exercise.

    You don't eat 1200 calories and then try to burn all of that off. The biggest piece of your "burn" is you merely existing...your body requires a lot of energy (calories) just to perform bodily functions like breathing, heart pumping, etc...
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    xxoneluckygirlxx wrote: »
    My MFP is set up so i lose 1.9 lbs per week...I work out only so i can eat more---- is this ok to do? is it counter productive? will i still lose? Is there anyone who succeeded that did it this way?

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks!!!

    As long as the calorie balance is correct and you're burning more than you consume, you will still lose.

    And when it comes to the aspect of "I work out only so I can eat more", that's also perfectly fine. You have recognized that you want to eat more, and you have recognized that you need to work out to compensate for that.
  • bambarby
    bambarby Posts: 10 Member
    edited January 2015
    I would advise against this, as it did not work for me. I find myself getting really depressed from having to do cardio an hour a day just so I could enjoy a cupcake. It's not worth it.
    Now I set my daily caloric intake to a constant number, and stick with that no matter what. That way I'd never have to worry about burning off extra food, and I could work out whenever I please. It's been working really well and I start to lose weight again after a long plateau.
  • xxoneluckygirlxx
    xxoneluckygirlxx Posts: 52 Member
    awesome-- i will take all into consideration.
  • TheMannon
    TheMannon Posts: 36 Member
    I exercise specifically to eat more only on a few occasions – what I have found, however, is that working out allowed me to eat a ‘normal’ amount of food every day and still lose weight – so I don’t feel deprived in any way. That’s been incredibly important to my success. In fact, people at work kept asking me how I was losing weight when I seemed to be eating all day long.

    Listen to what people say here but the most important thing is to do what works FOR YOU. Unfortunately there are few on MFP who love to throw shade –
  • xxoneluckygirlxx
    xxoneluckygirlxx Posts: 52 Member
    :)
This discussion has been closed.

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