Do you eat the calories you burned ?

leah_8303
leah_8303 Posts: 28 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
tips appreciated

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    when I did MFP I did. That's how you account for that activity with this calculator...other calculators include an estimate of your exercise in your goal...so either way, you're accounting for that activity level in some manner.

    The big downside to the MFP method is that it's difficult to estimate calories out and many people vastly overestimate their burn...to boot, there's also a tendency in underestimate intake so a lot of people run into problems here.

    When I was doing the MFP method I ate back my exercise calories minus an allowance for estimation errors. Part of being healthy and fit is properly fueling that kind of activity...that's how you make fitness improvements and proper feeding is also important to recovery. The more rigorous your exercise regimen is the more important it is to properly fuel it. Many, if not most "overtrain" injuries incurred by the average person working out are due to a lack of proper fueling more so than truly overtraining.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited February 2015
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    That's utter horse droppings.
    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    And that's complete bull ****.

  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    No

  • krysmuree
    krysmuree Posts: 326 Member
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    you have to actually change what you eat.

    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    10 calories from protein, fat, and meat gets turned into energy.

    I'm not so sure you should be giving anyone advice with a lovely "0 lbs lost" boasted on your profile. I'd love to see your sources for these ridiculous claims.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I eat back half of what MFP tells me I burned.
  • krysmuree
    krysmuree Posts: 326 Member
    I only eat my exercise calories if I'm hungry, honestly. :) And if I do, it's usually a protein shake with almond milk and I only eat half of what I burn, at most.
  • Ni_kki
    Ni_kki Posts: 50 Member
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    you have to actually change what you eat.

    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    10 calories from protein, fat, and meat gets turned into energy.

    no. just no. :s
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    you have to actually change what you eat.

    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    10 calories from protein, fat, and meat gets turned into energy.

    Lolwhat?

    OP, it depends how accurate you are with your logging. If you're mostly estimating, you're probably better off not eating them.
  • cdlee05
    cdlee05 Posts: 718 Member
    I do what KrissyMuree said. But, I might try logging my workouts as just 1 calorie burned so I can focus more on the food intake, we'll see how that goes.
  • i eat back mine but not all the time just a few days of the week
  • airborne18th
    airborne18th Posts: 57 Member
    first it is really how much are you burning in workouts. if you are burning 1/4th of your calories a day working out, then you have to replace them. also make sure you are accurately measuring the calories burned in a workout. thinking you are burning 300 per day, but not.

    In the end though if you are doing hard workouts you will need energy and fuel.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    the calories in calories out method has been disproven millions of times.

    you have to actually change what you eat.

    10 calories of sugar goes straight to your liver and turns into fat.

    10 calories from protein, fat, and meat gets turned into energy.

    Interesting...it worked really well for me

    <<<that's my thorwback Thursday pic from 2.5 years ago when I was a fat *kitten*...I'm no longer a fat *kitten* and as healthy and fit as I was in my early 20s.

    And before you go on one of your, "everyone's an anorexic eating oreos" tirades, let me assure you that many people count calories and also eat well and get good nutrition. You can eat well and still over-eat and still put on weight...if that weren't the case then my latest bulk cycle would have been an epic fail.

    CICO has never been dis-proven...it's pretty solid science.
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
    sometimes. but mostly only on the days when i run 9+ miles, even then its usally not much more. or i plan it as a splurge day anyway and have a big old juicy double burger~
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    I do not eat them back. I try to eat the same 2000 cals no matter if I worked out or not.
    I am a creature of habit and tend to eat the same things day in and day out anyway (except for dinner), so I find it easy to just not play that game.
    To be honest I do what some people above do and log my exercise as 100cal per hour which is definitely on the low side.
  • Help me to understand please, if my goal is to lose 1.7 lbs per week, and am on 1,200 calorie 'healthy food' intake, then I burn 200 calories walking and stretching (noob) this is day two......... what should I be doing to be the healthiest I can be and still lose weight?
  • krysmuree
    krysmuree Posts: 326 Member
    I should add I do a lot of cardio involving walking, jogging and running, so I use a heart rate monitor to track my calories and only eat half back in case there is an overestimate, since my HRM can have a 12% overestimation.
  • UrnAsh_
    UrnAsh_ Posts: 242 Member
    No.
  • airborne18th
    airborne18th Posts: 57 Member
    dawnna76 wrote: »
    sometimes. but mostly only on the days when i run 9+ miles, even then its usally not much more. or i plan it as a splurge day anyway and have a big old juicy double burger~
    when my daughter was a teenager and was starting to worry about eating and weight.. I told her if you do a real solid 45 min workout you can basically eat whatever you want. So instead of giving up the foods she became a runner.
  • zenner22
    zenner22 Posts: 33 Member
    I eat back half of what MFP tells me I burned.

    This is what I do too. And I've lost 45lbs in 6 months. For me the extra calories is a big motivator to exercise (I know I should just want to do it for health reasons, but I don't.) If I did'nt eat some of the calories back I might not choose to be so active. For example, I'm going to Chipotle for dinner tonight (yipee!!!) I preplanned my meal and realized I'd be over my calories, so I just did 25 minutes of cardio that I wouldn't have done otherwise, and I gave myself half those earned calories to eat. Now I get to eat guilt free.
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    I try to cram in as much as possible. Impossible task when i'm running 20-30+ milers though. 4-5k is about my limit.
  • ashypashy7
    ashypashy7 Posts: 50 Member
    It depends for me. I'm not at a high level of fitness, my work outs are mostly low impact. I tend not to eat my work out cals back. There have been a few days here and there that I eat half back. If your working out hard, I could see the importance of fueling that.
  • Kayla21279
    Kayla21279 Posts: 25 Member
    I'm pretty new to all this, but based on the science of it, I would say it's probably ok to eat the calories you burned in a day. Personally I wouldn't eat quite all of them, though, in case I overestimated my calories burned or underestimated the calories I took in. Also I'd say you don't have to eat them if you don't want to, as long as you are still getting enough calories to maintain your health and provide fuel from normal bodily functions. So long as you keep that in mind and are aware of your calorie goals for the day, I think you should be good.
  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
    i personally do not eat any of mine back. i don't even log exercise.
  • lakhena
    lakhena Posts: 57 Member
    I exercise so I can eat more! Chocolate is a good motivator :)
  • jenlo1971
    jenlo1971 Posts: 49 Member
    All my workouts are hard at this point- lol. Seriously. I've always used an hrm and a rough estimate on my workouts are burning 100 c a minute- unless I'm just walking then of course it is far less. Anytime I do more than just walking I find I need extra fuel or I will burn out very quickly on exercise or either try and deny myself the extra calories and then totally have a binge.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    jenlo1971 wrote: »
    ...a rough estimate on my workouts are burning 100 c a minute...

    The only way the human body could generate that much energy over that short a period of time is if you poured gasoline over it and set it on fire.
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