diet vs. exercise

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rhiannajohnson2015
rhiannajohnson2015 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If FP adds calories to your allowance when you enter exercise doesn't that basically negate what you burned for weight loss?
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  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    Do what?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    To use MFP as intended, you are meant to eat your exercise calories, because those calories keep you fueled to do those exercises on top of your daily activities.

    It doesn't negate anything, you still have the deficit that is built in to your calorie goal.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    If FP adds calories to your allowance when you enter exercise doesn't that basically negate what you burned for weight loss?

    No, because MFP gives you a calorie deficit before exercise. That way people who can't exercise still lose weight.

    The idea is you keep your original deficit. The hard part is figuring out how many extra calories you "earned" thru working out. Many MFP'ers start by eating back 75% and then dial back....or increase as needed.
  • iamchuckbass78
    iamchuckbass78 Posts: 34 Member
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    Mfp automatically reduces your daily recommended calories so you're already eating at a deficit to promote weight loss. You will burn more calories than you will eat. If you burn more calories by exercising, you should eat those back as your body still needs energy to move.
  • rhiannajohnson2015
    rhiannajohnson2015 Posts: 6 Member
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    So basically if I get on the elliptical for 30 minutes, which burns 270 calories it says I can eat 270 more calories. It feels like it just cancels out then.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    No. Your deficit is already calculated by MFP pre-exercise. If you're trying to lose 1lb/week, you have a 500 calorie deficit off the amount of calories you burn by being alive and performing day-to-day functions. When you exercise, your deficit becomes larger than you need for your target weight loss. Eating those calories burned from exercise keeps your energy levels up and helps prevent your body from using muscle for fuel.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    If FP adds calories to your allowance when you enter exercise doesn't that basically negate what you burned for weight loss?

    No, not if you have set up your profile correctly.

    Your calorie goal is your deficit...you don't have to do exercise to create the deficit. It is a deficit before exercise. Exercise then becomes an activity that is not otherwise accounted for.

    Part of being healthy and fit is knowing how to and understanding why you would want to properly feed your body. Exercise is very good for you, but it's also hard on the body...your require energy (calories) and nutrients for recovery and repair.

    Here's what the math looks like. Let's say I maintain weight with 2300 calories per day without any exercise whatsoever...to lose 1 Lb per week MFP would give me a calorie goal of 1,800 calories. I would lose weight eating that WITHOUT any exercise.

    Now I like training my *kitten* off...so let's say I go out for a 30 mile ride...I'll burn about 1,000 calories doing that...so I could eat 2,800 calories and still be in a deficit because my maintenance calories would have moved from 2300 to 3,300 and 3,300 - 2,800 = 500 calorie deficit still.
  • rhiannajohnson2015
    rhiannajohnson2015 Posts: 6 Member
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    Gotcha, thanks for the responses. So is exercise really worth it then as far as weight loss goes or is it more about the other health benefits?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    Gotcha, thanks for the responses. So is exercise really worth it then as far as weight loss goes or is it more about the other health benefits?

    Exercise can allow you to eat more, which certainly makes weight loss more fun. I also find that exercise helps moderate my appetite, although I understand that doesn't happen for everyone.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    Gotcha, thanks for the responses. So is exercise really worth it then as far as weight loss goes or is it more about the other health benefits?

    Calorie deficit for weight loss
    Exercise for cardiovascular health

    However, exercise does allow you to eat more, which of course, is yummy and fun :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    Gotcha, thanks for the responses. So is exercise really worth it then as far as weight loss goes or is it more about the other health benefits?

    For me it helps in that if I could only eat 1800 calories to lose weight I would have failed at this long ago...if I didn't exercise, that would be all I could eat. With my regular exercise I can cut on 2300 calories and I can maintain on 2800 - 3000.

    Others try to use exercise to create their deficit rather than using their diet...IMO, this is very inefficient...it is much more difficult to get the kind of exercise you would need to effectively do this on the kind of consistent basis one needs for effective weight loss. This is why you can see people in the gym cranking away for months and not making a dent...they haven't figured out the diet part.

    But year...basically diet for weight control; exercise for fitness.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »
    Gotcha, thanks for the responses. So is exercise really worth it then as far as weight loss goes or is it more about the other health benefits?

    It's both. The health benefits plus you are signaling your body "hey, I'm using those muscles." If you just diet alone you are going to lose a larger percentage of lean muscle than if you diet and exercise. Resistance/strength training and cardio are both good things to do for your health.

    This is a lifestyle change too. I need to move more if I hope to keep the weight from creeping back up.
  • r5d5
    r5d5 Posts: 219 Member
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    Exercise can be worth it for both purposes! It obviously will make you fitter, but it can also give you cushioning for eating more, so say you normally get 1700 but you'd like to eat two extra eggs or an extra serving of pasta. If you burn whatever, say 250 calories, you can eat those extra calories that would otherwise put you over your calorie limit will still keeping you in a deficit.
  • r5d5
    r5d5 Posts: 219 Member
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    I mean that's kind of a poor example...haha but you get the gist.
  • orlandodenise
    orlandodenise Posts: 54 Member
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    I dont eat back exercise calories - i'd just rather lose weight a bit quicker. Ive never been healthier, fitter , energised, not sick etc since 1st Jan when I started 5-6 times a week at the gym and MFP ( and lost 40 pounds ) :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited March 2015
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    orlandodenise wrote: »
    I dont eat back exercise calories - i'd just rather lose weight a bit quicker. Ive never been healthier, fitter , energised, not sick etc since 1st Jan when I started 5-6 times a week at the gym and MFP ( and lost 40 pounds ) :)

    This eventually will become a problem...it's not as big of an issue when you have a lot of fat to mobilize...it will become problematic as you lean out.

    Fit people eat.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    orlandodenise wrote: »
    I dont eat back exercise calories - i'd just rather lose weight a bit quicker. Ive never been healthier, fitter , energised, not sick etc since 1st Jan when I started 5-6 times a week at the gym and MFP ( and lost 40 pounds ) :)

    This eventually will become a problem...it's not as big of an issue when you have a lot of fat to mobilize...it will become problematic as you lean out.

    Fit people eat.

    I've been on here 1000 days, through a pregnancy even, and I very rarely eat back exercise calories. I didn't when I was at a healthy weight pre-pregnancy, and I didn't when I was pregnant (I exercised until 38 weeks) and I don't now. I'm fine.
  • bigd66218
    bigd66218 Posts: 376 Member
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    orlandodenise wrote: »
    I dont eat back exercise calories - i'd just rather lose weight a bit quicker. Ive never been healthier, fitter , energised, not sick etc since 1st Jan when I started 5-6 times a week at the gym and MFP ( and lost 40 pounds ) :)

    Wow, that's amazing and I thought my 30 pound weight loss was huge. :D
  • HeatherZousel
    HeatherZousel Posts: 62 Member
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    I tried eating my calories back but didn't lose any weight for about a month, so I cut back and now I don't eat them back. My workouts haven't suffered and my energy level is good so, for now, I will stick to just eating my base calories. You basically just have to see what your body is going to do. Make sure you give yourself enough time to evaluate results, though. You don't want to eat calories back for 3 days, decide you aren't losing, and cut back.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited March 2015
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    DawnieB1977 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    orlandodenise wrote: »
    I dont eat back exercise calories - i'd just rather lose weight a bit quicker. Ive never been healthier, fitter , energised, not sick etc since 1st Jan when I started 5-6 times a week at the gym and MFP ( and lost 40 pounds ) :)

    This eventually will become a problem...it's not as big of an issue when you have a lot of fat to mobilize...it will become problematic as you lean out.

    Fit people eat.

    I've been on here 1000 days, through a pregnancy even, and I very rarely eat back exercise calories. I didn't when I was at a healthy weight pre-pregnancy, and I didn't when I was pregnant (I exercised until 38 weeks) and I don't now. I'm fine.

    what is your training regimen like? A lot of people are actually shocked when they start properly fueling they're training...that's when they realize that they weren't really crushing it before.

    At anyrate, this isn't something I'm making up...training recovery requires energy and nutrients and I'm not going to sit here and tell people it's not important. Why do you think athletes eat?

    My wife is a marathon runner...I'm pretty sure she would suck *kitten* at that and probably be injured all of the time if she didn't fuel that. I'm an Olympic lifter and endurance cyclist...same issues would be abundant if I didn't fuel that training.

    But hey...if just losing a bunch of weight as fast as you can is what is most important..well, have fun...no sweat off my back.

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