Do YOU eat the exercise calories??

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  • Colfiii
    Colfiii Posts: 124 Member
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    I didn't eat them back first time I came here and a couple of times later - what happened is I stopped loosing and put my body in a bad plateau mode and stayed there for a while ( pb I went into starvation). Your goal is set anyways to have a calorie defficit so that even with eating those as long as u stay in your calorie range u ll loose. besides, if u don't u don't have any strength to exercise so ... eat them for sure ! :)
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I eat some of mine back.. like I try to make my total calories(not my net calories!) what my goal is for the day. So right now my goal is 1700 calories.. so thats what I would try to make my total calories before exercise to be. So far that has seemed to work for me.
  • NenaM812
    NenaM812 Posts: 101 Member
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    I don't...or at least I haven't been. I exercise late at night, usually around 9 or 10, and i don't really exercise for that long (yet). For the last couple weeks I've only done C25K and maybe an exercise DVD. The most I've burned during a workout is 500 cals. I can't imagine working out, being exhausted at 11 p.m., and then going and making 500 cals worth of food to inhale again unless it's in the form of wine.

    Since the general consensus is to eat back your exercise cals...what kind of stuff should you be eating???
  • Suziq2you
    Suziq2you Posts: 396 Member
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    Usually about half. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    http://www.mylifestylediet.com/calorie-calculator.php

    I'm doing calorie zig-zagging. The calories given on the above link are total calories, not net (because it takes into consideration your activity level already). So, technically, there are no exercise calories.

    When I follow MFP's guidelines (1200 calories), I eat back my exercise calories.
  • Kanzaki3
    Kanzaki3 Posts: 656 Member
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    My daily calorie goal is set really low. In order for me to eat more, I make sure I burn close to the same amount of calories as the extra calories consumed. This encourages me to exercise pretty much every day.
  • jenniferldennis
    jenniferldennis Posts: 1
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    I never do!!! Doesnt make sense really, even though it "does". I like to store those calories that way I can have a "cheat day" of up 2000cal ( night out at good resturant and a few drinks). I maintain my deficit and it works for me!

    Boils down to what you put in your mouth and how much of it!

    Lost 20lbs....
  • alishathiel
    alishathiel Posts: 16
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    Something I've read that seems to stick w/ me is the more fat you have to lose the less you need to eat back your exercise calories. The closer you get to your goal weight, you will need to consume your exercise calories. I tend to slightly dip into mine.
  • skinnyhopes
    skinnyhopes Posts: 402 Member
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    Heck yeah, that is the only reason why I exercise :)
  • thisisjulz
    thisisjulz Posts: 48
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    I usually try to eat about half of my exercise Calories back. That way my body doesn't go into starvation mode, but I also don't waste my workout.
    This.
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
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    I always eat at least half of them. Usually I eat close to all of them. I've been losing a little over 1 lb a week which is what my goals are set as.
  • RacheBell
    RacheBell Posts: 111
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    Most of the time I don't eat them back. I'm not putting my body into starvation mode.

    If I'm hungry, I'll eat more. If I'm full, then I don't eat anything else. I personally think it's a waste to eat them back. I've been at this game for awhile. I lost 30 pounds eating 1200 calories a day and running 4 days a week at one point. That's what I'm getting back at.





    And please nobody take this as sarcastic or the wrong way, but you all keep talking about starvation mode and not losing weight. If that's the case why aren't there any fat anorexics? This is a serious question..
  • wintermama13
    wintermama13 Posts: 172 Member
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    It really depends on the day, the workout, how i feel, if im hungry.
    Somedays I feel like I put too much into my workout to eat ALL of them back...just a way to psych myself up.
    Also, I have my options set to lose a pound a week. That way I have the option to eat some back or not and if I'm under my calorie goal I will still be within a sustainable amount of a calorie deficit. I don't really know how to explain everything that goes through my head hahaha!!! But that's what I do with my exercise calories :)
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
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    I try and keep my deficits small -- feed the muscle with food, burn the fat exercise.
    Eating frequently is part of my plan so there's less chance of me entering a catabolic state.

    Spike day, today... 3,976 calories.. I just couldn't eat the other 400+ back.
  • torregro
    torregro Posts: 307
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    This link explains it all, really: http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • wintermama13
    wintermama13 Posts: 172 Member
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    anorexics are way past the starvation mode. If you give your body zero nutrition for long enough it will of course eat itself. It is incredibly unhealthy and Destroys your metabolism.
  • Thexplodingirl
    Thexplodingirl Posts: 80
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    Heck yeah, that is the only reason why I exercise :)

    :happy: That's what got me started!

    On the subject of beating a dead horse:
    Fit Girl (I don't remember her name) Podcast said paraphrasing:
    The less you eat, the more your body dips into muscle. It burns muscle for fuel before it burns fat. (me saying, "That's how you get skinny-fat"). It takes less calories to sustain a fat cells than muscle, so you would have to keep lowering your calorie intake until you go into starvation mode, which would make you hold onto fat. You need to eat so you can build/maintain lean muscle mass in order to loose weight consistently (heck yes, muscle burns calories while I sleep so yes please!). If you keep lowering your calorie intake to dangerous levels, your metabolism will get used to not having to work very hard to maintain fat, so when you get off of this "diet" (You might think it's a lifestyle at the time but who can realistically stick to 600 cal/day for the rest of their lives?) your body's metabolism will be so messed up that you'll gain weight rapidly back.

    Me now:
    I don't know about you but I never want to be that fat again, I want my body to be running like a well oiled machine. I wasn't eating my exercise calories when I first started exercising and I was all over the scale then. Since I started eating them about a week ago I've been loosing consistently. I've also noticed a correlation between the answers and how much closer people who eat their exercise calories are to their goal. I'm just sayin, Cheers!:drinker:

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