Should you really be eating the 'calories' you burned on MFP?

hillabeans23
hillabeans23 Posts: 37 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm getting back into the swing of this. In addition to bettering what I eat, I've started exercising for at least 45 minutes a day. I wear a weighted vest while walking/jogging (usually 2-3 miles a day & adding weight weekly) and I do pilates 3x a week, varying intensity. I'm really just drinking protein shakes, eating lots of fruits and veggies, and trying to eat protein for dinner. A couple healthy snacks ( handful of nuts or a protein bar) if I'm hungry before my next meal. But why does MFP add your burned calories back to your log? It seems counterproductive?

Replies

  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 792 Member
    Because the calculated calories don't include your exercise calories those you add in later.
  • sarahmcs65
    sarahmcs65 Posts: 35 Member
    Hi, sounds like you got a good diet plan going :) I think of the extra exercise calories earnt as a bonus, I wouldn't use them everyday but if you had a off moment (like I have tonight unfortunately) you have spare calories if you need them. This may be wrong but thought I'd answer you :)
    Well done so far :)
  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,213 Member
    MFP adds back the calories, because providing you completed your profile accurately, you're already working at a calorie deficit enough to lose based on your profile answer. Your exercise calories are added back, because the calories given by MFP are supposedly the minimum you should have. If your calories drop below that minimum because of exercise, then you're running a double deficit.

    I will say that their "burned" estimates can be off by quite a bit. They're often too high. If you're eating back all of the exercise calories, you may eat through the deficit and therefore, not lose weight. If you do want to eat them back, then eat 50% of them at most. If you have Premium, you can stop the "add back" but I don't think it's available for free use.
  • hillabeans23
    hillabeans23 Posts: 37 Member
    Wait, what? Without exercise, my daily intake is 1200c. When I added in my workout, it added like 200 to my intake. Should I eat that or no?
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited August 2015
    Hillary140 wrote: »
    Wait, what? Without exercise, my daily intake is 1200c. When I added in my workout, it added like 200 to my intake. Should I eat that or no?

    Yes...

    If you eat 1200 and then burn 400 through exercise, that's an 800 net amount. You eat those exercise calories back, putting you back at 1200 because your body needs extra energy after using some. 7
  • hillabeans23
    hillabeans23 Posts: 37 Member
    Hillary140 wrote: »
    Wait, what? Without exercise, my daily intake is 1200c. When I added in my workout, it added like 200 to my intake. Should I eat that or no?

    Sorry, I didn't read everyone's responses before I said that. Lol. Okay, I don't think their calories burned are really accurate. It could be more or less burned. Not sure. So if anything I can use those extra as wiggle room persae? Obviously that's not a free pass to get McDonald's lol, but you get what I'm saying.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,213 Member
    Yes, you can use them to wiggle, but if you want to lose, realize the wiggle is closer to 50% of what you've burned, not all of them!

    Under all normal circumstances, you should eat back a decent portion of them. If you have instructions otherwise from a doctor and doing so under a doctor's supervision, then that's a different story.
  • duncancox38
    duncancox38 Posts: 1 Member
    Yes, if you don't you will be in deficit and your body will go into "survival mode" after a while. So make sure you are fueling your work out by eating those calories. Is your profile set to loose weight? Despite what the various algorithms say, the best approach is to experiment and keep track of your weight. If you are losing weight yet still feel strong enough for the exercise then you are on track. - This is completely based on my experience and I have no qualifications in this subject matter.
  • hillabeans23
    hillabeans23 Posts: 37 Member
    Thanks for the help guys!
  • erigann
    erigann Posts: 45 Member
    I was wondering the same thing, of course I find I'm hungrier on non-exercise days and don't have the deficit. I wish calories carry over to the next day
  • hillabeans23
    hillabeans23 Posts: 37 Member
    Haha like rollover minutes.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    erigann wrote: »
    I was wondering the same thing, of course I find I'm hungrier on non-exercise days and don't have the deficit. I wish calories carry over to the next day

    Mfp counts by day, but I focus more on my weekly averages. So of you look at my diary on a Friday or Saturday, you might see me something like 1,000 calories over for that day; but you'd have to go back to my whole week off entries to see that I was under my goal 3 or 4 days during the week to "earn" those weekend calories.

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