Not logging exercise....a good idea or not?

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AriesGal329
AriesGal329 Posts: 236 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't input my exercise because it increases my calorie allotment for the day. I really want to stay with 1350 calories and figure if I exercise, it will just help in the end. If I worked out an hour or two a day, it would make sense, but since I exercise moderately (swim half an hour 3-4 times a week, walk my dog daily....maybe a hike every 1-2 weeks) I don't want extra calories for it.

Do others do this, or am I missing out on some positive things by not logging exercise?
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Replies

  • kimcalica
    kimcalica Posts: 525 Member
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    I log some of my exercise but I try to log less exercise than I actually do.. That way I'm sure that I'm not short changing myself.. I'm always worried that I'm not really burning the calories it says I am.. So I want to make sure I am truly at a large enough deficit.. Especially if I end up going out or eating most of my calories.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    Do whatever you want to do.
  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
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    Make sure your net calories do not fall below 1200. Meaning, if you are burning more than 150 calories a day through exercise then you need to eat back some of those calories.
  • ColinsMommaOC
    ColinsMommaOC Posts: 296 Member
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    I have decided to log exercise and then if I am hungry I eat SOME of the calories back. Even if I do not eat them back, I make sure to log the exercise because if something happens (like I stall in my weight loss, get sick, etc) and I need to know what I did on certain days the information is right there for me to see.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I think it's important to eat back some calories for intense or lengthy workouts, especially if you are already at the max deficit (2 lbs, less if you are closer to goal). (This is especially true since it kind of makes these workouts pointless if you don't fuel them -- you can't really train well on too few calories.) For the kinds of workouts you described I'd be okay not, or just considering it part of my activity level. Similarly, if I had lots to lose so could aim for 2 lbs and instead aimed for one I'd think it was okay to not eat back exercise.
  • kimcalica
    kimcalica Posts: 525 Member
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    I just make sure I EAT at least 1200.. Not really net.. But if I get hungry.. It's safe to eat more
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Either way. I don't eat my exercise calories all the time, but I log the exercise to make comparisons over time.

    When I'm hungry, though, I eat more and I don't worry about it.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    Just because the program gives you more calories doesn't mean that you have to eat them!

    I track just to have an accurate record of what I am doing. When you carefully track everything, it is easier to see trends and to learn more about what works and does not work for your body. A small example: over time, I have noticed that I need to start eating a bit more when I get over x number of exercise calories. I generally do not eat back exercise calories, but if I know now that if I am going to burn over x, I may have a problem. This allows me to plan an extra snack or a bigger meal ahead of time so that I don't get hungry at an inconvenient time/place.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I log exercise as 1 calorie if I log it - but I've set my calorie goal higher to account for not eating back exercise calories.
  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,215 Member
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    I log my walking, but that's pretty much it. I focus on my walking, since I do it pretty much every day. It's my measuring stick for progress.

    Everything else (yoga, swimming, strange feats of house cleaning) I might log is just exercise I do because I want to do it or psychotic house cleaning I do because my OCD went off like an air raid siren and it's clean or go nuts.
  • Verivus
    Verivus Posts: 16 Member
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    I don't log any of my exercise. I also don't each back any exercise calories.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
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    I log my exercise because I want to ensure that I'm netting an appropriate amount. You don't have to eat your exercise calories back even if you log them. Sometimes I don't feel the need and then use them later in the week when I have an extra-hungry day.
  • Svenn1974
    Svenn1974 Posts: 5 Member
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    Log it. Don't starve yourself. If you burn it and don't eat your body will take its energy from the fastest place and that's your muscle.
  • Steam_Powered_Awesome
    Steam_Powered_Awesome Posts: 301 Member
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    I log everything and eat back my burnt calories. I didn't realize so many people don't do that.
  • LunaBrighton
    LunaBrighton Posts: 142 Member
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    I log my exercise at the very end of the day, after I've logged in all my food. That way I'm sure not to eat any back.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I'm not logging it, but only because I'm going by TDEE right now. When I follow MFP's goals, I eat them back because my Fitbit adjustments run into 500-600 calories. At 1500 a day, that would put me at a very low net.
  • hotnumber
    hotnumber Posts: 222 Member
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    I stopped logging exercise for that very reason. I was eating back almost all the extra calories that I was working so hard to eliminate. When I stopped recording my workouts, I lost more weight... But that's just me :)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I don't log mine but that's because I'm fairly lean and do very light/minimal cardio.

    But when I was 165ish and sweating my butt off on the treadmill or circuit training? You bet I did! It allowed me to eat more but lose at the same rate mfp had me set to lose.
  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
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    I log my workouts so I have a record of them. I try not to eat the calories back because they seem awfully inflated. People say that MFP inflates workout numbers and my walks from MapMyWalk seem to give me even higher numbers. But I do want to know what I've been doing for historical data. And if I have a day I go over my allowed calories, hopefully I have the exercise calories to still not be "in the red".
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I have my fitbit synced with mfp. It's up to me if I eat them back or not.
    I just like to see those exact numbers everyday.

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