If you eat the extra calories given to you because of exercisin does it cancel out the exercise?
abijones75
Posts: 116 Member
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just don't get it! If I burn off calories by exercising but then my fitness pal says I can then eat more because of it...?? How does that work?
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Replies
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It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.0
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From a weight loss perspective, yes, it would offset the exercise. But there are lots of other benefits to exercise like cardiovascular health, strength, endorphins, etc., that you will see regardless of whether you eat those calories back.
When you set up your account, you set a weekly weight loss goal, and MFP calculates the number of calories you need to eat every day to hit that goal. Therefore, if you burn more, you need to eat more to meet but not exceed your weight loss target. I hope that makes some sense.
One caveat to exercise calories is that many MFP members find they are grossly overstated and I have often seen the advice to start by eating 50-75% of them back only, and see how that affects your losses relative to the MFP goal you set when you started.0 -
Let's say MFP sets your goal at 1,200 calories a day and eating at that level you'll lose 1.0 pound a week - you're at the maximum deficit for healthy weight loss, and you are happy with that. You don't exercise and you eat according to plan and you lose your weight as expected (though it's never really consistent from week to week - just a heads up) and all is good.
Now you decide you want to exercise, so you start exercising every day, and you burn 400 calories each session (I'm assuming that's an accurate number here for purpose of illustration). All of a sudden your body no longer gets all 1,200 calories to do what it needs to do, it's only getting 800 because 400 calories were used up fueling your exercise. If you don't eat those 400 calories back, your deficit is no longer what it once was, you are now out of the healthy weight loss range, and at best you'll start losing weight faster than you expected. I say at best, because at worst, if you're putting up calorie burns in the 800-1,000 range, now your body is really only getting 200-400 calories each day and you'll stop losing weight entirely (it's called starvation mode). I have several friends on MFP right now who are doing this very thing, and it's going to hurt them in the long run.
So you need to eat your exercise calories back. It's more important the more you burn, and less important the less you burn. If you're unsure of how accurate your calorie burns are, then you may not want to eat your full burn numbers, but assuming you know with accuracy what they are, you should eat them if the goal you have set is what you really want.
The only exception would be if you use a TDEE calculator to set your goals (since those already include exercise calories built in, or you are setting custom goals in MFP where you are pre-adding in a certain amount of calories for exercise burn.
In answer to your title - no eating the calories does not cancel out the exercise. You're still getting the benefit of the cardio workout you did or the strength training you did. You do cancel out the exercise calories you burned, but since MFP does not include these in your daily goal (even if you put in how often and for how long you workout) your MFP goal does not include them.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just don't get it! If I burn off calories by exercising but then my fitness pal says I can then eat more because of it...?? How does that work?
Please read these posts on eating exercise calories. They may help answer your question.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/173853/an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
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Ok thanks very much everyone, that makes sense to me now. I'm only trying to lose about 7 ibs and am not overweight, getting fit is as important as losing those few pounds so I certainly wouldn't not exercise, and I also know that I can lose weight quite quickly if I diet and exercise so i'm not going to stop. Having said that I haven't done much in the way of exercise at all today and with my earned extra calories I could have a slice of toast with peanut butter, and I'm hungry!!0
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It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.0 -
It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
NO
MFP gave you a calorie deficit with zero exercise factored in. Exercise increases the deficit you signed up for. HOWEVER, calorie burns are estimates. Many people eat back a percentage. Start with 50% and increase that number if weight loss is faster than expected, or you feel run down.
The problem with fast weight loss (unless you are obese) is large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle. Healthy weight loss = fat loss.0 -
It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.
Wouldn't a 250 calorie a day surplus only be 1/2 a pound a week?0 -
MakePeasNotWar wrote: »It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.
Wouldn't a 250 calorie a day surplus only be 1/2 a pound a week?
Yes it would so put 500 where he put 250 the message is good just a small screw up.. 500 x 7 = 3500 calories which = 1 pound
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abijones75 wrote: »Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just don't get it! If I burn off calories by exercising but then my fitness pal says I can then eat more because of it...?? How does that work?
because you have a calorie target to lose weight that already includes your deficit WITHOUT considering exercise.
let's say that without exercise, my maintenance calories were 2400...to lose about 1 Lb per week I would eat 1,900 for a 500 calorie per day deficit. now let's say I exercise and that activity is not accounted for in my activity level...let's say I burn 250 calories. now I can eat 1900 + 250 = 2,150 calories and still maintain my 500 calorie deficit because my maintenance number would have moved by that same 250 when accounting for additional activity.
also, the purpose of exercise goes well beyond burning calories...that's really just a nice bi-product. exercise and otherwise moving is simply essential to general health and well being. understanding fitness for the sake of fitness can be a real eye opener.0 -
Yes, typo aside I thought it was a really good explanation. I just wanted to double check the numbers to make sure my own deficit wasn't setting me up for too-fast weight loss.Michael190lbs wrote: »MakePeasNotWar wrote: »It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.
Wouldn't a 250 calorie a day surplus only be 1/2 a pound a week?
Yes it would so put 500 where he put 250 the message is good just a small screw up.. 500 x 7 = 3500 calories which = 1 pound
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It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.
To clarify above:-
MFP works on NEAT = BMR+ daily activity, then one gives MFP ones preferred weekly loss to get a base calorie intake for that goal.
One adds ones exercise into MFP, gets a calorie expended estimate added to their daily base calories, and eats back those calories also.
As MFP tends to overestimate calorie burn through exercise, one can determine what percentage to eat back dependant on goals.
TDEE is calculated by an outside calculator and can be entered into MFP to override their recommendation.
One does not enter any exercise into MFP, or eat back extra calories. The TDEE calculation has done that for you.
You eat to the calorie goal given by the external TDEE calculator regardless of exercise performed.
TDEE = BMR+ daily activity+ exercise.
Cheers, h.0 -
middlehaitch wrote: »It depends on your goal. If you are looking to build and gain weight you want to eat back a portion of them. If you want to lose you should be more judicious about eating back. But the calorie counts are not perfect so you will need to experiment a bit to find what works.
No, that's not how MFP works.
When you enter your goal into MFP, it gives you a caloric goal assuming you're doing no exercise on top of your daily activity. So, to keep you at the same weight loss goals at the same deficit you get your exercise calories back. To build and gain, you'd need to eat more than your total exercise calories back.
Example: Person A has a TDEE of 2000 calories to maintain and wants to lose 1lb per week (250 calorie deficit per day).
2000 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 1750 at a 250 cal defict for 1lb per week loss.
Now, lets say this person burns off 400 cals at the gym per day.
2000 cals TDEE + 400 exercise cals = 2400 TDEE now.
2400 cals TDEE - 250 = an intake of 2150 with a 250 cal deficit for 1lb per week loss.
Now, with that said, many on MFP advocate starting out with eating back about 50% of your exercise cals and adjust from there as the caloric burns calculated via MFP can be overexaggerated.
As you lose weight, exercise calories become more important because you don't have fat to burn on your body for fuel, so you'll need that fuel for food. Also, the larger deficit at a lower weight can cause additional loss of LBM.
To clarify above:-
MFP works on NEAT = BMR+ daily activity, then one gives MFP ones preferred weekly loss to get a base calorie intake for that goal.
One adds ones exercise into MFP, gets a calorie expended estimate added to their daily base calories, and eats back those calories also.
As MFP tends to overestimate calorie burn through exercise, one can determine what percentage to eat back dependant on goals.
TDEE is calculated by an outside calculator and can be entered into MFP to override their recommendation.
One does not enter any exercise into MFP, or eat back extra calories. The TDEE calculation has done that for you.
You eat to the calorie goal given by the external TDEE calculator regardless of exercise performed.
TDEE = BMR+ daily activity+ exercise.
Cheers, h.
One correction.
If you have MFP Premium and use TDEE, you can choose to enter exercise into MFP and use the Premium option to NOT include calorie burns in your daily goal if you want to keep a record of it.
If you do not gave MFP Premium, you can still enter exercise in MFP for tracking purposes if you want, you just would need to leave those calories uneaten each day.
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You shouldn't eat them all. Maybe half or less. I also think it depends on how big the burn was0
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Wow, Upstate, never having explored premium, I never knew that. Great thing to have, but I think I will stick with the free version.
Great bit of knowledge to pass along.
Cheers, h.0 -
Weight loss isn't the only part of fitness. I don't ever exercise with the intent to directly create a larger calorie deficit, although in many ways it goes hand-in-hand with my weight loss efforts.
I only really do any type of exercise for two types of reasons:
1. For pleasure. A lot of outdoorsy events are enjoyable. What's the use of improving your body if you're not gonna do something fun with it?
2. For training. I don't just exercise for the sake of exercise - here I'm using exercise as a means to a different end. In the case of strength training, my goal is to build muscle mass for a variety of reasons (reduce or eliminate the loss of lean mass from dieting, keep my BMR high, be stronger, look better). In the case of HIIT my goals are to improve cardiovascular and general fitness, improve my metabolism, and further try to preserve muscle.0 -
One of the main reasons I exercise is so I can eat more.0
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Thanks for all the response. Just to clarify though, I didn't say I was exercising just to lose weight, I was just concerned that by eating back those calories I would be losing the weight loss benefits of the exercise...if I'm going to do it I want it to count on all levels! But anyway, I understand the way it works not so thank you for explaining it to me
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I was just thinking re above comments about mfp setting calories based on no exercise... do people here log every bit of exercise they do, or just the specific training like running or weights etc? And is there a way to set up your daily activity level to incorporate routine exercise if not? I walk 2 miles in total on the school run, plus a half hour dog walk so I wouldn't consider myself sedentary even before I do any specific exercise, but then again I wouldn't want my calorie allowance to be any larger than it is as I want drop that 7ibs.0
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For the level of exercise you describe I would put 'lightly active' in this calculator
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
Some people like to just put 'sedentary', and then add every exercise they do, others prefer to average it out over the week. I don't think there's any right or wrong way here, as long as you get your numbers right.
If you've been stable at your weight for while, you could work out what you're consuming now, and reduce it by 10%, then see where you stabilize and adjust again if necessary. Good luck!0 -
abijones75 wrote: »I was just thinking re above comments about mfp setting calories based on no exercise... do people here log every bit of exercise they do, or just the specific training like running or weights etc? And is there a way to set up your daily activity level to incorporate routine exercise if not? I walk 2 miles in total on the school run, plus a half hour dog walk so I wouldn't consider myself sedentary even before I do any specific exercise, but then again I wouldn't want my calorie allowance to be any larger than it is as I want drop that 7ibs.
I'm set at sedentary plus I have a fitbit, so I don't need to worry about the numbers or figuring out how many calories 2.65 miles are burning etc etc Plus it adds or deducts calories depending on how active I am.
Get yourself an activity tracker, sync it with mfp and voila ,no more guess work.
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Thanks, I might get a fitbit I think 0
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Check out this TDEE calculator - http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Then you don't have to worry about adding in exercise.0 -
Since you only have seven pounds to lose and your goal is health and fitness, you are getting all sorts of gains from the exercise that have little to do with losing weight. Your cardiovascular system will improve, which means you will have greater stamina and energy through the day. Your cheeks will pink up and you will have a healthy glow.
If you do weight training, flabby bits will firm up. You will have a nicer body under your skin to show off. And you will be stronger.
None of these benefits are cancelled out by eating the calories back.0
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