Do I eat more when I workout?

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AshleyNicoleDuncan
AshleyNicoleDuncan Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been working on my "lifestyle" change for a month. I feel much better than I did before and have learned loads of new things about my body and how it reacts to different foods. I am full time student and I don't feel like I have enough time to go outside and exercise like I would like to. However while I'm at work I have to go get shopping carts a few times a day and will on occasion hula hoop. My thinking so far has been, that if I exercise I should eat more food to keep up with my daily caloric intake. Am I correct in thinking that I should still hit that minimum goal each day, or should I not allow the exercise to count as negative calories for my day?

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited November 2015
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    MFP gave you a deficit BEFORE exercise, so yes you should eat exercise calories back.

    However, calorie burns are estimates (and often generous). Many people start by eating back a percent, say 50%. Then tweak up or down depending upon how weight loss progresses.

    The purpose is to keep your original deficit. Really large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass.

    Re: getting shopping carts. That may already be included in your activity level. Just be careful not to log too many things as exercise. Double counting may stall weight loss altogether.
  • AshleyNicoleDuncan
    AshleyNicoleDuncan Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so much. I've been struggling with this along with becoming angered whenever other people eat (whatever) alongside me. One day at a time.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    you have to account for that activity somewhere...you either account for it in your activity level (TDEE method) or after the fact when you log it and get those calories to "eat back" (MFP method). think about it logically...you have to account for all activity somewhere to be reasonably accurate in determining your calorie requirements.

    MFP gives you a calorie target per your stats and stated goals and activity level WITHOUT deliberate exercise activity...that's why none of the descriptors in the activity level never mention exercise. The calculator will determine what your maintenance calories are WITHOUT exercise and then cut from that as per your stated rate of loss goal....i.e. if you were to maintain on 2,000 calories per day with no exercise (just your day to day activities) and you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week then the calculator would give you a calorie target of 1500 calories...a 500 calorie deficit. now lets say you exercise and burn 300 calories...your new target would be 1500 + 300 = 1,800 calories...but you would still maintain a 500 calorie deficit due to the fact that your maintenance calories would have also increased with exercise to 2,000 + 300 = 2,300 calories and 2,300 - 1,800 = 500 calorie deficit still.
  • Orione2
    Orione2 Posts: 54 Member
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    I find that I don't lose weight if I eat back the cals for exercise. But were all different, try it is the best route, if you work out your tdee then knock off 500 or 20% Cal's you don't need to eat back the calories and should loose steadily. At the end of the day you are your own experiment. Try something, play with the way you eat, when ,what and see if it makes a difference.there's no one size fits all solution to weight loss.

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