How about if I.......

sunshine79
sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
Just a thought. I keep reading that creating a calorie deficit trough exercise is superior to creating the deficit through calorie restriction.

With that in mind if I eat at maintenance (good quality calories) and workout to create the deficit (but not eat them back) will I still lose weight?????

Please, I'm not looking for an argument about whether or not to eat back exercise calories - just advice from others who may have taken this approach or actually know something about this.

Thanks in advance, have a blessed day:happy: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • tlynnweb
    tlynnweb Posts: 201 Member
    I have seen people on here not eat their exercise calories and they stop losing weight.
  • kfitz10103
    kfitz10103 Posts: 354
    Once your body hits starvation I don't think you will lose. I have never done that though.
  • stefraab
    stefraab Posts: 402 Member
    I had the same thought.

    I think MFP is set up so that you don't have to exercise if you don't want to.

    If you want to eat at "maintenance" and then exercise, as long as you keep above NET 1200, it should work the same as setting a 0.5 or 1 or 2lb a week loss and then eating back your exercise calories.
  • nehtaeh
    nehtaeh Posts: 2,849 Member
    I'm not sure there would be much of a difference, either way you will still have a deficit. The difference would only be in the amount of cals you get back from switching to maintenance and the amount of calories you burn.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    That should work, and would probably avoid some slowdowns and plateaus.
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    A deficit is a deficit. If it's 500 below maintenance and eating back your exercise calories or at maintenance and burning 500 calories through exercise you still are 500 down for the day. There is no difference in that scenario other than what you choose to call the deficit calories.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Just a thought. I keep reading that creating a calorie deficit trough exercise is superior to creating the deficit through calorie restriction.

    With that in mind if I eat at maintenance (good quality calories) and workout to create the deficit (but not eat them back) will I still lose weight?????

    Please, I'm not looking for an argument about whether or not to eat back exercise calories - just advice from others who may have taken this approach or actually know something about this.

    Thanks in advance, have a blessed day:happy: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

    Yes, you would still lose. If you burn 3500 calories from exercise/week and eat maintenance calories, you will lose 1 lb/week. Just remember it is much easier to reduce the amount you eat than to exercise more. There is a saying that goes "you cannot out exercise bad eating". But if you eat good foods at maintenance levels you will lose.
  • sophjakesmom
    sophjakesmom Posts: 904 Member
    I tend to eat more on the weekends. So I use any deficit I create through the week to cover overages on the weekends. When my kids were little, their pediatrician would tell me that if they eat a balanced diet throughout a week, even if they have a day that is not balanced, it would be fined. so I have (rightly or wrongly) applied that logic to my own diet. This way when I do have those "cheat days" I still feel in control. I don't think the starvation mode kicks in after only 1 day. I think that is more if you consistently eat too little. So far, so good. I'll let you know if I hit a plateau. :ohwell:
  • Starkle09
    Starkle09 Posts: 238 Member
    I would think if ur calories are at maintenance level and you create a deficet thru exercise ur shoud lose weight. Not an expert just my opinion...best of luck to u with whatever u decide :)
  • Sasha_Bear
    Sasha_Bear Posts: 625 Member
    I had the same thought.

    I think MFP is set up so that you don't have to exercise if you don't want to.

    If you want to eat at "maintenance" and then exercise, as long as you keep above NET 1200, it should work the same as setting a 0.5 or 1 or 2lb a week loss and then eating back your exercise calories.


    This was how I understood it as well.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I have seen people on here not eat their exercise calories and they stop losing weight.

    Yes, but they are eating at a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit before exercise, then by not eating them would increase the deficit to well over 1000/day. What she is saying is eat maintenance and if you burn 600 your deficit is only 600, whereas if you were eating an intake that gave you a 1000 cal deficit then didn't eat your exercise calories your deficit would be 1600 (1000+600)
  • Jessika616
    Jessika616 Posts: 41
    That's What my trainer told me to do ;)
  • soldier4242
    soldier4242 Posts: 1,368 Member
    My weight loss goal is 2 pounds per week. This means I have to have a calorie deficit of 1000 calories per day. I have to have 2580 just to live each day. This means that I am left with a green 1580 at the start of each day.

    I eat quality food each day including oatmeal, fruits, vegetables and meat. By the end of each day I am over on calories by about 500.

    So I just go for a 2mile run followed by a 2mile walk and I am back to a green number. After I am finished I can only eat back as many calories as it would take to get me to a low green or red number. Some days I don't eat back any calories at all and I have lost 27 pounds this way.
  • angelheb
    angelheb Posts: 2
    I am proof that if you dont eat your workout calories you stop loosing. I am working hard on eating all of my calories in hopes of boosting my metabolism back into gear.
  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
    Thank you all for your responses.

    For me, I think creating the deficit this way simplifies things so I may give it a shot. I understand that the calories must be quality ones and that this approach is not a free license to eat junk but as eating at a deficit is what's causing me the most trouble these days I think I will try this approach.

    As I said in my original post I am convinced that creating the deficit through exercise rather than calorie restriction is the better of the two ways.

    Thanks again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
  • maemiller
    maemiller Posts: 439 Member
    Thats what happened to me and i plateaud. My trainer told me that your body thinks its going into starvation mode and instead of burning calories, it stores it.

    I started eating the calories i burned off and im finally past the plateu
  • Jdismybug1
    Jdismybug1 Posts: 443 Member
    I do both, sometimes I eat them back, and sometimes I don't. Granted I've only been working out almost 3 wks, so if I hit a plateau I may start eating more, or change me routine. It all depends really on what you feel works for you.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Thats what happened to me and i plateaud. My trainer told me that your body thinks its going into starvation mode and instead of burning calories, it stores it.

    I started eating the calories i burned off and im finally past the plateu

    I don't think you understand what she is asking.

    OP: This is a great way to lose weight, just make sure your Net is above 1200. So if your maintenance is 1800 and you burn 800, eat back 200 to get you to the minimum of 1200 Net, if you only burn 400 great, your net would be 1400 (1800-400)
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    Thats what happened to me and i plateaud. My trainer told me that your body thinks its going into starvation mode and instead of burning calories, it stores it.

    I started eating the calories i burned off and im finally past the plateu

    The difference, as stated here, is eating at maintenance. The reason you plateaued was because you were already eating below maintenance and not eating your exercise calories made that deficit too big. This person wants to eat at maintenance level, that is, if they did no exercise they would neither gain or lose weight. Then the exercise they do would create the deficit. This will not put them into a state where they plateau unless they exercise like crazy for hours a day. Instead it would provide a deficit that is quite moderate. Some argue this is a preferable way to lose weight. I'm not sure if it is or not, but it is a way to lose weight.
  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
    Thats what happened to me and i plateaud. My trainer told me that your body thinks its going into starvation mode and instead of burning calories, it stores it.

    I started eating the calories i burned off and im finally past the plateu

    I don't think you understand what she is asking.

    OP: This is a great way to lose weight, just make sure your Net is above 1200. So if your maintenance is 1800 and you burn 800, eat back 200 to get you to the minimum of 1200 Net, if you only burn 400 great, your net would be 1400 (1800-400)

    Thanks so much for your responses, (clearly you have understood my point) - and for the additional advice. I will make sure I net 1200.

    Thanks again :happy: :happy:
  • beachgirl0776
    beachgirl0776 Posts: 4
    I can say from experience, when I lost a ton of weight before....and subsequently gained it all back, which is why I am here now! If I let my body get to starvation mode I didn't lose anything. A friend I was dieting with at the time referred to it as deserted island syndrome. Your body thinks it on a deserted island and needs to hold on to what it has because there might not be more coming for a while. It was an interesting concept and I tested it a couple of times by being really restrictive for several days while continuing a serious exercise plan and sure enough, every time I did that I would sit at the same weight and not lose anything. Then I would allow myself a few extra calories and *poof* the next morning a big drop in the scale.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
    In theory, if you are in a calorie deficit you will lose weight. I think the problem comes with knowing “exactly” if you are really in a deficit or not. Are you really burning that many calories, are you really only eating that many calories?
  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
    If you are starting by eating your maintenance calories (BMR, quality foods) and then working out (and not eating back those calories) to create a deficit from that number, I would think that would be safe and work as your BMR is higher than the calorie goal that MFP calculates. It would be starting at your MFP calorie goal and working out to create a deficit w/out eating back enough calories to stay healthy that could be a potential problem.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    If you are starting by eating your maintenance calories (BMR, quality foods) and then working out (and not eating back those calories) to create a deficit from that number, I would think that would be safe and work as your BMR is higher than the calorie goal that MFP calculates. It would be starting at your MFP calorie goal and working out to create a deficit w/out eating back enough calories to stay healthy that could be a potential problem.

    She would be eating higher than BMR. I don't know what her maintenance is but these are the numbers I have here at MFP for me.

    BMR -- 1676
    My Current MFP Calorie Goal -- 1676
    Calories Burned from a normal day -- 2090

    That final number would be my maintenance level give or take a few hundred calories. With what the OP proposed I would eat that amount, but not eat my exercise calories thus producing a deficit. If I burned 414 calories in exercise a day, I would have the exactly the same caloric deficit I have right now.

    Now whether that is preferable, I really don't know. I do know some people say so, but nothing I have read refers to actual controlled scientific studies to prove that point. The advantage I see is being able to eat more. The disadvantage is that you have to work out every day to maintain your deficit. That may not seem too bad at first, but life has a tendency to get busy and that can make it difficult to get in a workout every day.

    I guess the other option is go with a small deficit from food, say 100 calories or so, and workout for the rest of the calorie deficit. That way you would be in a caloric deficit even if you didn't work out, but when you did it would be slightly larger.
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