should i calories gained from exercise?

samtodner
samtodner Posts: 4
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
hi guys

i think i've reached my plateau. I have been struggling to lose anything for weeks now. To lose weight without exercise i should eat 1300 cals but i am going to the gym 6 days a week and burning between 500-700 cals. I have been eating these cals back until now and am unsure if i should or not as i struggle to eat this many and nothing is happening with my weight.

Should i eat my exercise cals back or not ?

Replies

  • skylar1907
    skylar1907 Posts: 156
    I always eat between 0-50% of my exercise calories back. The more I burn, the more I eat back. I try to keep a cal deficit of around 100-300 calories beyond what MFP sets my calorie goal at if I'm exercising. If eating back all of them isn't working for you- you may be gaining muscle that weighs more/equal to the fat you're losing. Try leaving yourself small deficits each day and go from there.

    Your body gets used to the amount of calories you eat over time - you have to keep changing it up!

    Hope this helps.
  • JenniferLynWhat
    JenniferLynWhat Posts: 80
    Yes! Eat back the calories! I don't think a lot of people realize that the calories they see on MFP are already a deficit. I'm supposed to eat 1230 calories before exercising and that is a 1000 calorie deficit from my BMR. If I burn 500 calories, well then that's a 1500 calorie deficit which isn't healthy. Stick with what your doing..maybe throw in a bit more strength training (which boosts metabolism). Plateau's happen but if you stick with it you'll start losing again
  • catie224
    catie224 Posts: 50
    ive been having the same concern this week! ive burned roughly 500 calories a day, and have been eating them back, but have not lost weight. ive decided that i should eat roughly half of them back to avoid being too low, but not stress about being exact. hopefully that plan will work for next week!
  • jlsironen
    jlsironen Posts: 39 Member
    The scale hasn't budged but are you still seeing a change in your measurements/clothes?
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
    How are you calculating your calories? It seems on the high side to average 500 - 700 calories per gym workout. You may want to consider getting a heart rate monitor for a more accurate calorie burned reading. I got one this week and it gives me numbers that are generally lower than gym machines or MFP estimated calories burned.

    If you don't want to get a HR montor at this time, I would recommend only eating back half of your excercise calories and see how that works for you.

    Good luck! Keep up the good work!
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    Yes! Eat those calories...The first mistake I made was to stick to 1200 daily, even tho I was going to the gym and earning 500-700 extra calories a day. I could NOT figure out why the scale wouldn't budge...then I cam up here and posted a topic similar to yours and the overwhelming response was to eat to lose.

    I also started something new this week...Eating all my net calories (which means the exercise calories earned) every day. I'm watching the numbers on the scale get smaller already, and I feel really good about that. :bigsmile:

    It takes a little bit of time to find out what works for you, so if you've stalled? Go ahead and start chowing down on some of the exercise calories. Your body earned them, and it deserves them. :flowerforyou:
  • punkinrn
    punkinrn Posts: 32 Member
    YOU KNOW, I'VE WONDERED THE SAME THING, I'M AT A PLATEAU RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M GONNA CHANGE MY EXERCISE. I USUALLY RUN FOUR DAYS A WEEK, IT'S GETTING TOO HOT SO I'M GONNA START UP WITH MY VIDEOS, SLIM IN SIX AND P90X, AND IT WORKS YOUR WHOLE BODY AND A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORK OUT TO CHANGE IT UP. LAST TIME I HIT A PLATEAU I CHANGED MY JOGGING ROUTE AND ADDED SOME UPHILL STUFF AND HALF A MILE LONGER, IT SEEMED TO JUMP START IT, YOUR BODY GETS USED TO THE SAME ACTIVITY EVERY DAY. ALSO YOU DON'T HAVE TO CONSUME EVERY EXTRA CAL EARNED. FOR ME IT'S A TREAT, I RAN TODAY SO NOW I CAN HAVE MY LOW CALORIE BEER WHILE WE BBQ. SOME PEOPLE ITS CAKE, SOME IT'S CHOCOLATE, ME.....BEER!
  • rmsrws
    rmsrws Posts: 639 Member
    Muscle weighs more than fat.....If your not seeing results on the scale. Don't panic!!! Try doing measurements to see if anything has changed there. Be patient, it's the hardest thing in the world when you work your butt off to see no results on the scale. But it will happen. Moving and staying active is far better than doing nothing. So if you are excercising regularly, you are doing your body good! We all love to see immediate results to justify what we are doing. Unfortunately with life style change and excercise the instant gratification we all strive for, does'nt always show.

    Best Wishes~
  • samtodner
    samtodner Posts: 4
    Muscle weighs more than fat.....If your not seeing results on the scale. Don't panic!!! Try doing measurements to see if anything has changed there. Be patient, it's the hardest thing in the world when you work your butt off to see no results on the scale. But it will happen. Moving and staying active is far better than doing nothing. So if you are excercising regularly, you are doing your body good! We all love to see immediate results to justify what we are doing. Unfortunately with life style change and excercise the instant gratification we all strive for, does'nt always show.

    Best Wishes~

    thanks for the advice i have been doing some measurements and they are going down so obviously i am losing something but when i check my body fat % its seems to stay the same, this is another thing confusing me
  • samtodner
    samtodner Posts: 4
    thanks for the advice!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories