Should you eat the calories you burned through exercise?

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BushDid7Eleven
BushDid7Eleven Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know you need a calorie deficit to lose weight, but why do people say to eat what you exercised when you can just not do so and lose weight faster?

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    This is discussed just about daily here, so you might want to search for past threads and take a look at them.

    Bottom line: losing weight the fastest isn't always the best. There is a limit to how much fat you can lose at a time, so losing weight too quickly will target your muscle mass. That's the stuff you don't want to lose because it helps your body look better (and includes essential tissue, like your heart).

    Why would you want to lose more muscle than you have to when you're losing weight?

    Plus, eating to fuel your activity is fantastic for your energy and your mood and it can help keep you on plan by reducing hunger and cravings.
  • BushDid7Eleven
    BushDid7Eleven Posts: 13 Member
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    I set my weight loss goal to 2lbs per week. In my diary, it gives me 2300 calories to eat. Is that to maintain weight or to lose the 2lbs per week?
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    If you want to eat them back, eat them back. If not, then don't. It's just a matter of personal preference, how hungry you are, etc. If you do decide to eat back calories be careful not to overestimate your burn as that is a VERY common thing to do.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    BushDid7Eleven wrote: »
    I set my weight loss goal to 2lbs per week. In my diary, it gives me 2300 calories to eat. Is that to maintain weight or to lose the 2lbs per week?

    If you tell MFP you want to lose weight, it gives you a calorie goal for weight loss.
  • BushDid7Eleven
    BushDid7Eleven Posts: 13 Member
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    I would assume the cardio machine I work on is accurate, it records my weight. So eat my caloric goal (2300) plus what I burn and I should lose aprox. 2 lbs?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    BushDid7Eleven wrote: »
    I set my weight loss goal to 2lbs per week. In my diary, it gives me 2300 calories to eat. Is that to maintain weight or to lose the 2lbs per week?

    That would be the amount MFP thinks you should eat to achieve 2 lb per week loss.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    BushDid7Eleven wrote: »
    I would assume the cardio machine I work on is accurate, it records my weight. So eat my caloric goal (2300) plus what I burn and I should lose aprox. 2 lbs?

    Machines aren't accurate (most of them anyway). Start by eating 2300 + 50% of what the cardio machine says. If weight continues as you expect.....you're all set. But if weight loss is faster, eat more. If weight loss is slower, eat less.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
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    BushDid7Eleven wrote: »
    I would assume the cardio machine I work on is accurate, it records my weight. So eat my caloric goal (2300) plus what I burn and I should lose aprox. 2 lbs?

    I wouldn't assume the calorie burn on anything is accurate. I try not to eat more than half of my burn, but it always depends on how I feel. If I'm hungry I may eat more than my goal.
  • caurinus
    caurinus Posts: 78 Member
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    I have zero confidence in any mechanism that supposedly says how many calories I burned in any given activity. There are just too many factors that can throw accuracy off -- ambient temperature, current body weight, how insulating are my clothes...

    I just set up my diet with a moderate 1lb/week fat loss target, or 1.5lbs at most, assuming I'm going to be sedentary the whole way. That way, no matter how much exercise I get, I'm still working towards my goal, and any exercise I add just accelerates the process a little without pushing me into burnout rates of weight loss.
  • Ketzalitzli2
    Ketzalitzli2 Posts: 38 Member
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    caurinus wrote: »
    I have zero confidence in any mechanism that supposedly says how many calories I burned in any given activity. There are just too many factors that can throw accuracy off -- ambient temperature, current body weight, how insulating are my clothes...

    I just set up my diet with a moderate 1lb/week fat loss target, or 1.5lbs at most, assuming I'm going to be sedentary the whole way. That way, no matter how much exercise I get, I'm still working towards my goal, and any exercise I add just accelerates the process a little without pushing me into burnout rates of weight loss.

    That's what I did also. Just in case I get derailed a bit from my workouts, which happens more often than I'd like to admit. o:)
  • sarafit926
    sarafit926 Posts: 62 Member
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    I have my settings as "Maintain weight" and "Sedentary," but allow myself to eat exercise calories back. This means that on a day when I'm sitting on my butt, I have to eat less in order to have a deficit, but on days when I exercise, I get to eat a little more and still have a deficit.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    yes eat some of them back...at least 50% of them.

    Equate your body to a car.

    You put gas in your car and drive it until it's 1/4 left in the tank, do you then try to drive it back the same way without putting in more gas? no...you need at least 1/2 a tank more to get back.

    That is what exercise calories that you eat back are...
  • yosoysierra
    yosoysierra Posts: 6 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I'm set for 2lbs per week also but my workout is just a added bonus for me,I try to stay in my calorie range so I'll get use to smaller portions and less calories
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited March 2016
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    yosoysierra wrote: »
    I'm set for 2lbs per week also but my workout is just a added bonus for me,I try to stay in my calorie range so I'll get use to smaller portions and less calories

    This is a great strategy when the number on the scale is the only thing to consider. Some people here want to maximize fat loss, so they fuel their workouts. To each his/her own.

    MFP is designed for you to eat calories back because larger deficits maximize "weight" loss (as in fat+lean muscle mass).
  • BushDid7Eleven
    BushDid7Eleven Posts: 13 Member
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    According to the Arc Trainer I use, I burn 600 cal in 30 minutes, with a HBM of 168-183. If it's not accurate calorie wise, what should I assume I actually burned? I dont think I burned less than 300, but I do think I work my *kitten* off enough for it to be at least 400.

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