Is it necessary to eat the extra calories that you burn off?

angelaclev
angelaclev Posts: 95
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
I never eat all of my calories a day because of the ones I have to add on when I burn them with cardio. Do I HAVE to eat them... I try my best but I just cant eat over 1300.

Replies

  • Sarahcuda
    Sarahcuda Posts: 76
    I never do. I also have a hard time eating my minimum calories a lot because I'm eating so many fruits and veggies. If I hit a plateau I will eat more, but until that happens I'm NOT eating my workout calories! : )
  • pauljsolie
    pauljsolie Posts: 1,024 Member
    I wouldn't force it if you're not hungry or getting light headed. Though you may experience a plateau soon if you are consistently way under on your calories. You're body needs fuel and your metabolism will slow if it doesn't get adequate nutrition. Good luck to you.
  • judijl
    judijl Posts: 13
    NO!!! I almost never eat the calories that I burned.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    Yes you should, otherwise you may not be eating enough. You can easily add calories without eating a lot, two spoonfuls of peanut butter is 200 calories, a glass of milk is around 100 (more depending on the type), nuts have a lot of calories and good fat, avocado, yogurt, etc.
  • hwholland
    hwholland Posts: 6
    You don't have to by any means, but the less calories you eat the slower your metabolism will get over time. I think that the recommendation from this website is to eat slightly more calories based on your cardio so that you can diet longer before stalling. However, that's just a guess.
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
    im not gonna exercise just to eat back the calories .......... SMH
  • Mickers36
    Mickers36 Posts: 84 Member
    YES! If you are only eating 1300 and burning off for example 300 that is really meaning that you are making your body survive on 1000 calories a day! Thats not enough you need to at least have 1200 in or your body will go into starvation mode and you will not lose any as it will hold everything you eat. So at least eat back enough to bring you to 1200
  • BJPCraig
    BJPCraig Posts: 417 Member
    I usually eat back some of them. But on the days that I have my kung fu class, I can't. An hour of martial arts burns over 900 calories for me. So, between kung fu, my normal afternoon workout, and walking the dog, I pretty much double my calorie allotment for the day.

    I'd have to eat a wedding cake for breakfast in order to eat them all back!
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
    My wellness coach told me that you never want your net calories to be below 1200 or else it will have adverse effects. If you're not getting enough calories with the foods you are eating, try switching up your diet and find some foods that are a little higher calorie. For instance...avocados and peanut butter are both good for you, but have a little more calories than some other foods that might be just as filling. Don't force yourself to eat if you're really not hungry, but don't starve your body of the fuel that it needs.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    Ok, I don't mean to be snarky, but those that say no (generally the ones that are adamant about it) are the ones that don't quite understand why you should eat them. Most people think, I just burned it off, why on earth would I eat it back? That's true, IF you are trying to lose weight by burning off calories. But the way MFP works is, exercise is mostly used to tone your body and improve your overall health, but the real weight loss comes from your diet.

    MFP builds in a calorie deficit, so you're already eating less (the right amount to lose a pound a week, or whatever you chose) than you were before, so if you work out as well and don't eat them back, you're likely not giving your body enough fuel that it needs. There are a lot of great "sticky notes" about this topic, check the home page of the boards, you'll find them there.
  • Just_Bethy
    Just_Bethy Posts: 272
    Heck Not for ME!!..My goal is 1490...Today I got in 1466 in exercise...That mean I should eat 2956 cals? Not a chance! I ended up eating 1635 and as always I make sure it is balanced! 55% carbs 25% prot and 20% fat ...I DO need to add in a multi vit but I am not even able to eat that much food..even before I started trying to lose weight..LOL
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    I tried eating more and all I did was maintain.. so I'm back to my pound a week loss and not eating my exercise calories.

    My personal trainer told me that you never want to eat less then a thousand calories a day, so thats my minimum. Today I ate a1419 and exercised off 311, which left me with 1018... and to me, thats fine. Some people would insist that I eat those 311, but I'm not hungry, so why force the issue?
  • seasonalvoodoo
    seasonalvoodoo Posts: 380 Member
    There are many topics on this, but at the moment I can't find the best ones to link you to.

    I will pose it like this, if your car is on empty and you have to make it to work and back, how will you do it? You have to put gas in the car, just like you have to put fuel in your body, especially if you are working out. Working out depletes your fuel, so you must replace it.

    If your activity level is set to sedentary, then you should eat back your exercise calories so that you do not risk under-fueling your body.

    However, MFP and the machines do overestimate calories burned by around 20% (give or take, not an exact number), so take that into consideration.

    That being said, I have a HRM and I eat back ALL of my exercise calories and feel wonderful. As you can see from my ticker, I have no problems losing weight.
  • Just_Bethy
    Just_Bethy Posts: 272
    Ok, I don't mean to be snarky, but those that say no (generally the ones that are adamant about it) are the ones that don't quite understand why you should eat them. Most people think, I just burned it off, why on earth would I eat it back? That's true, IF you are trying to lose weight by burning off calories. But the way MFP works is, exercise is mostly used to tone your body and improve your overall health, but the real weight loss comes from your diet.

    MFP builds in a calorie deficit, so you're already eating less (the right amount to lose a pound a week, or whatever you chose) than you were before, so if you work out as well and don't eat them back, you're likely not giving your body enough fuel that it needs. There are a lot of great "sticky notes" about this topic, check the home page of the boards, you'll find them there.

    Thanks I am going to read them in a few..I might cut down on the fitness classes then... Appreciate it and ..you didn't sound sarky!!!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    You don't HAVE to do anything, but it is a good idea to eat at least some of them to provide your body with enough good nutrition to stay healthy.
    If you don't eat them you are creating a much bigger calorie deficit each day which is not going to be a problem now and again or if you have a very large amount of weight to lose, but probably isn't going to be good for you over a longer period of time.

    Personally I'm here to learn good eating habits so I can reach a healthy weight and work out how to sustain that for the rest of my life. So, for me it makes sense to look at just what is the right amount of calories for my body and my lifestyle, and that means that if I'm exercising more I need to eat more.
    I think each of us needs to decide why we are here and what we want to acheive - a big calorie deficit is probably great if you want to drop weight quickly and aren't too concerned about the long term view. Your body, your choice!!
  • theflyingartist
    theflyingartist Posts: 385 Member
    In one sentence:
    Because MFP already gives you a calorie deficit in your allotted calories per day, you would eat the calories to fuel your cells and the amount is up to you.
  • Luthorcrow
    Luthorcrow Posts: 193
    You actually have two choices. Either eat for you activity because MFP builds in an automatic deficit or you can use the manual goal settings to lock your goal to your MBR and then not eat for you activity and your exercise becomes your deficit. Personally, calculating calories burned during the day is tricky and more nutrients are better for your body, so I side on eating your MBR without a deficit and let your exercise be your weight loss.

    It really comes down to whether you exercise or not.
  • electromg
    electromg Posts: 70 Member
    Have to say, I'm noticing among many who are not eating their exercise calories have their daily calories much higher than 1200 calories. In that case, they are still getting enough nutrition. Having my goal at 1200, I am going to eat whatever calories I burn.
  • taem
    taem Posts: 495 Member
    I want to add my 2 cents here because I am going to go through a starvation mode for a month. The process is called ketosis and it is where the body starts eating itself. I believe that when you are in starvation mode and when you eat something, your body will not let it go and store it as fat. So, I believe it is important that once in ketosis, you be very careful in what you eat. Atkins diet users go through it, veggie juice detox/fasting do the same thing.

    I hope with that information, you can extrapolate and decide whether you want to eat your calories or go into ketosis. I think either way, I believe in proper nutrition and clean water. I also hope I got that right!
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
    okkkkkkkie to the Ketosis folks ..... for example today I ate 1750 calories and burnt 1333 netting 417 calories IT IS NOT THE SAME as only eating 417 calories in a day! ........ Your body takes what it needs from the calories before you exercise you will not starve yourself. And if im wrong when will this starvation mode kick in being ive been doing this for 6 months maybe Ill find out if im hurting myself when my lab work comes in tomorrow being I went to the Dr. the other day and he said keep up the good work :indifferent:
  • luvmybentley
    luvmybentley Posts: 74 Member
    You don't HAVE to do anything. I think it depends on what your daily calorie goal is and how much you are exercising. If you are burning 1200 calories a day through exercise, then you probably need to refuel more than someone who is only burning 2-300 calories a day.
    I have my calorie goal set at 1200, and I usually work out between 500 and 800 calories, so I try to NET at least 1000 calories on my workout days. It doesn't take much, just an extra protein/fruit smoothie post-workout and some nuts. On those days when I only get a walk and burn just 200 calories, I don't eat those back. Last week I did my first 10K, and found that I had burned 1300 calories! I ate my usual healthy calories, then allowed myself to splurge on some pizza for supper and a slice of cheesecake for dessert , with some wine :) Guilt free. And I still lost weight. Makes me want to do a 10K a week now :)
  • LisaMarieee
    LisaMarieee Posts: 176 Member
    Ok, I don't mean to be snarky, but those that say no (generally the ones that are adamant about it) are the ones that don't quite understand why you should eat them. Most people think, I just burned it off, why on earth would I eat it back? That's true, IF you are trying to lose weight by burning off calories. But the way MFP works is, exercise is mostly used to tone your body and improve your overall health, but the real weight loss comes from your diet.

    MFP builds in a calorie deficit, so you're already eating less (the right amount to lose a pound a week, or whatever you chose) than you were before, so if you work out as well and don't eat them back, you're likely not giving your body enough fuel that it needs. There are a lot of great "sticky notes" about this topic, check the home page of the boards, you'll find them there.
    This.
  • Ilovedrinkingtea
    Ilovedrinkingtea Posts: 597 Member
    Makes total sense to me. You should try, but on days of totally vigorous exercise, you can't always do it!xx
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    okkkkkkkie to the Ketosis folks ..... for example today I ate 1750 calories and burnt 1333 netting 417 calories IT IS NOT THE SAME as only eating 417 calories in a day! ........ Your body takes what it needs from the calories before you exercise you will not starve yourself. And if im wrong when will this starvation mode kick in being ive been doing this for 6 months maybe Ill find out if im hurting myself when my lab work comes in tomorrow being I went to the Dr. the other day and he said keep up the good work :indifferent:

    I have no idea how you have enough energy to even get out of bed and how you figure it's not the same as only eating 417 calories. Whether you don't eat them at all or you burn them off, your body isn't getting what it needs. There is a reason why we eat food, it goes in our stomach and then passes through our digestive system....our bodies wouldn't do this if this process wasn't necessary. That is like a bulemic trying to claim that they are still giving their body fuel since it was in their stomach for a time before they threw it up (sorry to anyone that may be sensitive to that topic, but it's the only comparison I could think to make).
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