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

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  • luvmybentley
    luvmybentley Posts: 74 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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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