Slightly confused!

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shadowstar240
shadowstar240 Posts: 23
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, so I'm very new to this and I'm just figuring out how to use the food diary and what not but there's something that's confusing me slightly. Yesterday, I got just under my calorie goal, only by like 30 calories which is still good but I also did an hour of Zumba last night and I was allowed more calories because of that. Not that I was complaining but surely the point of doing the exercise as well is to get rid of extra calories, not to be able to eat more to make up for them?! I'm very confused and probably being really thick but help??

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  • MissVV
    MissVV Posts: 19
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    Exercise speeds up your metabolism (so you burn more cals just standing still!), burns fat and replaces it with lovely lean muscle. And this website is about enhancing health as well as losing weight (all rolled into one really). Not everyone eats back all of their exercise calories but it's a good idea at least to eat back a large chunk of them so that your body doesn't go into starvation-hold-on-to-everything-it-can mode!
    Best of luck!
  • cheeksv
    cheeksv Posts: 521 Member
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    I read a comment before about having to " eat back" you calories after exercising, I kinda get it since you need to be at a minimum calorie intake and by exercising you burn said calories I guess but it is still confusing. Like you said, It has always been my understanding that you exercise and eat less ( while meeting your target calorie intake) not more just because you worked out that day. I hope someone can clear this up!
  • shadowstar240
    shadowstar240 Posts: 23
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    Thank you! It all makes more sense to me now! :D
  • velvetkat
    velvetkat Posts: 454 Member
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    What the others said is great I would just add to play with it a little bit and see what works for you. I eat back maybe 100-150 of my usually 1000-1200 exercise calories. It may work for you too eat more of them or less of them.. Just make sure you are measuring and recording all of your food intake.
    I read somewhere that people tend to underestimate their food intake by 40% and overestimate their exercise by 20%.
    What works for me may not work for you. Don''t get discouraged!
    Good luck!

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