for those of you who burn calories like crazy...

Mark,
Thanks so much....it makes sense. I will definitely make sure I do that consistently. I didn't eat back yesterday after my workout and I was ravishingly hungry all day. Thanks again for the information.

I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

Exercise has other health benefits and will boost you metabolism which in turn helps burn more fat. If you lose weight and exercise you will be in far better health than if you lose weight and don't exercise. Also, if you regularly burn 800 calories and don't eat most of it back you are likely to go into "starvation mode". Like it or not, that's the way it is.

what is this starvation mode? i'm confused. I have been losing weight by doing this so i just dont know. I get hungry a lot, but i'm not sure if I should really be eating 2000 calories a day to lose weight.. it just makes no sense to me =[

Thats exactly what im saying I have lost 43 pounds doing this every day. I may eat 1300 or 1400 calories a day if I feel like treating myself, but I don't normally eat back my exercise calories. Thats like saying im going to burn 800 calories so I can go eat a doughnut. Eating back exercise calories may work for some people, but eating 2000 calories a day for me just doesn't work. If what your doing is working, keep at it girl

I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

I will not try to tell you eat your exercise calories, but I will tell you this. Exercise has other benefits other than calorie burn.

Of course it does. I never said it didn't. But im not going to go work out and burn 800 calories just so I can eat more food. That makes absolutely no sense.

IMO, if you understand the other health benefits, it does make sense. Eating doesn't undo all of the other benefits such as strength, cardiovascular health, and self-esteem, especially when you have a loss already built in there. Dependent on what you eat(eg protein for muscle or carbos for endurance activities), eating them back makes complete sense. Protein to help you build muscle to increase your lean body mass would actually boost your metabolism so you burn even more(without increasing your activity level!!---means less work for you if you don't like exercise). Exercise without fueling sufficiently it leads to a fat-skinny look.

That being said, I try to eat mine, but sometimes it just doesn't feel possible.

I don't think you're going to die if you don't eat them.

I also don't personally believe that anyone on this site has hit "starvation mode" based on the studies I've read. I do believe people reach plateaus all of the time and changing up your diet, changing your exercise routine are all things that could break a plateau. People hear starvation mode, up their calories and automatically think it must be starvation mode because they started losing. Not really.

heres my thing... i did it the WRONG way when i first started out. i lost 105 lbs SUPER fast. i burned everything i ate in a day plus. in a matter of 6 months the weight was gone. HOWEVER... the min i started eating more, it came RIGHT back on. i was still working out, i was just eating more then i was. gained 40 lbs in 4 months back. on this method, when i eat at least half of my exercise cals back, i still lose, anywhere from 2-3 lbs a week. but when i go on my binges, i dont gain the weight back like i did before. last week was TERRIBLE! i ate every fast food place u can think of. for an entire 7 days. hardly worked out at all. a few days tops, and i only gained back 3 lbs. i think its different for everybody. but i eat my cals back, bc it gives me more flexibility with what i eat and the portions that i eat.

I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

I will not try to tell you eat your exercise calories, but I will tell you this. Exercise has other benefits other than calorie burn.

Of course it does. I never said it didn't. But im not going to go work out and burn 800 calories just so I can eat more food. That makes absolutely no sense.

IMO, if you understand the other health benefits, it does make sense. Eating doesn't undo all of the other benefits such as strength, cardiovascular health, and self-esteem, especially when you have a loss already built in there. Dependent on what you eat(eg protein for muscle or carbos for endurance activities), eating them back makes complete sense. Protein to help you build muscle to increase your lean body mass would actually boost your metabolism so you burn even more(without increasing your activity level!!---means less work for you if you don't like exercise). Exercise without fueling sufficiently it leads to a fat-skinny look.

That being said, I try to eat mine, but sometimes it just doesn't feel possible.

Well of course I eat plenty of good food to fuel my body in all of these areas, but I absolutely cannot see myself eating 2100 calories a day. Like i've mentioned before, I've lost 43 pounds burning 800-1100 calories a day and only eating 100-300 of them back on rare occasions. So I think im doing something right! (Hopefully!)

bump

holy bump!
I work with kids and we go on outings around the city everyday- i walk a lot of the day and i do insanity and run. i very rarely eat back my calories i burned, but some days i burn up to 12- 1400 calories. i couldn"t eat another 1400 calories in healthy food. i do however, eat very well during the week and eat whatever on the weekend. its the only thing that seems to work for me. mentally wise. but im not loosing weight as fast as id like. i may go to a nutritionist and see what they think.
thanks for posting this question- i've wondered this many times!

I don't look at it as working out so I can eat more. To me that is not what eating back your exercise calories is about. It's more like eating so you can keep your body running at a high level. I don't run or lift weights only to lose weight. I do it to get stronger and faster. The weight loss is a wonderful byproduct. But how strong or fast can I expect to get if I'm not putting enough gas in the tank? Eventually your body will sputter out, just like your car would if you didn't keep putting fuel in it.

This morning I burned 843 calories. I have since consumed 1044 calories through breakfast and lunch so my net is 201 for the day. With a healthy snack this afternoon and a delicious healthy dinner, my net should be in the 1300 calorie range for the day. It's well below my goal set up by MFP, but at the same time I don't workout everyday so I may consume slightly more than my daily allowance tomorrow and still be under for the week.

I was just getting ready to ask the same question, right now, I have eaten 3 meals and 2 snacks and it says I still have like 800 calories, and it is 8:45 pm, so I don't think it would be a great idea to eat that many calories this late at night. However, I really want to do this right and lose this weight for good.

WHO ARE you people netting 500-800 cals a day! :noway: Thats just crazy! are you using MFP calorie burn counts or HRM's? Just curious- :happy:

I use a HRM. I don't intentionally net that little. I didn't realize I was until I pulled my report to answer her question

I highly recommend this "Total Metabolism Forecaster" spreadsheet to calculate calorie needs - it's very thorough and I have found it to be more accurate than other calculators that only take height and weight and gender into account. This one accounts for many things that other calorie calculators don't - the "afterburn" effect of exercise, your body fat % (because muscles at rest burn more), etc. It's very helpful!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=502861841&postcount=602

I am so freaking confused. MFP says I should be eating 1800 calories to lose 2 pounds a week (I need to lose 150 pounds) and then when I used this calculator you posted, it says I should be eating over 2.300 calories for EXTREME fat loss. WTF?!?!?! I thought 1.800 was high. I'm about to scream.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

this website says I should eat a total of 1462-1949 calories a day total to lose weight.
i've been eatin around 1600 total, so i think im goood

I net around 1700. so If I burn 800 (like today) I eat around 2500. Eat them back.

Exactly - eat them back!