I have decided to NOT eat back exercise calories..

I was just playing around with the goal settings on here and if i add that i will do 1hr of exercise six times a week it doesnt change my calorie allowance, you would think it should. If i do nothing i should eat 1500 to lose 1/2 a lb or if i work out and burn 2000 calories i should eat them back to lose 1/2 a lb a week. I think i might just use this site a calorie counter and do my own thing which is eat about 1400 and workout everyday. If i need to eat more i will if i dont oh well not going ot bother me.

The reason why it doesn't change is because you have to log your exercise for it to accurately raise your caloric intake. You burn different amounts doing different activities.

I have had success not eating back exercise cals when my bmi was over 30 or so - nor was I hungry. As my BMI approached 25, it stopped working (I plateaued for 3 months right at bmi=25), and I found that I was hungry if I didn't eat back those exercise cals.... so, at least from my experience, it depends on how much weight you have to lose.

Here is my perception on the matter. I actually use this site just to track my calories. I use a different method to determine how many calories I should be eating and suggest it to many. According to this website, if you use their calculations, if you workout and burn 300 calories, than you should eat an extra 300 calories that day because the site has already built in a deficit for you. The more you have to lose the bigger an acceptable deficit is but the closer your goal is, the smaller your deficit should be. This is because the more muscle you have, the lower the body fat, the more fuel you body needs to sustains it's functions. Also, a deficit is should never been more than 1000 calories a day (which would allow for 2 lbs per week loss) but it more acceptable to do 1 lb a week or 500 calorie deficit. Additionally, a woman should eat not less than 1200 net calories. This is the amount of calories after you workout. So if you burn 500 calories, you need at least 1700 calories; men should be no less than 1500-1700 after workout calories from my research. Also, a large part of these calories should be driven by protein based sources. The ammino acids in the protein is what stimulates muscle growth. The more muscle your body has, the more calories you burn at rest.

My approach looks at Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you slept 24 hours, for me, my BMR is 2000 calories. I then mutliply it by my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); how many calories I should eat to make up for daily activities (walking, working out, etc) to get a total number of calories. Because I do a program like p90x, I multiply my 2000 calories by 1.725 which equals 3400 calories. This amount of calories is the amount I need to eat to maintain weight. I back off 500 caloires as my deficit and eat 3000 calories in a day. This is the website I use.


http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

I then go into a custom setup under my goals and set my daily intake for 3000 calories (well I will starting sunday, right now it's 2800 because I haven't officially started p90x until sunday). Additionally, to follow the p90x food guide, I set up custom ratio's. I do 45% of carbs, 35% of protein and 20% for fats. As I progress, I will lower protein and increase carbs. This method has worked for me and others I have worked with on the site. MFP just makes it simple for anyone to come on and lose weight. I take more of a scientific approach to weight loss. When I started I was 210 & 18% body fat. Now I am 189 and 12% body fat and hoping to break single digits within 3 months.

Cliff notes: if you go by the sites calculations, you absolutely should eat back your workout calories as they preload the deficit. If you go by the more scientific method, you don't have to worry about it, it's already figured in your number.

Good luck everyone.

I agree, it makes no sense to me to eat all the calories that a person would burn in exercise. My logic (could be faulty) would figure that a person would neither lose nor gain weight if burning the same amount as intake. My goal was to lose 2lbs a week and at 2200+. I am counting on the burning of calories to help me that goal.

Randy