SHOULD YOU USE YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES TO EAT MORE?

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Koljandertjie69
Koljandertjie69 Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started all over about 26 days ago. Yesterday on my 25 day streak for the first time I was craving everything :)

Lay's chips; Milkshake; Flap jacks; cheese snackwishes; peanut butter and syrup sandwiches; donuts; etc, etc.

So with the advice of my friends I excercise to make up for the KFC kitkat krusher and the 21g Lay's Chips I had. So on my diary I still had a very good surplus off kilojouls to go, BUT this morning I feel disappointed that I did not handle my cravings yesterday better.
I had intention of allowing myslef a half cheese sandwich on my 31st day streak.
So my question to you is this - Should I postpone my intention of allowing myself a treat on the 31st day streak because I gave in on my 25th day?

I am extremely strick on myself and became quite obsess with the weihtloss and MFP. I ask myself is this healthy to be like that. Im sure there will be others that can identify with me.

Personally I against using your extra calories gained with exercise to eat more, but the majority people find it acceptable.
Maybe once every 25 days won't make a difference.

Good luck to everybody.
Regards, C

Replies

  • satisatisati
    satisatisati Posts: 260 Member
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    You should treat yourself with one cheat day almost evry week or alternate week. It really helps me in improving my metabolism. I am sure it will help u also.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,133 Member
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    If your calorie goal is set by Myfitnesspal, you are supposed to eat those calories burned through exercise. Even though you are asked how much exercise you are planning to do, that amount is not calculated into your calorie goal. That means meeting your calorie goal, which you should be doing daily, even with no exercise at all, you will lose weight. When you add exercise, you increase your calorie deficit moving it from a moderate one to an excessive one. So again, yes, those calories are meant to be eaten, that is now Myfitnesspal works.

    Now there may be issues on the accuracy of those calories burned through exercise, so you may not want to eat them all, but you should eat at least half of them, probably more.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    Did you use MFP to set your calorie goals? If so, then you should be eating more when you exercise.
    If you used another site to set your goals, then that will already have exercise cals included.
    Either way, it's a good idea to eat enough to fuel your exercise, to keep yourself healthy and full of energy as you lose weight.

    As to your question about allowing yourself to have half a cheese sandwich in five days... sure, enjoy the sandwich, I don't see the point in punishing yourself for something that is done and over. It doesn't sound like a big treat to me, more like something I would have as a snack - but if this is something you would really enjoy, why not build that into your eating plan more often rather than making a big deal of it after a whole month? There's nothing inherently unhealthy in a cheese sandwich - unless you are celiac or have a lactose intolerance.

    And your other question about "is it healthy to be so strict" - well, I think your behaviour has shown you that it's not working very well for you. It's very easy to start out with great ideas and be very strict and cut down on all the good stuff, but for some people that can just lead to feeling deprived and going on to eat more than you need just because you have been so restricted.
  • katiebean
    katiebean Posts: 110 Member
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    Like others have said, MFP is designed to build your calorie deficit in to your food; if you exercise then you get extra calories which you can then eat. Just maybe don't eat back all of them, to take into account overestimations of calories burned and under-estimations of calories eaten.

    Personally, I don't think your mindset is particularly healthy. Being overly strict can lead some to binges (such as your Day 25 binge). Also, re the cheese sandwich. That can't be more than 300 calories surely? 100 calories-ish for a slice of bread, 100 calories for 30g-ish of cheese. Maybe some butter. That would be a snack for me, something I wouldn't even think twice about having, even every day. So yes, if you really want it on Day 31 go for it! Enjoy :smile: For me, making ways to fit in foods I really enjoy makes this sustainable. I usually leave 100-200 calories to have a few cookies or some chocolate at the end of the day. Or some extra cheese on my pasta etc. If you think incorporating more of the foods you enjoy on a regular basis will prevent mad binges happening, it might be worth trying to work that into your diet.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Dieting should never leave a person with feeling guilty, shamed or feeling bad in general over a day of eating or a certain food. I don't think these emotional feeling are particularly healthy. Do not get me wrong eating less food in the very beginning is something that you will adapt to, but you gotta enjoy the process somewhat along the way by allowing some food enjoyment otherwise this is a chore and makes a person miserable.

    I can't say my way is your way, so you will need to figure out on your own how to handle the way you eat, when you eat and moreover your feelings and emotions to life's situations and food involvement.

    edited to say, if you are using MFP method exercise calories are to be eaten back (a portion). if you are using another method like TDEE, then no.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,899 Member
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    I wouldn't have successfully lost 25 kg (55 lbs) if I had not used at least half my exercise calories to eat more.

    I set my activity level as sedentary ... MFP gave me a maximum calorie amount based on that ... I exercised and logged it ... and I ate anywhere from about 50% to 95% of my exercise calories back.

    Yummy pizza and ice cream! :)
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
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    You earned those extra calories!! Most of us eat back 50% to account for over estimation of calories burned and inaccuracies in logging. Sometimes I'll exercise during the week and bank those calories for a weekend splurge. Down 50 pounds since mid April and I've been to Olive Garden 5+ times easily as well as earing pizza, chocolate, etc. For the first time in my life I don't want to binge and I don't feel deprived. Let go of the food guilt. Eat what you want and stay within your cals. Eventually you'll likely choose healthier foods anyways because you get so much more volume!! Good luck
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,913 Member
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    Koljandertjie66 wrote: »
    So I started all over about 26 days ago. Yesterday on my 25 day streak for the first time I was craving everything :)

    Lay's chips; Milkshake; Flap jacks; cheese snackwishes; peanut butter and syrup sandwiches; donuts; etc, etc.

    So with the advice of my friends I excercise to make up for the KFC kitkat krusher and the 21g Lay's Chips I had. So on my diary I still had a very good surplus off kilojouls to go, BUT this morning I feel disappointed that I did not handle my cravings yesterday better.
    I had intention of allowing myslef a half cheese sandwich on my 31st day streak.
    So my question to you is this - Should I postpone my intention of allowing myself a treat on the 31st day streak because I gave in on my 25th day?

    I am extremely strick on myself and became quite obsess with the weihtloss and MFP. I ask myself is this healthy to be like that. Im sure there will be others that can identify with me.

    Personally I against using your extra calories gained with exercise to eat more, but the majority people find it acceptable.
    Maybe once every 25 days won't make a difference.

    Good luck to everybody.
    Regards, C

    MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such the system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. (However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.)

    If you are using the MFP calories and are not eating back some of your exercise calories, you are under-eating, which can trigger binges.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,133 Member
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    I did not go too far back in your food diary, just a week, but here is what I observed.

    Your goal is set at 1200 calories. This is the generally accepted minimum for a woman to get the nutrition she needs to stay healthy. You should not regularly eat or for that matter, net significantly under that. It is a goal to reach, not something you strive to stay way under.

    With that in mind, in that week many days, not including exercise calories, you were not just a little, but substantially under that goal. Once one adds in the exercise calories, almost every day you are substantially under that goal. This is not healthy.

    The reason you are struggling is because you are, based on your logging, not eating enough. You can be strict with yourself, but what happens over times is you simply run out of mental energy to do so. Taking this approach to losing weight will result in weight loss, but you will struggle with binges, you will lose a lot of muscle mass which is very difficult to put back on, and likely, if you keep eating so little, you will start to experience the effects of that in hair loss, brittle nails, and more. Please re-examine how you are doing this.

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