Should you count calories burned from exercise?

chub_monster
chub_monster Posts: 3 Member
edited 4:37AM in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to lose a bit of weight again (from 127-130 to 116-120) and I'm wondering if it would be better to count or not count the calories burned from exercise. Back when I first started losing weight (at 160 pounds), when I got within ten pounds of my goal, I worked out every day and burned 400 calories, according to my elliptical. I would subtract that from my calorie count and it would help me feel less miserable being constrained to 1,200 calories a day. Although it worked eventually, it took a lot longer to lose that weight than it did when I was eating around 1,300 calories and not exercising. So now, on my second time around (losing a lot less weight than I originally did), I'm wondering if I should count my calories burned or if it would be better not to. Any tips?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If your calorie goal comes from MFP, it's designed for you to eat back the calories burned from exercise. Some people find the calorie burns are exaggerated, so they only eat a portion back.
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    Since you only have around 10lbs to lose, I would count the calories burned from exercise. Your weight loss will be slower but it will be more sustainable and less of a shock to your system when you go back to maintenance.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Count it, but only, say, 50%. As @janejellyroll said, the burn estimate are often overstated, so this way you can eat more but you shouldn't be sacrificing your loss.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I pay closer attention to the calories I burn than the calories I eat.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such this 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.

    My FitBit One is far less generous with calories than the MFP database and I comfortably eat 100% of the calories I earn from it back.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
    I can't really eat much of what I burn...the closer you get to goal, the less you can eat & lose. That's not exactly a hard no, but I'd say I might be eating 100-200 calories more than I would if I did not workout 5-6 days a week, and burn 400-600 calories as a runner most workouts.
  • kteddycurr
    kteddycurr Posts: 1 Member
    One big issue is that you were trusting the elliptical's guess at how many calories you were burning. A recent study named the elliptical trainer the least accurate when it comes to calorie counting, with most machines overestimating your burn by 42 percent.
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