Eating your exercise calories
runner1130
Posts: 28 Member
Hello all, I am a newbie here. Just joined MFP recently. Could someone kindly please explain the meaning of "eating your exercise calories"? Thank you.
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MFP gave you a calorie goal BEFORE exercise. So people who do zero exercise.....just eat their goal & lose weight. Exercise increases daily burn, and without added calories it would increase the deficit. Many people would assume....yeah, faster weight loss. However, large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. Because healthy weight loss is lower one's body fat %......eating calories back is a good thing.
However, calorie burns are estimates (often generous). Most people start by eating back 50%. Then adjust that number up or down after several weeks based on actual results.1 -
MFP gives you a calorie goal that doesn't take exercise into account. When you burn activities through exercise, you increase the size of your deficit. So you can eat those calories back. Some people eat just a portion back to account for possible over-estimation of the exercise burn.0
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When you signed up for MFP, it was probably to lose weight. That's mostly what MFP is for.
You told it you want to lose weight at a specific pace, maybe 1 pound per week, maybe something else. It figured out how many calories you need to eat to achieve your weight loss goal without exercise.
When you exercise, you're exceeding your goal pace, you're losing weight too quickly. While this sounds good at first blush, there are side effects and down sides that aren't immediately obvious. Eating your exercise calories back helps avoid things like muscle loss, feeling lethargic, hair damage, etc. It also makes weight loss easier because you don't have to be so austere about it, which means you're more likely to stick with it in the long term.
When you exercise, you burn some number of calories. It's usually very difficult to know exactly how many, and many of the things designed to tell you are wrong. In fact many of them (like HRMs) do "vanity sizing" for calories. So you need to use a little bit of common sense. If your tracker or some web site says you burned 10,000 calories by walking a mile or cleaning for an hour, that doesn't mean you should go eat several days worth of food, it means you should find a more realistic estimate.
Keep track of what you eat, and what you burn, then, after a month, adjust according to how much weight you're actually losing.1 -
Thank you all, for the quick and very informative responses.
I am 5' and 105 lb. I used to run marathons but now I am cutting back my running to 3 miles per day and lifting heavy weights for 6 days per week. MFP has suggested that I should consume 1200 calories per day. I joined MFP on May 10, 2017, and have been keeping track of my calorie intake since then. I have not seen any changes to my weight, nor any results on my body. In fact, I feel bloated and heavier.
My questions are:
1. Am I being impatient by wanting to see results in less than a month?
2. Am I consuming too little calories for my activity level?
Thank you all in advance.0 -
runner1130 wrote: »Thank you all, for the quick and very informative responses.
I am 5' and 105 lb. I used to run marathons but now I am cutting back my running to 3 miles per day and lifting heavy weights for 6 days per week. MFP has suggested that I should consume 1200 calories per day. I joined MFP on May 10, 2017, and have been keeping track of my calorie intake since then. I have not seen any changes to my weight, nor any results on my body. In fact, I feel bloated and heavier.
My questions are:
1. Am I being impatient by wanting to see results in less than a month?
2. Am I consuming too little calories for my activity level?
Thank you all in advance.
1200 is a default minimum, it's based on height, weight, age, activity level (before exercise) & the over riding factor is your weekly weight loss goal. Because you are petite, you likely won't get a really high number, but 1200+exercise could be too low. Because you are close to goal, your weekly weight loss goal should be in the neighborhood of 1/2 pound a week.
There are some pretty reliable calorie burning estimates for running. Check Runner's World. Weight lifting (not a big calorie burner) is a toughie. So many variables.
For a second opinion (especially if exercise is consistent): http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Include exercise ^(above) and take a 250 calorie (or 5% cut). That should average out the exercise calories for the week. So you wouldn't have 1200+cardio, 1200+strength days, 1200 rest days.0 -
runner1130 wrote: »MFP has suggested that I should consume 1200 calories per day. I joined MFP on May 10, 2017, and have been keeping track of my calorie intake since then. I have not seen any changes to my weight, nor any results on my body. In fact, I feel bloated and heavier.
How do you track your calorie intake?0 -
@TeaBea - thank you for your suggestions. I will look up those exercise calories and add those to the days that I exercise.
@NorthCascades - I track my calorie intake by using a food scale and daily logging into MFP and recording what I ate during a particular day.0 -
What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.2
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What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.
My goal is to be lean and toned. I guess you can call me "skinny fat". This is due to all the running and not lifting heavy weights. I may not look fat but I still do have fat in my tummy, inner thighs and gluteal areas. Hopefully by lifting heavy weights, cutting back my running and eating the right amount of clean calories will help me achieve my goal.
Do you have any suggestions/tips? Thanks in advance.
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Exactly what I said. Eat at maintenance and find a good program. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat1
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runner1130 wrote: »What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.
My goal is to be lean and toned. I guess you can call me "skinny fat". This is due to all the running and not lifting heavy weights. I may not look fat but I still do have fat in my tummy, inner thighs and gluteal areas. Hopefully by lifting heavy weights, cutting back my running and eating the right amount of clean calories will help me achieve my goal.
Do you have any suggestions/tips? Thanks in advance.
Then definitely start a lifting program, and eat at or close to maintenance (as opposed to a large deficit).0 -
runner1130 wrote: »What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.
My goal is to be lean and toned. I guess you can call me "skinny fat". This is due to all the running and not lifting heavy weights. I may not look fat but I still do have fat in my tummy, inner thighs and gluteal areas. Hopefully by lifting heavy weights, cutting back my running and eating the right amount of clean calories will help me achieve my goal.
Do you have any suggestions/tips? Thanks in advance.
Then definitely start a lifting program, and eat at or close to maintenance (as opposed to a large deficit).
I am already lifting weights, but I need to start "lifting heavy weights". The other issue is that I didn't realize before joining MFP that I had been starving myself by eating only 700-800 clean calories per day. No wonder my metabolism has slowed down and I am retaining body fat.
For the past 3 weeks since I joined MFP I have been running 3 miles and lifting heavy weights for 6 days per week, and my total calorie intake has been close to 1200 (as recommended by MFP). I am not sure if that is enough calories for my activity level? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.0 -
runner1130 wrote: »runner1130 wrote: »What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.
My goal is to be lean and toned. I guess you can call me "skinny fat". This is due to all the running and not lifting heavy weights. I may not look fat but I still do have fat in my tummy, inner thighs and gluteal areas. Hopefully by lifting heavy weights, cutting back my running and eating the right amount of clean calories will help me achieve my goal.
Do you have any suggestions/tips? Thanks in advance.
Then definitely start a lifting program, and eat at or close to maintenance (as opposed to a large deficit).
I am already lifting weights, but I need to start "lifting heavy weights". The other issue is that I didn't realize before joining MFP that I had been starving myself by eating only 700-800 clean calories per day. No wonder my metabolism has slowed down and I am retaining body fat.
For the past 3 weeks since I joined MFP I have been running 3 miles and lifting heavy weights for 6 days per week, and my total calorie intake has been close to 1200 (as recommended by MFP). I am not sure if that is enough calories for my activity level? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
You've mentioned "clean calories" a couple of times now. How does your body know the difference between a "clean calorie" and a calorie? It's simply a measuring unit for energy....
In my (admittedly non-expert) opinion, strength training will get you where you want to go. I doubt a deficit will help you much at all.0 -
You've mentioned "clean calories" a couple of times now. How does your body know the difference between a "clean calorie" and a calorie? It's simply a measuring unit for energy....
In my (admittedly non-expert) opinion, strength training will get you where you want to go. I doubt a deficit will help you much at all.[/quote]
By clean calorie I meant healthy and nutritious food, not junk food.
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runner1130 wrote: »runner1130 wrote: »What is your goal? At 105 pounds, you're already close to the bottom of a healthy BMI. You may be better off eating at maintenance and finding a good progressive lifting program if you haven't yet.
My goal is to be lean and toned. I guess you can call me "skinny fat". This is due to all the running and not lifting heavy weights. I may not look fat but I still do have fat in my tummy, inner thighs and gluteal areas. Hopefully by lifting heavy weights, cutting back my running and eating the right amount of clean calories will help me achieve my goal.
Do you have any suggestions/tips? Thanks in advance.
Then definitely start a lifting program, and eat at or close to maintenance (as opposed to a large deficit).
I am already lifting weights, but I need to start "lifting heavy weights". The other issue is that I didn't realize before joining MFP that I had been starving myself by eating only 700-800 clean calories per day. No wonder my metabolism has slowed down and I am retaining body fat.
For the past 3 weeks since I joined MFP I have been running 3 miles and lifting heavy weights for 6 days per week, and my total calorie intake has been close to 1200 (as recommended by MFP). I am not sure if that is enough calories for my activity level? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
almost definitely not. At your stats (and your description of your goals), even 0.5lb/wk is pretty aggressive (and maintenance-possibly even bulking- is probably more appropriate). 1200 NET is the absolute bare minimum MFP will calculate for weight loss.0 -
almost definitely not. At your stats (and your description of your goals), even 0.5lb/wk is pretty aggressive (and maintenance-possibly even bulking- is probably more appropriate). 1200 NET is the absolute bare minimum MFP will calculate for weight loss.[/quote]
I would like to go down to 98 lbs. Not sure if that is being realistic?
I have been reading about recomp on MFP - not sure what it is exactly though?0
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