Exercise

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leisha69
leisha69 Posts: 5
in Introduce Yourself
Why is it if you burn the calories exercising you can add more to your calorie intake for the day??? I would think that would defeat the purpose of exercising then?????:huh:

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  • KeeleySue
    KeeleySue Posts: 158
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    Because MFP already calculates a calorie deficit when calculating your NET calories.


    If you don't eat your exercise calories your NET calories could end up too low (depending on what your intake is set at) and go into starvation mode and not lose any weight at all.
  • LaDiablesse
    LaDiablesse Posts: 862 Member
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    MFP sets your daily goal as a deficit so that you will lose regardless if you exercise or not. You want to keep your net calories around you goal. So when you exercise & burn more calories, you get "extra" calories to intake that day.

    So if your daily goal is set to 1200 & you burn 300 calories exercising, you can eat 1500 calories that day & still lose whatever you have your weekly weight loss set at.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    If real life (I define real life as "not dieting") you get more calories for being an active person. Very active people CAN eat more - this is normal. Really inactive people need to watch what they eat - dieting or not.

    Think of eating back your calories as "fueling" your workouts. Exercise has MANY benefits - it's not just for weight loss. Feed your muscles (to keep your muscles).
  • Egger29
    Egger29 Posts: 14,741 Member
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    If you take a long drive on your car....you have to put gas back in the tank when you get home. Otherwise, you won't be going anywhere tomorrow.
  • evesacks
    evesacks Posts: 94 Member
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    It depends on a lot of things. I never used to eat my exercise calories as I wanted to loose weight more quickly and I wasn't hungry enough to eat them all. Now I am at target I am more likely to eat them (although still maybe not all) as its not about weight loss any more.

    If you are hungry then eat them but eat them well not on poor food choices of you will not lose weight. Beware though that MFP is not always accurate, and sometimes overestimates.
  • HolleeERL
    HolleeERL Posts: 313 Member
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    Think of eating back your calories as "fueling" your workouts. Exercise has MANY benefits - it's not just for weight loss. Feed your muscles (to keep your muscles).

    I agree with this!
  • AllieB
    AllieB Posts: 73
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    This is a good question. ;)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    If you take a long drive on your car....you have to put gas back in the tank when you get home. Otherwise, you won't be going anywhere tomorrow.


    I Love this! Perfect.
  • RanaIsLiving
    RanaIsLiving Posts: 7
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    I like that......so true
  • maryd523
    maryd523 Posts: 661 Member
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    I've watched the debate about exercise calories and didn't really have an opinion. I have eaten mine back since I started, mainly just because I always want to eat more then 1200 calories.

    Well, yesterday I worked out and burned 581 calories. I only ate about 1300 calories, which is really unusual for me. So really my body only got about 700 calories as nutrion and fuel.

    Today I went running and I felt so weak!! I don't know if it' just a fluke, but I never feel like that. I had to go slow and it was hard. I am wondering if my body simply didn't have the fuel it needed to power through a run. I work out almost everyday and run 3 to 4 times a week and this was very unusual.

    So I guess I will continue to eat my exercise calories. I've been losing weight pretty steadily, so it seems to be working.

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