calories

logar53
logar53 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Should you eat the calories you burn from exercise? My husband and I are exercising 6 days a week and following the caloric restrictions and not seeing a great deal of loss.

Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If your calorie goal comes from MFP, it's designed for you to eat back the calories you have burnt through exercise.

    However if you aren't losing weight, you don't want to begin eating more.

    What do you mean by "not seeing a great deal of loss"? What time frame are you talking about? How much are you expecting to lose and how much have you actually lost?
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    What do you consider not a great deal of loss? How much are you guys losing?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    Yes. Eat them.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Yes. If you are using MFP as it is designed, you should eat at least some of your earned exercise calories back.

    Regarding your rate of loss, that would depend a lot on your stats and how you are measuring your calorie intake. Opening your diary can also help some of the "pros" spot common logging errors.

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    How long have you been at this and how much of a rate of loss are you expecting to see? Many people come into weight loss with unrealistic expectations.

    MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories, though calculation for exercise can be flawed. Consequently, it's recommended that most people eat back 50-75% of their exercise calories, check their results, and make adjustments as needed.
  • bkyoun
    bkyoun Posts: 371 Member
    What do you mean by not losing much weight. If you are following MFP correctly, you should lose 1-2 pounds per week. If you are not losing, you are eating more calories than you need for weight loss. If you are not eating back calories now and you are not losing weight, don't start eating calories as it would be counterproductive. First make sure you are measuring and logging everything that goes in your mouth to be sure your intake calories are accurate. If you are doing that, you should be able to eat back your calories and lose weight (assuming you are also measuring exercise calories reasonably).
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    I eat half of my exercise calories (on average) as I don't really trust the accuracy of the mfp exercise database. I guess if I could be bothered with an accurate excercise tracker I would eat all of those earned but I'm old and just ...meh. However, using the mfp database and eating half back is working for me - I am looking to lose another 10 - 14lbs, look toned and be healthy; at my age body beautiful ain't never going to happen :smiley:
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