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to eat back exercise calories
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SirSmurfalot wrote: »Please learn about how MFP works before you give advice on how to use it - you appear to have no idea.
Your eating goal ALREADY has a deficit in it to lose weight. No exercise expected or accounted for.
Deficit is NOT created by exercise and then you eat at maintenance - that is an optional way of doing it - but it's much easier to cut 500 from eating level than to workout 500 calories every day above and beyond what you were going to burn anyway.
OP - MFP is trying to teach a life lesson regarding weight management.
You do more, you eat more (like when you exercise).
You do less, you eat less (like when you become more sedentary during winter).
In a diet a tad less in either case.
So ignore the misunderstood advice above from other poster who doesn't understand how MFP works.
Thank you, but I already fully understand "how it works". What I am saying is that "how it works" is somewhat counterproductive if your goal is to lose weight as quickly as possible.
Bigger deficit = faster weight loss.
Thus, it is better to let your exercise calories create a slightly bigger calorie deficit (in addition to the one already built into the MFP calculation), instead of trying to eat them back.
The amount of calories you are expending through exercise is probably trivial unless you are doing some very high intensity workouts.
Eating back your exercise calories will have one effect, slower weight loss.
Not that hard to comprehend.
But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.31 -
stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
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SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
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SirSmurfalot wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »
Maybe someone needs to state the obvious, but creating a too large deficit, for example by not eating your exercise calories when you burn a ton of them can lead to lean body mass loss.
<Sigh> I originally had this in the previous post, but took it out because it was getting too lengthy, turns out I should have left it in after all.
Let's compare both approaches with the same deficit goal in mind:
If you set an aggressive dietary deficit of 500 calories, and exercise for an additional 250 calories, then "eat them back", how big of a deficit do you have? Answer: 500 calories, because your net change from exercise is now 0.
Now what happens if you set a more modest dietary deficit of 250 calories, do the same amount of exercise and not eat them back? Answer: Still 500 calories.
Assuming you follow both regimens perfectly*:
You are not "setting too large of a deficit", it is the same deficit.
You are not "losing weight too fast", it is the same rate of weight loss
You do not "lose more lean muscle mass", that is an myth.
You do not "need extra fuel to workout", your overly-abundant body fat is your fuel!
*But people are not perfect are they?
The key difference between these approaches, as several people have already mentioned, most people are bad about over-estimating exercise calories and under-estimating food calories.
People love to "round up" when it comes to the calories burned and guesstimate when it comes time to measure food. The net effect is a is smaller than intended calorie deficit which results in slower weight loss.
The bottom line is:
When you deliberately "eat back" your exercise calories you are reinforcing bad habits and unnecessarily setting yourself up for a double dose of human error.
With ZERO benefit.
Exercise should not be used as an excuse to eat more. All you are doing is sabotaging your weight loss efforts and reinforcing the very bad habit of using food as a reward, which quite frankly is one of the big reasons a lot people ended up overweight in the first place.
It is better to set a more modest deficit, exercise consistently and let your exercise calories create a slightly bigger deficit to reach your goals. Thus you eat the same calories every day (building a good routine), you exercise the same amount every day (building a good routine), and if you err by getting "too much" exercise (gasp), you err on the side of slightly faster, yet still very easily sustainable, weight loss...
The sky is not falling.
If people are estimating poorly, they should be encouraged to estimate more accurately.
If I run a 10K or bike a half century or lift 20,000 lbs over a training session, that effort requires feeding.
It's not a "bonus" or a "benefit" it's a training session.
You're encouraging building the incredibly poor habit of underfeeding training.
How will this benefit a person who has lost 20, 50, 100, 200 lbs and now wants to maintain, but has never bothered to learn how to accurately estimate their training calories? Better to learn proper balance and habits while creating a deficit.
Exercise isn't an "excuse". It's activity that requires feeding.31 -
stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
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SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yeah, but your explanation and information are wrong!
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about the science or how it actually works in the human body.
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
It is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
So, if on Day #1 I sit on my rear all day and binge watch Netflix, and on Day #2 I run a marathon, I should eat the same amount of calories both days?!?16 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
So last month when I ran a 10k. I should have fueled in the same way as Sunday when I watched tv all afternoon12 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
But, what makes it a better method? Doesn't that depend on what works best for the individual?
The MFP method says that 1+3=4. More traditional TDEE methods say that 2+2=4. They're both getting you to the same calorie target across a week, but they break it out differently. Whether YOU do better eating back your exercise calories or eating the same number of calories isn't for anyone else to say.8 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
This is hilarious.
Just one person's results but, when I was in weight loss mode, I ate every last exercise calorie I could get my hands on while still in a deficit, and lost 120 lbs. And we're not talking one or two hundred extra calories here either. Soooooooooooo not so counter productive at all, in my opinion.21 -
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We get that a lot and no. For one I’m a dude and on the east coast. She’s not and is on the left coast.4 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »
So, if on Day #1 I sit on my rear all day and binge watch Netflix, and on Day #2 I run a marathon, I should eat the same amount of calories both days?!?
If you run a marathon on day #2 with no prep, then whatever they feed you in the hospital should be just fine.
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SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
Dropped 106lbs eating back half my exercise calories and keeping the other half as a cushion against inaccuracies. Clearly I suck at self-sabotage...11 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
So if I eat 1200 calories per day (which is what MFP gives me for my height and age), do a 1 hour kickboxing class, and then an hour of swimming, not eating exercise calories back is fine, in your mind?6 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »Dropped 106lbs eating back half my exercise calories and keeping the other half as a cushion against inaccuracies. Clearly I suck at self-sabotage...
Yes, clearly. You only half-sabotaged yourself and still hit your goal. Congrats.
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nutmegoreo wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »SirSmurfalot wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »But the goal isn't to lose weight as quickly as possible.
The goal is to sustainably and safely lose weight and keep it off.
Keep reading and come back when you are caught up on the rest of the thread.
My comment stands.
You're obviously confused about how healthy weight loss occurs and how MFP works.
Despite having been provided with detailed explanation and information.
Yes, once again I understand how MFP works, but just because MFP uses it does not make it the best way.
You are obviously locked into your dogma and do not care about learning a better method.
That is fine, by all means you do you!
If you want to sabatoge your own weight loss by eating back your exercise calories, that is your choice, but please stop spreading the bad advice to others.
The fact remains that it is completely unnecessary and in fact counter productive to eat your exercise calories in a weight loss scenario.
So if I eat 1200 calories per day (which is what MFP gives me for my height and age), do a 1 hour kickboxing class, and then an hour of swimming, not eating exercise calories back is fine, in your mind?
I'm still trying to figure out how I would have gotten through training for multiple half marathons following this advice. I'd have been burning about 500-900 calories on a Sunday long run, only eating 1200...then getting up on Monday and burning another 300-400 or so on a short run, yet only eating 1200...then doing an hour of circuit training on Tuesday and still just eating 1200...on Wednesday I'd probably have blacked out, if I made it that long.14 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »So if I eat 1200 calories per day (which is what MFP gives me for my height and age), do a 1 hour kickboxing class, and then an hour of swimming, not eating exercise calories back is fine, in your mind?
It would depend on a lot of factors (I have no idea what your BMR and dietary deficit is), but assuming your goal is to lose weight and you are not already at a very low body fat you could, strictly speaking, do all that exercise completely fasted if you so desired.
I would not recommend it, but you could, it is not like you would not suddenly starve to death or anything. The human body is surprisingly resilient to things like still having to do physical while not eating very much. Otherwise our ancestors would have died out and we would not be here to talk about it.
You would just run more of a deficit that day, and it would even out in the long run when you have less active days.
Eating back your exercise calories is just a crutch.27 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »So if I eat 1200 calories per day (which is what MFP gives me for my height and age), do a 1 hour kickboxing class, and then an hour of swimming, not eating exercise calories back is fine, in your mind?
It would depend on a lot of factors, but assuming your goal is to lose weight and you are not already at a very low body fat you could, strictly speaking, do all that exercise completely fasted if you so desired. You would not suddenly starve to death or anything.
Eating back your exercise calories is just a crutch.
So, if I didn't want to exercise, you are saying I could just eat 500 calories/day?10 -
SirSmurfalot wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »So if I eat 1200 calories per day (which is what MFP gives me for my height and age), do a 1 hour kickboxing class, and then an hour of swimming, not eating exercise calories back is fine, in your mind?
It would depend on a lot of factors, but assuming your goal is to lose weight and you are not already at a very low body fat you could, strictly speaking, do all that exercise completely fasted if you so desired. You would not suddenly starve to death or anything.
Eating back your exercise calories is just a crutch.
Except in most peoples' cases, doing that would result in VLCD-esque number of calories a day, which is generally considered unhealthy and unwise to do unless under doctor's supervision. So once again, your advice is ill-advised as a blanket statement. Someone getting so few exercise calories it wouldn't be worth it to eat back any of them, but if someone's on 1200 cal a day, they should absolutely be eating back half of those kickboxing and swimming calories, at least. Otherwise you're talking WAY less than 1200net, when the 1200 already counts a deficit. Unless you don't care about your muscle mass and are content to lose a significant amount of it by the time goal weight arrives.10 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »So, if I didn't want to exercise, you are saying I could just eat 500 calories/day?
I added some more info to clarify, but you had already jumped ahead into argument mode.
For all I know, you could be a midget who is already at ideal weight and 10% body fat, and 500 calories is absolutely perfect for you.
There is no way to reach the conclusion you jumped to on my behalf based on the information presented.
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