Exercise versus food intake

Nurseali375 · June 2020

Good morning everyone, I have a question about calorie intake. My fitness pal gives me an extra 400 cal because of working out. In order for me to lose weight I am not to eat those calories correct?

janejellyroll · June 2020

If you told MFP your goal was to lose weight when you set up your account, your calorie goal already puts you at a deficit. The intention is for you to eat your exercise calories back because MFP doesn't take any exercise into account when giving you a calorie goal. If you want to be active, you need to eat to fuel that activity (yes, even while you're losing weight).

Nurseali375 · June 2020

Thanks so much that’s what I figured but wasn’t sure 😊

jjlbrick · July 2020

I think yesterday I exercised 2000 calories worth. I did eat some but not all of them.i rode 65 miles in hot muggy conditions. I was more thirsty than hungry. I look at it this way I will eat the allotted calories for being active my weight & age. The earned additional ones are there for eating ice cream occasionally. Or eating larger steak. Eating out situations .

sweetpsyche · July 2020

I tried to not eat the extra calories and MFP gave me a lecture on the dangers of not eating enough. So I forced myself to eat more and I gained two pounds! I think I’m just going to disconnect my Fitbit.

Dogmom1978 · July 2020

I eat some, but not all, of the extra calories back. I have MFP set to lose 1 lb a week. If by not eating all of my calories back, I can lose 1.5 lbs some weeks, why not?

That said, any extreme is unwise. If you have it set to lose 2 lbs a week, you should eat most (or all) of your calories back. The idea should be for sustainable, not lighting fast, results. Also, are you hungry? Do you want to eat the calories back? Then eat them.

funievi · July 2020

I'm on keto & I'm active with exercise. By eating keto I'm not that hungry & mostly do 2 meals a day. I'm also doing intermittent fasting so after my 2 meals I'm satisfied & don't need anymore food. Do I still need to eat my calories back somehow?

jwoolman5 · July 2020

funievi wrote: »

I'm on keto & I'm active with exercise. By eating keto I'm not that hungry & mostly do 2 meals a day. I'm also doing intermittent fasting so after my 2 meals I'm satisfied & don't need anymore food. Do I still need to eat my calories back somehow?

If you're not hungry and are hitting your macro goals (such as protein and fiber), you don't have to eat more just because you have had more exercise. Your body will let you know when you need more food.

So unless something is way off with your natural appetite, just eat when you are hungry. I always get much hungrier after an illness where I've lost some weight, or if I haven't felt like eating much for a day or two for other reasons or no reason in particular.

You could also check the scale every week or so to see if you are losing weight too fast, or losing weight at all when you are already at a good weight.

jwoolman5 · July 2020

sweetpsyche wrote: »

I tried to not eat the extra calories and MFP gave me a lecture on the dangers of not eating enough. So I forced myself to eat more and I gained two pounds! I think I’m just going to disconnect my Fitbit.

Or just learn to ignore MFP's lectures....

I use another tracker that has a "feature" of telling me that on days when I eat Food X, my calories are higher or lower. The oh so helpful suggestions have included warning me that I eat more on days I eat Timer (a food I created as a time stamp, servings indicate time on 24 hr clock). Other suggestions are equally ridiculous. These are computerized lectures, not realistic assessments based on your real needs.

cmriverside · July 2020

jwoolman5 wrote: »

sweetpsyche wrote: »

I tried to not eat the extra calories and MFP gave me a lecture on the dangers of not eating enough. So I forced myself to eat more and I gained two pounds! I think I’m just going to disconnect my Fitbit.

Or just learn to ignore MFP's lectures....

I use another tracker that has a "feature" of telling me that on days when I eat Food X, my calories are higher or lower. The oh so helpful suggestions have included warning me that I eat more on days I eat Timer (a food I created as a time stamp, servings indicate time on 24 hr clock). Other suggestions are equally ridiculous. These are computerized lectures, not realistic assessments based on your real needs.

Maybe you need to educate yourself on what actually happens when one under-eats for a period of time, and also how this website calculates your calories. It's not a "lecture" by a tool. It's healthy weight loss.

Here is the explanation, I think you would want to understand it instead of giving poor advice.

This website does not use TDEE minus a percentage the way most weight loss calculators do. It uses NEAT...

https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

heybales · July 2020

sweetpsyche wrote: »

I tried to not eat the extra calories and MFP gave me a lecture on the dangers of not eating enough. So I forced myself to eat more and I gained two pounds! I think I’m just going to disconnect my Fitbit.

You realize that fat is not gained or lost fast?

How fast did you gain that 2 lbs?

Because if you think that was fat - you would have to have eaten through your deficit and above your maintenance by 1000 calories every day for a week.

Reread that.

So if you have a 1 lb weekly loss goal, that means a 500 cal deficit.

You would have to have eaten 1500 calories ABOVE your base eating goal, lets pretend 1200.

Did you eat 2700 or more each and every day for 1 week?

I'm betting not.
You gained water weight.
Which could be entirely due to the workout.

kimny72 · July 2020

funievi wrote: »

I'm on keto & I'm active with exercise. By eating keto I'm not that hungry & mostly do 2 meals a day. I'm also doing intermittent fasting so after my 2 meals I'm satisfied & don't need anymore food. Do I still need to eat my calories back somehow?

How accurate is your logging and how much of a calorie deficit do you typically end up with?

If you are losing weight more quickly than your stats call for, yes you should eat more.
Losing weight too quickly comes with a whole host of drawbacks and dangers.

Unfortunately many of us are here because our hunger cues are broken. And sometimes when you change the way you eat, it takes awhile for your appetite to adjust.

heybales · July 2020

jwoolman5 wrote: »

So unless something is way off with your natural appetite, just eat when you are hungry.

Reading your body is a foreign language.

You realize most are here trying to lose weight because there is something off, and they don't know how to read the body, but they certainly did listen to it in the past.

Until someone gets educated on that foreign language - there needs to be much more "learning" before trusting you understood what it said.

For instance - did you know that it is common after undereating by too much for too long for the body to no longer be hungry?

Same effect people get when they discover months down the road after getting some blood test because something was bad enough - they discovered they were vitamin or mineral deficient - but until that big negative came along they would never been able to tell.

AnnPT77 · July 2020

jwoolman5 wrote: »

funievi wrote: »

I'm on keto & I'm active with exercise. By eating keto I'm not that hungry & mostly do 2 meals a day. I'm also doing intermittent fasting so after my 2 meals I'm satisfied & don't need anymore food. Do I still need to eat my calories back somehow?

If you're not hungry and are hitting your macro goals (such as protein and fiber), you don't have to eat more just because you have had more exercise. Your body will let you know when you need more food.

So unless something is way off with your natural appetite, just eat when you are hungry. I always get much hungrier after an illness where I've lost some weight, or if I haven't felt like eating much for a day or two for other reasons or no reason in particular.

You could also check the scale every week or so to see if you are losing weight too fast, or losing weight at all when you are already at a good weight.

Speaking as someone who accidentally** under-ate for a period of time, to my detriment, this is not consistent with my experience. I wasn't hungry, was active, was getting good well-rounded nutrition, and had a good energy level. Until, *very abruptly*, I didn't. I don't think I'm remarkably or unusually out of touch with my body or my hunger signals.

I got weak and fatigued, and it took multiple weeks to recover. I don't recommend it. I've seen others here report similar experiences: All systems go, then hit a wall, then recovery. Often, later, delayed-onset symptoms like hair thinning.

Losing weight too slowly is frustrating. Losing weight too fast is a health risk. I feel pretty cautious when it comes to recommending that others take chances, because "your body will let you know". It will, but maybe not quite in time to avoid negative consequences - the consequences can be how it lets you know, rather than hunger. I guess it matters how much risk a person likes to assume.

Will others have negative consequences? I don't know. I wouldn't be confident in asserting that they *won't*, for sure.

** It happened because MFP *dramatically* underestimates my calorie needs. This is rare, but it can happen. I corrected as soon as I realized there was a problem, but that wasn't enough to avoid consequences.

Exercise versus food intake

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