Eating exercise calories!

rossannapc · November 2011

I know this question was answer before but i still no sure so here i come... Sorry if i should post in other place i'm new!

This is my firts doubt about this page, i have never write one before cause english is not my firts language, but i need help and maybe some one can help me!

Hi, firts of all i love all the work that all of u mfp's are doing to ur body is great and hopefully some day i could get into shape too! Sorry to botter but i need to ask something: if im eating 1800 calories ( but should be 1200) but i am working 2000 is that ok or should i be eating just 1200 no matter that im working out 2000 calories? Im not sure what to do cause i saw many diaries From people that never eat they exercise calories back, and they are losing pounds!!

And i will like to know because im not losing any more pounds, maybe this is the problem not sure!

Well thanks for everything if some one can help me and sorry about my english i'm not very good with this language! Thanks and hope to find somethibg out!

Dexy_ · November 2011

Just make your you net at least 1200, if not more. So if you eat 1800, burn 600, you'd net 1200.

1800 - 600 = 1200.

SARgirl · November 2011

I generally don't eat all of my exercise calories back (I don't plan this it just depends on what I eat for the day) but I eat some of them. I try to keep my net calories over 1200 for the day though or else MFP will "yell" at you for not eating enough!

lawtechie · November 2011

How much weight loss (1 lb, 2 lbs, more/less?) did you set up to lose when you signed up for MFP? Eating those calories without exercise will get you close to that the intended weight loss per week. But I looked at your diary. For at least half of the days you've been logging you are OVER your calorie goals, which means you are not going to lose the intended amount and depending on your goal may even gain depending how much over you've eaten.

Based on your picture, I think 1200 is too low for you. Check your weight loss goals and see if they are reasonable for your current weight. You should strive for a 1-2 lb loss a week.

PS: Weight loss takes time. If you are just starting to exercise you could be seeing water weight gain. Stick with MFP's guidelines for a month or two and then see how you're doing.

Moonbeamlissie · November 2011

Everything is in estimates. So my opinion is whether you believe in eating them or not I would leave a bit left over because people generally over estimate their exercise and under estimate their food. So, in other words if you estimate that you ate 1800 and estimate you put in 600 in exercise then what if your exercise is 300 and your food 2300... See where I am going? I try to under estimate my exercise and over estimate my food... That is just me though. With all that said;... I try not to eat my exercise calories or not all of them anyways, I look at them as my back up. In case I oops, or I just really want that cake!

Art63 · November 2011

I'm confused on this eating all my calories thing. I tried to understand one of the intro posts for newbies that explained how we are supposed to eat more than our daily caloric goal if we exercise. Huh? I don't get it. I thought I was supposed to eat what is shown each morning first thing. (Mine is about 1800).

But if I walk for an hour all of a sudden it says I can eat 250 or so extra calories. That seems counter-intuitive. Wouldn't I be better off sticking with the planned 1800 instead of eating more to compensate for the walking?

I'm having a hard time believing this. BTW, I'm also confused about the net calories chart in TOOLS but that's another topic. Every now and then my chart will show a day under 0. ??? Under zero? How could I have eaten less. I feel so stupid that I can't figure this out. Can someone help the boy? Thanks.

Pebble321 · November 2011

The way MFP sets up your daily calorie allowance is by looking at your weight and height and age and how active you are every day (not including exercise).

It works out how many calories you need to eat in a day to stay the same size - this is your "maintenance calories".
Depending on which options you have picked ("lose 2 pounds/week", "lose 1 pound/week etc), it takes away calories from your maintenance number.

For example, here are my numbers:
The calories I need to stay the same weight (maintenance calories) are around 1800 cals per day.
I want to lose 1 pound a week, so MFP subtracts 500 cals per day (the 500 is your "calorie deficit").

That means my daily calorie goal is 1300 calories.

Notice that the calories so far don't include exercise.

If I go running and burn 500 calories today, that means the calories I need to stay the same weight are 1800 + 500.
That means that if I eat 2300 calories today, I should stay the same weight.
If I take away the 500 calorie deficit, I need to eat 1800 today to lose 1 pound in a week.

This means I can eat 1800 calories today and I am still on track to lose 1 pound a week.

Not everyone eats their exercise calories - if you don't eat them, you are making that calorie deficit much larger.
Some people respond well to this and lose more weight, for others it means that your body isn't getting enough nutrition so it responds by slowing down your metabolism and trying to use the calories you are giving it more efficiently. This can mean that your weight loss slows down or stalls.

My personal opinion is that if I can lose weight steadily eating my exercise calories - why not?? I see no point in depriving myself if I don't need to. That just makes it hard to do this long term. And for me it's worked!!

rossannapc · November 2011

Thanks all for the advices, now i do understand!

My weigth lose is set to lose 2 pounds. Every week so i have to eat 1200 if i work out 45 minutes 5 time a week

So if im eating 1800 calories ( but my goal is 1200) and work out 600 i will stay the same weigth but if i eat 1400. And work 600 i will lose more weigth!

Well thanks all, before i was eating more than my exercise but this week im making a change and will try to make more exercise!

Thanks really!

Pebble321 · November 2011

Thanks all for the advices, now i do understand!

My weigth lose is set to lose 2 pounds. Every week so i have to eat 1200 if i work out 45 minutes 5 time a week

So if im eating 1800 calories ( but my goal is 1200) and work out 600 i will stay the same weigth but if i eat 1400. And work 600 i will lose more weigth!

Well thanks all, before i was eating more than my exercise but this week im making a change and will try to make more exercise!

Thanks really!

I think you're nearly there....

If your daily calorie allowance that MFP has calculated is 1200 then that includes a calorie deficit.
If you exercise and burn 600 calories then you can eat 1800 calories and you still have that calorie deficit and you should lose weight.
If you exercise and burn 600 cals but only eat 1400, then you have made your calorie deficit a whole lot bigger. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on you - you might lose weight quicker, or you weight loss might stall.

PBJunky · November 2011

This is simple actually...

In order to lose 1lb a week you need a total deficit of 3500 calories in total for the week, so that equates to a deficit of 500 calories a day.

So if your BMR were 1700 it would subtract the deficit and give you a net calorie of 1200...this is enough for you to lose at a healthy rate of 1lb a week. Now if you start to introducing exercises which helps you burn even more calories making your deficit even bigger then you start to run into problems where your starving your body and you can be subjected to catabolism (losing of precious muscle mass)

Art63 · November 2011

Let me see if I'm following this correctly. To lose 1 pound a week I should eat 500 calories fewer than my BMR per day. Yes? And then, if I add an exercise beyond normal activity (which is sedentary) I can/should eat those additional calories...and I should still lose that pound a week. Yes?

Thanks for the help on this. I've been very pleased so far with my weight loss (about 17 pounds) and walking routine. I started walking and cuting out almost all junk food in late July. My pants size has gone from a 40 inch to a 38 and I never thought I'd see 38" again. So, I'm encouraged and want to make sure I'm doing all I can without dieting or taking pills. I had gotten as high as 210 and am now around 190-191. My weight was around the 205-210 range for a dozen years. Being 61 I kind of assumed I was going to be that way until I died. Now, there's hope in this old body that I can whip it into shape again.

Thanks for any and all advice.

psuLemon · November 2011

Let me see if I'm following this correctly. To lose 1 pound a week I should eat 500 calories fewer than my BMR per day. Yes? And then, if I add an exercise beyond normal activity (which is sedentary) I can/should eat those additional calories...and I should still lose that pound a week. Yes?

Thanks for the help on this. I've been very pleased so far with my weight loss (about 17 pounds) and walking routine. I started walking and cuting out almost all junk food in late July. My pants size has gone from a 40 inch to a 38 and I never thought I'd see 38" again. So, I'm encouraged and want to make sure I'm doing all I can without dieting or taking pills. I had gotten as high as 210 and am now around 190-191. My weight was around the 205-210 range for a dozen years. Being 61 I kind of assumed I was going to be that way until I died. Now, there's hope in this old body that I can whip it into shape again.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Not exactly, you are supposed to eat 500 calories less than your total daily energy expended (TDEE). So if you BMR is 1500 and your are sedentary it would be 1500 * 1.2 - 500 = 1300. Now, since your deficit is already in your calculation, you should eat back exercise calories. So if you walk and burn 200 calories, then you should eat 1500 calories total in that day.

OP/All, keep in mind, larger deficits don't always mean more weight loss, especially in the long run. your body can adapt. So if you only eat 1200 calories, your body will recognize and adjust accordingly. Many times (so many I can't count) do people ask about plateau's or eating back exercise calories and in every case, they have to increase calories. so my questions is, why suffer for months when you can eat more and reduce muscle loss and maintain a higher metabolism for a healthier lifestyle.

Below are two threads about eating more and losing more.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395948-caloric-intake-results?page=3#posts-5612459

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395881-people-who-lost-weight-eating-more

Art63 · November 2011

Okay, thanks for the clarifications. I read the notes in those links and see I'm not the only one who has been confused on this. That's nice to know.

Going to try matching my caloric intake to the numbers MFP is giving me and see what happens. I had been trying to stay under (not eating the exercise cals) so this will be fun to see what happens.

Eating exercise calories!

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