More calories allowed with activity- Really??

This is what my doctor told me, he is the one that sent me to this site. I was using sparkpeople, still do for somethings. I do like mfp better for the tracking but doc told me that in order to lose weight I am to ignore the addition of calories it adds. If you are in maintenance he said it is ok to eat some back.
The whole idea is that you are burning more than your body needs. Any excess can and will be stored as fat. Your body has a wonderful way of using its fuel, the brain, and muscles will take theirs first and the rest will go to fat stores.
I have lost 80+ pounds this year listening to my doctor. If you are a guy you can also get away with eating those calories as men need more fuel.
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this is very helpful!! i normally dont eat many of my calories back and i was wondering if i was doing damage! thnks!!

Good morning and happy Sunday to all. I'm struggling a bit with the food intake section of this site (don't get me wrong, I love the site and the ability to track everything!). I'm here to lose weight, and keep within a certain calorie goal. After adding excercise, the darn thing "allows" me more calories?? I hate the fact that this gives me the mindset that I can go for the gusto food-wise if I work out. I don't necessarily agree that I should eat more to make up for the calories I burn during a workout. I'd really just like opinions and your thoughts. Is this a general practice for folks that are training or trying to lose weight? Or are these two different things? Thanks for your ideas. :flowerforyou:

This is what I will tell you! Find what works for you and follow it. For me, not eating my exercise calories back works wonders ... for somebody else eating them back works. Try both, see what you have the most success with.

I like seeing how exercise effects my daily intake. It gives me incentive to exercise the way I need to. Because of having had chemo, and a knee injury, it is important that I exercise daily and those extra calories can either mean I can have a treat or count on a bit of extra loss.
I'm in this for the long haul, so it is important that I learn what I need in the way of exercise and calories day in and day out.

I think if your daily goal is 1200 you shouldn't go under that for the day so if you exercise eat the calories and just enjoy the rewards of your hard workout. If your daily calorie goal is above 1200 then you can you exercise for either treating yourself to extra food or eat the same amount but let your net calories drop lower than your goal just to lose weight a little bit faster. As long as you don't go below 1200 net calories a day everything will be fine. Less than 1200 is unhealthy, and I've heard people on here who regularly go under that amount sometimes their weight loss stops and sometimes they start gaining weight.

I don't eat all my exercise calories back, I usually eat enough back so I'm somewhere between 1000-1200... Unless I hit a plateau, then I'll eat them back to 1200-1400 for a week or so, and that's usually enough to get it going again. But I also don't work out for hours everyday. If I did, I'd eat back at least up to 1200... But my bmr is also fairly low.. I'm in class most of the day and don't move around a lot except for when I exercise. When I eat all my exercise calories back, I don't have even a 500 calorie deficit!!

Yes, you eat them back. Why?

Because your daily goal accounts for a certain amount of weight loss ALREADY!
If you go too far below that, it's self-defeating, and you could fail. In fact this is why so many people do.

Stick to your goal - 1 or 2 lbs a week - NO MORE!
This is a safe, effective and healthy way to get fit for life - not just another quick fast that sheds weight, then packs it right back on and then some.

It works; you can do this - GOOD LUCK!

Don't agree with this and here is why. I set this up for a 2 lbs loss a week which would be a 7000 calorie deficit! The iPhone app will tell you your weekly deficit. I always stick close to my food calories and NEVER eat back my exercise calories. I go to the gym everyday for 2 hours a day. It's 1 day before the weigh in and I am almost to my 7000 calorie deficit. If I even dreamed of eating back my exercise calories I would not be losing 2 lbs a week. Just sayin'.

No actually the first person was right and you are wrong.

Your calorie goal already accounts for a thousand calorie a day deficit, since a 1000 a dayX7 days a week=7000. Don't eat back those exercise calories and it's like 7000 plus whatever you didn't eat back.. do that long enough and your going to not lose anymore weight because your body needs fuel to run. That's why its good to eat back some of the exercise calories, so your body understands that it's not starving and has fuel to run off of.

To OP:
Eat some, eat all, eat half.. I've done all three and have lost weight. It's about what works for you and your body more then what works for others.

I hate the fact that this gives me the mindset that I can go for the gusto food-wise if I work out.

But you CAN! That's why marathon runners eat like 5000 calories a day. The more active you are, the more you can eat.

And that was one of the most surprising "A-HA!!!" moments for me when I started on this site. I thought losing weight meant making drastic changes and feeling hungry all the time. It doesn't. It only takes small changes, and you don't have to be hungry or feel deprived, ever.

Every time I tried to lose weight before MFP, I failed. I cut my food intake too much, and it hampered my progress. Losing weight isn't just about eating less, it's about eating ENOUGH. Eating the calories earned from exercise makes it so you're eating the right amount. Not too little, not too much.

This is probably the best thing i have ever read on these forums. You are so right and thank you. I tried to explain that to my cousin, she said this diet crap is for the birds, I'm always hungry, I was like...no you shouldn't be hungry....

I hate the fact that this gives me the mindset that I can go for the gusto food-wise if I work out.

But you CAN! That's why marathon runners eat like 5000 calories a day. The more active you are, the more you can eat.

And that was one of the most surprising "A-HA!!!" moments for me when I started on this site. I thought losing weight meant making drastic changes and feeling hungry all the time. It doesn't. It only takes small changes, and you don't have to be hungry or feel deprived, ever.

Every time I tried to lose weight before MFP, I failed. I cut my food intake too much, and it hampered my progress. Losing weight isn't just about eating less, it's about eating ENOUGH. Eating the calories earned from exercise makes it so you're eating the right amount. Not too little, not too much.

This is probably the best thing i have ever read on these forums. You are so right and thank you. I tried to explain that to my cousin, she said this diet crap is for the birds, I'm always hungry, I was like...no you shouldn't be hungry....

YES! I always eat my exercise calories back and I've lost 60 lbs. There have also been times when I have stubbornly insisted on eating too little for my body (the MFP minimum, 1200 net calories) and didn't lose a single lb for months. If you don't eat enough A) you're more likely to get frustrated and quit, or binge, it might actually SLOW DOWN your weight loss and C) you will never be able to build and have a hard time maintaining muscle and your fitness goals will be more difficult to meet.

I'm also in the eat-them-back camp. You lose weight by creating a caloric deficit, but too big of a deficit can work against you. MFP calculates your deficit based on your activity level and weight-loss goals, but it does not base it on exercise in addition to your daily activity (even though it asks you what you plan to do). If you add activity without increasing your calories, you make that deficit larger than it needs to or should be. And, besides, I thoroughly appreciate and enjoy every calorie I earn!

Test what works for you. I ate my exercise calories at first and had a hard time losing weight. Then I tried keeping a calorie deficit from 300 - 600 calories a day and it's working. The nice thing is that you can really monitor and see what works for you. The one thing that does work is putting in everything (food and exercise) and the MFP community. There are so many people who have had success here. Good luck with you journey

Be extra honest with what is exercise. If you are out of shape and very heavy, then just normal shopping walking is exercise, or dishes, or ironing. But average people need sustained sweaty or heart rate increase for more than a few minutes at a time. So walking for 30 min or more I would count. Or sweating for 15-20. Lately I only do 30-40 minutes of increased heart rate exercise because I've been steady at this for over a year and i'm in better shape. I hardly ever sit around. Get a heart rate monitor with a strap (more accurate ones have a chest strap and will cost you $50 or more or you might waste your money). I never joined a gym, but the HRM was the best investment this year. (check amazon.com or ebay for "polar 4 or "polar 7")

Don't always assume that you should err on the too little amount, side. MFP has over or underestimated my personal calories burned in the database exercises listed. I got a Heart Rate Monitor and found I've burned MORE calories often, and with some things MFP overestimates it. I've been on maintence calories for a few months. I tend to need a little more than it estimates because I'm a big burner when I exercise regularly. I was losing more weight on maintence when I exercised more. Even if I accounted for it, and ate it back. As I got closer to my my weight loss goal I needed to eat more, and lose less per week. Or I stopped losing weight. It was slower going toward the end. But inches matter. Do your measurements, record them, and you will see that the scale isn't the only thing important here.

Eating is good. You want to build muscle and lose fat. Just starving yourself won't do this for you. It actually works against me. Make it good for you food. Build muscle mass, so you increase your metabolism. Eating too little always makes me not lose, plateau, or be wildly unsteady in my weight. Set your activity low and log more exercise when in doubt. Eat within 100 to 200 of your goal + exercise. within 100-200 means under OR over by only some. Not only under. Not way under. Don't skip meals, eat more often.