calories vs exercise

Gracestar12
Gracestar12 Posts: 46 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

So I've noticed that whenever I log in any exercise that I've done it tells me that I have 'x' amount of bonus calories. Should I be eating these additional calories, or not?

Cheers

Replies

  • danett27
    danett27 Posts: 3 Member
    Note: I am not an exercise physiologist, dietician, or certified personal trainer. The following advice is based on my own opinion and experience and some research.

    I wouldn't eat the exercise calories. You need a deficit to lose weight. The extra calories are actually the deficit you need to lose weight. But that is just my opinion. Others disagree and say you need to eat the calories. I did Weight Watchers for a long time (1.5 years) and lost 190 pounds making sure that I did not eat the "extra" exercise calories. But again, some would disagree and would say you need to eat them with the justification that your body needs that extra fuel or else it would go into starvation mode and hold onto the fat.

    My body did not hold on to the fat and I never went into "starvation mode" but everyone is different. I highly encourage that your exercise include routine strength training (at least every 48 hours) in order to increase your metabolism. Lean muscle mass helps your body continuously burn extra calories for an increased period throughout the day. This is why men lose weight faster than women as they usually naturally have more lean muscle mass.

    DW
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    MFP's calculations are not set up like Weightwatchers. If you have plugged the correct data into MFP, your daily calorie allowance is already putting you at a deficit. MFP was designed in such a way that you should eat back your exercise calories. Some people don't eat them all back because calorie burns during exercise are just an estimate, but you should be eating at least half of them back. I suggest going into the General Diet and Weight Loss Help section of these forums and reading the stickies at the top of the page. There's a wealth of great information there.
  • Gracestar12
    Gracestar12 Posts: 46 Member
    Thanks for your replies and insights :smile:
  • skywa
    skywa Posts: 901 Member
    When your extremely over weight. As in obese. You can get away with a larger deficit. You can eat 1400 calories a day and not eat back your exercise calories back and be fine. But as you get thinner, and your body fat lowers, its not so simple. Your body will slow down the metabolism if you arent eating enough. Which your body may think if your netting 900 calories or less.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    Based on your goals- "* To have more energy. * To be able to finally cross a couple of adventures that require a decent level of fitness off my bucket list." Yes, you should eat them.

    Don't eat them if you want to be skinny. Eat them if you want to be fit.
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    Some days I eat mine back (kind of see them like weight watchers 'cheat' points) other days I do not.. it really depends how I feel that day and how much I burned. For example if I only burned around 200 I'm probably not going to unless I'm hungry and have nothing left... but days that I burned 400 I'm pretty much guarenteed to eat at last some of it back. As long as your MFP is set up for a deficit you're okay to eat them back you just won't lose as fast as if you didn't... but listen to your body, it will tell you if you need them.

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