Need help! Confused!

MrsSullivan08
MrsSullivan08 Posts: 274 Member
edited October 7 in Health and Weight Loss
My daily calorie intake is 1200/day. Why does it add more calories that I can consume after working out? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of exercising? I really am confused so any help would be appreciated. :)

Replies

  • medaglia_06
    medaglia_06 Posts: 282 Member
    You can choose to eat your work out calories (some people choose not too). I'm 50/50. If I know I am going to have a bad calorie day, I step up the workout to put me back in the green. It just adds the calories you burned to your total allowed for the day. As long as you are eating at least 1200 calories a day you are fine or you can eat the one's you worked off too!

    Does that help at all? LOL
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    People on MFP call them "exercise calories". Here is a link on the subject:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • MrsSullivan08
    MrsSullivan08 Posts: 274 Member
    You can choose to eat your work out calories (some people choose not too). I'm 50/50. If I know I am going to have a bad calorie day, I step up the workout to put me back in the green. It just adds the calories you burned to your total allowed for the day. As long as you are eating at least 1200 calories a day you are fine or you can eat the one's you worked off too!

    Does that help at all? LOL

    It kind of makes sense. But will you still have the same results if you eat the work out calories as opposed to if you didn't eat them? That is what is confusing me. I am talking long term results by the way. :)
  • ncw89
    ncw89 Posts: 61 Member
    I always eat back my calories. MFP is set up to give you the appropriate calorie deficit without ANY exercise factored in, so exercising and not eating them back gives you too much of a deficit and the body struggles to handle it and weightloss may slack off or plauteau altogether. Or so I'm assured by other MFP users :)
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member

    It kind of makes sense. But will you still have the same results if you eat the work out calories as opposed to if you didn't eat them? That is what is confusing me. I am talking long term results by the way. :)
    if you dont eat them you run the risk of wearing out your body, it needs to be properly fueled. i always eat my exercise calories. you may plateau a lot sooner if you dont eat them. i would say that since your daily goal is so low to begin with, its even more important to make sure youre eating enough.
    if you are using MFPs numbers for calories burned you may not want to eat them all - the site is just a generalization on that. but if you have a HRM youd be safe to eat them all back.
  • kspoon5
    kspoon5 Posts: 239 Member
    I very seldom eat all of my normal calories much less my exercise calories so I am in the same boat MFP keeps saying I am sending myself into starvation mode and I don't want to sabotage all the work but I am just not hungry. Everyone has told me to eat good fats like nuts for snacks but I hate nuts so that leaves me where I am first week loss of 5 lbs - is my body just going to shut down hhmmmm ?
  • plaid405
    plaid405 Posts: 33 Member
    For me I just make sure I am eating my 1200 calories a day. Some days I will eat the extra exercise calories and some days I don't . The less calories you eat, the more you lose, just don't go below 1200.
  • kspoon5
    kspoon5 Posts: 239 Member
    what is HRM? Excuse my ignorance LOL
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    heart rate monitor :) the ones with chest straps are more accurate
  • MrsSullivan08
    MrsSullivan08 Posts: 274 Member
    what is HRM? Excuse my ignorance LOL

    I had no clue what that meant either. lol I am new to this and don't know all the short hand terms yet!
  • gabi_ele
    gabi_ele Posts: 460 Member
    Here is my opinion. :flowerforyou:
    I like to eat, I love food and I have no problem to eat all my calories. The reason I am here is because I have jojoed myself up to this weight by going on low fat diets, cutting out food groups or eating 700 calories all week and then on the weekend eating a lot. This should be a lifetime change, if you want to eat 1200 for the rest of your life, that's fine, but if you want to lose slow and the right way I would do it the MFP way. You can look all over the forums and see it worked for a lot of people and a lot of them are maintaining their weight loss.
    I eat half of my exercise calories just to be on the safe side, I count things I do that are not in my normal routine as exercise. If I wash my walls down for 3 hours I will count that since I don't do that every day and I have my lifestyle set at sedentary. I don't do a DIET per say, I eat mostly lean meats, olive or canola oils, veggies, fruits, and whole wheat . I avoid white bread, white rice and pasta, sugar and a lot of the processed foods. I have no problem to eat frozen veggies and fruits, however I avoid additives and preservatives and artificial coloring.
    Hope that helps , there are also a lot of articles you can look up on eating 700 calories a day and gaining weight and others...
    Hope that helps
    Gabi
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