Can Somebody please explain this to me????

liltnme
liltnme Posts: 9
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
So you have a certain amount of calories that this websites recommends for you to lose weight, but when you excersise it adds calories back into your goal for that day-why does it do that and how helpful is that??? Isnt that just cancelling out the excersise you did by adding and consuming the extra calories back into your intake for the day?? That doesnt make sense to me at all. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to you if you had the original amount of calories that your suppose to consume and work out and continue on with teh original amount you had left to consume for the day? Please tell me if this is counteractive it sounds so to me> Thanks!

Replies

  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
    Read here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • katyp26
    katyp26 Posts: 13
    yeah, i just posted the same question a little bit ago. I'm reading up on it, but my brain doesn't want to comprehend it. I felt the same way as you! I don't want to eat the calories I just worked so hard to get rid of!
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
    You've both got to remember that a normal diet has 2000 calories...this site restricts you and makes you work-out (you need to eat what you burn or you'll go into starvation mode).
  • KimberlyKurtz
    KimberlyKurtz Posts: 287
    Doesn't make sense to me either. I was told that I should eat 1500 calories and workout. When I joined it said to eat 1700 then when I worked out added more. I always thought if you wanted to lose weight you eat less and more more??? So your right why eat more if you work out. I read the post by Banks and still don't get it. Seems like on the biggest loser they ate less and worked out and it worked for them.
  • soxygirl
    soxygirl Posts: 173
    This website already sets you at a calorie deficit before you count exercise. For example, my BMI is 1800, so to reach my weight loss goals it set me at a 1200 calorie/day diet. When I exercise, it adds back in the calories so that my NET is still 1200/day. Any less than that and my body is not retaining what it needs to function.

    Eating your exercise calories is only bringing you back to the NET value you were supposed to be at to effectively lose weight.

    Biggest Loser contestants are, for the most part, extremely obese to morbidly obese -- different rules apply to that category. They can legitimately live off of less for a period of time. Also, they are stressing the system to the max to get large numbers quickly -- Once they get down to a decent weight they have to start eating more again. The premise of this site is to lose the weight slow and systematically.
  • katyp26
    katyp26 Posts: 13
    ok...it's starting to sink in more for me. thank you for your explanation, soxygirl. It made the most sense to me :smile: I am so used to functioning on 1200/day that it will be hard to add the extra calories, but hopefully I can fill it in with healthy choices! It still won't feel quite right, so we'll see how it goes!
  • soxygirl
    soxygirl Posts: 173
    Your welcome -- the best advice I can give is to listen to your body. If you honestly feel full on 1200/day, then you don't have to force yourself to eat, but maybe a protein shake after your workouts would be a good idea, or an extra piece of fruit between meals.

    You don't have to bridge the gap entirely, but remember that if you are only eating 1200 calories and your burn, for example, 600 w/ cardio, then your body only has a net of 600 calories that day to function -- your organs might not like that long term. :)
  • Kidvicious28
    Kidvicious28 Posts: 1,613 Member
    Read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions
  • dshandt
    dshandt Posts: 192
    I don't blame anyone for not understanding it.....it DOES take a while to sink in....but any time you go too long without eating, your body thinks that you are starving and is really good at holding onto fat (lowering of your metabolic rate, etc). Also, experience tells many people that they can lose weight sometimes by starving themselves, but almost everyone then puts it back on again. This system makes you healthier by keeping sufficient fuel in your system, and also keeps you from feeling hungry and deprived while you are losing weight, thus you will be less likely to rebound by overeating, etc, etc,
    I would like to just keep on entering my exercise and calories here after I lose all my weight, just to keep myself on track and accountable, even if it is only to me. :flowerforyou:
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