Do you use the extra calories when you workout?

I can vary but there are a lot of people on these forums, my wife included, who experience plateaus if they do not eat back those extra calories. For me, there are days during the summer when I'm refereeing 3-6 soccer games in a day where I burn anywhere from 2000-4000 calories. There's no way I could eat all those back (at least not in a healthy fashion, I suppose I could pig out at Applebees or something), however those are only a couple days a week. When I was still trying to lose, there were a lot of days I was 200 calories or more under goal and it never hurt me. I hate to say it but ultimately I think you just have to experiment and see how your body reacts. One thing is for sure, eating those calories back will not hurt you.

Usually, I don't use the extra workout calories, but I know they are there if I need them.

I may go hit the treadmill later on and see if I can walk and read my Kindle at the same time w/o killing myself.

LMAO good luck with that. Please let me know how you get on. I'm too scared to try it :laugh:

Audio books. They're a life saver.

i eat them

OK, my MFP plan calls for 1870 calories a day, but I shoveled snow for about an hour... MFP says that gives me 500+ more calories I can have for the day. I probably will not consume 500+ calories more, but maybe 250.

You should eat back your exercise calories.
Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week.
That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up.
Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories.
Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be?
In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more.
Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount
of weight each week.

Be efficient.
Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

I also shoveled snow for 2 hours this morning/afternoon. I burned 700+ calories (I have a hard time believing I burned that many calories). I won't be eating my calories back today, but I usually don't eat them back anyway. I do occasionally go out to eat, and over eat. So I exercise a bit harder, burn more calories, so my splurge don't look so bad.

I eat mine back, my MFP is already set up with a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb. a week so any exercise calories are mine to eat and I normally consume 3000-3500 calories a day and lose 1-2 lbs. a week...

my weight loss slows down if I don't eat the extra calories given to me. I eat them and I enjoy every last one!!!

I eat every last one! Every day! I burned 1003 this morning -- eating mac and cheese and cake tonight for my birthday! woot!

Happy birthday

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. I usually just stick to my daily goal though without the workout calories

Dishes/Vaccum1hr 214
Ab Ripper X 280
Chest 150
Sleep 88/hr
Folding Laundry 170 45min
Bicept/Tricept 130

Do you really count sleep as a calorie burn? :huh:

Without boring everyone to death with details, but still trying to add something that hasn't been said...or say it in a slightly different way (I agree with Maroch's comment) here goes:

FIRST: THE BOTTOM LINE - You did the right thing. I try to eat 1/3 to 1/2 the calories exercised off when I can.

Calculating Calories burned during an activity is very problematic:

1. It depends on your weight - the heavier you are the more calories burned for the same activity so how could MFP possibly know how many calories are burned for an activity for all people under all circumstances.

2. Calculating the number of calories burned depends on many factors including the activity you are doing. Lets just say your jogging. Pedometers only accurately measure steps for the most part. They base their calculations on a set distance for your stride. When you run, your stride shortens (more steps to go same distance) so unless you have GPS to help calculate your distance traveled the pedometer will misjudge your distance the faster you run. It also can't tell (without GPS) if you are going up an incline - ie more effort - more calories burned. Bodymedia makes a device they claim uses 5 sensors on your arm that measures calories burned with over 90 percent accuracy. I haven't seen the data but if your curious it's something you can investigate. It claims to measure calories burned doing any activity (from sex to cleaning windows or shovelling snow or lifting weights). It requires a 7 dollar / month subscription to their website. Battery lasts 1 - 3 years depending on use per their support staff. The sensors measure skin evaporation, 3 accelorometers etc. The Fitbit device listed under MFP Tools is made by Bodymedia and was worn and used by the Biggest Loser. It is a simplified and less expensive device compared to the Bodymedia arm bands.

3. When I dance with my partner doing Swing, two-step, or ballroom, or salsa pedometers are not accurate because they are mostly for in line movement (ie they wouldn't help calculate calories for shovelling snow either). Heart rate monitors have other issues.The best pedometers are 90 percent accurate only for steps - nothing else. Most are not that good.

Bottom line is I have no idea where MFP get's their numbers, but it must be an estimated average which could be very very far off the real number you burn. If you use a machine at the gym - the machine estimates your calorie burn too. It doesn't know your weight unless you enter it. Many people wear HRM (heart rate monitors) during these exercises to more "accurately" calculate calories burned but if you have a low resting heart rate (40s) or are on medication that slows it...you have to adjust your calculations even as to the zone your in based on different formulas. It's complicated to say the least.

So, once again, realize these are just approximations. Use them as such are realize they might be very far off. Your burn might be much more or less. Guessing that you burned less will always be better if you are trying to lose weight.

Hope that helps! LOL
I'm sure it's more than you wanted to know.
TT


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