calories?

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xoxofelicia
xoxofelicia Posts: 34
in Health and Weight Loss
So should I be eating my exercise calories or not? I'm really confused. I don't know exactly how much I should be eating a day? Right now I'm set at 1200 base and burn at least 300 daily so should I be eating those 300 or just letting them sit?

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  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    Yes. Eat your exercise calories.
  • fetchfury
    fetchfury Posts: 84 Member
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    Yea i'd like to know that too, I've seen alot of posts about this before, and everyone says you should, but i don't reaaly understand why!
  • EllieYoung1
    EllieYoung1 Posts: 2
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    I have been exercising regularly, documenting my calorie intake and eating my exercise calories and I have not lost one pound. Almost 12 weeks. :(
  • xoxofelicia
    xoxofelicia Posts: 34
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    I swear I read somewhere that in order to lose you shouldn't eat those calories, then I heard that you do need to, so I'm totally clueless whether to eat them or not. I'm not sure how you lose weight then? :(
  • jirocpa
    jirocpa Posts: 36 Member
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    I've always thought that when you put your exercise into the MFP calculators and it gives you a calorie goal each day, the exercise is already built into that number. So in order to get any weight loss, you should exercise as much as you said you would, but then just stick to your calorie goal.

    Don't just add 300 onto your previously stated goal. That would negate the calorie burn of the exercise. I suppose you could eat them, but I would guess your weight loss would be slower than expected.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Trust MFP - it gives you back the calories, you eat them. I know everyone's different but many members here (including myself) will tell you that method worked best for them. You need to fuel your body. MFP already sets you up with a deficit in order to lose the weight so if you create a larger deficit with exercise, you risk going into starvation mode which will slow down your progress.
  • kmcka637
    kmcka637 Posts: 13 Member
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    I used to always wonder this too until I spoke with a personal trainer. You need to eat them back because you do not want to throw your body in starvation mode. You need to eat at least 1200 (for a female) a day so you don't go into starvation. If you exercise 300 calories off (1200-300), you net 900 calories in which your body is not receiving adequate nutrition/ energy. I would eat a net amount of at least 1200.

    Hope this helps!
  • xoxofelicia
    xoxofelicia Posts: 34
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    I have been exercising regularly, documenting my calorie intake and eating my exercise calories and I have not lost one pound. Almost 12 weeks. :(

    Do you drink alot of water? Ive noticed that in the beggining i was really chugging water. (making myself) and I lost weight that way. (Probably just water weight) But since I have stopped making myself drink so much I'm maintaining the weight and not losing anymore. I dropped like 5lbs that first week..
  • jirocpa
    jirocpa Posts: 36 Member
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    I think you should stop eating your exercise calories for a week and then see what happens. As I stated elsewhere, I believe the MFP calorie goal takes into account the calories that exercise will burn (if you put exercise into your profile) and then gives you an 'adjusted' goal.
  • xoxofelicia
    xoxofelicia Posts: 34
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    I used to always wonder this too until I spoke with a personal trainer. You need to eat them back because you do not want to throw your body in starvation mode. You need to eat at least 1200 (for a female) a day so you don't go into starvation. If you exercise 300 calories off (1200-300), you net 900 calories in which your body is not receiving adequate nutrition/ energy. I would eat a net amount of at least 1200.

    Hope this helps!

    I'm eating the 1200 just didn't know if I also ate the extra 300. Which would give me 1500 calories to consume a day. So yeah I always eat the 1200.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I've always thought that when you put your exercise into the MFP calculators and it gives you a calorie goal each day, the exercise is already built into that number. So in order to get any weight loss, you should exercise as much as you said you would, but then just stick to your calorie goal.

    Don't just add 300 onto your previously stated goal. That would negate the calorie burn of the exercise. I suppose you could eat them, but I would guess your weight loss would be slower than expected.

    This is wrong. MFP does not add calories to your daily goal based on your exercise goals. It only adds calories based on what you've set as your activity level (sedentary, light active), which has more to do with your daily activity and nothing to do with your exercise level. For instance, I have a desk job so I'm set as sedentary. Then when I go to the gym, I log my exercise and gain calories based on what I've done. I've been eating my exercise calories since I started this weight loss journey 2 years ago and it's never held me back! You need to fuel your body!
  • vballscriscuolo
    vballscriscuolo Posts: 39 Member
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    YES!!! Eat the excercise calories!!!! you have to eat them especially if you have the 1,200 limit!!!!

    Ok look at it like this.....you have1,200 for the day.....you eat that and then go and burn 300....that leaves your body with only 900 left from the food you ate which is not enough.......you HAVE to eat your exercise ones of you will not see results! Your body will end up storing fat instead of burning it..........if you have questions and need a better explanation I'd call and ask your doctor to explain it to you. That way you hear it straight from them and can ask any other questions you may have but yes, you need to eat your exercise calories
  • xoxofelicia
    xoxofelicia Posts: 34
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    Okay it's settled I'm gonna start eating them! I guess that does make sense!! I'm just so lost when it comes to this!!!
  • kmcka637
    kmcka637 Posts: 13 Member
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    so if your goal is 1200 and you do 300 worth of exercise, eat up to 1500. That's okay because you still net 1200. But MFP has the tendency to not have correct amounts of calories for exercise. It tends to be over generous. This may cause you to think you have more calories to eat when you don't and can hinder your weight loss. I suggest a HRM or a fitbit to track calories burned appropriately.
  • vballscriscuolo
    vballscriscuolo Posts: 39 Member
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    Stupid MFP........I'm trying to quote this:
    """""""I'm eating the 1200 just didn't know if I also ate the extra 300. Which would give me 1500 calories to consume a day. So yeah I always eat the 1200.""""""

    yes if you exercise and burn 300 you should be eating total 1,500.......which technically you aren't actually taking in 1,500 calories, your only taking in 1,200 because you already burned off 300........but 1,200 is the bare minimum you should be eating..........every person is different also, so what didn't work for others doesn't mean it won't for you.......

    The "intake form" MFP has you fill out with your weight goals and such is not the included exercise at all....that's misunderstood, and don't pay attention to it.........excercise calories are to be eaten, that is why you are given them added into your food log :)
  • xoxofelicia
    xoxofelicia Posts: 34
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    so if your goal is 1200 and you do 300 worth of exercise, eat up to 1500. That's okay because you still net 1200. But MFP has the tendency to not have correct amounts of calories for exercise. It tends to be over generous. This may cause you to think you have more calories to eat when you don't and can hinder your weight loss. I suggest a HRM or a fitbit to track calories burned appropriately.

    What's an HRM or a fitbit?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes eat them. MFP calculates a calorie deficit for you to lose weight without exercise, so if you do exercise you need to eat the calories you earn so that your deficit isn't too large.

    HRM is a heart rate monitor-- it's a tool for calculating the amount of calories you burn more accurately than the "one size fits all" numbers in the database.
  • beckylawrence70
    beckylawrence70 Posts: 752 Member
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    MFP has figured for u that u need 1200 calories to reach whatever goals u have, so if you burn 300 of them, then u only got 900, so u eat the 300 back to stay on track and feed your body properly.
  • arogers98
    arogers98 Posts: 38 Member
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    I like to set my own goals and not have MFP do them. I found out what my BMR is (1443). Based on that and I am moderately active (exercise 3-5 times per week) I should be consuming 2163 calories a day just to MAINTAIN my current weight. That amounts to 15,141 calories per week. A pound of fat is about 3500 calories.

    To lose 1 pound per week cut out 3500 calories total. To loose 2 pounds a week, cut out 7000 calories. To lose 1.5 pounds, cut out 5250 calories. I wanted to average between 1.5 and 2 pounds per week.

    Based on my BMR to lose 2lbs a week I would consume 1163 calories per day. TOO LOW. To lose 1.5lbs I would consume 1413 calories per day. To lose 1lb would be 1663 calories per day.

    So I took the 1163 added the 1413 and then halved the total. Rounding up I put in that I wanted to consume 1300 NET CALORIES per day. Which is 9100 calories per week consumed. That means if I burn off 480 calories exercising each day (which is my average for treadmill and 30DS) then I have to add those calories back in which takes it up to 1780 calories (but still makes my NET 1300).

    Its nothing but net. :-)

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