Calories earned by exercising

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Do you eat the extra calories you earn by exercising? I try not to and have been losing, but the last few days I seem to have hit a plateau. Advice?

Replies

  • crystalmangold81
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    I have hit a plateau as well... It is so frustrating!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Mostly, I do. I get too hungry if I don't.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    A few days isn't really a plateau - I'd carry on doing what has been working, and reassess in a few weeks.
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 747 Member
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    If you don't seem to be losing anymore, try changing what you are doing. Maybe eat a few more calories for a couple of days to 'scare' your body back into losing. Also, change up your fitness routine a little, your body can become accustomed to the same thing.
  • Pappabacon
    Pappabacon Posts: 104 Member
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    I would if I was at a plateau but not otherwise. I also have my MFP set to lose 1 lb a week so I am not at a huge calorie deficit when I do work out and don't eat them back. There are many threads on this and most people say you should eat them back.
  • MissJenn33
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    In the past this is how it has worked for me....Stick to my specific calorie & excercise goal and NOT eat the "extra" calories. When I hit a plateau I increased my calories a bit and changed up my excercise and got the scale moving again.
  • SFalconStorm
    SFalconStorm Posts: 77 Member
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    I eat about half back. It's different for everyone. Some people swear you need to eat them all back and some swear you shouldn't touch them. It would probably be best to experiment with a couple of different methods and see what works for you. Sometimes just changing what you do, period, can kick start your metabolism.
  • annie7hudds
    annie7hudds Posts: 199 Member
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    I don't eat them all back - as who knows how accurate the calculation is for the extra cals earned through exercise.

    It does help with my daily allowance though - if I can try to get out for a 30 min run most days i earn about 300 cals - allows me a bigger breakfast.
  • rhogro
    rhogro Posts: 12
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    I'm new to this web site but everything I've read so far says that we ARE supposed to eat the calories earned from exercising. Otherwise your body goes into starvation mode and it lowers your metabolism and you can't lose weight.
  • massielxomaya
    massielxomaya Posts: 1 Member
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    I did that for a while and I was frustrated by how little progress I saw, then I started to try and stick to the recommended calories and saw a results faster. I tried not to let my net calories get to low if I had worked out intensely during that day. For example, if I had stuck to my target and somehow miraculously burned 900 calories (which hardly ever happened...) I didn't think a net intake of 300 was good for me, so I would have a healthy high calorie snack at the end of the day, like whole wheat toast and peanut butter and a glass of non fat milk. I found for myself that I was eating because I felt like I had earned it when I didn't really need it. Hope that helps. Keep pressing on!