Do you always eat the calories you earn??

24

Replies

  • carrieann1967
    carrieann1967 Posts: 45 Member
    Never ever ever. They are not bonus calories. If you eat the calories you just burnt of what was the point of exercising? I am very strict- zero junk, never go over calories limit and exercise is a daily bonus not to be used.
    MFP already calculate the number of calories you should have a day to loose weight without exercising. You must eat at least some of the exercise calories you have used otherwise you will starve your body.
  • ybarbara
    ybarbara Posts: 8
    With me it depends on how hungry I am. Since I'm only doing 30 minutes of exercise at this point (I am very unfit) I look at those calories as my safety net. If I am really hungry or craving something and I have the calories I eat them. Other days I have to look to use up my base calories. I try to focus on using my calories in a healthy way and not end up in the red in any one area (ie: protein, fat, etc) too often. Mostly I don't want to be feeling hungry or craving for very long. That sets me up to binge.
  • Lokah13
    Lokah13 Posts: 13
    I don't input my food intake or exercise until that evening. I write down all my foods so I can keep better track. After I eat dinner after my evening workout and than get on the computer so I never intake those "earned calories." I find that to for me to lose weight, I have to burn more calories than what I intake; which is a little bit harder because I am currently deployed and my options for eating are not all that big. But I try to eat as healthy as possbile. There are however those days when I slip so I workout even harder the next day to even out.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Always ate most of them back.

    It was the missing link for me... the difference between failure and success. I always wondered why "dieting" never worked for me and blamed myself... I told myself my metabolism was bad or that I didn't have enough discipline or willpower or that my body was just happy where it was.

    Boy was I wrong! My only problem was that I wasn't eating enough when trying to lose weight. My metabolism is fantastic now, and I have plenty of discipline and willpower, and my body is way, way, way happier where it is now.
  • 2hungariangirls
    2hungariangirls Posts: 220
    Each and every single last one of them... It helped me lose the 40 pounds I gained after I had my babies and now I've maintained that weight for almost a year... thank god it works for me... I can't imagine not eating the 3000-4000 calories I burn a week!!! I guess it's different for everyone...

    That's a lie, isn't it?
    Your diary is public and you don't eat your calories back.
    On Saturday you had only 2 meals and 1,201 calories left! on friday 626 cal, on Wednesday 1,574 cal and so on...

    WOW! You must not have much to do on a Sunday to start accusing people of lying....This is why all my stuff is private because of snoopers like you.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Each and every single last one of them... It helped me lose the 40 pounds I gained after I had my babies and now I've maintained that weight for almost a year... thank god it works for me... I can't imagine not eating the 3000-4000 calories I burn a week!!! I guess it's different for everyone...

    That's a lie, isn't it?
    Your diary is public and you don't eat your calories back.
    On Saturday you had only 2 meals and 1,201 calories left! on friday 626 cal, on Wednesday 1,574 cal and so on...

    It's actually not a lie--but thanks!! I do a program called Eat Stop Eat, I only started it 6 days ago (to lose some fat, not weight) it's a fasting program throughout the week--you fast for a certain amount of time, and then you eat at maintenance for the other days--I eat at maintenance and eat my exercise calories on those days. So some days I will be eating around 3000 calories, others a minimum of 700... it's just another way to zig zag calories...

    Wow, thanks for accusing me of lying... have a look at my diaries for last 200 hundred days I've been on here...

    Perfect example of why my diary is just that my diary..... Even though you need no back up, being friends on here I know your spot on with your exercise and lifestyle (aka diet, i still dislike that word lol) Keep up the great job, nothing wrong with zig zagging those calories.... To the OP, your going to get all kinds of responses on the subject and it will be up to you to decide what you think is right. I am in the camp of eating them back and do and have lost some weight doing it.... I eat 3000-3500 calories a day and am still losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week 32 months into my journey. I workout hard everyday and fuel my body accordingly and my body responds in kind..... Good luck to you on your journey......
  • rpantusa
    rpantusa Posts: 267 Member
    Never ever ever. They are not bonus calories. If you eat the calories you just burnt of what was the point of exercising? I am very strict- zero junk, never go over calories limit and exercise is a daily bonus not to be used.

    ^----not true. they are bonus calories. MFP gives you a certian # of calories to eat per day to lose weight with no excerize, but if you do work out, your body will need more caloreis. you dont have to eat them if you don't want, but if you are hungry you can. I sometimes do and sometimes don't. I just listen to what my body is telling me. If I am hungry I will eat some. Do what works for you, this is working for me, I am loosing plenty of weight each week and I do eat some back. Good Luck on your journey! :wink:
  • freedomlady
    freedomlady Posts: 28 Member
    Almost NEVER, why would I do that???:noway: I'm trying to loose weight and the purpose of exercise is to loose weight. Not earn food. Really I think it is a silly thing to do.
  • newCourtney
    newCourtney Posts: 168 Member
    I never eat them back. This is a BIG controversy on MFP. Do what works for you. If you are hungry, eat some of them. If you are eating them back and stop losing weight, stop eating them. What works for some people doesn't work for others.
  • fabulousfebe
    fabulousfebe Posts: 204
    This is a frequent question on MFP...I personally don't because in my mind it defeats the purpose of burning calories. :smile:
  • rpantusa
    rpantusa Posts: 267 Member
    Each and every single last one of them... It helped me lose the 40 pounds I gained after I had my babies and now I've maintained that weight for almost a year... thank god it works for me... I can't imagine not eating the 3000-4000 calories I burn a week!!! I guess it's different for everyone...

    That's a lie, isn't it?
    Your diary is public and you don't eat your calories back.
    On Saturday you had only 2 meals and 1,201 calories left! on friday 626 cal, on Wednesday 1,574 cal and so on...

    WOW!!!! :noway: Thats pretty crappy. :explode: Glad to see your diary is private so nobody can see, and you are going to attack somebody like that. you should be ashamed, she knows what she is doing, and she does not have to explain to anybody her methods for each day! Keep doing what works for you, and dont let people like this bother you!
  • kandire
    kandire Posts: 87
    I always log 100 calories less than what my HRM says I burned, even though I know I have tha 100 calories I don't like to see my # go into the red so I know every day I will at least save back those 100 I didn't log. Some days I am very hungry and start to get cranky if I don't eat back most of my exercise calories. I say listen to your body and if you are hungry then eat, if not then don't. Also I believe we exercise to be fit not skinny!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    This is why you should eat them back...

    First off, you should know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). That's the amount of calories your body needs just to keep all your organs functioning... your lungs breathing, your heart beating, your kidneys and liver filtering, your spleen doing... whatever it is spleens do. It's what you'd burn if you were completely at rest, as if you were in a coma. The second you wake up, the second you get out of bed, you burn more than that. Your BMR plus the amount of calories you burn in a normal day, is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

    You need to eat less than your TDEE to lose weight. If you go into your "goals" page - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals - it will tell you what your body burns from normal daily activity. As a lightly active, 5'5" 39 year old weighing 133#, my BMR is only 1,279, but my TDEE is 1730.

    Generally speaking... If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal (1000 calorie deficit). If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal (750 calorie deficit). If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal (500 calories). If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal (500-250). If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal (250).

    If I wanted to lose one pound a week (in theory... I know I can't lose that much now and it would put me below my BMR), I'd eat 1230. That's 500 calories less than 1730. If I exercise like I did Friday, burning about 400 calories, my TDEE for the day is 2130. If I only ate 1230, my calorie deficit for the day would no longer be 500 calories, it would be 900, and that's way, way, way too much.

    With too large of a calorie deficit, your body thinks, "Hey! What the hell are you doing to me?" It might decide to hold onto your fat. It might decide to slow down your other body functions as a way to preserve energy (ie, slow your metabolism). It might decide to use your muscle for fuel.

    That's what happened to me when I ate low calorie and didn't understand that increased activity demands increased calories. Years ago, at 130#, I was skinnyfat with a muffin top and backfat rolls, and wore a size 8. This time around, eating enough to preserve my muscle mass, I'm a little more than 130# (133# at last check) and in a size 2 or 4. And as you can tell by my photos, there's no backfat or muffin top. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/449570-mfp-mythbusters-losing-weight-fast-exercise-calories-girl
  • VoicelessRide
    VoicelessRide Posts: 395 Member
    I find that the calorie consumption is only a general guide, everybody's different. It is just a starting point and then we can adjust from there after a few weeks,
  • simonesimmons
    simonesimmons Posts: 3
    if you are allocated say 1300 calories per day and you eat 1300 then you exercise and earn another 300 that means you have only eaten 1000 cals. you have already stated how much you want to lose per week say 2lb so they have given you less calories to eat in order to do this. if you don't eat the proper amount of calories allocated, your body will go into starvation mode and you will not lose weight, it might work for the first few weeks but you will eventually hit a wall. eat as much of your exercise calories as you can but eat healthy. good luck with it :)
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
    I love eating them back! I'm going on a 12 mile run today which should net me somewhere in the neighborhood of 1800 extra calories that I can eat. This gives me the chance once a week to eat something I normally cant during the week, like Super Bowl food, yeah. Go Patriots!! You dont have to eat them all back, listen to your body. If your hungry and you have the extra calories earned then eat them. If your not hungry and you feel good, then dont. I train a lot so I usually eat most of them.
  • AndreaDaPrincess
    AndreaDaPrincess Posts: 58 Member
    I worry about eating them...........and then I worry about NOT eating them.....
  • Cathyvil
    Cathyvil Posts: 230 Member
    I eat some of them daily but not all since I always have a splurge meal saturday nights and I make up the deficit that way. Others eat all, whole some people don't eat any. You have to find what works for you since we are all very different :)
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    No I don't - I don't see the point in doing the exercise then just eating the "free" calories back, feels like its defeating the object of trying to lose weight
  • spaceys
    spaceys Posts: 58
    Yes, I always eat them, and it's getting me nowhere fast! Gonna work on changing that.
  • chachita7
    chachita7 Posts: 996 Member
    NO I DO NOT!!!! IT IS A CHOICE THANG!!!!

    WEIGHT LOSS HAS BEEN CONSISTENT...THEREFORE, I'M NOT CHANGING IT.

    CONSISTENCY + COMMITMENT = RESULTS:flowerforyou:

    ^^^ what she said :) -- I have my calories set to more than those recommended by MFP so I do my best to not do so.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Exercise is for increased health and fitness. Your calorie deficit that MFP already includes in your calorie goal is what will make you lose weight.

    Increased activity (exercise) without increased calories makes your calorie deficit larger than it already is. If the deficit becomes too large, it will hamper your progress.
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
    I did previously, but instead of worrying about getting the numbers I burned correct, I just include exercise into my tdee calculation and eat 1700-1800 everyday instead of 1200+exercise cals to lose 1 lb per week.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    Only on the weekends...especially this weekend....lol The rest of the time no....
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Never ever ever. They are not bonus calories. If you eat the calories you just burnt of what was the point of exercising? I am very strict- zero junk, never go over calories limit and exercise is a daily bonus not to be used.

    Because exercise has absolutely NOTHING to do with weight loss. Starving yourself, by exercising, and not properly refueling and replenishing your body by not eating back the extra calories burned is a great way to ruin your metabolism and ensure that you will gain back any weight you may lose.
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
    No i dont. Mainly because i dont trust Mfp. The APP OVERESTIMATES calories burned. Secondly, because i wont be hungry. Today with my workout logged, MFP thinks i should eat 5000 calories. I will do no such. I wont even eat half of that. Part of this journey for me, ment listening to my body. I wont eat for the sake of eating, i will eat WHEN hungry.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    My Endo has given me a guideline to follow.

    You may receive a flood of responses, yea or nay. Then you will also receive responses from die-hards that say YOU HAVE TO EAT THEM BACK! Then there are those who just dont...

    What is the guideline that your Endo has given you to follow? That sounds like a reputable source.

    I wont share what she has recommended because, the medical advice was constructed only for me, and my individual medical circumstances. I have a metabolic disorder that they cant even put a name to it....Im pretty much a lab-rat and have become a medical study...

    This whole subject of should-you-or-shouldnt-you has been battled on MFP for so long that alot of people would rather believe in the first thing they read on the internet...

    THAT is wrong.

    What people SHOULD be doing is consulting with an Exercise Physiologist, Sports Medical Doctor, or a specialist who has the necessary nutritional/exercise-related education. Granted, finding a specialist with this is difficult as there arent many around, but I was fortunate to find one that did.
  • missQ79
    missQ79 Posts: 7 Member
    I saw a great phrase on Pinterest. It said "you are not a dog, do not reward yourself with food". And that's a tough thing to do when you love food.

    Working out really reduces my appetite. And I find that I have to find food to eat. I think a happy medium is in order here. Eat about half back so your body can recover. If I don't eat, within the week, I turn into a carb-eating-psychotic. If you set your calories to what you want to lose and were honest about your activity level, you should still lose weight, even if you do eat it back. If your looking to drop a few pounds faster, then don't.
  • martyd_24
    martyd_24 Posts: 6 Member
    I don't always eat back my calories, but usually end up eating some of them because it says I can. I do make sure that on days I will probably eat more (like today with the Super Bowl) that I exercise enough to make up for it. I have always hit my target weight loss (sometimes more) which is what you are supposed to be shooting for right? As long as you are hitting your target of responsible weight loss go for it.
  • CrazyAdventure
    CrazyAdventure Posts: 113 Member
    Just want to preface this with the fact that I'm not an expert, doctor, etc....

    But for those saying that they don't eat back because they are trying to lose weight so it defeats the purpose...

    The point of working out is not just to burn the calories, but to have the many different perks of exercising. My understanding is that, over time, your metabolism starts working faster as it gets to used to exercising on a regular basis. But if you don't have any food/fuel for it to work with, I believe it can tear down your muscles and it drains your energy rather than boosting it. So it's not about 'getting to eat more food,' but giving your body more fuel so that next time, you can work harder and longer.

    Anyway, my thought is that it's not just about losing the weight, but feeling better physically and mentally. If exercising doesn't help you to do this, then there is less of a chance that you'll stick with it. If it drains all your energy for a day or two, why would you want to do it again?

    So to sum it all up, eat enough of the calories back to give you the energy you need to keep doing it.
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