Eating what I lose in Exercise

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  • rebysue
    rebysue Posts: 136
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    Wow .. the amount of confusion and misinformation every timet his topic comes us is amazing to me.
    I can't even respond to these anymore - some of the replies make me want to bang my head against a brick wall.

    THIS ^^^^

    Just experiment and do what works best for YOUR body. Different body compositions react differently to eating vs. not eating the calories back.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I was wondering the same thing yesterday.In my opinion,if i try to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound,what would be the point in eating them if i'm trying to lose pounds?

    because you are already eating less than you need, MFP's goal is set so you eat less to lose your goal amount of weight. When you exercise you increase your energy needs so you need to eat them back to get you back to your original deficit.

    Say you are on 1200 cals and burn 400 cals, MFP goal is to eat 1200 when you don't workout and 1200+what you burn. Here is how the equation balances 1200-0 = 1600-400 = 1200. if you didn't eat it it would be like eating 800 cals and not working out as 800-0 = 1200-400 = 800, which in not enough fuel for your body.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Wow .. the amount of confusion and misinformation every timet his topic comes us is amazing to me.
    I can't even respond to these anymore - some of the replies make me want to bang my head against a brick wall.

    THIS ^^^^

    Just experiment and do what works best for YOUR body. Different body compositions react differently to eating vs. not eating the calories back.

    No, unless you have a thyroid or other hormone imbalance you must eat them back to lose your goal amount of weight (provided you estimated your burn correctly)
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    dude, took a quick look at your diary. you are not eating nearly enough. in my opinion, you should be eating all the exercise calories, but besides the point, you just need to eat. how tall are you? i mean, you are 209 lbs, trying to get to 165, and MFP says that you should be eating 1,739 calories? what is your weight loss per week goal set at? if its anything more then 1lb per week, stop and make it 1lb per week. especially being in the air force, you need strength, not just skinny.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    What I've been told is that if you eat your exercise calories you'll maintain you're current weight. In order to lose weight there has to be a deficit of some kind. As long as you eat the 1500 calories your body won't go into starvation mode.
    ^^^^^^^^
    Wow, not this....wow...
    Totally self-defeating. There is nothing magic in the number 1500.
    MFP sets up our daily goals based on healthy weight loss, so just follow what is outlined and all will be well.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    What I've been told is that if you eat your exercise calories you'll maintain you're current weight. In order to lose weight there has to be a deficit of some kind. As long as you eat the 1500 calories your body won't go into starvation mode.
    ^^^^^^^^
    Wow, not this....wow...
    Totally self-defeating. There is nothing magic in the number 1500.
    MFP sets up our daily goals based on healthy weight loss, so just follow what is outlined and all will be well.

    So do they think if you eat 1500 but burn 2000 from cardio that they will be fine? If so no, the 1500 is Net, as in 1500 plus what you burn from exercise.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Dang it, Max beat me to it. Just do what he said I can vouch for its effectiveness!
    I am losing more fat eating around 3000 calories per day than some here starving themselves on half that, sniveling about how they can't seem to make progress.

    It just boggles the mind how apt some are at self-sabotage.
    Don't fall into that trap.
    You are going to fail with this approach.

    Starvation diets don't work.
    Why?
    Because if your calorie deficit is too great you can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.

    Stick with the MFP recommendations.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    So is it a good idea to eat the calories you burn during exercise? For instance, If my Calorie goal is 1500 / day, and I exercise, I gain 700 calories from exercising, do I need to eat the extra It tells me I gained?

    It's not 'eating what you lose' its replenishing what you used. The deficit is still there. But! Gotta be sure your calculations are correct.
  • kreat
    kreat Posts: 136
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    I'm 68" tall, 209. MPF says to eat 1330 per day. However, the BMR site says t oeat 1739. I have my weight loss goal of 2 lbs per week.......
  • rebysue
    rebysue Posts: 136
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    Wow .. the amount of confusion and misinformation every timet his topic comes us is amazing to me.
    I can't even respond to these anymore - some of the replies make me want to bang my head against a brick wall.

    THIS ^^^^

    Just experiment and do what works best for YOUR body. Different body compositions react differently to eating vs. not eating the calories back.

    No, unless you have a thyroid or other hormone imbalance you must eat them back to lose your goal amount of weight (provided you estimated your burn correctly)

    That's kinda what I was getting at (the reference to body compositions wasn't referring just to fat percentage/height/etc). For the record, I always eat mine back...
  • Ambamm77
    Ambamm77 Posts: 76
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    I am not always able to eat all back that day but I almost always go over on the days I don't exercise. It all seems to average out.
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    I'm 68" tall, 209. MPF says to eat 1330 per day. However, the BMR site says t oeat 1739. I have my weight loss goal of 2 lbs per week.......

    2lbs it's a lot. Try 1lb per week. You'll probably still lose more.
  • kvreeken
    kvreeken Posts: 137 Member
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    So is it a good idea to eat the calories you burn during exercise? For instance, If my Calorie goal is 1500 / day, and I exercise, I gain 700 calories from exercising, do I need to eat the extra It tells me I gained?
    Yes, eat all the calories back.
    MFP calculates our total daily calorie intake WITHOUT exercise to lose 1 pound or so per week.
    And after we log exercises, our daily calorie limit increases.
    Why?
    Because MFP telling us to eat our exercise calories.
    Large deficits are unhealthy, because while you will lose weight, what's the quality of the weight loss?
    In many cases you'll lose lean body mass - MUSCLE - which LOWERS your metabolic rate, making weight loss harder.
    These crash diets work well for a season -- and sure enough, the pounds melt away. But when you eat so
    few calories, you train your metabolism to slow down. Once the diet is over, you have a body that burns calories
    more slowly -- and you gain weight.
    Be smart.
    Exercise well both cardio and resistance, and eat back the calories.
    The exercise will RAISE your metabolism and burn more fat at rest.



    You are absolutely correct.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I am not always able to eat all back that day but I almost always go over on the days I don't exercise. It all seems to average out.

    This is fine and is how most trainers, nutritionist and doctors set your caloric intake. The essentially average out your exercise for the full week and keep your intake constant. MFP just does things a little different, they keep your daily deficit constant but at the end of the week you should consume similar amounts of calories.
  • KarenGee1978
    KarenGee1978 Posts: 12
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    My personal opinion is that you should NOT eat those calories you burn. But i do think you should eat something small like a cereal bar or a special K bar something with high fiber or high protein bar. When you burn calories and then eat them what is the point of working out. Like I said its my opnion I am not a fitness trainer or professional. I feel guilty when I eat what I just worked off. Hope that helps.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    dude, took a quick look at your diary. you are not eating nearly enough. in my opinion, you should be eating all the exercise calories, but besides the point, you just need to eat. how tall are you? i mean, you are 209 lbs, trying to get to 165, and MFP says that you should be eating 1,739 calories? what is your weight loss per week goal set at? if its anything more then 1lb per week, stop and make it 1lb per week. especially being in the air force, you need strength, not just skinny.

    This. I'm a 5'5# 39 year old woman, and I eat about 2000 calories a day. Even if you were a small as me, you'd need more just because you have more testosterone and muscle as a dude.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LorinaLynn/view/exercise-calories-explained-206876
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    If you are going to offer advice on whether to eat your exercise calories or not, please be sure first that you know how MFP is set up to work.

    When you entered your goals (lose .5, 1, or 2 pounds a week), MFP deducted the appropriate calories from your daily goal in order for you to achieve this.

    NO exercise is expected or included in the calculation. It is healthy, however, to exercise and keep your muscles active, but you are not required to do so on MFP in order to lose weight.

    So, if you do, indeed, exercise, then you need to eat those calories in order to keep the original deficit per your goal. Eating too little is not healthy.

    If this does not work for you, it is likely that one or more of the following has occurred: 1 ) you aren't as active as you think you are, so the activity level selected in your settings is inaccurate or 2 ) you aren't actually burning as many calories during exercise as you think you are or 3 ) you are eating more than you are logging due to estimation errors/logging ommissions. A combination of these is usually at fault.

    Here is the formula: (Using close to my own personal figures)

    BMR - 1400 (Minimum calories needed to keep organs functioning)
    Sedentary lifestyle adds factor of 1.2 - 1680 (Total burned normally without exercise)
    Weight loss desired 1 pound per week - 3500 calorie deficit required = 500 deficit needed per day
    1680 - 400 - 1280 daily calorie goal
    Zumba class exercise calories - 400 extra calories

    1280 + 400 extra burned - 400 extra eaten = 1280 calorie goal

    So I still have my 500 daily calorie deficit (since my normal burn is 1680).

    Wiping out a deficit is extremely easy - forgot the olive oil you cooked with (-140), eat 5 fries off your kids plate (-50), guessed at the size of your chicken - (-50), just guessed at how many chips you had (-100), didn't measure your salad dressing (-100), didn't measure peanut butter (-70), didn't count almonds-just had a heaping handful-(-75). By this time, you not only do not have a deficit, you are eating at a surplus!!

    Another suggestion is to be sure the exercise you count is purposeful, fitness related exercise and not lifestyle activities (as those are included in the lifestyle factor mentioned above).

    Good luck!
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 807 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo



    MFP and my trainer ultimately give me essentially the same number.... MFP says "whatever plus exercise", and trainer says 1800-2000 with exercise. The math is different but the result is the same.
  • Moonbeamlissie
    Moonbeamlissie Posts: 504 Member
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    all I am saying is my husband went to the DR and was told in NO WAY should he eat back his calories... which is what I have believed all along. When you are maintaining that is another story......
  • Tonnina
    Tonnina Posts: 979 Member
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    I love what she says vv
    You are going to get a lot of different answers on this and a lot of reasons why. I do not eat my exercise calorie. I used to do weight watchers and they always stressed the fact that if you did not eat all of your food they told you to you were not going to lose weight because you would go into starvation mode. However, with this last program they introduced, even they admitted that you will still lose weight if you do not eat all your food everyday. You eat until you are not hungry.

    I was researching this topic and found an article (and if I remember right it came from the Mayo clinic) that said the starvation mode thing that everybody talks about is only correct when you are talking about people who are already thin (men with less than 5% body fat and women with less than 10% body fat).

    I guess in the long run, it is up to you to figure out which way works best for you. Good luck!!

    Eat until you are no longer hungry... once this happens then you are good, you've had enough calories and should be just fine!

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