Whats the point to exercise then?

<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I eat back my exercise calories!

My goal is to stay between 1200-1450 net clean calories a day... That's it!

The point isn't to just lose weight, it is to be healthier. Exercise has other benefits besides just burning calories.

Exercise makes you feel good
Exercise makes it possible to do fun activities like hiking, skiing, etc
Exercise builds strength and helps prevent injuries during fun activities
Exercise might improve your overall health

Exercise allows you to eat more food!

I shoot for a goal of a certain amount of NET calories (1000 under my RMR). I exercise almost every day, and if I burn a lot of calories, I make sure I eat enough to get my net calorie intake into my range.

Don't confuse the recommendation of "eat back your exercise calories" to mean that you have to eat them AFTER the exercise. It really just means that if your calorie goal is 1500, that should be NET calories. If you burn 1000 calories in exercise in a day, you should eat a total of 2500 that day, but not in any specific breakdown of certain amounts before/after the exercise.

I asked my dietician about this and since she recommends this site to all of her clients, she made it nice and easy for me: EAT YOUR NET CALORIES FOR THE DAY.

So far, so good! Almost 16 lbs. down in about 5 weeks.

Your net calories meaning exercise or not?

Your net goal is your caloric goal on MFP so if your goal is 1300 and you burn 400 you need to eat 1700 to net 1300 (1700-400). So to hit your net goal you must eat your exercise calories.

Thank you for explaining this. As for the research it, I've just googled it and I've read it in health magazines. But now there is new research that says everyone should exercise 30 min a day.

That is for health, not weight loss.

All the men are saying they eat their calories back but it's different for men. It's a lot easier for men to lose. If a man and woman put in the same amount of time and effort and eat the same (according to body size) the man will most likely lose much quicker. So I think that should be taken into consideration. What works for men doesn't always work for women.

Just want to echo most responses here.

Exercise is essential for maintaining good cardiac and pulmonary health. It helps maintain muscle tone. It helps burn calories due to the "repairs" and building up of tissue in the time between workouts.

It helps relieve stress and burn off excess stuff like adrenaline and lower cortisol etc.

It has metabolic effects on the body.

It aids circulation improvements... good circulation can HELP reduce fatty deposits like cellulite building up.

Exercise burns calories so you can enjoy eating more food and better quality food and ultimately it is what we were designed for,

Developing muscle tone and endurance helps us with our every day tasks, like carrying babies, doing the shopping, doing the gardening, going up and down stairs. Keeping our bones strong and healthy etc.

So many reasons. It shouldn't be just looked at as a weight management only tool.

Exercise is good for your body and good for your mood. If I dont exercise on a daily basis, i am REALLY cranky and miserable to be around. Exercise helps to powerhouse your body to burn more calories. If anyone thinks that a good lifestyle change does not include exercise, then they need to be educated better on the topic.

Eating your calories back is not the same as not exercising. Exercising is building muscle and burning fat. You need more energy to do so. If you were to just eat less, you would lose weight but me "skinny fat" where you get soft and have less definition. When you exercise, you use your muscles and strengthen your cardiovascular and immune system, and it is good for you. It is better to exercise and then eat back the calories then to just not eat as much and not exercise or worse, eat less AND exercise!

I was losing weight very slowly in the beginning eating 1200 cals a day and exercising 300 without eating them back. I plateued a lot. I since then upped them to 1600 cals a day and burn 500-1000 during workouts and eat half to all of my exercise calories back. (When I burn 1000, it's very difficult to eat thema ll back with veggies and chicken!) I have been losing weight like crazy since I did this and I feel full, feel strong, and healthy. When I was eating less, I was always hungry, had a hard time staying under my macros goals, and and too tired to burn more then 300 cals in a workout. It makes a huge difference when you have more calories in a day (energy).

I will stand by the fact that you should definetely eat back exercise calories! Period. No one can change my mind on this because I have found that it works best for me My trainer agrees!

Please read, it's a long post but worth it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo