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starrithasg
starrithasg Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
ok guys maybe you can help me. i've been logging my food diary...and putting in my exercises and calorie burning. but when i enter the calories burned...mfp gives them back to me to consume. i'm confused because i thought the idea of losing weight was to not consume those calories. is this just something that mfp just do? or should i be consuming that much? my goal calorie consumption is 1700. and i usually burn an average of 700-900 calories. after enter, my food diary says my goal calories intake is 2400. and then the asterisk under the diary says i earned those calories. is this right? what do you guys do?

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  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    That is right. Although everyone is different, many people find that they need to eat those calories that they burned off with exercise.

    Based on each individual person's weight, age, height and activity level (which we input), there is a calorie number that will keep them at the same weight they are right now. MFP lowers that number by a certain number of calories depending on how much we each put in that we want to lose per week.

    So when we exercise, we are burning up some of the bare minimum fuel our bodies require in order to simply function. In order to keep that fuel level at a an acceptable level so we don't enter survival mode (where the body refuses to relinquish it's hold on fat), we need to eat enough to compensate for at least some of the calories we burned up while exercising (at least many people find they do).

    Why exercise? To be toned, to benefit our organs/health, and to allow us to eat MORE. Oh and because muscles burn more energy than fat does. Some of us have a really tough time sticking to our diet plans, so exercising for 45 minutes can give us a welcome extra few calories which make the difference between feeling satisfied and hungry.

    I know there are some people who don't eat them and do lose weight, but the recommended way is to eat them.
  • tfreezin
    tfreezin Posts: 5
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    Ok, first I want to know WHAT you are doing to burn 700 - 900 calories during exercise! Wow.

    Second, I am sure someone else on here could explain it better, but when you originally entered your profile and you indicated your current weight and your goal weight, MFP took what calorie intake would be required to maintain your current weight and then reduced it so that you are working every day on a calorie deficit.

    So, in theory, whether you are exercising or not you should be burning more calories than you consume each day.

    Because they have you at a deficit already, when you exercise you "earn" additional calories. You do not necessarily need to consume them but you do need to fuel your body effectively to maintain your exercise and get the best benefit from it.

    So as long as the calories you earn are being used for a good recovery meal or snack (protein shake, milk, fruit) you should be golden
  • jb_sweet_99
    jb_sweet_99 Posts: 856 Member
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    This topic has been discussed and explained in length, there are some great posts out there that really help to understand why we need to be eating those exercise calories. Just search 'exercise calories' and you will find tons of info on this. Hope this helps :flowerforyou:
  • starrithasg
    starrithasg Posts: 10
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    I do have a protein shake (the Lean Body from GNC) so I do refuel. But usually for exercise...I run 30 min uphill on the treadmill at 5.5 mPh. That's like 400 calories. T hen depending whether its leg or arm day (I alternate)...I'll do more cardio. i'll do the rower for arm day. 30 minutes is like 200-300. And for leg day, I do the stairmaster at level 5 for 45 minutes which is like 500-600. Then I'll lift weighs after (of course depending on the day which body parts get worked). Strength training usually burns 200 calories for every 30 minutes for my height and weight. That's according to an article I read in Shape mag. It doesn't really feel like alot...but granted right now I'm in the position to where have the time to be in the gym nonstop...so I'm trying to take advantage.
  • omid990
    omid990 Posts: 785 Member
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    banks explained this very well

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Basically MFP already puts you in a caloric deficit with your calories for the day so any exercise that you do is technically supposed to be munched back because you don't want to have too much of a deficit.

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