Surely eating more calories for exercise doesn't work?

so if i consumed/ate 3500 calories in one day, but burnt 1500, should i then eat back that 1500? because that to me just makes the exercise seem pointless, as im still going the be over the daily calorie limit

Nope, if you do the maths, that doens't make sense!

Your first example: eat 1200, burn off 250 - that leaves your body 950 cals to function on for the day, which is not very much.
This 950 is your NET cals for the day.

And this time: eat 3500, burn off 1500 - you've given your body 2000 to function on for the day which is probably around the number you would need to maintain your weight. In this example, your NET cals are 2000. Eating like this you might not gain weight but you'd be unlikely to lose.

If you look at your MFP home page, it has done the sums for you each day.

so if i consumed/ate 3500 calories in one day, but burnt 1500, should i then eat back that 1500? because that to me just makes the exercise seem pointless, as im still going the be over the daily calorie limit

If you ate 3500 and burned 1500, your net is 2000 cal. If your goal is over 2000, you should eat some more. Otherwise, not.

so if i consumed/ate 3500 calories in one day, but burnt 1500, should i then eat back that 1500? because that to me just makes the exercise seem pointless, as im still going the be over the daily calorie limit

NO! Because the 3500 is over what your calorie consumption should be. You should only eat back exercise calories that get you back to your calorie goal for the day. So technically if your goal is 1200 calories a day and you ate 3500, you would have to exercise 2300 calories off to get back to square one! Thats almost an impossible amount to achieve in one day!

That being said, if I have a good exercise day (burn more than 800 calories) I try to only eat back HALF my exercise calories. It's bneen working for me as I am down 25 lbs since January 1st!

thank you for clearing that up for me!

But please can you explain what 'Skinny fat' is?

Skinny fat is when you're not overweight, but you still have significant body fat. It can happen when you lose weight without the right exercise and nutrition.

I see, so in theory i only need to do the exercise if i want to be able to eat more?

my current limit is 1200 and something, if i was to burn 250 a day and not eat an extra 250, would that be ok?

If your current limit is 1200 and you burn 250 without eating them, you are left with 950, which is far too low (unhealthy). 1200 calories (net) is the MINIMUM that most women should consume. Going lower than that, you are messing with danger.

And yes, in theory - being able to eat more is definitely one reason to exercise (it's one of my favorites!) But here are lots of other reasons, as another poster has mentioned.

-General cardiovascular health
-Building muscle
-Increasing endurance
-Improving mood
-Sleeping better

etc.

I strongly agree with BerryH and LoreleiWalks...for overall health, exercise is important. I've lost 18 lbs in 2 and half months by following the exercise, healthy eating, AND eating your exercise calories. I sleep better, have more energy, and I have clearer skin, and I have lots of fun sharing these new habits with my hubby.

I would do some searching in the forums there are loads of helpful posts that will answer all your questions and help clear things up for you. =]

Calories are measurements of energy. Your body uses energy to function. Growing hair, brain activity, heart, intestines, skin replenishment, talking, walking, sitting upright, it ALL uses energy (calories). TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the total calories needed by your body to maintain your current weight at your current lifestyle level. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less than your TDEE, so your body will utilize the stores of fat (and unfortunately sometimes, muscle, if you don't use them and you don't eat adequate nutrition).

MFP takes your stated goal (lose 1 pound or lose 2 pounds per week, for example) and deducts the required calories from your TDEE estimate. 3500 calories = 1 pound, more or less. So to lose 1 pound per week, MFP reduces your calories by 500 per day. But under no circumstances will MFP set your goal at less than 1200 as that is commonly considered to be the threshhold for nutritional deficiency (for a female).

If you go out and exercise MORE, you are burning more calories and if you don't eat them back, you may be eating too litlle, which is potentially unsustainable and unnecessarily difficult. Additionally, if you reach your goal by undereating, it is possible that once you start eating normally again, you'll put the weight back on. And no one wants that, right? So the point is to do this slowly and healthily, so we can do it for as long as we need to, without giving up or binging or harming our metabolism.

Hope this helps.

oh dear, i made the mistake of thinking that exercise uses up fat, (therefore it'll decrease). am i now right in believing it uses up energy/calories to burn the fat?

If you exercise at about the lowest level, 50% of the energy used will be fat, 50% will be carbs. Ratio of carb usage goes up from there until anaerobic (sprints, weight lifting) where 100% is carbs.

With 3500 calories in lb of fat - you got energy to spare there obviously.

With 1500-2000 stored calories of carbs, you are limited if you keep not replenishing them day by day, because your diet was so restrictive.
Once they run out, muscle must be torn down to make glucose.
Worse than that, the liver with 400-450 cals of carbs is used up first, and it is the only supply for blood sugar the brain needs. If blood sugar runs low, muscle breakdown occurs. Even if there is more glucose in the muscles.

So you exercise 1 hr. Very light, so 50% is carb supplied. 500 cal total, 250 of that carbs.

On eating ONLY 1200 cal diet with 50% carbs, do you supply 250 calories worth of carbs, sure, 600 cal. But this doesn't even take into account ALL other activity ranging form 30-50% carb usage too. Your BMR is getting 30% carb usage, so 360 cal of carb there. Just went over 600 cal worth of carb in a diet, and never each touched rest of the day.

<--- Surely eating more calories for exercise worked for this girl.





A caloric deficit helps you lose weight.
Exercise helps lower blood pressure, improve circulation, improve overall heart health, and a million other things.