Why Eating Exercise Calories is so important.
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bump0
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Bump....thanks for the breaking it down for us...love the information!0
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Wow...this is interesting...so now I have a Question.
I tend to exercise late. Don't really want to eat late. Is it also important to eat those calories back that day? What about early the next day, maybe 10 to 12 hours after the exercise??? Any thoughts?
If you are reasonably sure you will exercise, I'd just plan it in your diet for the day.
Good idea. That could make me go if I get the, I really don't feel like it feeling too! This could explain why I have stalled out a little in the last 2 weeks :grumble: . Really started to exercise but have not been eating those calories. I will now. Thanks!
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It is important to understand that exercise calorie estimates are often too high and also that the idea that people can easily put themselves in "starvation mode" has been challenged. Food calorie information, even that provided by the companies, is often too low. Companies are permitted to underestimate the amount of calories by as much as 20%.
People should monitor their food consumption and their exercise and see what's working. If you automatically eat the amount of calories a program says you've "earned" you may be undermining your weight loss efforts.
Agree! I would say if you are hungry, eat back only a portion of your exercise calories (and be sure it is a combo of carb/protein) and be sure you are hydrated. If that doesn't work, then you still have a little room to work with. But let your hunger be your guide to determine the extent you need to eat back any of the calories.0 -
If you are strength training it is recomended that you get some sort of protein before and after your workout to fuel your body, also you will notice that your mfp carb, fat and protein go up when you enter your workout. Pay attention to your body it will tell you what you need.0
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lots of "myths" floating around in this thread...
if you want to know what's what go to alan aragorns page and he'll set you straight...
at the end of the day calories out > calories in you will lose weight...
having said that, everyone on a weight loss plan should also be involved in a weight resistance traning program which totally bunks the whole "OMG i'm burning all my muscle and no fat" myth... and you should be making sure you are getting ample protien in your diet from multiple sources...0 -
I don't quite understand this... I always thought you needed to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. If you were to eat up all the calories you burned from exercise combined with your bmr... wouldn't you be maintaining?
yes... but i think they are saying that MFP automatically calculates the number that you should be taking in to meet whatever weight loss goal you have set in MFP...
so if you exercise and record those calories (most times over estimated by ALOT), you could "ideally" consume those calories and still meet those weight loss goals you wanted...
what people tend to forget is that everyone is different and while the scale may not say you lost any weight this week, it could "simply" be (not really all that simple) a matter of water... you could have burned a pound of fat that week, but the fat was replaced by water and maybe next week, that water is released by the fat cells and you magically lost 4 pounds the next week, when your deficiet wasn't that low to warrant that big a loss...0 -
Thank you!:happy:0
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If you are losing inches but not pounds then you are losing fat cells. You are reshaping your body. Adding more muscle to a certain area and such. Keep it up. How clothes fit is more important than the number on a scale.
i'd just like to point out that you never "lose fat cells" they simply shrink when fat is not being stored in them... and you are NOT adding muscle on a caloric deficiet either...
although i do agree with you that how your clothes are fitting and how you look in the mirror are great indicators of progress...0 -
bump!!0
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Wow, my eyes are opened! Thank you for explaining!0
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Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this topic in terms anyone can understand. 0
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The best explanation I've heard yet...Thanks
^^^^ Exactly this! ^^^^ 0 -
Thank you 0
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This is really helpful, I never understood if you were supposed to eat back your exercise calories or not. Thank you!0
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Awesome, thanks!0
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Awesome explanation! bumping!0
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lots of "myths" floating around in this thread...
if you want to know what's what go to alan aragorns page and he'll set you straight...
at the end of the day calories out > calories in you will lose weight...
having said that, everyone on a weight loss plan should also be involved in a weight resistance traning program which totally bunks the whole "OMG i'm burning all my muscle and no fat" myth... and you should be making sure you are getting ample protien in your diet from multiple sources...
I am not sure what 'myths' you are referring to. I have not seen anyone say you will burn all muscle and no fat.0 -
I haven't waded through all 15 pages of responses yet, so I apologize if this has already been asked.
I usually exercise at night, typically before dinner. If I know that I am going to go for a run that will burn 800 calories that evening, should I try and "pre-eat" the extra calories earlier in the day? I obviously don't want to try and cram in a 1200 calorie dinner right before bed. Or should I just try and make them up the next day? Does it make a difference if you eat the extra calories before or after the exercise?0 -
lots of "myths" floating around in this thread...
if you want to know what's what go to alan aragorns page and he'll set you straight...
at the end of the day calories out > calories in you will lose weight...
having said that, everyone on a weight loss plan should also be involved in a weight resistance traning program which totally bunks the whole "OMG i'm burning all my muscle and no fat" myth... and you should be making sure you are getting ample protien in your diet from multiple sources...
dude, I like your thinking and I personally think that "eating back your exercise calories" is wrong, but I still do not understand if it is true or not that your body burns/eats muscles FIRST and then the fat , as the other people are saying?
So according to this logic, all those biggest loser people are coming back home without any muscles on them, still loaded to the rim with all those glorious fats ?
They are on recommended 1000 to 1750 cal diets in there
Further to that, their hearts must surely be damaged beyond control?
And one more thing, regarding healthy , fit people versus obese , fat people,
there must be different rules for different bodies?
Im obese (used to be
) , and I have around 50 more lb to lose,
surely, my metabolism and daily activities will not bypass all the lovely fat that I have and go directly for my calf muscles, or my heart or my biceps to feed itself?
I know Im being a bit cheeky here, but can anyone explain this?0 -
What an excellent way to explain! Thank you so much for such a clear example. :~) I admit, I lost about 20 lbs through low-fat and about 1300-1400 calories daily, plus working out nearly an hour (25 min circuit-style strength training, 25 min cardio, plus daily walks) 4-5 days a week. But I hit a plateau, and have been there for about 6 months. Then friends suggested I try MFP, because they are doing it.
Here's my confusion with doing the 'upping' of my calories:
I went to the Fat2Fit site to work out my BMR, and depending which formula I used for calculating body fat percentage, my BMR is anywhere between 1340 and 1480, roughly. But MFP decided my goal calories daily should be 1200, and that was to drop less than a pound a week. I had not been eating back much of my workout calories (400-600 calories 4-5 days a week), but after reading the original post, I started to do so (mostly) this evening.
With the significant enough difference between what MFP and the calculations say, which should I attempt as my net goal? Should I eat at a maintenance level for the amount of exercise I do now, or try to meet just above my BMR? Or should I follow MFP and continue to try to always net that bare minimum of 1200?0 -
Bump - great discussion0
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BUMP ....Want to read this, thanks for posting0
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lots of "myths" floating around in this thread...
if you want to know what's what go to alan aragorns page and he'll set you straight...
at the end of the day calories out > calories in you will lose weight...
having said that, everyone on a weight loss plan should also be involved in a weight resistance traning program which totally bunks the whole "OMG i'm burning all my muscle and no fat" myth... and you should be making sure you are getting ample protien in your diet from multiple sources...
dude, I like your thinking and I personally think that "eating back your exercise calories" is wrong, but I still do not understand if it is true or not that your body burns/eats muscles FIRST and then the fat , as the other people are saying?
So according to this logic, all those biggest loser people are coming back home without any muscles on them, still loaded to the rim with all those glorious fats ?
They are on recommended 1000 to 1750 cal diets in there
Further to that, their hearts must surely be damaged beyond control?
And one more thing, regarding healthy , fit people versus obese , fat people,
there must be different rules for different bodies?
Im obese (used to be ) , and I have around 50 more lb to lose,
surely, my metabolism and daily activities will not bypass all the lovely fat that I have and go directly for my calf muscles, or my heart or my biceps to feed itself?
I know Im being a bit cheeky here, but can anyone explain this?
If you already have a deficit biut into your target how can eating back your calories be wrong? You are just making sure that you do not create too large a deficit. I have not re-read the thread, but cannot recall someone making a sweeping statement that muscle is burnt before fat. The issue is, creating a very large deficit regularly, makes it more likely for the weight loss to be higher % of muscle than it would be if you have a smaller deficit. Morbidly obese people do not have the issue that other folks do as there is enough fat stores not to have to dip into the muscle at all - actually, its the ideal time to try to build muscle.
I think this was already explained.0
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