I AM PROOF, It works like a charm!!

Guys, don't feel guilty about eating your exercise calories - remember that MFP has calculated a calorie deficit into your basic goal amount. When you excercise you need to eat so your net calories come back up to your goal amount.
Otherwise your body will be running on very little fuel - not good over a long period of time.

Great post and 100% accurate...Right now I'm trying to convince my sister who SHOULD BE on 1770 cals a day to lose 2lbs per week she burns about 1000 odd cals at the gym at least 3-4 times a week. But she only eats lunch and maybe occasional dinner and has put on 9lbs in two months and can't figure out why and all she says is 'but I'm not hungry so why should I eat'...She just can't get with the idea of eating more to lose.

I have copied and pasted your post and emailed it to her, hope she now realises what I have been telling her from day one....eat eat eat lol.

Thanks

Tracy D xoxo

I am going to try this, eating back my exercise calories. I think this might be my problem with those last pounds that I need to lose to go to goal. I'm of course scared to try it since I don't want to gain back, but this past week i was perfect and gained 2 pounds! And I'm so close to goal that it has gotten so hard!

So I think I've been under-eating with saving those "burnt" calories up. I'm also of the pat myself on the back club for those exercise calories. I had been doing about 1450 calories, then I dropped it to around 1200. I also added more exercise to what I was already doing to try and boost my losing. It worked for a few weeks with good weight loss then only like .2 then boom...2 pound gain. From what I'm reading here, it sounds like my body had slowed down and was holding on to everything.

I started it yesterday evening after reading about it on here and it was weird eating those back, I had so much food lol! It just seems so wrong to burn those calories and eat them back...I guess that why so many resist it. I know that I still am fighting the idea of it!

Crossing my fingers...let's see how this goes.

bump

OP, thank you. I also had to learn this the hard way. You said it in such a kind and gentle way, that I know you have helped countless people.

You are excellent.

I'm glad that you actually did it like you were suppose to and have seen the proven results unlike many others for lack of better words. It just works. Congratulations and good luck on the rest of your journey

Bump

Honestly, you would probably be far better off eating even more.

You really need to research your BMR - and NOT eat below it.

my head hurts

MFP started me out at around 1400 calories/day, and I was struggling to eat those! I was always hungry and although I had lost a few pounds originally (probably just my body being shocked that I was eating so little!), it plateaued off for 3 weeks. I was hungry and frustrated, so I upped my daily calories to 1600 and have been eating back my exercise calories... I broke the plateau, lost another 8 pounds in the following few weeks, and have felt full and energized all day!

My only issue with eating more calories is that I've struggled with eating 'good calories' instead of just using those extra 200 calories for some thin mints :bigsmile: It's getting better though!

Congrats on figuring this out sooner rather than later, it'll go a long way with helping you to lose fat, build muscle, and keep your body fueled!

Today is my first day. This post is helpful. Thanks for the insight. :flowerforyou:

Thank you for sharing this with people who are too scared to try eating more! It works great for those last few pounds too.

Thank you for your post. I increased my calories from 1200 to 1400 a few days ago, and I already lost 1.3 pounds! Now I don't feel guilty eating more than 1200 calories!

This all makes sense and sounds right but...I just can't convince myself to do this!! I mean, if I burn 1000 cals (I don't..but if I did) am I really supposed to eat 1000 more cals so I can net 1200?? How does one do this??

I too workout in the evenings before bed due to my work schedule and mommy duties. Do I still need to eat back my calories after working out or should plan the extra calories into my day meals?

Thanks in advance

You guys should probably change your daily goal to account for the extra end of the day activity so you get those calories in. Like the 1200 is for sedentary people. Depending on your workout goals you should change it to lightly or moderetly active and eat those calories, and not eat back the next day.

Like sedentary is 1200 calories. Let's say you work out 2-3 times a week which is light activity. That would up to somewhere around 1500 (i think). So change your net calorie goal to that, and don't log your calories burned during workout out, and don't eat them back, so that way you are getting enough during the day.