Exercise vs. Calories

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copasln
copasln Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm new to this. If my goal intake of calories is 1830 per day and I workout, losing 850 calories, can or should I eat more than 1830 calories and still lose weight? My goal calories # changes when I complete my workout but I do not want to eat too many or too few throwing my body into starvation mode. Even staying under 1830 and working out I don't feel like I'm starving.

Replies

  • zonderkep
    zonderkep Posts: 9 Member
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    Hey... first off... welcome.

    So you have touched on a subject that seems to be up for debate by every one in the forums here... my personal take is to eat back your calories.

    When you set up your profile you told it how much you wanted to lose, or gain, per week and it calculated you're need based on that. MFP has already accounted for the calorie deficit. So when you work out you burn extra calories, but you have also caused damage to your tissues and they need enough energy on hand to rebuild ( that is how we get stronger) so if you don't eat back the extra calories your body will be at to large a deficit to rebuild. You could do that for a while but it will catch up with you.

    It is up to you, but lots of people have had HUGE/safe success eating back their calories.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
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    Pretty much what he said ^^....

    I say yes, eat your exercise calories. When you set up your caloric goals to lose weight, it already sets you up on a deficit. So if you eat back every single calorie that you burned off from exercise, you will still have that deficit.

    It worked for me. I have lost 20 pounds since the beginning of the year....
  • peterjohn1
    peterjohn1 Posts: 7 Member
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    Well You must have goals to burn calories . How much calories you burn after exercise ? . The calories you burn are the calories you require to take .. Moreover, You also have to take foods according to the calories you burn . I also need your ideas for this purpose too .
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    It's all about the net calories. Calories Eaten - Calories Burned = Net Calories. Your net is 1830, so in order to hit that, you have to eat back your exercise calories. And yep, you'll still lose weight! Trust me, eat those calories. It helps preserve your lean body mass (muscle and bone) while you undergo fat loss. Without eating back those calories, you're more likely to see a decrease in muscle mass and not just fat.

    Oh, and congratulations on opening a can of worms; prepare yourself for this thread to be hijacked by a ton of people warring over the never-ending MFP forum debate: To eat the exercise calories or not to eat them. Brace yourself! :drinker:
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Hey... first off... welcome.

    So you have touched on a subject that seems to be up for debate by every one in the forums here... my personal take is to eat back your calories.

    When you set up your profile you told it how much you wanted to lose, or gain, per week and it calculated you're need based on that. MFP has already accounted for the calorie deficit. So when you work out you burn extra calories, but you have also caused damage to your tissues and they need enough energy on hand to rebuild ( that is how we get stronger) so if you don't eat back the extra calories your body will be at to large a deficit to rebuild. You could do that for a while but it will catch up with you.

    It is up to you, but lots of people have had HUGE/safe success eating back their calories.

    This!!!! Your deficit is already built in so your exercise calories are exactly that calories that should be eaten to sustain (fuel) your workouts. I am a firm believer in eating them back and have lost alittle weight in the process. I would recommend getting a good heart rate monitor ( I have a Polar FT60) to better track your calories burned. I then only consume 85-90% of them leaving 10-15% for error in logging or estimated calories burned.... Best of Luck to you.......
  • cimonroe
    cimonroe Posts: 36
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    Eat the calories back.. Not necessarily all...but the amount you should eat back is directly proportional to the intensity and volume of excercise you do. People with more body fat can support larger deficits and lose more fat in a shorter amount of time..but they have more fat to begin with. As you get to less body fat, your body won't process as much fat because the store isn't so abundant. I've struggled with this topic a bit..but credible sources agree that starvation and large deficits isn't the key to success. As an athlete who has been heavy at times from "letting go" and then coming back to lean...I've eaten enough excercised hard and been very successful...and patient. Hope this helps!
    Cheers and good luck!
  • peterjohn1
    peterjohn1 Posts: 7 Member
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    Well You must have goals to burn calories . How much calories you burn after exercise ? . The calories you burn are the calories you require to take .. Moreover, You also have to take foods according to the calories you burn . I also need your ideas for this purpose too .
  • jammasterduggs
    jammasterduggs Posts: 54
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    in essence that 1,200.00 meal out later with three courses may just be something you can enjoy without guilt - so long as your prepared to smash 1,200 work of calorie burning or use some of your calories left for the day :)


    Good luck

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