To lose weight - should I eat my exercise calories?

No1Lindsey
No1Lindsey Posts: 3
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi

Firstly apologies as I'm sure this question has probably been asked (and probably many times) before!! I've used MFP on and off for a while, but never the message boards so I'm a newbie in that respect. Also, I haven't tracked my exercise through MFP before and have just started doing this, this week!

My question is whether, to give myself the best chance to lose weight, I should be eating my exercise calories in addition to my goal calories.? MFP sets me a goal of 1200 calories a day, which generally speaking I can get very close too (sometimes a smidge over or under, but most of the time I do eat pretty much the 1200!)

If I add say 300 calories of exercise in a day - am I supposed to then eat an additional 300 calories that day? ie: am I more likely to lose weight as a result of eating 1500 calories (the 1200 plus 300 exercise calories); or more likely to lose through eating just the 1200?

Logic tells me to just eat the 1200, and the 300 exercise calories are a bonus towards the 3500 required to lose a pound, but is that logic actually correct? I would appreciate some help with this if anyone can assist? Thank You!

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    yes, your original goal caloric intake assumes no exercise, so once you exercise your body requires more fuel to cover the exercise, otherwise exercise is taking caloires away from regular bodily functions.
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/ :flowerforyou:
  • SheehyCFC
    SheehyCFC Posts: 529 Member
    ^What he said. Yes
  • Pizzagirl50
    Pizzagirl50 Posts: 112 Member
    You should eat them back. MFP sets up for a calorie deficit before exercise so if you don't eat them your deficit may be too large after exercise. I usually eat 1/3 to 1/2 back depending how hungry I am that day. Good luck!
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    Think about it this way If you're only eating 1200 calories in a day, and you burn 300 off in exercise, then you've only fed your body 900 calories to live on -- this is not enough for a woman just for normal body function, let alone adding in exercise. You should eat back some if not all of your exercise calories. the 1200 calories MFP has set for you is ALREADY created a deficit for you. Too much deficit will not help you lose weight.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Depends on your settings.
    Generally yes.
    If you think its too much then you are overtraining.
  • Dee_84
    Dee_84 Posts: 431 Member
    Yes! Eat your exercise calories back. 1200 calories already is pretty low and you should not go any lower. Your body needs energy to function and to built muscle, if you only get 900 calories is (1200 - 300 you burned) your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto anything you eat, instead of letting go of it.
  • LovelyLifter
    LovelyLifter Posts: 560 Member
    Yes.....and you can always use the search option and scan all the threads there are on this topic but you will find the answer is yes eat them
  • raisingbabyk
    raisingbabyk Posts: 442 Member
    Yep, eat them back :smile:
  • awmejia
    awmejia Posts: 147 Member
    That is a hot bed question here. I say talk to your doctor/dietician and see what they say.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    Yes, but get the calorie counts from an HRM, not mfp or an online database.

    If you don't have an HRM then I'd recommend only eating back 1/2 to 2/3 of them, just incase the exercise burn was overestimated.
  • busrider71
    busrider71 Posts: 25
    I was eating back part of my exercise calories and not getting anywhere. Now I eat just the 1200 and if I go over a little not a big deal.

    MFP calculates the calories burned at almost 2x's the correct amount...at least for me. I started using a HRM and was really only burning half of what MFP said. You also need to remember that part of those calories you burn during exercise are calories you would have burned anyway.

    For example if you work out for 60 minutes and burn 450 calories, your body would have burned 150 of those anyway just sitting around...so in all reality you only burned 300 calories from exercising.

    So I would never eat back ALL of your exercise calories.
  • AActon28
    AActon28 Posts: 32
    Definitely eat them back. I didn't know of that until using MFP for about 35 days. I was doing insanity and was burning about 750 calories per workout and NOT eating them back. I was putting in a lot of effort and seeing hardly any results (1-2 lbs/week if lucky). I was also always tired. I then found out through message boards that I should eat those calories back so I started to and my first week of doing that I lost 7 lbs. Not bad. Since I started this I am actually losing about 3 lbs/week. And I have TONS more energy. On days that I work out I can eat two chipotle burritos and still lose weight. Life is good.
  • Il_DaniD_lI
    Il_DaniD_lI Posts: 1,593 Member
    Yes, eat them back! I always eat a little less than what I burn back to avoid eating more than I've actually burned as MFP can only give an estimate not an accurate number on calories burned.
  • awkwardknot
    awkwardknot Posts: 1
    i've wondered the same thing... i usually only eat my designated amount of calories per day and disregard the extra calories since they're the result of working out, but to be honest, i don't know whether or not that's the correct way to track things/eat.
  • coolbluecris
    coolbluecris Posts: 228 Member
    Love !!
  • No1Lindsey
    No1Lindsey Posts: 3
    Wed 05/02/12 02:56 PMi've wondered the same thing... i usually only eat my designated amount of calories per day and disregard the extra calories since they're the result of working out, but to be honest, i don't know whether or not that's the correct way to track things/eat.

    Awkwardknot - Given the consistent advice of everyone who has kindly posted a reply ... my conclusion is that we need to aim to eat most of not all of the exercise calories as well as the allocated daily calories!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    That is a hot bed question here. I say talk to your doctor/dietician and see what they say.

    They will most likely say no, as they don't know how MFP works and already has a deficit build in.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • deevatude
    deevatude Posts: 322 Member
    just eat all ur calories that u need for the day

    my calorie goal is 1640, i work out and it increases to around 2000 calories. i eat everything and lose a pound a week
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    this is on your goal page - the goal set by MFP is NET so in order to hit this you need to eat back exercise:

    Net Calories Consumed*
    Your Daily Goal 1,850 calories/ day
    Daily Calorie Deficit 530 calories
    Projected Weight Loss 1.1 lbs/ week

    * Net Calories Consumed = Total Calories Consumed - Exercise Calories Burned
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