Eating calories burned? Yes or No??

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I have been loving the myfitnesspal app on my iPhone. It has helped tremendously!! I also have been hitting the gym every day with friends. The support has made all of the difference in the world and gets me there every day. We are curious about calories. If I burn 700 calories at the gym the app adds those calories back into what i can eat for the day. Do I really want to eat them???? We have disagreeing opinions and would love some feed back!!

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  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Search the forum for 1,000,000,000 threads on the subject.
    Hugs!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I lost 150lbs eating them...............every damn one!!!
  • OnMyWeigh464
    OnMyWeigh464 Posts: 447 Member
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    The only time I eat my calories back is if I'm starving. So I've actually started tracking my exercise at the end of the day...so I don't eat them. But that's just the way *I* do it. Everyone will have a different opinion. You do what works for you and YOUR body.
  • rackoffe
    rackoffe Posts: 2
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    You are supposed to eat those calories. I usually don't eat those, even though I am not really trying to, I want to stay as close to my sugar goal as possible, so I often find it hard to find food that won't allow me to go over my sugar goal while getting closer to my calorie goal. But to answer your question, yes, you are supposed to eat those extra calories. It isn't healthy for your Net Calorie worth to be under 1,200 calories a day or else your metabolism will slow down. Hope it helped!
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    I generally eat them back, because I can't workout for an hour and only eat 1300 calories most of the time. My body gets hungry and asks for food. The best advice is to listen to your body. There's nothing wrong with eating them back though, MFP has already given you a deficit, so you're not going to be cutting into that deficit by eating them back.
  • Heidi64
    Heidi64 Posts: 211 Member
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    I eat almost all to all of my cals back. I also have cheat days on my days off from work where I go over 500-1000 calories for the day. But, that's what's worked for me, doesn't for everyone.
  • Aquaduckie
    Aquaduckie Posts: 115
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    I exercise so I can eat more calories. I am at 1200 calories a day without any exercise and it's a tough goal to stick to. So I like to work out and be able to eat an extra 400-500 calories a day. Do I always eat all of them? No. I don't usually. But it's nice to have a cushion. And if you're working out regularly, you do need to fuel your body with more energy for daily activities. I would say eat them if you're hungry and if you're not, don't force yourself to try and eat them all. You will still lose weight if you eat them.
  • CooKiez79
    CooKiez79 Posts: 1
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    My dietician says not to eat them. Your body gets use to eatting them all the time, and on the days you don't exercise, it will still expect to be fed. I've taken to the approach, that if I need to have something, then I'll eat it. No point in starving yourself.
  • DrGeriK
    DrGeriK Posts: 61 Member
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    Mos of the time I do not eat the extra calories that exercising adds to the daily count. Like most of you have said, if I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm not, I don't. I've got Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a form of hypothyroid, which causes food from the plate to just adhere to my hips LOL, so I try to help out the weight loss by not eating those calories. I have enough extra lunches, dinners snacks etc. for energy LOL
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Yes. There are many, many threads explaning why.

    Summary: You can lose weight faster by not eating them, but be careful because overdoing it is risky. You increase your risk of cheating and/or quitting, and you might exhaust your system enough to where your workouts are not as effective and you aren't burning as many calories at rest because you're tired. Also, you aren't learning good sustainable eating habits by taking shortcuts and when you reach your goal weight, your diet will be "over", you'll go back to your old eating habits, and your old weight.

    Take it from someone who has struggled with weight for 32 years and may finally reach a healthy BMI for the first time since I was ten: EAT THE DAMNED THINGS. Or at least try to eat most of them, but experiment with leaving a few of them behind occasionally.

    Or not. You're an adult. Just watch out for the aforementioned risks. If you think you can overcome them and/or won't encounter them, good luck. Seriously, I wish you the best in your own journey.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    You are supposed to eat those calories. I usually don't eat those, even though I am not really trying to, I want to stay as close to my sugar goal as possible, so I often find it hard to find food that won't allow me to go over my sugar goal while getting closer to my calorie goal. But to answer your question, yes, you are supposed to eat those extra calories. It isn't healthy for your Net Calorie worth to be under 1,200 calories a day or else your metabolism will slow down. Hope it helped!
    bush_doing_it_wrong_1.jpg

    A small banana has 14g of sugar.
    MFP doesnt understand what a banana is compared to a half teaspoon of sugar.
    They both come up the same.
    So think 90% whole foods and 10% junk and youll pass this test with flying colors.
    PM me if you need help!
    =D
  • fabulousfebe
    fabulousfebe Posts: 204
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    I agree with Aquaduckie! :smile:
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    I lost 150lbs eating them...............every damn one!!!

    Agreed and congrats!!! and I will raise you another 156 lbs. eating every one also!!! :-)
  • Taras32
    Taras32 Posts: 25 Member
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    O.K. one more time (I'm little slow on the intake :-p )...so if my goal is 1200 and my food is 1427 my exercise is -347 making my net 1080...Does that mean I need to eat a little more so that my net equals 1200 or is 1080 o.k.??