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Confused??

jkelley316
jkelley316 Posts: 2
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay I just started here on Tuesday. I lost 55 pounds over four years ago but have put 15 pounds back on and in area's I never had problems with before and it seems I dont have the will power I had four years ago but I cant stand how my body looks or feels and not being able to wear my clothes is very depressing. Anyway, I have seen a few posts on here about eating your workout calories, I thought the whole point of exercising was to burn calories, not to be able to eat more and I hear this all the time you have to burn more than what you take in. I know my body and if I do that I dont think it will work and thats not how I lost the weight four years ago. So anyway im just confused to how this really helps you lose weight. Thanks

Replies

  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
    You look great, for 15 lbs, target 2 or 3 months if you want to be safe
    what are your intakes and routine ?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I thought the whole point of exercising was to burn calories, not to be able to eat more and I hear this all the time you have to burn more than what you take in.

    What you are reading is people that exercise a lot trying to avoid having an excessive calorie deficit on days they exercise - the Goal calculator on here sets a food intake calorie deficit to achieve your weight loss, if you book extra calorie spend and then "eat it back" (God I hate that expression) you still have the original deficit built in.

    You could take advantage of all or part of the exercise to increase your deficit, as you suggest.

    In fact as the accuracy of the calculations and the exercise rate is debatable you would be well advised to eat only a portion of the exercise calories in my opinion.
  • chrissyrn04
    chrissyrn04 Posts: 119 Member
    Everyones body is very different too - I dont tend to eat my workout calories back because I wouldnt lose but some would. If I lost weight at the same rate and was able to eat more I would totally do it
  • jkelley316
    jkelley316 Posts: 2
    Thanks all for the comments I appreciate it! Umm, not sure how to post my intakes and stuff.
  • Back2Basic
    Back2Basic Posts: 69 Member
    MFP automatically figures how many net calories you get a day while still reaching your goal weight. Working out is like getting a second job. Eating back is like spending the money from that second job. Some people get the job to save more money, some do it to have more spending money. But either way, working extra means some extra expenses (like gas, washing uniforms etc) My happy balance is eating back enough that I'm not hungry and "saving" the rest to burn more calories.
    To add food and exercise on your phone click "my diary" I use the bar code to enter in food as much as i can. Otherwise, they have a pretty good database. Welcome! and feel free to add me
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