Eating exercise calories

mtaylor33557
mtaylor33557 Posts: 542 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
I totally get that you need to eat your exercise calories. However, coming from weight watchers, I'm accustomed to being able to spread them out over the course of the week. Say, my workout earned me 4 points, I could eat 1 or 2 points a day until I had eaten them. MFP doesn't do this.

So my question is, Do you have to eat them that very same day?

Will my body know the difference in me eating the calories from last night's workout last night, or could I carry them over to today?

I ask, becuase I sometimes don't know if I'm going to be able to make it to the gym on a certain night, and don't eat more calories throughout the day, and nights like last night, I find it almost impossible to make myself eat my usual dinner plus all the extra calories.

But, I have a date with my husband tonight, and wouldn't mind eating a few extra peices of sushi.

Replies

  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    it doesn't matter when you eat them but just make sure that you DO eat them. so at the end of the week look back at your intake and make sure that your calories remaining = 0 when you add them all up. So you might have some days over and some under and that's 100% okay.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    You will have more success if you try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis. If you know you are going out, work that into your day. You just don't want to get into the bad habit of undereating to make up for something. Viscious cycle that messes with your weight loss.
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
    Your body is constantly adding and breaking down fat based on your reserves; as long as you're maintaining the calorie deficit on average, over time, you should be fine.

    I would add an exception, though. If you have a particularly heavy workout day and you wind up feeling hungry later that day, just eat something. Ignoring hunger is never a good idea.
  • mjlobeau
    mjlobeau Posts: 28 Member
    oooh good question. i too was wondering this since there are no real "bonus" points.
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
    oooh good question. i too was wondering this since there are no real "bonus" points.

    The exercise calories aren't "bonus points". It's just a different way of displaying the same data. At its core, MFP is like any other calorie-based weight loss plan: Figure out how many calories you're burning, and eat a little bit less than that. MFP takes the approch of figuring out your calorie burn before exercise, then adding more calories when you do work out. Other plans try to average out your burn from workouts and eat those calories steadily throughout the course of the entire week; both methods are valid, and should reach about the same weekly calorie consumption.
  • mtaylor33557
    mtaylor33557 Posts: 542 Member
    You will have more success if you try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis. If you know you are going out, work that into your day. You just don't want to get into the bad habit of undereating to make up for something. Viscious cycle that messes with your weight loss.

    That's a good point. I didn't try to leave the extra calories yesterday, I just went to work out late, and didn't feel like consuming 300 or 400 extra calories before bed. (I stll ate after the workout) I'm just so accustomed to averaging it exercise calories by week instead of day.

    I've planned out today to stay very close to my 1200, but I was thinking that if I NEED to eat the calories I left yesterday, I would slip them into today.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    You can always add up your expected exercise cals for the week, and increase you allowance by that much, then just log your exercise in notes or as zero cals. Its more of an incentive to exercise too if you have already eaten the cals.
    OR
    looks at helloitsdan's post 'in place of a roadmap' which works out cals based on BMR / TDEE. That way exercise is already accounted for in your activity level so you dont need to log it, and you just eat the same cals every day.

    i eat the same every day (2000), some days I do nothing, some days 4-500, some days 800-900. it all balances out over the week and net averages around 1550 which is at my bmr :-)
  • JNJN25
    JNJN25 Posts: 60
    What happens if I do not eat the extra calories that I have after a work out? My calories not working out is about 1400 and the other night I went to the gym and worked out for 560 calories. What happens If I don't eat that 560 calories will my body starve? I know I won't ignore my body if I'm hungry but what if I am not hungry??
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    What happens if I do not eat the extra calories that I have after a work out? My calories not working out is about 1400 and the other night I went to the gym and worked out for 560 calories. What happens If I don't eat that 560 calories will my body starve? I know I won't ignore my body if I'm hungry but what if I am not hungry??

    if you're not hungry and you're burning 560 calories then maybe you're not getting enough fat in your diet. Honestly, 1400 calories is not a lot and burning off 560 gives your body almost nothing to work with. You won't "Starve" literally but your metabolism might decline in order to adjust to the decreased food intake.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    I do this all the time, and it works fine. It can be taken to extremes and if so can be unhealthy (if you want a 3,800 calorie meal on Saturday, fasting completely on Thursday and Friday while hitting the elliptical really really hard is unwise!).

    It requires a little extra planning and maybe a bit of extra willpower, and excessive application of it might interfere with your weight loss by (for example) lowering your metabolism on "saving" days and making your workouts burn fewer calories than you thought they did.

    But the whole deal is calories over time. If you're taking about saving up a couple hundred calories for some more sushi, or the occasional day when you go over or under, it's fine. You may feel a little extra hungry on the "saving" days and you'll just have to work hard not to turn the "spend" day into an "overspend", but plenty of people do this intentionally through calorie-cycling anyway.
  • BreezyK1991
    BreezyK1991 Posts: 1
    I'm new here, and even though you all are doing a great job of trying to explain, and other people may get it, I don't quite understand the purpose of eating the calories you burn. Wouldn't that be counter-productive? Could someone break it down for me?
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    You will have more success if you try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis. If you know you are going out, work that into your day. You just don't want to get into the bad habit of undereating to make up for something. Viscious cycle that messes with your weight loss.

    That's a good point. I didn't try to leave the extra calories yesterday, I just went to work out late, and didn't feel like consuming 300 or 400 extra calories before bed. (I stll ate after the workout) I'm just so accustomed to averaging it exercise calories by week instead of day.

    I've planned out today to stay very close to my 1200, but I was thinking that if I NEED to eat the calories I left yesterday, I would slip them into today.

    I routinely save half the exercise calories I earn from running for the next day, and have done since I was about half way through my weight lost and through 15 months of successful maintenance. I find it a lot easier to eat about the same number of calories a day than to have wide swings from one day to the next, especially since I tend to be more hungry on the day after a long run than on the day I do it. The practice didn't interfere with my weight loss and hasn't generated any vicious cycles that I've noticed. I never limited myself to only 1200 calories, though, so leaving half my exercise calories on the table for the next day never pushed my deficit to dangerous levels. What I don't ever do is eat exercise calories BEFORE they've been earned.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    You will have more success if you try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis. If you know you are going out, work that into your day. You just don't want to get into the bad habit of undereating to make up for something. Viscious cycle that messes with your weight loss.

    That's a good point. I didn't try to leave the extra calories yesterday, I just went to work out late, and didn't feel like consuming 300 or 400 extra calories before bed. (I stll ate after the workout) I'm just so accustomed to averaging it exercise calories by week instead of day.

    I've planned out today to stay very close to my 1200, but I was thinking that if I NEED to eat the calories I left yesterday, I would slip them into today.

    I routinely save half the exercise calories I earn from running for the next day, and have done since I was about half way through my weight lost and through 15 months of successful maintenance. I find it a lot easier to eat about the same number of calories a day than to have wide swings from one day to the next, especially since I tend to be more hungry on the day after a long run than on the day I do it. The practice didn't interfere with my weight loss and hasn't generated any vicious cycles that I've noticed. I never limited myself to only 1200 calories, though, so leaving half my exercise calories on the table for the next day never pushed my deficit to dangerous levels. What I don't ever do is eat exercise calories BEFORE they've been earned.

    That's not the same thing as undereating purposely to be able to "afford" some extravagance. Huge calorie deficits on a regular basis aren't good. You are merely eating to make up for exercise - big difference.

    My point was that viscious cycles can be psychologically driven. There are a lot of people here with eating disorders. I'm talking some people eat 300-700 calories for a few days, and then binge-eat on the weekend. Or just binge eat every few days and then restrict to "make up for" it. Eating more the day after a vigorous workout is an entirely normal thing. What would be concerning is if you exercised for that 1000 calories, decided not to eat them, did that for a few days, and eventually get sick. "Saving" large amounts of calories absolutely makes it more difficult to lose weight consistently.

    See the difference?
  • Scarlett_S
    Scarlett_S Posts: 467 Member
    I don't. I just make sure that my average for the week is what it should be. I go more by how hungry I am or I plan for special occasions when I know I will eat more calories.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    :ohwell:
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    If you look at the graphs on the Android phone app, it has levels for the week. When I get some +2000 calorie burns I will use this to help me.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    I'm new here, and even though you all are doing a great job of trying to explain, and other people may get it, I don't quite understand the purpose of eating the calories you burn. Wouldn't that be counter-productive? Could someone break it down for me?

    Read this.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

    MFP calories are based on our BMR calorie plus daily non-exercise activity. you and I could have the same BMR and same daily job, so MFP would give us both the same 500 calorie defict if we chose 1lb a week.

    lets say I am a couch potato and sit on my butt all night watching TV, and you are a gym bunny who does 3 hrs exercise a day - do you still think we should both eat the same amount of calories as each other to lose 1lb a week?

    You would expend more calories than me, so as your calorie expenditure is higher, naturally your expenditure less 500 will be higher. MFP works by adding your exercise calories back onto your BMR numbers so that you can maintain the 500 calorie defict you chose, to lose 1lb a week.
  • evdenapoli
    evdenapoli Posts: 164 Member
    Um... I never eat my excersize calories.. I thought that was my deficit? Uh oh... have I been doing this wrong? :embarassed:
  • MissTD
    MissTD Posts: 40
    I agree... Eat them back anytime that week & you'll be good and still lose!! Good luck!
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    You will have more success if you try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis. If you know you are going out, work that into your day. You just don't want to get into the bad habit of undereating to make up for something. Viscious cycle that messes with your weight loss.

    That's a good point. I didn't try to leave the extra calories yesterday, I just went to work out late, and didn't feel like consuming 300 or 400 extra calories before bed. (I stll ate after the workout) I'm just so accustomed to averaging it exercise calories by week instead of day.

    I've planned out today to stay very close to my 1200, but I was thinking that if I NEED to eat the calories I left yesterday, I would slip them into today.

    I routinely save half the exercise calories I earn from running for the next day, and have done since I was about half way through my weight lost and through 15 months of successful maintenance. I find it a lot easier to eat about the same number of calories a day than to have wide swings from one day to the next, especially since I tend to be more hungry on the day after a long run than on the day I do it. The practice didn't interfere with my weight loss and hasn't generated any vicious cycles that I've noticed. I never limited myself to only 1200 calories, though, so leaving half my exercise calories on the table for the next day never pushed my deficit to dangerous levels. What I don't ever do is eat exercise calories BEFORE they've been earned.

    That's not the same thing as undereating purposely to be able to "afford" some extravagance. Huge calorie deficits on a regular basis aren't good. You are merely eating to make up for exercise - big difference.

    My point was that viscious cycles can be psychologically driven. There are a lot of people here with eating disorders. I'm talking some people eat 300-700 calories for a few days, and then binge-eat on the weekend. Or just binge eat every few days and then restrict to "make up for" it. Eating more the day after a vigorous workout is an entirely normal thing. What would be concerning is if you exercised for that 1000 calories, decided not to eat them, did that for a few days, and eventually get sick. "Saving" large amounts of calories absolutely makes it more difficult to lose weight consistently.

    See the difference?

    I would have seen your point if you'd advised the OP to not starve herself for days at a time so she could binge eat on the weekend, not that she ever proposed doing any such thing. But there a big difference between that advice and the quoted advice "to try to stay at your recommended calories on a daily basis." Saving exercise calories earned in the evening for the next day does not, in itself, trigger an eating disorder or make it more difficult to lose weight consistently. If you take such calorie banking behavior to extremes, then yes, but that's true of just about any diet strategy.
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