You HAVE to eat your exercise calories....

Options
245678

Replies

  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
    Options
    Not once have I exceeded my daily calories and never have I eaten 1 calorie back from exercise and I regularly drop between 1 to 2lbs a week so how can anyone say that you should eat back what you've worked off?

    Create a deficit with exercise to compliment the adjustment to your diet and then eat back what you've just worked off, why?

    May as well just avoid the exercise and up your daily calorie intake to what you would have lost with exercise. Nope, didn't think that would work either.

    3,500 kcals excess creates a pound of fat, to lose 2lbs a week requires you to burn off 7,000 kcals which is not easy but a safe and managable regimen. Sensible diet and regular exercise will ensure this, some weeks you won't drop weight but gain muscle tone. This doesn't mean failure as you are transforming your body and more muscle burns more calories so you will lose more. It will get to the point when you won't put on as much muscle unless you lift ridiculous amounts of weight but when you get to that stage, you'll burn off more excess fat.

    Along with eating junk, drinking alcohol, having treats or not being honest about what you're eating will cause most people to fail miserably and the amount of threads on here pay testament to this.

    Bad eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle are the reason why a lot of people are out of shape and overweight. You start a health plan and continue snack eating, consuming chocolate, cakes and alcohol and ask why the diet isn't working.

    First off, MFP already gives you a deficit per day that amounts to 3,500 and 7,000 calories a week.. anything that you do on top of that makes the deficit bigger. Make it too big, and you will have trouble losing. You also can lose with just diet alone on MFP because that is the way it is designed.. a lot of people do it that way at first if they are very obese.

    Second, you can't gain muscle tone in a deficit.. it's impossible unless you are just starting out or obese. If you aren't seeing the scale move, then it's most likely water retention from the muscles repairing themselves.. not actual muscle gain.

    Three, a lot of people eat junk, chocolate, alcohol etc and have lost weight just fine. I am one of them. I refuse to give up chocolate and fast food.. because thats how my life is structured. I can't always sit down and cook a meal, so I do what I can, stay in my calories,exercise and lost 30 pounds/6 sizes.

    So while what you are doing may work for you, and you may think you know it all, you don't

    Everyone is different and does different things... so just be mindful of that.

    Of course, that is why countless threads of people moaning saying they haven't lost weight or the diet isn't working or I've reached a plateau and what should I do litter the forums.

    There will be an exception as you stated but generally, you won't get results from doing nothing to help yourself which so many on here complain about.
  • sallycan
    sallycan Posts: 9
    Options
    You are SO right! Again it is the media leading us down the a path of deceit! :-)
  • AmadaLynn
    AmadaLynn Posts: 116
    Options
    Along with eating junk, drinking alcohol, having treats or not being honest about what you're eating will cause most people to fail miserably and the amount of threads on here pay testament to this.

    Bad eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle are the reason why a lot of people are out of shape and overweight. You start a health plan and continue snack eating, consuming chocolate, cakes and alcohol and ask why the diet isn't working.

    Really? I drink alcohol and I eat chocolate, yet I still have lost weight just fine and am maintaining just fine. I am not going to deprive myself of the things I like so I can "diet" according to what someone else thinks I should or should not indulge in.

    Agree - I have ice cream almost daily. And I have lost 1 pound per week.

    I am usually right at, over, or a little under my calories.

    I exercise just so I can eat a little more.

    1310 calorie goal is hard to keep.
  • umachanxo
    umachanxo Posts: 926 Member
    Options
    I think that everyone finds what works for them. Saying one way is the ABSOLUTE RIGHT WAY ALWAYS and everyone else is wrong is just pointless. There will always be people who disagree and say it doesn't work for them. But if it works for you, then great.

    I wish the best of luck in your weight loss journey. But, it's best not to just stir up an argument like this.
  • douglasmobbs
    douglasmobbs Posts: 563 Member
    Options
    For an obese person who will have to be losing weight for a considerable length of time there is very little if any link between eating habits at the start or middle of the weight loss and eating habits whilst on maintenance. I am using an obese person in their weight loss to make the point clearer.

    The difference in BMR between a 400lb person and a 270lb person is approximately 1,500 plus the amount they burn doing the same amount of exercise is dramatically different.

    If you are sticking to a 1,000 calorie deficit during a weight loss programme your diet will change over time regardless of eating back calories or not due to the change in BMR. Therefore I strongly doubt that eating back your calories or not will change the chance that you maintain weight loss.

    As with many things on diets the nutritional intake (excluding calorific value) of the food you eat is more important that the calories. There will be a natural minimum amount of calories you have to eat to hit the nutritional values. If eating back your calories lets you stick on a diet then that is best for you. If seeing the reward in faster moving scales is best then not eating back the calories is best for you.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    Options
    PS. same thing with "muscle tone" which I think you mean "muscle gain". It is incredibly difficult to gain muscle. If you lift weights hard and regularly, you can count on 1lb a month or so, so again, unless you are a serious resistance trainer, quit worrying about that/using it as an excuse.,
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    Options
    Do they keep it off? uh, nope.
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    Options
    If it is on TV it has to be true.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    Options
    Along with eating junk, drinking alcohol, having treats or not being honest about what you're eating will cause most people to fail miserably and the amount of threads on here pay testament to this.

    Bad eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle are the reason why a lot of people are out of shape and overweight. You start a health plan and continue snack eating, consuming chocolate, cakes and alcohol and ask why the diet isn't working.

    Really? I drink alcohol and I eat chocolate, yet I still have lost weight just fine and am maintaining just fine. I am not going to deprive myself of the things I like so I can "diet" according to what someone else thinks I should or should not indulge in.

    agree 100%
  • alana1966
    alana1966 Posts: 34
    Options
    I seriously do NOT believe that losing weight quickly is unhealthy - fast, slow, whatever - as long as it comes off. I work in the medical field and have never once heard a doctor tell someone to lose their weight "nice and slow" - they do surgeries to make it come off FAST all the time.

    It's all a matter of what the person does with their HABITS after the weight is off.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
    Options
    u,,,,nope. biggest loser? Do you think they eat back their exercise calories???? Nope. they lose tremendous amounts of weight as we all know.

    And they also have the worlds best personal trainers, a staff preparing special meals for them and cameras watching their every move in case they try and cheat. You got any of that?

    Most importantly they never keep it off any damn way. Stop comparing your situation to a tv show.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    Options
    I've been doing MFP since January and I started out losing weight regularly, then, after reading all the 'hype' about eating exercise calories, I decided to try it. I stopped losing weight for 2 months! I got fed up and started eating only 100-300 (sometimes 0 but not always) of my earned exercise calories and now I'm losing weight like I did before. I just eat them if I'm hungry, but it's healthy food to nourish me, not junk. I refuse to STUFF myself, when I'm not even hungry just because I have exercise calories! I have tons of energy, I walk anywhere from 4-10 miles a day and I've started running too. I garden, camp, hike, fish and do anything I've ever wanted to. If I get to where I think I need to eat more exercise calories because I hit a plateau, I'll experiment with eating more. Or not... What works for me may not work for everyone so find your own lifestyle happy spot.

    Point is, try different things and find out what works for YOUR body. Don't let people get you down if what is supposedly 'right' doesn't work for you and you have to try something else. Your body will tell you if you aren't eating enough but the scale will tell you if you're eating too much, including those exercise calories.
  • Yasmine91
    Yasmine91 Posts: 599 Member
    Options
    If eating back your calories works for you then do it, if you gain when you do then don't. It doesn't work for everyone.
  • frog8381
    frog8381 Posts: 24 Member
    Options
    It makes me sad that the Biggest Loser was used as an example of a good way to lose weight.
  • NiSan12
    NiSan12 Posts: 374 Member
    Options
    That is so true, they don't emphasize being healthy. They just focus on results. sad...
  • Kari089
    Kari089 Posts: 126 Member
    Options
    When I was eating my 'normal' daily intake plus the workout calories (with a start of 1200 which I thought was absolutely ridiculous and left me moody, hungry and pissed off at the world) I barely lost anything and all I wanted to do was stuff my face with chocolate..so instead I upped my daily intake based on my BMR to 1700 or so and stopped eating my workout cals.

    I sometimes go over sure..sometimes I consume them if I feel particularly hungry that day. Though I have noticed I don't find myself feeling hungry, stressed or rummaging the fridge anymore. Those extra cals per day are keeping me sane..if I work out I see it as a bonus. After doing this I am finally seeing a movement on the scale and body size. Not to mention I am not thinking about food 24/7. Point of this is..you just never know what works and what doesn't based on other people's opinions or what they themselves did..you have to experiment and find what works for your own body. Who knows..maybe in a few months I will need to reevaluate this all over again. For now..this is working for me.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    Options
    Along with eating junk, drinking alcohol, having treats or not being honest about what you're eating will cause most people to fail miserably and the amount of threads on here pay testament to this.

    Bad eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle are the reason why a lot of people are out of shape and overweight. You start a health plan and continue snack eating, consuming chocolate, cakes and alcohol and ask why the diet isn't working.

    Really? I drink alcohol and I eat chocolate, yet I still have lost weight just fine and am maintaining just fine. I am not going to deprive myself of the things I like so I can "diet" according to what someone else thinks I should or should not indulge in.

    You can lose weight eating ANYTHING as long as your calories in are less than your calories out. Is it healthy do eat much of your calories in McDonalds fries and chocolate and beer? no..but you can certainly still lose weight.

    But...most people who indulge frequently in those things are not mindful to have the small fries, or count the calories and STOP EATING once their count goes over their max.

    If you can do that..then that's really really great!

    How do you know people don't have the small fry or count calories and stop eating?

    Are you suddenly some sort of mind reader?

    Stop assuming.. all you are doing is making an *kitten* out of yourself.
  • Montanarush
    Montanarush Posts: 76
    Options
    The same thing doesn't work for every body, anyway.... I don't eat mine. I'm losing about 3 lbs a week, or about 40 lbs in 11 weeks. I eat 1500-2000 calories a day, and I burn at the gym about 1500-2000 calories a day. Whatever works...
  • JBankey
    JBankey Posts: 19 Member
    Options
    I view it all in the long haul. I have been at this for a little over 5 months. I expect to get to my goal weight by the end of the year. I know that my weight loss will slow as I get closer. The heavier you are, the less eating back calories matters. I use the exercise calories as my way to keep my motivation up if I am having a calorie loose day and I can still come in at budget and a motivator if I am able to hit my actual calorie budget without exercise. It is tough to do when I travel as much as I do for my job.

Categories