my exercise calories

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racermom
racermom Posts: 36
in Food and Nutrition
Hmmmmm? I have a hard time increasing my caloric intake by the amount that I have earned from exercise. Wouldn't it make more sense to try and stabilize my caloric intake to a certain amount rather than fluctuating on days that I get up and move??? I am proud of the calories that I burn with hard work and sweat, why would I want to eat more to make up for them? Anyone else perplexed by this?

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  • Kpablo
    Kpablo Posts: 355 Member
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    Hmmmmm? I have a hard time increasing my caloric intake by the amount that I have earned from exercise. Wouldn't it make more sense to try and stabilize my caloric intake to a certain amount rather than fluctuating on days that I get up and move??? I am proud of the calories that I burn with hard work and sweat, why would I want to eat more to make up for them? Anyone else perplexed by this?

    My trainer explained it to me like this:

    Let's say you eat a 1200 calorie diet, and you burn 845 calories in a work out, your body thinks it only got 355 calories that day.
  • racermom
    racermom Posts: 36
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    and so if I add that 845 calories back into my daily intake, will I still loose weight? I feel good even though I am not adding them back in, and the results are awesome. Will I crash?
  • Kpablo
    Kpablo Posts: 355 Member
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    and so if I add that 845 calories back into my daily intake, will I still loose weight? I feel good even though I am not adding them back in, and the results are awesome. Will I crash?

    I'm not an expert by no means, I am a complete newbie so I can only tell you what I've been told and what I personally do. I don't eat some of my exercise calories but not all of them.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    Your body needs food (ie calories) to function and to do all that is required of it in a given day. There's a lot going on under the surface that we don't even think about. Our bodies are busy bodies. Yes, you will lose weight if you eat your exercise calories, because you're already feeding your body at a calorie deficit- you eat what you burn off to maintain that deficit- that's where the continuity comes in. When you think about it, there is less fluctuation when you DO eat your exercise calories then when you don't.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo?hl=confused+or+questioning&page=1#posts-76797

    Here's a classic post on the topic. Best to eat some, or even all of them.
  • racermom
    racermom Posts: 36
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    I get that! Thank you SO MUCH EVERYONE! :tongue:
  • sleepl8s
    sleepl8s Posts: 37
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    I know what you are saying about feeling awesome and your body telling you that you don't really need to eat those exercise calories cuz that happened to me for about a month. However, at the end of that month, my brain was foggy and I began to feel weak......malnurished. I took vitamins but that wasn't enough, I began to have major cravings on things I assume my body was missing. I began to eat my exercise calories and found that I actually lost weight faster that way.

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