exercise calories ... question?

kmiagia
kmiagia Posts: 104
edited December 22 in Health and Weight Loss
I usually workout before I eat anything for the day and it makes me feel best, I feel much more energized and able to push myself on an empty stomach. soo my question is should I still log / eat back exercise calories even if its before I even ate anything yet in the day? it just doesn't seem to make sense, why eat back something you burned off if you never even had anything yet.
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Replies

  • kassivaladez
    kassivaladez Posts: 10
    as long as you consume your minimum calories for the day, you don't have to eat back all that you work off. the system is set up to start you off with a defecit and if you work off more then that is even better for you.
  • crazy8ts
    crazy8ts Posts: 360
    Still burning calories... still creating a deficit... that deficit still goes towards the balance of what your body burns as compared to it's intake... so I'd log it (actually, I too work out in the morning before I eat...)
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Both your exercise and your nutrition have nothing to do with the sequence or the timing but the total within 24 hours. It's an agregate experience not a linear one. It's not I ate this, then I burn this, then I eat this. It's the total you eat and the total you burn over a 24 hour period.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    as long as you consume your minimum calories for the day, you don't have to eat back all that you work off. the system is set up to start you off with a defecit and if you work off more then that is even better for you.

    With all respect, this is not true. Your deficit is already there. You should eat whatever additional deficit you create with exercise.
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    i'll start logging. it's just i'm not sure how many calories i burn during my workouts sometimes, for example, if i go to the gym, i can simply keep track of what i've been doing and the calories i've been burning. however for those days i simply just want to go for a long outdoor run, no clue how much i burn!
  • crazy8ts
    crazy8ts Posts: 360
    i'll start logging. it's just i'm not sure how many calories i burn during my workouts sometimes, for example, if i go to the gym, i can simply keep track of what i've been doing and the calories i've been burning. however for those days i simply just want to go for a long outdoor run, no clue how much i burn!

    Get an HRM... it'll become your best friend...
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    if you're eating based on the calorie goal mfp has set for you - it's including a deficit already, so yes you should eat at least some of those calories back. not feeding your body properly gets you nowhere.
  • delilah47
    delilah47 Posts: 1,658
    :noway:
  • classc1
    classc1 Posts: 42 Member
    I'm a firm believer in eating back your exercise calories no matter what time of the day you created them. You will need that for fuel for your body later on, trust me. I exercise for at least 90 minutes a day doing a mix of insanity, 30 day shred, 6 week 6 pack, hip hop abs, elliptical, and good old fashioned running. I eat back almost all my exercise calories and am steadily losing weight.
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    any idea where i can get a reliable one? i feel like it would be great for me when i'm doing my cardio w videos or jogging.
  • belinus
    belinus Posts: 112 Member
    I tend not to eat them back just simply because a) I feel like I am binge eating, and b) I am just not hungry.
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    I tend not to eat them back just simply because a) I feel like I am binge eating, and b) I am just not hungry.

    ugh yes. i get full super fast and i'll be bloated just from eating an apple with some peanut butter (weird)
    it's somewhat difficult for me to eat my daily goal, 1500. i feel stuffed by the end of the day, i just can't imagine having to add in an extra 300 or so.
  • me277
    me277 Posts: 4 Member
    What is an HRM?
  • olee67
    olee67 Posts: 208 Member
    Yes... eat back your calories...

    Example...

    if your goal is 1500 cals/day. If you burn 500 for your workout, and only eat the 1500 calories, you only net 1000 calories for the day.

    The way this is all set up is, if you burn and eat back and hit your 1500, you are 250-500 (ideally) under your BMR.

    Essentially, this has you set up to already eat at a deficit. If you eat at even more of deficit, you are looking at a 500+ deficit a day... That equals starvation mode. You may see short term weight loss, but, this could be coming from fat and muscle.

    And, if you don't know what BMR is, check this out.

    http://www.sportfit.com/sportfitglossary/energetics_aerobic_krvnn.html

    Then do the Harris Benedict Equation

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    What is an HRM?

    i'm gonna guess heart rate monitor :p
  • jenb41
    jenb41 Posts: 23 Member
    So I have my food diary open. Can someone please go see what I have been doing. I am losing weight...but I am worried I am not doing it right. I have a very low net calories by the end of the day. I work out two or three times a day. I have been counting the food I ate.. not the net cals. Sometimes they are really low. Is that okay???
  • olee67
    olee67 Posts: 208 Member
    What is an HRM?

    Heart Rate Monitor
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    Yes... eat back your calories...

    Example...

    if your goal is 1500 cals/day. If you burn 500 for your workout, and only eat the 1500 calories, you only net 1000 calories for the day.

    The way this is all set up is, if you burn and eat back and hit your 1500, you are 250-500 (ideally) under your BMR.

    Essentially, this has you set up to already eat at a deficit. If you eat at even more of deficit, you are looking at a 500+ deficit a day... That equals starvation mode. You may see short term weight loss, but, this could be coming from fat and muscle.

    And, if you don't know what BMR is, check this out.

    http://www.sportfit.com/sportfitglossary/energetics_aerobic_krvnn.html

    Then do the Harris Benedict Equation

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

    ah you're right, def don't wanna be only eating 1,000 calories a day lol. i'm also 17, i do cardio 6 days a week and strength training 4. the last thing i wanna do is put my body into starvation mode.
  • tpcockrell
    tpcockrell Posts: 6 Member
    HRM = heart rate monitor :)
  • spdoman7
    spdoman7 Posts: 121 Member
    Polar makes the best hrm....price range of $60 - $400 depending on capabilities and bells/whistles
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    i'm going to look into getting a hrm. thanks:) so whenever i go to the gym, i'll log the calories burned on each machine and than come home and log them in, correct? i'm not sure if i trust mfp with their exercise selections.. i'm thinking of going with the machines till i can get the monitor
  • kassivaladez
    kassivaladez Posts: 10
    heart rate monitor
  • belinus
    belinus Posts: 112 Member
    ugh yes. i get full super fast and i'll be bloated just from eating an apple with some peanut butter (weird)
    it's somewhat difficult for me to eat my daily goal, 1500. i feel stuffed by the end of the day, i just can't imagine having to add in an extra 300 or so.

    Amen to that. Today the fricken site wants me to eat and extra 870 calories because of my walk from earlier. Hell-to-the-NO! Right now I view going over 2000-2200 calories a day being a failure to some extent because it means I have had too much dense food somewhere now that my stomach has contracted a bit. My breakfast is about 250-375 calories and keeps me full for 3-4 hours when I have my first 'tween meal of the day.

    If I need some extra calories though, I will add it majority as protein. Especially if I am strength training.
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    ugh yes. i get full super fast and i'll be bloated just from eating an apple with some peanut butter (weird)
    it's somewhat difficult for me to eat my daily goal, 1500. i feel stuffed by the end of the day, i just can't imagine having to add in an extra 300 or so.

    Amen to that. Today the fricken site wants me to eat and extra 870 calories because of my walk from earlier. Hell-to-the-NO! Right now I view going over 2000-2200 calories a day being a failure to some extent because it means I have had too much dense food somewhere now that my stomach has contracted a bit. My breakfast is about 250-375 calories and keeps me full for 3-4 hours when I have my first 'tween meal of the day.

    If I need some extra calories though, I will add it majority as protein. Especially if I am strength training.

    yup!! i'm not always sure what to eat, i find it impossible trying to eat back 300 calories in vegetables or chicken..... its sad but sometimes i just wish some foods were higher in calories, lol
  • belinus
    belinus Posts: 112 Member
    yup!! i'm not always sure what to eat, i find it impossible trying to eat back 300 calories in vegetables or chicken..... its sad but sometimes i just wish some foods were higher in calories, lol

    I look at it as a chance to indulge in something I might not normally be able to have. Like I wanted to have a little treat so I grabbed one of my Kashi granola bars and snacked on it. Adding that put me over 1800 calories net which is my comfort zone so I don't feel like I am binging and not feeling like I'm starving myself too.
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
    bump
  • kmiagia
    kmiagia Posts: 104
    yup!! i'm not always sure what to eat, i find it impossible trying to eat back 300 calories in vegetables or chicken..... its sad but sometimes i just wish some foods were higher in calories, lol

    I look at it as a chance to indulge in something I might not normally be able to have. Like I wanted to have a little treat so I grabbed one of my Kashi granola bars and snacked on it. Adding that put me over 1800 calories net which is my comfort zone so I don't feel like I am binging and not feeling like I'm starving myself too.

    mm definitely. thats around when i'll have that not-the-best-but-not-the-worst meal lmfao
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    So I have my food diary open. Can someone please go see what I have been doing. I am losing weight...but I am worried I am not doing it right. I have a very low net calories by the end of the day. I work out two or three times a day. I have been counting the food I ate.. not the net cals. Sometimes they are really low. Is that okay???

    can't see your diary, not open.... From what you are saying it does not sound ok....
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
    almonds, or any nut for that matter. High in good fats and calories, In small packages. They are your friend if your trying to get some cals in, in a healthy way. Put them in a salad, mix with fruit, or just eat them. But they can help you get some energy back to your body.
  • belinus
    belinus Posts: 112 Member
    almonds, or any nut for that matter. High in good fats and calories, In small packages. They are your friend if your trying to get some cals in, in a healthy way. Put them in a salad, mix with fruit, or just eat them. But they can help you get some energy back to your body.

    Yeah. The ironic thing was when I was shopping for Almonds the other day, the Dark Cocoa ones from Emerald were better overall than Kroger brand plain Almonds.
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