Confusion about calories

schauj1
schauj1 Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
Okay so today I have eaten 1030 calories. I swam for half an hour and burned 217. So now it says my net calorie intake is 813 and that I still need 387 calories for the day.

Does that mean that when I exercise I have to make up for the calories burned by eating more?

Replies

  • missikay1970
    missikay1970 Posts: 588 Member
    yes. when you exercise, you are burning fuel (calories) and you need to eat more so you don't eat too few calories. there are some people who do NOT eat these calories, but others who do. you need to find out what works for you. personally, i try to eat about half of my "exercise calories" unless i work-out extra hard & long, in which case i eat them all. maybe eat a banana and a protein shake, that should get you about 200 of those calories eaten back in a healthy way. :smile:
  • tizzie_14
    tizzie_14 Posts: 72
    I generally eat most of my exercise calories and I've had steady losses. The one week I didn't lose was when I didn't eat them. Everyone is different though, so you may need to do a bit of trial and error.
  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
    No. You don't have to eat them back.

    You should be eating a minimum number of calories I don't know what you weigh or what your goals are, but probably something in the range of 1200 to 1500 calories at least. Then, to lose weight, you need to put in a calorie deficit. Meaning, say you eat 1400 calories today, and then you work out and burn 800 calories.....you have an 800 calorie deficit if you DONT eat all those calories back. You COULD eat another 800 calories, but you really wouldn't be working to lose weight, that would just be maintaining. The general calculation is a deficit of about 500 a day for weight loss of 1lb a week. I am to have a deficit of 400-500 a day.
  • JenSuperGirl
    JenSuperGirl Posts: 12 Member
    I do not eat my exercise calories - I am not looking to maintain and I want to keep a deficit which allows me to keep burning my body fat. I know all my weight loss is coming from fat because my muscle mass is increasing.

    Also - I am currently doing Insanity - I would probably need to eat a whole horse to keep up with that insane calorie burn :D

    Look at your goal - if you want to drop fat, don't eat your exercise calories. If you want to maintain, then do.

    All the best figuring out what works for you :)
  • Rilke
    Rilke Posts: 1,201 Member
    No. You don't have to eat them back.

    You should be eating a minimum number of calories I don't know what you weigh or what your goals are, but probably something in the range of 1200 to 1500 calories at least. Then, to lose weight, you need to put in a calorie deficit. Meaning, say you eat 1400 calories today, and then you work out and burn 800 calories.....you have an 800 calorie deficit if you DONT eat all those calories back. You COULD eat another 800 calories, but you really wouldn't be working to lose weight, that would just be maintaining. The general calculation is a deficit of about 500 a day for weight loss of 1lb a week. I am to have a deficit of 400-500 a day.

    Wrong. MFP already has a deficit built in. If you have your goal set to lose one pound per week, MFP's calculations have already shaved 500 calories per day off your maintenance amount. If you eat 400 calories below THAT, your deficit is up to 900 calories.
  • schauj1
    schauj1 Posts: 6
    I'm getting so many different answers so I'm even more confused than I was before.

    So should I just look at what the calorie counter is saying and eat the number of calories it is telling me to eat even though it's telling me to eat more since I did work out today?
  • jrmst82
    jrmst82 Posts: 3 Member
    I agree with the previous post (by Rilke). When you set up MFP, you specify how fast you wish to lose weight, which builds in a deficit of calories. If you "eat the calories that you exercised" you will definitely still have the built in deficit. For me, this is an added incentive to exercise! At the end of the day, I happily (and with no guilt!) eat those green calories up. OK, usually I drink them, but still.
  • Rilke
    Rilke Posts: 1,201 Member
    I'm getting so many different answers so I'm even more confused than I was before.

    So should I just look at what the calorie counter is saying and eat the number of calories it is telling me to eat even though it's telling me to eat more since I did work out today?

    Yes, especially if you are hungry.
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
    As said before MFP has already created your deficit. If you are meant to eat 1200 calories and you eat 1200 and then burn 200 - you've realistically only provided your body with 1000 calories i.e, you need to re-supply your body with those calories.

    I've lost 27lbs since April by eating them back. The only time I didn't lose weight was when I was consuming too few calories.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    Oh the conflicting responses!!! Moral of this story is: everyone is a little bit different and it will take time to find the right balance.


    Take your pick: to eat back or not to eat back (or like me, somewhere in the middle) and stick with it for a week or two. If you feel good and are losing a healthy amount each week (about 1% of your weight per week) then keep it up. If you're not losing then cut back a little, if you're losing but you feel starving and tired eat more.

    The biggest advice I can give you is to pick a path that you can maintain for a long time. If you're being super strict and working out like a machine you'll drop lots of weight short term but it's more likely that you're going to fall off the wagon and with the addition of a slower metabolism (from eating way less than you should) you're going to pack those lbs back on with interest. I speak from experience!! I have mfp set to lose .5 lb a week and I look at the full week (so I I'm under today I'll eat a little more tomorrow, makes my weekends less depressing!!) and I've been averaging at least a pound a week and just gave away my size 14s and 16s because most of my 12 fit again (yay!!) and because i can eat a normal amount the few times I have fallen off the wagon I've gotten right back on withing a couple of days because it's not so restrictive and it's making me better at maintaining so that when I do hit my goal I'll stay at it.
    Good luck!!
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
    Oh the conflicting responses!!! Moral of this story is: everyone is a little bit different and it will take time to find the right balance.


    Take your pick: to eat back or not to eat back (or like me, somewhere in the middle) and stick with it for a week or two. If you feel good and are losing a healthy amount each week (about 1% of your weight per week) then keep it up. If you're not losing then cut back a little, if you're losing but you feel starving and tired eat more.

    The biggest advice I can give you is to pick a path toucan maintain for a long time. If you're being super strict and working out like a machine you'll drop lots of weight short term but it's more likely that you're going to fall off the wagon and with the addition of a slower metabolism (from eating way less than you should) you're going to pack those lbs back on with interest. I speak from experience!! I have mfp set to lose .5 lb a week and I look at the full week (so I I'm under today I'll eat a little more tomorrow, makes my weekends less depressing!!) and I've been averaging at least a pound a week and just gave away my size 14s and 16s because most of my 12 fit again (yay!!) and because i can eat a normal amount the few times I have fallen off the wagon I've gotten right back on withing a couple of days because it's not so restrictive and it's making me better at maintaining so that when I do hit my goal I'll stay at it.
    Good luck!!

    Well said. :flowerforyou:
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993

    Well said. :flowerforyou:

    Thanks! And lol that you quoted me before I got back in to edit my autocorrect's creativity: that was "that you can" not "toucan"!!
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
    [/quote]

    Thanks! And lol that you quoted me before I got back in to edit my autocorrect's creativity: that was "that you can" not "toucan"!!
    [/quote]

    haha - I'm super sneaky like that :laugh:

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