Food vs. Excerise Calories

The calories that you are "given" are the amount of calories that you need to stay under to lose the amount of weight that you want. for example if you weigh 220pounds you will burn over 1700 calories just by existing. so if you eat less than 1700 calories you will lose weight. If you excerise those are extra calories you are burning above and beyond what was caculated, so in essence they become free calories. I hope this clears things up for you.

I burned 2000 calories today and only ate 900 - I just had to brag!

I burned 2000 calories today and only ate 900 - I just had to brag!

Don't brag...eat.

Seriously. Not eating enough can have serious effects on your body. When you exercise your muscles need the extra calories (especially protein) to repair the damage you did to them by exercising. Yes exercising is very good because you are building muscle to burn fat faster. But you need to eat those extra calories. Not eating enough can also put your body into starvation mode...your body will think it needs to store fat because it is not getting the nutrition it needs.

how do you do that? what are you doing to burn 2000 calories a day? I am a full time teacher, mom & wife & am in taking masters classes...i am working out 3 days a week with a personal trainer & am lucky if i can find time to get in 30 minutes of cardio on the days i don't see my trainer...

I knew this was going to happen - CHILL OUT

Those numbers are the product of very specific circumstances one of which being pushing myself to a personal best in the cardo department. First of all i could not pull that off everyday if I tired - hell if I was paid to make it happen everyday I don't think I could pull it off for consecutive days. Second you people assume any damage from not eating and exercising is anything i give a rip about - I'm not gonna eat them! I never eat more than a few of my exercise calories!

By the way - I did lose 30 pounds in my first 30 days on MFP!

I'm going to do my next weigh in on Sat. and while I doubt by the standard of your quote I will be a liar again - I hope to hell you seriously doubt me

Maybe you'll find yourself in a place where you can't eat all your exercise calories someday.

I'm confused....how could anyone lose a pound of fat everyday for 30 days straight? Possibly someone who is very obese could shed pounds that quickly, but I doubt someone with that much weight to lose could have the stamina to burn 2000 calories in a day. I'm not trying to be rude, but something isn't adding up. It just sounds very unlikely or very unhealthy.

Let's lay off the "unhealthy" remarks. Chances are, a person cannot sustain weight loss for a long period of time by not eating all their calories or working out too much. Our bodies will tell us when it's time to even off. Also, let's stop calling these people unhealthy. They are probably having a really good day, but as we know, real life and our bodies will officially kick in and demand what it needs. I am a bit done hearing about how unhealthy it is to have a huge deficit on a day here or there. It all banks. Which leads to understanding that perhaps honesty isn't always reflected in posts. And if the original poster is being honset, we cannot assume that we know the person's stats or try to relate because we "think" they are similar to ours. .

THUMBS UP TO YOU!!

Let's lay off the "unhealthy" remarks. Chances are, a person cannot sustain weight loss for a long period of time by not eating all their calories or working out too much. Our bodies will tell us when it's time to even off. Also, let's stop calling these people unhealthy. They are probably having a really good day, but as we know, real life and our bodies will officially kick in and demand what it needs. I am a bit done hearing about how unhealthy it is to have a huge deficit on a day here or there. It all banks. Which leads to understanding that perhaps honesty isn't always reflected in posts. And if the original poster is being honset, we cannot assume that we know the person's stats or try to relate because we "think" they are similar to ours. .

I'm not sure I understand this. This is a public forum based on health and fitness. If someone comes on and brags about creating a gigantic deficit for a day, I don't see why someone should have a problem with saying that's unhealthy in their opinion. You can't expect to post something like that and not see dissenting opinions. I'll stress that they should be respectful written, but that doesn't mean we should silence ourselves.

It would be one thing if we knew that everyone on here was a diet and nutrition pro. But there are people on here that are just learning, or trying to gain knowledge. And letting comments like the above go without any words to the contrary may lead people to believing that it's the way the site is encouraging people to eat.

I'm not going to tell any individual how to eat, I'll offer advice though, and suggestions, if they choose not to take it, that's fine, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it. I'll say it again, if you don't want comments on how you eat and/or exercise, then don't post about it.

People get all bent out of shape when someone disagrees with someone else on here. but not me, I say, bring on the debate, it's one of the best ways to show both sides of an argument. As long as you keep the debate civil, there's no problem in my mind with it.

And thank you for the kind words of those who gave them - I was just looking for a little positive feedback

I would like to point out that a statement like

"I burned 2000 calories today and only ate 900 - I just had to brag!"

troubles a lot of people, simply because you didn't state anything about how you did it. Most of the people on here have practiced (or know someone who has practiced) unhealthy dieting in the past. Whether that be by extreme calorie deficits, some wacky diet, or pills/surgery. Seeing the above statement prompts a lot of people on here to be concerned, and worried for newer members that may not know any better.

In other words, it's up to you how you will lose weight, but if you're going to make statements about what is normally considered unhealthy diet types unless given by qualified professionals, please at least mention why your doing it so you don't confuse people.

And just a gentle reminder to everyone, most of the people on this site make comments because they care about everyone on here, about the community, and about the topic of health and weight loss. Please take everything in that context, and try to remember that when you post.

So I am new to MFP and have a dumb question.... I understand that we receive extra calories if we exercise, but that is what I'm confused about. In order to lose weight isn't important to exercise and cut your calories? Why do we get added calories if we exercise? I exercise 5 days a week and cosume around 1400 calories a day and do not eat extra if I exercise, because I'm just eating the calories I burned and therefore not buring anything. Right? I need to be cleared up on this.

Thanks!

With the thread being taken over by other topics not sure if you got an answer. Everybody is different, some of us NEED our exercise calories,a t least some of them, (like me) . Other don't need them at all. Weight things are very different for every person out there. The best thing to do is jiggle it until it fits, that's what I do. I eat some of my exercise calories on major work out days, or if I want a special treat I work out more. On light days I have 1/2 or less. This works for me, maybe not for you. Take it a day at time and keep track of what you do

I agree,

Just want to add that when MFP calculates your "Daily Calories" it has the Deficit calories already taken out. Therefore, if you have 1260 calories a day without exercise, depending on your "weekly desired lose", you can eat those and the calories you earned with exercise and STILL have that Original Deficit. People that prefer not to eat the excersice calories, usually want to lose more weight faster... which isn't bad Just not the way I want to do it.

30 Pounds Lost in 30 Days = FLABBY in my opinion. :ohwell:

I knew this was going to happen - CHILL OUT

Those numbers are the product of very specific circumstances one of which being pushing myself to a personal best in the cardo department. First of all i could not pull that off everyday if I tired - hell if I was paid to make it happen everyday I don't think I could pull it off for consecutive days. Second you people assume any damage from not eating and exercising is anything i give a rip about - I'm not gonna eat them! I never eat more than a few of my exercise calories!

By the way - I did lose 30 pounds in my first 30 days on MFP!

I'm going to do my next weigh in on Sat. and while I doubt by the standard of your quote I will be a liar again - I hope to hell you seriously doubt me

Maybe you'll find yourself in a place where you can't eat all your exercise calories someday.

You have a LOT of weight to lose, so yes, you can get away with not eating your exercise calories. As can I for now. Our bodies have a LOT of extra body fat so we're extremely unlikely to go into "starvation" or "survival" mode.

If you just had 10 or 20 pounds to lose, it would be different. Since most folks here don't have 170 pounds to lose like you did when you started (or 120 to lose like I did when I started), it's unwise to advise them that eating 900 calories a day and burning 2000 is a good thing. Because it's not for folks who don't have as much weight to lose. Because, first of all, burning 2000 calories in a day when you're just slightly overweight would be an extreme task in and of itself -- bigger people burn more calories with *everything* they do. I weigh 231 and I very often burn around 1000 calories with cardio each day of the week with under 60-90 minutes of cardio. If I weighed 130 and tried to get that burn number each day, I'd likely be completely exhausted (Think -- running 10 miles a day at 130lbs).

I would like to point out that a statement like

"I burned 2000 calories today and only ate 900 - I just had to brag!"

troubles a lot of people, simply because you didn't state anything about how you did it. Most of the people on here have practiced (or know someone who has practiced) unhealthy dieting in the past. Whether that be by extreme calorie deficits, some wacky diet, or pills/surgery. Seeing the above statement prompts a lot of people on here to be concerned, and worried for newer members that may not know any better.

In other words, it's up to you how you will lose weight, but if you're going to make statements about what is normally considered unhealthy diet types unless given by qualified professionals, please at least mention why your doing it so you don't confuse people.

And just a gentle reminder to everyone, most of the people on this site make comments because they care about everyone on here, about the community, and about the topic of health and weight loss. Please take everything in that context, and try to remember that when you post.

I completely agree.

I just wanted to say KUDOS on burning 2000 in cardio. I have no idea how on earth that would be possible! I'm not calling you a liar, I'm just saying that is so far outside the realm of something I could do at this point in my journey that that completely boggles my mind. And secondly, having one day where you burn 2000 and eat 900 probably isn't going to kill you... but I agree with other posters that this is potentially unhealthy (and even dangerous) long-term.

No, we don't know your starting stats (I would be curious to know that, by the way!) and people can be quick to judge but as others pointed out, a lot of us have taken bad paths in the past and we genuinely want to know that everyone here is reaching their goals- but doing it as safely as possible. Congratulations on your 30-pound weight loss! That is a big accomplishment. If you were on TBL, you probably would have kicked butt! But I do have to echo some of the concern in this thread. I'm glad you're doing well, just want to know that you're not going to hurt yourself.



To answer the original question: The reason why we're told to eat our exercise calories (and please correct me if I'm wrong anyone- I'm still a newbie to this! Just going off what I've learned so far!) is because MFP already calculates a daily calorie deficit for us when we sign up. They're telling us how many calories to eat per day based on our weight, activity level, and goals. They will only tell us how to lose 2 pounds per week as it's generally not considered healthy to lose more than that. So as long as you're following those calorie guidelines, you should lose weight.

Now, if you're exercising, you're creating even MORE of a deficit than what MFP has created. Yes, this can potentially cause you to lose more weight but, in the long-term, could be (potentially) harmful and even push your body into what is called 'starvation mode', which basically means your metabolism is f-ed up, and you won't see the progress you want. This is why we're guided to eating our exercise calories- to keep a good balance and protect ourselves from hampering our own success down the line.

Of course, there are LOTS of threads around here (Read the sticky threads at the top of the General Weight Loss forum- they were SO HELPFUL to me!) that will explain that better than I just did. Please take a look around, I'm sure you'll find the answers you're looking for.

"30 Pounds Lost in 30 Days = FLABBY in my opinion."

Whoa now let's not all gang up on him...I looked at his profile and he has 170 lbs to lose so it is definitely plausible that he lost 30 in 30 days without being flabby. Just think on the Biggest Loser they lose 30 lbs in one week (of course this is with medical supervision), and they look dang good!

So many things can be taken out of context when you can't see someone else's facial expressions or body language. Let's all play nice now and you guys can continue with your debate but I'm outta here :glasses:

Who made you the MFP police?

In YOUR OPINION, Biggest Losers "look darn good". I don't agree.

I'm making a statement based on experience. Thank you Very Much.

I didn't state "HE is FLABBY".

"Reading is Fundamental"...