Question about exercise/calories

[Guest]

I joined up with one of those online calorie/exercise counters. I think it's going to be a very positive thing for me, but one thing has me confused. When you log your exercise, it adds the calories burned directly to your calories for the day. (i.e. if I burn 300 calories, it adds that to the amount of calories I can eat that day.) Now, I remember a few years ago when I told my mom I did that, she laughed and said that's not the way it works. So, which is correct? I kind of don't think you're just supposed to add it like that, but what do I know?

[LG Gone Wild]

I joined up with one of those online calorie/exercise counters. I think it's going to be a very positive thing for me, but one thing has me confused. When you log your exercise, it adds the calories burned directly to your calories for the day. (i.e. if I burn 300 calories, it adds that to the amount of calories I can eat that day.) Now, I remember a few years ago when I told my mom I did that, she laughed and said that's not the way it works. So, which is correct? I kind of don't think you're just supposed to add it like that, but what do I know?

 

I am not sure what your mom meant. It depends on what your goals are.

 

 

If you did nothing, your caloric intake to maintain might be 1200 (that's just a guess). You burned 300 calories doing some activity in order to not lose any weight, you should tag on those 300 calories to your diet, bringing up your desired intake to 1500. So if you exercised but didn't not want to lose weight, then the program you are using kind of works although not strictly accurate because it is using generic information on energy expenditure.

 

If you are really interested in determining how many calories you burn during exercise, you might try a top quality heart rate monitor that tells you how much YOU burn.

[LaxMom]

I am not sure what your mom meant. It depends on what your goals are.

 

 

If you did nothing, your caloric intake to maintain might be 1200 (that's just a guess). You burned 300 calories doing some activity in order to not lose any weight, you should tag on those 300 calories to your diet, bringing up your desired intake to 1500. So if you exercised but didn't not want to lose weight, then the program you are using kind of works although not strictly accurate because it is using generic information on energy expenditure.

 

If you are really interested in determining how many calories you burn during exercise, you might try a top quality heart rate monitor that tells you how much YOU burn.

Yeah, that. The online tracker I prefer (FitDay) calculates your basal metabolism based on sleep, activity, etc, but also tells you the calorie deficit you need to reach your state goals (ie lose x lbs by x date -- it will also tell you if the goal is unreasonable).

 

But, yeah, if you burn 500 calories on the treadmill, it will add them to maintain a consistent calorie deficit.

[Krista in LA]

I do WW and you earn activity points from exercising which you can eat if you want. I find that if I don't eat at least some of those points I earned from exercising, I won't lose weight. It sure makes it easier to stick with a plan when you know all you have to do is exercise to get to eat more. :D

[Guest]

Interesting. Well, I guess I will allow myself to eat some of those calories back that I burn. I just feel like I have a really high calorie allowance. Time will tell! :)