No, you should not eat your exercise calories is my answer to those who feel the need to ask. I know your fitness app or program might award them to you, but most of you should not eat them. The problem is, these apps and programs which award exercise calories, often have followers who use this as permission to over eat. These same people will lament how they are doing everything right, yet they still cannot lose weight. They will come to the conclusion there is something wrong with them specifically, when the truth is, they are simply still eating too many calories.
It cannot be said enough, weight loss is truly a matter of calories consumed versus calories burned. This is a bitter pill for many people to swallow, but it is the absolute truth. The only caveat to this is if you have a legitimate medical condition. But, even these can most often still be controlled through healthy nutritional habits. Your body is not as unique as you might want to believe it to be my friends.
My fitness app awards me extra calories, why should I not eat them?
Always consult with your physician, he or she, may recommend a specific number of calories for you. You may also look at our Calorie Counter Pro which is always free for an idea of how many calories to eat each day. You also need to accurately track those calories as well. People are quite prone to underestimating how much they eat, and overrating how many calories they have burned. This leads to these folks overeating. Overeating becomes even easier when you allow yourself extra calories for the day. It is not uncommon that people will use their exercise as permission to go out for an ice cream sundae or other treat. The reality is, most of these types will never get over their struggle with healthy weight loss.
Calorie Counters on fitness trackers and apps can be wildly inaccurate.
I actually like fitness trackers and apps to track mileage when I hike. The downside about fitness trackers and apps is they can be wildly inaccurate when it comes to how many calories we have actually burned throughout the course of our exercise. Even the best of fitness trackers and apps can be off by 27 percent. If your fitness tracker tells you that you burned 600 calories, 27% equals 162 calories either under or over that 600 calories your app said you burned. Now, if you require 1800 calories per day to lose one pound per week, and then add another 438 to 726 calories three to four times per week, can you see the problem? If you have a weight problem, I recommend you do not try to eat exercise calories for weight loss. Most people will sabotage themselves by doing this.
https://davidsway.blog/2019/01/04/fitbit-or-no-fitbit/
When you eat the same amount of calories each day, it is easier to track them. You have taken out the guess work of how many can you eat today based on your exercise. I work out as hard as anyone, four days per week, and this is what I do. My daily caloric intake is based on my gender, age, weight, activity level and my goals. My goal right now is to maintain my body fat percentage exactly where it is now.
The calories burned on your exercise machine is not accurate either!
Studies have shown that calorie counters on cardio machines are overstated. Machines don’t take into account your fitness level or whether you’re leaning on the handle bars or doing something else that makes a workout easier which ultimately impacts calorie burn.
The truth about weight loss.
It does not matter who you are, in order to lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn. Weight loss is as simple as this basic truth. When you try to eat your exercise calories, most of you will end up eating too many calories for weight loss. Brenda Sue and I have seen this time after time with people we have counseled, and other interactions with our readers. If you have figured out your caloric needs, and are still not losing weight, you have to adjust them down even further. You are still eating too much for weight loss. It is not uncommon at all that folks will figure their initial caloric needs too high when they first begin. When you plateau with weight loss, it is time to refigure your caloric needs once again. The caloric needs for weight loss or management is going to be different between you at 225 pounds, and you at 175 pounds.
Weight management requires constant vigilance and attention for everyone. It is when we become complacent and do not adjust to our needs that we run into problems in losing weight. The reality is, unless you become a seasoned athlete, you should not consider eating your exercise calories. Your best bet is to figure what you need for each and every day, and then stick to that until you once again need to adjust.
Check out our plan here at David’s Way to Health and Fitness. It is not complicated at all, and is really nothing more than a common sense approach to nutrition. I guarantee that anyone who tries our methodology will lose weight, and then keep it off. Best of all, we charge nothing to anyone to follow our methodology, we are entirely free to all.
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