Eating back exercise calories

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Chickenhawk53
Chickenhawk53 Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
Am I supposed to stick to my calorie goal or can I eat back my exercise calories, which I would rather not do lol

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  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,136 Member
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    You are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. That is how MFP is designed.
  • AverageJoeFit
    AverageJoeFit Posts: 251 Member
    edited February 2017
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    You can, but you have to be careful as exercise calories are often over exaggerated. Eat back half if you are going to.

    I didn't eat back exercise calories when I lost my weight. Lost 50+ lbs.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67USKg3w_E4

    yes...watch this
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    MFP isn't trying to trick you or sabotage you by giving you extra calories to eat. It is the way MFP is designed to work that you would eat at least a portion of them back.
  • artanis50
    artanis50 Posts: 96 Member
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    Can someone explain to this newbie why it's "designed like that"? I mean, if the goal is weight loss - excercising burns calories. Why would you want to eat them back?
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I don't eat back my calories this is what works in my situation. I was eating a small portion back and through trial and error- for now this works. Do what works for you.
  • foojay
    foojay Posts: 4 Member
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    I stick to my daily goal and any exercise is a bonus. I lost 15kgs doing the 5:2 diet but use MFP for the non fast days. I think once you get your goal weight you could eat back some of your exercise but we are all different and each day has its own (sigh) challenges. Good luck and stay strong to us all.
  • sunnysunny88
    sunnysunny88 Posts: 64 Member
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    artanis50 wrote: »
    Can someone explain to this newbie why it's "designed like that"? I mean, if the goal is weight loss - excercising burns calories. Why would you want to eat them back?

    MFP sets a calorie goal that is already in deficit, so for me it's 1500, that's already in deficit by about 300 cal from what I usually burn just by existing, so if I don't exercise at all, I should technically still be losing weight.

    Now if I exercise I will burn more than usual so MFP allows me to eat some of all of those back while still being deficit. If you exercise too much your deficit may be too large and that's not good, But calories burn tend to be overestimated, that's why people here will suggest to eat half back.

    I've done it both ways, I've eaten back most of my exercise calories and not at all and I've still lost weight both ways. I suggest to just listen to your body, if you're hungry after exercising then you should eat. Nowadays I eat some but I try not to eat all of them back
  • mandy_godfree
    mandy_godfree Posts: 71 Member
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    Sometimes I eat them back and sometimes I don't it depends on the day, and whether I have any special events coming ups where I'm likely to find it difficult to stick to 1500 calories. Like others, I have set MFP to deficit anyway, so I make sure I eat the calories set and never eat less than 1200 calories whatever the day and make sure I hit 1500 at least when I exercise.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    You don't want to underfeed yourself. This is why you pick a decent weight loss goal to start with (say 1 lb per week). Eating less than that will leave you short on nutrients and can lead to health issues. So when you up your activity through exercise, the calories you've eaten fuel the exercise, leaving less for your body to maintain it's normal functions. So not eating your exercise calories is the same as undereating, and both are bad for your health.

    In a perfect world, we'd all know the minimum calories we need to maintain good health, exercise calories burned would be estimated perfectly and we would eat them all back. But all of this is an estimate so you need to play with the numbers over time.

    Start with a reasonable weight loss per week and eating back 50% of you calories. If the weight comes off too fast, then eat more of them. If it comes off too slow, eat less. But make sure you eat enough to properly fuel your body and protect your health.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    artanis50 wrote: »
    Can someone explain to this newbie why it's "designed like that"? I mean, if the goal is weight loss - excercising burns calories. Why would you want to eat them back?

    Some calorie calculators include exercise up front - TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) for example.

    MFP just includes "Non-exercise" activity. So if you don't exercise you just eat to your original goal, if you do exercise....you earn more calories. Most people eat back just a % - say 50-75% because calorie burns are estimates. This is a good method for people who aren't very consistent with exercise.

    If your exercise will be consistent.....look up your TDEE (less a % for weight loss), that will average the calories out so you eat the same number each day.

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