Calories in - Eating back calories from exercise
LosinMama1966
Posts: 182
I have a question. I have set my daily calories at 1450 because 1200 was too low for me and I wasn't losing any weight. I have started exercising and logging that exercise. I know I need to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound. I've also seen where people "eat back" their calories they have exercised off.
Is this a good practice/habit or should I just NOT eat those calories back and look at my net calories and try to keep them at 1450 calories in a day.
Any help and/or explanation would be greatly appreciated.
Is this a good practice/habit or should I just NOT eat those calories back and look at my net calories and try to keep them at 1450 calories in a day.
Any help and/or explanation would be greatly appreciated.
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I don't eat them all back. MFP over estimates their calories burned I think. I usually eat half what they give me back.0
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You will get a lot of answers to this question. It all comes down to personal preference. If you exercise, you are creating a bigger deficit. I "eat back" a portion of my calories but not all. This is because the science of calories from food is fairly accurate (particularly if you are weighing and measuring everything), but calories from exercise is less precise. This is especially true if you are using MFP to estimate your calories burned rather than a heart rate monitor. Therefore I don't eat back all of my calories, because I prefer to have a buffer so I'm not accidentally going over. As a general rule, I aim to "eat back" 50% of my exercise calories.0
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You need to understand the method being employed...you also have to understand the "burning calories" doesn't mean just exercising...you "burn" calories 24/7...the majority of your daily "burn" is you just existing.
MFP employs the NEAT method of calorie counting (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). Your calorie goals are derived per your stats and activity WITHOUT exercise. Exercise thus becomes and "extra" activity that would need fuel...if you were using the TDEE method of calorie counting, some estimate of that activity would have already been included in your activity level and thus the formula for deriving you calorie goals...with MFP, it is not.
With the NEAT method (MFP) you account for exercise activity after the fact when you log it and get those calories to "eat back". You just have to be very careful not to overestimate. A lot of people just take the database as gospel, and it's far from that.
In summary, it is the method employed by MFP and it is a very effective one provided that you aren't underestimating your intake and overestimating your burn from exercise...most people do both...most people are pretty *kitten* when it comes to precision.0 -
Also, I tend to underestimate what I input anyways. For example, if I go for a 40 minute walk that is mostly uphill, I only put that I did a 30 minute brisk walk on flat ground. I'd rather underestimate than over. And that way, if I do eat back a lot of the calories one day, I'm not chancing being totally over.0
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You'll find that this is a pretty commonly asked question around here. Usually, there'd be a couple of pinned topics on the matter, but those are missing with the new board switch. This one is my favorite topic to try and help explain it: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf
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i do not eat back any of mine. that is just the way i've always done it, and it works for me.
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LosinMama1966 wrote: »so...today my goal is 1450 calories. I've already logged 1158 and then I've logged 333 exercise calories burned leaving me with a current 825 net calories. I'm not done with today yet. Do I need to just go with my regular calories logged and make that 1450 and log 500 exercise calories burned and not worry about my net calories?
MFP gives you a calorie goal with zero exercise built in. That way people who can't exercise still lose weight.
Let's say my goal is 1450 and I log 300** in cardio exercise calories......I get to eat up to 1450+300**...or 1750 calories.
For me I eat darn close to 300 extra calories. Because a) I use a heart rate monitor (with chest strap) & this is a pretty good estimate for steady state cardio. b) I'm closer to goal and want to lose fat (not muscle + fat). larger deficits are tough if you're close to goal. and c) I started at sedentary (conservative) and log workouts only (again conservative). Less risk of over estimation.
No one can tell you how much to eat exactly. Start with a % of the 333. If you feel tired & run down...eat more. If you're not losing...eat less.0 -
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I would play around with it and see what works. So since you said you haven't been losing, try not eating them back and go for 1450 every day. See how you feel - Do you struggle to finish your workout? Are you hungry all the time? Then maybe you should change to eating half back. If you have enough energy, you aren't starving, and you start losing at a reasonable rate - then you found what works for you!
The other way to go would be to use a TDEE calculator and figure into it the amount of exercise per week. This will give you a daily calorie goal for every day, whether you work out or not. I did this and found it easier to just go for the same number every day, although it bugs me to get that nasty red negative calorie number on days I don't work out!
Good luck! You just have to trial & error to find what works for you...0 -
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Sounds like a plan
Wish I could figure out how to make the cheers smiley face in this brave new forum, I liked him...0 -
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diannethegeek wrote: »
Yes, there he is! I read that you should type the colon and the first letter of the name and : + d didn't bring him up. Thank you! :drinker:0 -
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I exercise to improve my fitness, not to lose weight. That's what counting calories is for. I eat back all the calories I've lost exercising.0
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If I'm hungry, I eat some back. If I'm not, I don't.
It's different for everyone. Only you and your doctor know what's right for you. 0 -
I use my exercise calories if I need to. If I'm not hungry, I won't. Usually this means eating back calories I burn from a long bike ride or a run, but not a long walk or something less strenuous. I try to leave a bit unused in case I messed up somewhere. I also underestimate my exercise a bit since mfp overestimates by so much.0
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LosinMama1966 wrote: »so...today my goal is 1450 calories. I've already logged 1158 and then I've logged 333 exercise calories burned leaving me with a current 825 net calories. I'm not done with today yet. Do I need to just go with my regular calories logged and make that 1450 and log 500 exercise calories burned and not worry about my net calories?
A lot depends on how you are measuring your calorie burn.
Depending on your present height and weight, 1450 to 1500 isn't too low a calorie budget. If you eat those 333, in addition to your allotted 1450, you have to have a fairly decent total burn on your day to create the deficit necessary to lose weight. (Again, some of this depends on your present weight)
One solution is to invest in a fitbit or other tracking device to provide fairly reliable data on you daily calorie burn.
However, if that's either not an option, or doesn't interest you, six weeks or so will tell the tale of whether you have created a deficit, or not.
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DevilsFan1 wrote: »I exercise to improve my fitness, not to lose weight. That's what counting calories is for. I eat back all the calories I've lost exercising.
Same for me. I calculate my estimated caloric maintenance needs from an external site (MFP is great for logging when using correct information, but is not something you should rely on to estimate your caloric needs) and then use that as my custom goal. I switched to MFP's net calorie method so that I log exercise now, and I only log less (75% of the time) if I really did not put my all into it. Like today, I just was having a n off day in the weight room so I logged 75% only. I'm giving this a few months to see if 100% is the right number for me and if I'm not down 3-4lbs every month then I will adjust and probably eat 75% (and 50% for bad workout days), and go from there. Or will lower my net needs instead. I estimated my needs for both non-exercise and average exercise days and the amount that I net plus the logged exercise calories equals roughly the same amount as my estimated needs when taking into account exercise.
So I use the links posted on my profile (not scoobys anymore, but I still recommend it), subtract 20% from it, and then monitor results. As I siad, I'm doing net method, so I do not include exercise in this. You might find that you can even eat more than you are eating now! I recommend that those who follow net method eat all exercise calories back, especially if set at too unrealistic a goal (2lb/week) or using MFP to set their calorie intake goals, and then to adjust over time if results are not around 1lb/week on average.0 -
just eat them all back for two weeks and see it you lose. if not.. then eat half back..and see if you lose.. so on and so forth.
best to try to eat them back and serif you lose..then you get to eat more and still lose..and that is what you want…so you won't be stuck eating close to nothing to maintain.0 -
this is what everyone on MFP needs to come around to! It's all about eating as much as you can while losing at a steady rate so that you are not abusing your body and to ensure an easy transition into maintenance. Plus it's much easier to maintain a calorie deficit when you are not being overly restrictive!elisa123gal wrote: »just eat them all back for two weeks and see it you lose. if not.. then eat half back..and see if you lose.. so on and so forth.
best to try to eat them back and serif you lose..then you get to eat more and still lose..and that is what you want…so you won't be stuck eating close to nothing to maintain.
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My doctor & dietician told me not to eat exercise calories, and I usually don't.
- most people underestimate what they eat
- most machines, including MFP, overestimate calories burned
Today & probably tomorrow I'll be dipping into that reserve.
It happens from time to time, and as long as it's not a regular occurrence I don't worry about it too much.0 -
LosinMama1966 wrote: »so...today my goal is 1450 calories. I've already logged 1158 and then I've logged 333 exercise calories burned leaving me with a current 825 net calories. I'm not done with today yet. Do I need to just go with my regular calories logged and make that 1450 and log 500 exercise calories burned and not worry about my net calories?
I don't understand this question regarding the 500 exercise calories. You've logged the calories you burned as 333, correct, which means you've only netted 825 calories today.
That is way too low. After you've logged your exercise, just make sure you net close to the 1450 you need each day to fuel your body. In other words, since you've only netted 825 calories, you need 500-600 calories in food to properly fuel your body.0 -
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