should you eat back burned calories?

amoods05
amoods05 Posts: 32 Member
edited November 9 in Food and Nutrition
If you are set to eat 1500 cals/day and burn 200 calories exercising, should you really consume 1700/day? I've read conflicting things. sometimes I read that you should eat more to keep energy up & refuel your body & sometimes I see people say that negates the purpose of the exercise.

Replies

  • GemmaM_x
    GemmaM_x Posts: 324 Member
    edited January 2015
    Yes eat back exercise calories, although due to extreme overestimates on a lot of common exercises, I personally only eat back about 50-70% of burned calories.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    amoods05 wrote: »
    If you are set to eat 1500 cals/day and burn 200 calories exercising, should you really consume 1700/day? I've read conflicting things. sometimes I read that you should eat more to keep energy up & refuel your body & sometimes I see people say that negates the purpose of the exercise.

    Yes, if you are doing MFP as it is designed, you should be eating back your exercise calories.

  • jpburcham
    jpburcham Posts: 98 Member
    Some day's I do, Most day's no. . . . but as Gx above me suggested, the calories burned is an estimate . . . are you exercising mostly so you can eat more, or mostly to get in better physical shape?
  • amoods05
    amoods05 Posts: 32 Member
    I'm mainly exercising for fitness but it's an added bonus when I add the calories burned back in & I have more cals to eat lol
  • votick
    votick Posts: 77 Member
    I like eating back burned calories because whenever I exercise I love knowing I have an extra snack/meal waiting for me. As I said in another thread though I may switch to only eating back maximum of 70% of whatever I burn. Whenever I exercise I always underestimate how much I burn (for example at the gym if I run 5km and do weights, I'll only track the run), and I won't track the 30 minute walk to the gym and home.
    This seems to work for me. If I'm feeling really hungry, I eat, simple as that. The hard part I guess is knowing when you're actually hungry or just mentally hungry.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Some days i do most days i dont.
    I listen to my body. When i am really hungry ( need fuel) i eat half of my burned calories. When logging my exercise i log the burned calories my polar watch gave me. But i calculate it as 50% right.
    From that 50% right amount i eat half back if i want/need too.

    I dont see exercising as "earned extra calories" i can eat. But to get fit.

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