Exercise calories - to eat or not to eat?

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smartloobylou
smartloobylou Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
whats the consensus on eating your daily exercise cals. If I don't will I lose weight faster or stall progress?

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    It's fairly split. But if you want to maximize your workouts and maintain muscle, then it would be beneficial to eat at least some. If you are consistent with your exercise, it may be more beneficial to look into the TDEE method where exercise is already in the equation.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
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    Depends what your overall goal is. My calorie target is quite high because I'm trying to gain muscle and maintain or gain a bit of weight so I tend to eat my exercise calories. This could change though if my weight starts shooting up too quickly. Think there's a bit of trial and error involved and knowing what works for you.
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
    edited January 2015
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    It depends on how accurately accounted for your activity level is.

    Example where you would eat back your calories: If you work a desk job and have your activity level set to sedimentary and have an aggressive calorie restriction, then you will want to log and eat back your exercise calories. (If you are not on target for the week's weight loss, You will want to check the math after the first few weeks and adjust how much you eat back to account for margin of error.)

    Example where you would not eat back your calories: If you have an active job like a nurse and have your activity level set to light or moderately active then more calorie expenditure is already being taken into consideration for the day and you will have less of a deficit. Or if there is exercise you consistently do and would rather have it pre accounted for instead of logging it you could incorporate it into your activity level and just have a higher calorie allowance for the day.

    To see what works for you, make your best guess and try it for a week or two then go back and check the math. If you are under your target loss you are either off with logging food or over estimating calorie expenditures. If you are losing more than your goal then you are under on either food or calorie expenditure.


    The thing to remember is that your defict for weight loss is already being accounted for. Additional exercises (especially if it's something new you are starting) changes your daily calorie requirement, which is why people eat back the calories they 'earn' by exercise.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    Having tried a variety of methods, claiming back 50% of exercise calories works for me, but only if it's something specific, so cardio on an elliptical would count but walking to the shop to get milk wouldn't.

    Think I might try the 50% method and see how I get on with it. So many variables!! lol
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    stephxo1 wrote: »
    herrspoons wrote: »
    Having tried a variety of methods, claiming back 50% of exercise calories works for me, but only if it's something specific, so cardio on an elliptical would count but walking to the shop to get milk wouldn't.

    Think I might try the 50% method and see how I get on with it. So many variables!! lol

    Do you use a food scale? More often than not, a lot of people who don't eat back exercise calories also tend not to use a food scale, which means calorie counts can be off as much as 400+ calories.

    It might make it easier for you to start eating the same calories each day, adding 100 calories a week until you start to gain about 1/2 lb per week (if you want a slow bulk).
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
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    Well I use TDEE method to assess my cal intake and this includes my activity level. I don't eat back exercise cals.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    maasha81 wrote: »
    Well I use TDEE method to assess my cal intake and this includes my activity level. I don't eat back exercise cals.

    ^^ this. Its the only thing that gave me the losses I was after.
  • 4leighbee
    4leighbee Posts: 1,275 Member
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    aw man ... I always get excited when I see I have more calories available for dinner! I thought it was unhealthy to stay consistently under your caloric goals (for me, it would be by 350-500 calories after exercise). I like the trial and error comment though - I guess I ought to re-think and experiment.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    if you follow MFP - eat back 50 - 75% of their database for exercise calories / machine estimates (if using an HRM you can eat back more possibly .. dependent on what you're doing)

    if you are cutting from TDEE don't eat back anything

    If you cut too much you'll lose more LBM than you need and end up getting less calories on maintenance and possibly crashing and burning
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    I have my activity level set to sedentary (desk job) but I try to eat back no more than 50% of my exercise calories (again, purposeful exercise like running 4 miles--not cleaning house or walking the dog). There are days when I eat all of them back (and possibly then some, like Christmas or New Year's Eve), but the usual buffer space allows me to not have to be obsessive about weighing everything while still allowing me to lose weight.
  • 4leighbee
    4leighbee Posts: 1,275 Member
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    is there a setting so that MFP doesn't automatically lump in all the added-back exercise numbers after a workout? Should I just wait until the end of the day to enter my workout?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    just to add I don't necessarily eat all my exercise calories back on the day - I average it over the week
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    lgutches wrote: »
    is there a setting so that MFP doesn't automatically lump in all the added-back exercise numbers after a workout? Should I just wait until the end of the day to enter my workout?

    don't log it - or log it as 1 calorie (you can amend the calorie by clicking on it

    why wouldn't you eat them back if you've earned them? you need to feed your body to workout effectively. You need to protect your LBM as much as possible. You need to fuel your body with a wide range of nutrients and it helps to have capacity to eat foods that you love / go out with friends and have fun.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    I use MFP's settings and eat back 75-100% of my exercise calories. I round down with my cardio numbers and give myself only a tiny allocation (25 calories) for lifting heavy. I have my activity level set to sedentary with a .5 lb/loss per week (less wiggle room).
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    lgutches wrote: »
    is there a setting so that MFP doesn't automatically lump in all the added-back exercise numbers after a workout? Should I just wait until the end of the day to enter my workout?

    don't log it - or log it as 1 calorie (you can amend the calorie by clicking on it

    why wouldn't you eat them back if you've earned them? you need to feed your body to workout effectively. You need to protect your LBM as much as possible. You need to fuel your body with a wide range of nutrients and it helps to have capacity to eat foods that you love / go out with friends and have fun.

    To add more... maintaining your muscle mass is important because it helps maintain metabolic functions.
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
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    lgutches wrote: »
    is there a setting so that MFP doesn't automatically lump in all the added-back exercise numbers after a workout? Should I just wait until the end of the day to enter my workout?

    If you manually set your goals based on your TDEE then you can ignore your exercise calories.

    fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/


    Or if don't want them to show up and adjust your calorie goal. You can write your exercise under the notes section of your exercise log. That way you can still go back and see it later if you wanted. You can hit the 'view printable report' button at the bottom of the page and see what you've logged and written for months at a time.

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