Who eats back exercise calories and who doesn't?
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I have never eatenback exercise cals and lot 115 lbs so I guess do what works for you
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I eat back about 50-60%.
I have my calorie goal set to sedentary, which is what I am when not actually working out, and to lose 1 lb a week. By doing that and eating back about half of my calories I am able to make adjustments for rest days and workout days without overeating or undereating on any of them. My average loss over the last year has been 1.4 lb which is perfect for what I am trying to do. I am afraid of losing too fast so I want more control and some wiggle room.0 -
It is down to this: Using difference method than MFP and customizing your plan - do not eat them back or at least all of them.
If using MFP - eat them back or at least some of them.
It is all personal preference and either way it looks like you have a choice.
Burning 300 more than I eat does not harm my energy output either way.
After 3 months of doing this I am better suited not eating them. But I am using a different method and I use an activity tracker.
I am OCD and cannot see the logic that I sweated my butt off, almost had a heat attack and now its time to eat them back plus my daily allowance.... .
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when i was tracking i would eat half back if i was still hungry .i think this time around i wont put in exercise .0
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I eat back some of them, I exercise to get healthy and tone, but that also means I need to eat those calories because mfp is set up that if you dont workout, you eat X amount of calories, but the more active you are, the more calories you get to eat. and if you do eat back your exercise calories now, it will be easier for you to once you get into maintenence, unless you are one of those people that plan to stop working out once you get to your goal.0
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snowflake930 wrote: »GiveMeCoffee wrote: »I lost over 120 lbs eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well
^I lost 160+ NOT eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well for me. I have been maintaining for 14 months.
We all ARE snowflakes! Do what works for you in all facets of this new way of living.
Do you go on 30-60 mile bike rides? If I didn't eat back those calories I would never have the energy to do that0 -
GiveMeCoffee wrote: »
^^This. All day. Every day. I eat them all (Fitbit adjustment numbers, not MFP's, in case that makes a difference). Lost my weight more or less consistently, at exactly the rate indicated by the deficit I set for myself. FUEL, people, FUEL! Not rewards and punishments.0 -
Very good thread. This is one thing that really does get confusing for me.
I was entering it into MFP however when I do it will boost it to some crazy number like "you earned 684 calories from exercise".
I like the idea of eating back half of it. Although I have no idea how to calculate a "strength training class".
I am just back into after being AWOL for several months so I guess I have to play with it for awhile.
My exercise is to build my core, due to a weak core, plantar fascitis, and a nasty Morton's neuroma I do not want to tick off in my right foot.
I am trying to lose 20lbs.0 -
I try to only eat back my exercise calories if I had a large burn and, then, I will not eat all of them back. I have my activity level set on sedentary, am only set to lose 1 lb / week, and I also have a lot to lose. So, if the nutrients look good for the day, I will try to use the extra deficit to accelerate my weight loss. I also do cheat meals so the extra deficits help to buffer my higher calorie days.0
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Its a personal preference. On my news feed I see MFP friends that burn 700 calories doing some sort of exercise. I have seen someone burn 1100 to 1200 calories which is my whole days worth of allotted calories. In that case I would be dying, I would need food, oxygen and CPR.
But I only burn a fraction of that and if I got a bit in a further deficit 3 - 4 weeks I am ok with that.0 -
I don't - but I also set my base calories higher to compensate for it. So in reality I guess I do....0
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I typically don't eat them back unless I have logged a long run (10-18 miles) then I will eat back some of them because I am hungry. If I am doing a training session or class I typically don't because I am not starving afterwards because of the food plan I had through out the day. I think it is up to what works for you. My husband eats back about 60% of his calories. To each his own I guess.0
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I don't eat back my exercise calories and I average about 2 lbs per week weight loss. It would probably be slower if I did.0
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I eat them back on most days because I look at exercise in a different light: 1. I have fitness goals independent of my desire to lose weight 2. I like food. Exercising is two birds with one stone, I get to work towards my fitness goals and I get to eat more without hindering my weight loss. I have lost close to 100 pounds so far.0
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I generally dont eat them back, but if I want to its good to have the cushion so that I can.. You still get benefit from the workout as it'll be good for heart/lungs etc, so better to workout and eat the calories, than not workout/not eat the calories.0
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I range from not eating them back at all to eating about 25% of them0
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Like @Roxiegirl2008, I eat back my long run calories; I'm weight training, so if i didn't I wouldn't have the needed carb/protein balance to lift.
Also, the long runs are my carrot; knowing I have one coming up, I'll hold off on that indulgent treat, then reward myself with a healthy (yet still indulgent) treat
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snowflake930 wrote: »GiveMeCoffee wrote: »I lost over 120 lbs eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well
^I lost 160+ NOT eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well for me. I have been maintaining for 14 months.
We all ARE snowflakes! Do what works for you in all facets of this new way of living.
Sorry but we aren't snowflakes0 -
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Phoebeg1723 wrote: »just curious at the ratios. I personally don't eat back exercise calories. It seems very backwards to me as the idea of working out is too increase the calorie deficit so you lose weight more, but eating back those calories is basically the equivalent of not having worked out.
Anyone else?
Careful not to burn yourself out! and make sure you're getting enough supplements. For me, this depends on many things but to sum it up and keep things real, I don't let myself lose over three pounds per week. You have to be healthy and happy or risk failing. I like to have the energy for a good workout, and I find if I'm in heavy caloric deficit I tend to put off a workout and start feeling lazy. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say that I eat 1/3 to half of mine... and I'm not walking around hungry all the time 0 -
Careful not to burn yourself out! and make sure you're getting enough supplements. For me, this depends on many things but to sum it up and keep things real, I don't let myself lose over three pounds per week. You have to be healthy and happy or risk failing. I like to have the energy for a good workout, and I find if I'm in heavy caloric deficit I tend to put off a workout and start feeling lazy. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say that I eat 1/3 to half of mine... and I'm not walking around hungry all the time
Tbh I've always eaten this way and have never burned out. I find if I eat my exercise calories I don't lose.m
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If I didn't eat back some of my exercise calories, I could easily end up netting just 1000 calories a day sometimes. Even 1200 would be too little for me at over 200 pounds. I'd lose too fast and sacrifice muscle.
But I know the calculations done by just about everything are way overestimated. My solution is to manually enter half the calories that MFP, apps or machines say I've burned, and eat them all. I lose 1 - 2 pounds a week doing this.0 -
Paul_Collyer wrote: »I eat them, but you have to be careful you don't use an overestimated value.
Examples of overestimated values:
- MFP database walking
- MFP database pilates/stretching
- MFP database squash
- Strava run ( using these during marathon training was IMHO a factor in me actually gaining a couple of kg at that time )
As I lost more weight it became more clear that sticking to overestimated values and eating back the calories would slow me down, so I invested in a step tracker and HRM. I found the step calorie adjustments were lower, and IMO more realistic, and also that the Garmin run/workout with HRM calorie burn values were lower and again more realistic based on reading up on these things. Since switching to these I have done better.
Hope this is useful!
On the other hand, I didn't find MFP's estimates to be off at all for me. Like I said, I ate back every one, and most of them were from walking. The best thing to do, imo, if you're concerned about MFP overestimating is start out eating back half and then adjust based on your actual results.0 -
snowflake930 wrote: »GiveMeCoffee wrote: »I lost over 120 lbs eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well
^I lost 160+ NOT eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well for me. I have been maintaining for 14 months.
We all ARE snowflakes! Do what works for you in all facets of this new way of living.
Sorry but we aren't snowflakes
I am. I am not the same as you or anyone else.GiveMeCoffee wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »GiveMeCoffee wrote: »I lost over 120 lbs eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well
^I lost 160+ NOT eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well for me. I have been maintaining for 14 months.
We all ARE snowflakes! Do what works for you in all facets of this new way of living.
Do you go on 30-60 mile bike rides? If I didn't eat back those calories I would never have the energy to do that
Most definitely not. But still I lost all the weight not eating the calories back. I go to the gym M-F and go for walks on the weekends.
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I don't eat them anymore.0
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Phoebeg1723 wrote: »
Careful not to burn yourself out! and make sure you're getting enough supplements. For me, this depends on many things but to sum it up and keep things real, I don't let myself lose over three pounds per week. You have to be healthy and happy or risk failing. I like to have the energy for a good workout, and I find if I'm in heavy caloric deficit I tend to put off a workout and start feeling lazy. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say that I eat 1/3 to half of mine... and I'm not walking around hungry all the time
Tbh I've always eaten this way and have never burned out. I find if I eat my exercise calories I don't lose.m
So, if you didn't work out at all and maintained your same daily calorie intake, do you gain? It's possible that your daily intake is higher than your body normally burns in a day. ??
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snowflake930 wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »GiveMeCoffee wrote: »I lost over 120 lbs eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well
^I lost 160+ NOT eating back my exercise calories, worked pretty damn well for me. I have been maintaining for 14 months.
We all ARE snowflakes! Do what works for you in all facets of this new way of living.
Sorry but we aren't snowflakes
I am. I am not the same as you or anyone else.
You are more alike all of us than you think. Biology proves that.0 -
Phoebeg1723 wrote: »
Careful not to burn yourself out! and make sure you're getting enough supplements. For me, this depends on many things but to sum it up and keep things real, I don't let myself lose over three pounds per week. You have to be healthy and happy or risk failing. I like to have the energy for a good workout, and I find if I'm in heavy caloric deficit I tend to put off a workout and start feeling lazy. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say that I eat 1/3 to half of mine... and I'm not walking around hungry all the time
Tbh I've always eaten this way and have never burned out. I find if I eat my exercise calories I don't lose.m
Then there is something else going on. Math is math, 4-2 equals 2 not 6. In other word, deficit + exercise = more deficit, not maintenance or surplus.
Read the link below and the links enclosed there for explanation.
Have a good day!!0 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »[]
On the other hand, I didn't find MFP's estimates to be off at all for me. Like I said, I ate back every one, and most of them were from walking. The best thing to do, imo, if you're concerned about MFP overestimating is start out eating back half and then adjust based on your actual results.
I walk a lot and use both a walking app and a fitness tracker and frequently find that MFP overestimates the calorie burn,
So, if you didn't work out at all and maintained your same daily calorie intake, do you gain? It's possible that your daily intake is higher than your body normally burns in a day. ??
No I just stay at the same weight.
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