Who eats back exercise calories and who doesn't?

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    erickirb wrote: »
    I usually don't. Honestly, I only eat 1200-1300 on most days. On days that I really push myself, I go up to 1400. Beyond that, I think it has to do more with the quality of food you are putting into your system. I take in a lot of egg whites, baked chicken, and Tuna fish.

    That is just me, though. It took me a long time to figure out what works for me. What worked for my friend at the time he was trying to lose weight would was not working for me.

    Yikes, as a man you should not be getting less than 1600 or so Net cals (1600 + exercise cals) Otherwise a large % of your weight loss will be coming from lean muscle, not just the fat that you want to lose. Unless you are 4'11, 110lbs, then 1400 or so should suffice.

    Why do people feel the need to offer advice which hasn't been asked for.. -_-

    Because they are trying to help - simple as that.
    It's a form of support!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    So now I will contribute more then:

    say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • jhall260
    jhall260 Posts: 111 Member
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    I eat some of them. I burn a large amount of calories with my workouts often times 1,000+. I am starving otherwise, it's just to large of a deficit.
  • eddiedamn
    eddiedamn Posts: 17 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    I eat them back, both when I lost weight and now at maintenance - that's typically c.4000 a week but can be over 6000 in the cycling season.
    There's no point setting a calorie balance goal and then not trying to meet it. It's not smart thinking to assume faster weight loss is better.

    Exercise is for fitness, strength, preservation of lean mass plus it allows you much more freedom to eat while still hitting your goal.

    This is my way of thinking as well.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    I do not. The amount I supposedly burn, being old and short... it would be gone by eating like 5 crackers or something anyway!!!
  • AmigaMaria001
    AmigaMaria001 Posts: 489 Member
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    While losing weight I never ate back the exercise calories, but now on maintenance I do eat back some of them.
    I weigh myself daily and if I have gained any weight at all then I will go a week without eating them back again.
  • Phoebeg1723
    Phoebeg1723 Posts: 88 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I usually don't. Honestly, I only eat 1200-1300 on most days. On days that I really push myself, I go up to 1400. Beyond that, I think it has to do more with the quality of food you are putting into your system. I take in a lot of egg whites, baked chicken, and Tuna fish.

    That is just me, though. It took me a long time to figure out what works for me. What worked for my friend at the time he was trying to lose weight would was not working for me.

    Yikes, as a man you should not be getting less than 1600 or so Net cals (1600 + exercise cals) Otherwise a large % of your weight loss will be coming from lean muscle, not just the fat that you want to lose. Unless you are 4'11, 110lbs, then 1400 or so should suffice.

    Why do people feel the need to offer advice which hasn't been asked for.. -_-

    Because they are trying to help - simple as that.
    It's a form of support!

    But it just sounds like a lecture, especially when people haven't asked for advice.
  • ahopson214
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    I personally don't eat back my calories. I figure if I don't, its a bigger deficit and quicker weight loss. However, if I feel like I am STARVING and cannot go without more food for the rest of the night, I'll eat them.
  • oxers
    oxers Posts: 259 Member
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    Yes and no. I generally shoot for 1500 calories daily, rain or shine. I work out for strength and fitness, not weight loss, so generally I don't touch those calories - UNLESS I had an extra long workout that's left me particularly hungry or something like that. Then I'll eat mmmaybe half of it back to make sure my body has what it needs.

    Also because food is great and I love it.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Because my exercise sessions only burn around 300 calories each session, that doesn't leave a lot of room for error - I could easily eat 100 calories more than I thought and or burn 100 calories less. If I do both of those on the same day I could be thinking I have 300 calories to eat back but I could only really have a 100 deficit.
    - so I eat an energy bar of around 100 calories - half before and the other half after I workout and that works for me as it seems to hold off hunger before and just after work out; which are both dangerous over-eating times for me.
    - and yes - I am a snowflake. I like snowflakes.
  • slucki01
    slucki01 Posts: 284 Member
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    I eat back many of mine most days. I let MFP calculate my calorie allotment to lost 1 lb a week and then if I exercise I feel free to eat those calories if I want them. I've lost 30 lbs so it clearly works. I probably would have lost more faster if I didn't eat back my exercise calories; however, by allowing myself to eat them I'm able to live a more normal life and not always be "dieting". I'd rather lose a little slower and still be able to enjoy life. My primary focus is not just weight loss.
  • jjasmelon
    jjasmelon Posts: 101
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    I try not to eat back the calories I have burnt.. just feels strange after the effort that goes into exercising to just eat them away :smile:
  • Icandoityayme
    Icandoityayme Posts: 312 Member
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    I use to eat mine back when I first started out but I don't anymore. Not unless I am feeling really hungry like I need something more. If I am not hungry, I don't worry about it.
  • Phoebeg1723
    Phoebeg1723 Posts: 88 Member
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    yogicarl wrote: »
    Because my exercise sessions only burn around 300 calories each session, that doesn't leave a lot of room for error - I could easily eat 100 calories more than I thought and or burn 100 calories less. If I do both of those on the same day I could be thinking I have 300 calories to eat back but I could only really have a 100 deficit.
    - so I eat an energy bar of around 100 calories - half before and the other half after I workout and that works for me as it seems to hold off hunger before and just after work out; which are both dangerous over-eating times for me.
    - and yes - I am a snowflake. I like snowflakes.

    You go you beautiful snowflake!
  • _FATNSASSY
    _FATNSASSY Posts: 107 Member
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    gia07 wrote: »
    Here is the rule. Careful it's long (copied from a thread last week).

    This was awesome Gia! Thanks!
  • shmulyeng
    shmulyeng Posts: 472 Member
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    I don't eat them back. But I do allow myself to eat back the amount of calories I consume to fuel my exercise (gatorade, gu, etc.). I made a category in my food diary called exercise fuel.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I use MFP for my calorie goal.
    I have been losing weight steadily eating back around half of the exercise calories. If I wasn't hungry that day I probably wouldn't force myself to eat those calories as long as I was netting at least 1200.
  • _FATNSASSY
    _FATNSASSY Posts: 107 Member
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    I don't eat mine back unless my body really tells me I need to.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I do the TDEE method, which includes exercise, so yes I do, I like to keep my muscles. :D

  • sk1nnyf0rm3
    sk1nnyf0rm3 Posts: 110 Member
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    I try not to eat them back, but on days that I'm burning 1200 or more calories I usually end up dipping into them because I need the energy