To eat the burned calories or not?!

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abakaska
abakaska Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Trying to decide whether to eat the calories I burn or not? Any advice?? 5'6" 173 burn 700 calories a night 6 days a week. I eat 3 meals a day (400calories a meal) and try to remember to snack in between...
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Replies

  • amtru2015
    amtru2015 Posts: 179 Member
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    I personally don't eat my calories burned back when I'm trying to lose. For me, that's maintaining. Personal choice though I think. I lost 20 lbs that way.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    How are you getting 700 calorie burns?
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    If you do eat them back (which I advise), then eat back 50-75% to compensate for any inaccuracy in the burns.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Read this and learn....

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    I eat them back if I'm hungry, don't if I'm not.

    Are you sure you're burning 700? That seems like an awful lot: I only get that if I run 6 miles and I only hit it twice.
  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    ya that's what I was thinking, but then you hear about "starvation mode" just got me wondering....thanks!!
  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    iam doing 5% incline at 3.5 on a treadmill 90mins
  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    great link thanks!!
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    abakaska wrote: »
    iam doing 5% incline at 3.5 on a treadmill 90mins

    What is telling you you are burning 700? That is an awful high number for walking 3.5mph

  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    The treadmill...
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    abakaska wrote: »
    The treadmill...

    Those are really inflated and inaccurate cal burns. If you're going to eat them back, eat half. You will be eating too many if you eat 700.
  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    How else would I gauge my calories burned if the equipment is over inflating them? I have yet to eat them back as of yet, looks like I will be keeping my same course. Just looking for some insight :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    1 - The way this tool is designed is that you get a calorie goal as per your stats and the activity level you told this calculator along with your desired rate of loss...this calculator calculates a calorie goal that is a deficit from your maintenance level of calories WITHOUT exercise...meaning, you just eat to that goal (consistently and accurately) and you will lose weight. Exercise is an activity that needs to be accounted for though...with MFP, you do that on the *kitten* end of the calculation when you log it and get those calories to eat back. Other calculators include such an estimate upfront in your calculation...so you are in fact eating those calories, but they're just already included in your initial goal.

    2 - Does 1200 - 700 = 500 net calories per day even sound remotely healthy or good for you? You're giving your body very little to work with to perform your other daily functions, not to mention the mere act of existing and your heart pumping, lungs working, etc.

    3 - It is likely that your burn is inflated...I don't know anybody who burns 700 calories walking for 90 minutes...my guess would be more like 400 or so tops.

    5 - This tool is designed for you to eat back burned calories, but that estimation is a difficult thing and you need to make some kind of an allowance for that inherent error.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
    edited January 2015
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    When I used a heart rate monitor walking at a moderate pace I burned an average of 300 calories in an hour so 700 in 90 mins is definitely overinflated.
  • acarmon55
    acarmon55 Posts: 135 Member
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    Most of the time I don't eat back my calories from my treadmill. I have the same problem that it over inflates the amount of calorie burn. I usually subtract at least 200 calories from the treadmill amount that it tells me and I don't log the 10 min trainer videos I do at all. The reason I don't eat the calories back is because I am not hungry though. Listen to your body and if you are hungry and are exercising, then eat some back to fuel the exercise. I agree with cwolfman13 that 500 net calories isn't much left.
  • abakaska
    abakaska Posts: 9
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    I guess walking uphill doesn't count on a treadmill? ?
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    I sometimes eat back half, sometimes none at all. I rarely eat all of them back. I feel MFP overestimates. That's just my personal feeling from having been un-lazy enough a few times to calculate energy expenditure myself and comparing that to MFP's calculations.

    Personally, though, if I were you, I'd eat them back for a couple of weeks. See what your weight does. If you don't start losing, then you can start reducing how many you can eat back until you arrive at an approximate for you.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    700 for what you are doing sounds like an overestimation for sure, just as everyone else has said.

    I eat back exercise calories if I'm hungry. If I'm not, I don't. If I do eat any back, I eat half back and not the whole amount since equipment tends to overestimate.
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
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    abakaska wrote: »
    I guess walking uphill doesn't count on a treadmill? ?

    Oh it definitely counts! :) It just might not be burning 700 calories. I use a heart rate monitor during workouts and burn about 750 calories in 90 minutes going as hard as I can on the elliptical, though I weigh less than you. Personally, I eat back some of my exercise calories if I'm hungry, but often don't since I use a weekly average and figure I might need those extra cals on the weekend for a few glasses of wine and a nice meal!

    If I were you I would log half those machine calories as they sound pretty high, and eat them or not depending on your hunger and your plans throughout the week.
  • MildredBarhopper
    MildredBarhopper Posts: 99 Member
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    I always, always eat them back...I couldn't imagine not, haha. Technically, through the week it looks like I don't eat all of them, but that's because I save calories for the weekend so by the end of the week, I will have eaten all of them back.

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