Am I supposed to eat my exercise calories?

Options
2»

Replies

  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    edited February 2015
    Options
    kaylanabaker wrote: »
    Why would you?

    You burned them, what's the point in reaating them?
    anarchysbitch wrote:
    I agree, if you are starving, lacking energy, drained etc then yes, by all means eat some back but if you feel ok then don't. Simple.

    Did you read my explanation before posting?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Options
    logansjuicymom wrote: »
    I've been doing cardio 6 days a week AND consuming my exercise calories but was not losing. I am using the calories given to my by MFP (1320) and have entered lightly active as my activity level.
    Maybe I will try to not eat them this week and see if there is a difference.

    While this is how MFP is designed, a common issue with this method is underestimating intake and overestimating calorie burn and thus negating your energy deficit.

    It is important to learn to fuel your fitness though...I'd have a *kitten* of a time on a 1/2 century ride if I didn't know how to eat and how much to eat to fuel that activity.
  • Lezavargas
    Lezavargas Posts: 223 Member
    Options
    I try not to eaT them back but its my safety if i go over.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Options
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I happen to like this explanation best if you want more details: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf

    Dianne's link is great. Read it.

    My personal anecdote: Once I had a few months' data and discovered most of the inaccuracies in my logging, I discovered that I could reliably eat back exercise calories as measured by my Garmin GPS/HRM gadgets (an Edge 800 and now also a Forerunner 620), and lose weight at the rate I wanted. My earlier HRMs (from Timex and Sigma) overestimated calorie burn, though, and it took me a while to figure out how to log food with reasonable accuracy.

    Hence, I eat back exercise calories, though not always the same day (the day I burned an estimated 2,994 calories on an endurance bike ride, I ended the day with negative calories but made up for it over the next week).
  • piggykitty76
    piggykitty76 Posts: 4
    Options
    I only eat back half of my exercise calories. It seems to be working for me.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Options
    Yes you are. This finally got thoroughly pounded in for me on some multi-hour travel rides... if I don't fuel the beast, it will start protesting and with my luck do it when I'm at least a few miles from the nearest town.
  • daw0518
    daw0518 Posts: 459 Member
    Options
    I use a Fitbit and eat back just about every single one of the exercise calories I earn from it. I still find that I lose the one pound a week that I'm set to lose, so apparently my Fitbit is pretty accurate! If I was entering random exercises using MFP database though, I probably wouldn't eat them all.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    Options
    loveandchampagne wrote: »
    HELL YA! you earned those babies... now eat em up!
    yep

Categories