can someone explain why u would eat back calories?

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Replies

  • BadassCrossfitMama
    BadassCrossfitMama Posts: 110 Member
    I know that if you have a deficit you will not be able to gain muscle. But im trying to lose so I dont eat them all back but I try to stay as close to 1000 calorie net as possible.
  • _Danno_
    _Danno_ Posts: 165
    I've never eaten my calories back and it hasn't done my weight loss any harm
  • Kettle_Belle14
    Kettle_Belle14 Posts: 246 Member
    One of the main problems with eating back exercise calories, is most people don't know how many calories they burn from exercise. The MFP calorie burn estimates are TOTALLY off for me. I invested in a HR monitor, so this way I have a better estimate for how much I'm burning. Still, I'd rather be safe and not eat ALL of them back, then constantly eat them back while overestimating amount of calories burned.

    Look at it this way, if you didn't count calories at all, how would you know whether you were eating back exercise calories or not? I've been counting for 4 months now, but I won't be counting forever. Eat healthy and exercise, don't starve yourself of course, but if you are full, you shouldn't have to eat 300-400 more calories just because you "have to eat back your exercise calories".
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    One of the main problems with eating back exercise calories, is most people don't know how many calories they burn from exercise. The MFP calorie burn estimates are TOTALLY off for me. I invested in a HR monitor, so this way I have a better estimate for how much I'm burning. Still, I'd rather be safe and not eat ALL of them back, then constantly eat them back while overestimating amount of calories burned.

    Look at it this way, if you didn't count calories at all, how would you know whether you were eating back exercise calories or not? I've been counting for 4 months now, but I won't be counting forever. Eat healthy and exercise, don't starve yourself of course, but if you are full, you shouldn't have to eat 300-400 more calories just because you "have to eat back your exercise calories".

    1) MFP's calorie burns are dead on for some people.
    2) There's no guarantee your HRM is any more accurate than MFP's numbers.
    3) The problem is not with the method (whether or not to eat them back), it's with the execution (how people estimate/measure).
    4) some people can't rely on being full or only eating when they are hungry.

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