"Eating back" the calories burned during excerise

jusalil56

Okay, I've tried to search this answer online and couldn't find anything solid , but can you eat back the calories burned during exercise? Anyone have a link to provide or personal experience with rather or not you can eat back your burned calories? Thanks folks.

NauticalGypsy

Personally I'm starting out pretty slow, I've been eating less then usual and in most cases healthier with the occasional Friday Fish Fry and left overs from it. I've added work outs to my daily activity as well even if they're small workouts or walks, it's more then I use too; However I did read on another post that you should burn at least 1/2 of your goals Calorie intake if you want to see results; "If you combine calorie intake with four or five exercise sessions a week, then a 1200 calories-a-day eating plan will help you reach your weight-loss goals. Aim to burn 400 to 800 calories each time (or 600 to 1000 if you weigh over 100kg), and add to that a mega-session on Saturdays that burns 1000 calories or more." hope that helps! I'm learning myself! So other answers by the more experienced would be great! I myself am on a 1200 calorie diet.

jemhh

Mfp's calorie goal is calculated in a way that excludes exercise. This means that your deficit for weight loss is built in and then you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. Some people find that the mfp exercise calories are overstatef. Some do not. My duggestion is to pick a set amount (50%, 75%, etc.), eat that amount of exercise calories for 4 weeks, and then evaluate your progress.

FWIW, I eat all of my exercise calories and lose weight.

veganbaum

If you are using MFP, eat them back (or a percentage to account for possible inaccuracies).

If you are using TDEE, you're already eating them back.

Either way, you should be accounting for them and eating them to appropriately fuel your body.


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

jusalil56

THANKS guys!!!

sijomial

Yes that's how this particular site is designed to work.
If you do a significant amount of exercise you will end up increasing the calorie deficit to a potentially inappropriate level if you don't.

Just be cautious with how you estimate calorie burns, standard activities (such as walking and running) on here should be reasonable but there's some "wishful thinking" entries in the database too.

Personal experience. I always ate back all my exercise calories when losing weight (although I put a bit more effort into ensuring my estimates are reasonable than most!).
You will have to account for exercise when you get to goal weight - so why not when losing weight as well?

jemhh

Yes, do be attentive to the accuracy of your calorie counts, both for food and for exercise. It makes a big difference. There's a lot of loosey goosey estimating on mfp. I think it's a personality thing but, regardless, it will make a huge difference in your success or lack thereof.