Are you supposed to eat back your calories you burn?

lauraesh0384

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

ncboiler89

Eat back your exercise calories if you want. Just be careful as they are sometimes overstated.

Dnarules

If you use the TDEE method and take exercise into consideration, you do not eat back the calories, but you should work on trying to meet your calorie goal.

Dnarules

Pu_239 wrote: »

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

increase your fat to get higher calories. Yes you're supposed to eat them back, that's why they are given to you. MFP ASSUMES you won't exercise. If you have your goal to lose lets say 1lbs a week, it will deduct 500 calories from your non exercise.......... to tired to even explain this, nevermind, just eat them back.

But she mentioned using TDEE.

lauraesh0384

Pu_239 wrote: »

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

increase your fat to get higher calories. Yes you're supposed to eat them back, that's why they are given to you. MFP ASSUMES you won't exercise. If you have your goal to lose lets say 1lbs a week, it will deduct 500 calories from your non exercise.......... to tired to even explain this, nevermind, just eat them back.

My diet is already 65-70% fat lol. I'm not sure how I can add in more fat than I already do. I eat cheese, mayo, full fat salad dressings, etc.

syndeo

yes, eat them back. Or you will potentially lose weight faster then you intend. Or risk lean muscle mass by not eating enough. Be careful with the "earned" calories though, they may be overstated. I tend to eat a few hundred less then it says. Ie, 3700 total, I will eat only 3200-3500 that day. It is also hard to eat that much.

The TDEE calculator at IIFYM is only a guess as well. It gave me <2500 calories a day, which includes my exercise. When I work out (6 days a week), I burn 1200 cals+.

bpetrosky

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

No, you took in 1450 calories. You just burned 400 more than you would have without the exercise, so you increased the deficit. So if your net deficit is 500 cals without exercise, you would be at 900 deficit with the exercise. MFP accounts for that by adding to your calorie target.

While I don't care for Atkins, and carbophobia in general, it's your choice which way to get and stay in deficit. Maybe a good whey protein supplement would help you boost your calories up a bit without adding much in the way of carbs.

Also, you don't have to eat back all of the calories you burn, especially since it's easy to overestimate exercise calories. A rule of thumb many people use is to eat back about 50%.

lauraesh0384

Pu_239 wrote: »

Dnarules wrote: »

Pu_239 wrote: »

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

increase your fat to get higher calories. Yes you're supposed to eat them back, that's why they are given to you. MFP ASSUMES you won't exercise. If you have your goal to lose lets say 1lbs a week, it will deduct 500 calories from your non exercise.......... to tired to even explain this, nevermind, just eat them back.

But she mentioned using TDEE.

Okay yes, I will assume she's trying to lose weight and might be confused. If not, ignore my post OP

I am trying to lose weight. And yes, I am a bit confused regarding TDEE, which is why I posted asking. I didn't even know about TDEE until about a week ago.

Dnarules

Pu_239 wrote: »

Dnarules wrote: »

Pu_239 wrote: »

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

increase your fat to get higher calories. Yes you're supposed to eat them back, that's why they are given to you. MFP ASSUMES you won't exercise. If you have your goal to lose lets say 1lbs a week, it will deduct 500 calories from your non exercise.......... to tired to even explain this, nevermind, just eat them back.

But she mentioned using TDEE.

Okay yes, I will assume she's trying to lose weight and might be confused. If not, ignore my post OP

Actually I wasn't 100 percent sure here.

OP, it depends on your method. If you determine a TDEE that takes exercise into account, you don't eat them back. If you use the MFP method, you do eat them.

shadow2soul

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

So, I used a calculator on IIFYM to see what my TDEE is. I got that if I work out I should consume 1700-1800 calories and if I don't between 1500-1550. The part that confuses me is say I eat 1700 and burn 400 calories through exercise, am I supposed to eat back some or none of those calories? My main concern is I don't want to eat too low of calories. Today I definitely ate around 1450 calories then burned an additional 400. So if I'm thinking I understand right, I basically only took in 1,050 calories, right?

My issue is I follow the Atkins WOE and some days it's hard for me to even go over 1600. I would really have to tinker with my food log to get there. For a little bit I basically just ate when I was hungry and didn't think too much on calories, but I believe I was actually undereating which is why I created an account here to see how much I was actually eating, and also to avoid carb creep.

If your following TDEE, you wouldn't add the extra 400. The reason is that, if set up properly, your exercise calories are factored into the calorie goal the calculator gives you.

When you do, MFP's method, then you eat back some - all of your exercise calorie burns because they weren't taken into account. A good place to start when doing this method is 50% of exercise calorie burns and then adjust up or down based on your rate of loss.

With TDEE, your calorie goal is the same everyday of the week.
With MFP's method, days you workout you get to eat more than days you don't.

lauraesh0384

Okay, thank you, everyone. I appreciate the help!