Earning calories with exercise: to eat or not to eat...?

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Replies

  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    As others have said MFP sets you up with your vital stats and your job/daily routine activity. So anything you do during your work day should be accounted for, but your exercise activity is not so it should be eaten back.
  • Johanne1957
    Johanne1957 Posts: 167 Member
    The premise behind the daily caloric amount giving is based on your BMR (NOT BMI -- they are different things) multiplied by your daily activity level.

    SO if you were honest (like putting sedentary because you sit at a desk all day like me) and stick to that then adding back calories earned when exercising actually makes perfect sense. Here is why:

    A sedentary person does not exercise.

    You see the BMR multiplied by 1.2 for Sedentary, gives you a daily caloric requirement that you need to eat NOT INCLUDING any exercise or extracurricular physical activity. Then MFP sets a target daily caloric amount in order to meet your weight loss goals based on this alone.

    So, if you work out, do cardio, work in the garden etc then you would have to eat those calories back in order to maintain your projected deficit. Not doing so could result in binging due to excessive hunger because you're put yourself into a greater deficit.

    My daily caloric needs are 2450 calories. That's my BMR times the rate for a 47 year old 235 pound man sitting at a desk all day. If I want to lose 2 pounds per month then I need to eat 1450 a day (1000 per day times 7 days equals 7000 calories not eating or 2lbs I SHOULD lose -- doesn't always work that way). Therefore if I ride my mountain bike for an hour at about 13mph I can burn an additional 1000 calories....to not eat those back would mean I took in only 450.

    450 calories in one day is starvation.
    ^^^This - Great explanation. Thank you.
  • andrewjuu
    andrewjuu Posts: 76 Member
    I think what some people are missing is that although the information you get here on MFP is helpful, the process of weight loss is not etched in stone & can differ based on the many factors that go into the numbers. Remember that the estimates you get for your daily calorie target are just that, estimates. Through trial and error I found what works best for me, and that is not eating my earned exercise calories. But by all means, do what works for you!
  • LeanneGoingThin
    LeanneGoingThin Posts: 215 Member
    I eat mine back. It's important to keep your NET calories at or above your BMR.
    Why is this, if I may ask?
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    Thanks ")

    I had some typo's in there (like if you wanted to lose 2lbs a month -- I meant a week).

    A note on walking in the evenings: You CAN and some argue SHOULD walk right after your evening meal.

    I know this seems contrary to what most often say but research has shown that a slower walk 2.5-3.5mph) after a meal, that is right after a meal, will help with digestion, help absorb the new calories and speed up your metabolism at a time when it most often is slowing down.

    I prefer to walk immediately following my dinner but with the summer approaching it can get pretty warm here (normally it would be in the 100's already but this year it's been a cool spring and it's been in the 70's and 80's) so when the heat rises I push my evening walks to when the sun is about to drop below the horizon or just after. It's usually cooler at this time yet still light enough to not need flashlights :)

    But that's off topic!

    One more thing to consider when eating back calories is the balance of what you are eating. If your intake is increased by increasing protein and you've just included more physical activity in your life then it is very likely that you will gain more muscle or arrest the loss of muscle. This may cause frustration because you might think your weight loss plan isn't working. Give it time! Truth is, muscle weighs more then fat and while you are losing fat you might be adding muscle -- in which case it's actually possible to GAIN a little weight or not drop weight during periods where you are exercising a lot and eating more protein...but in the end lean muscle mass burns more calories and you will begin to lose the fat (hence the advice to check inches not pounds all the time).

    Case in point: on 6/3 my weight dropped to 234.6lbs. I was very happy! I was really starting to push myself and riding 13 miles at lunch 2 or 3 days a week so I increased my protein intake by adding 1 or 2 30gram protein bars to my snacks and making sure I drank 2 or 3 protein shakes (27ea) a day also. I pushed my protein up by as much as 141 grams on some days! Today I weighed in at 235.4 and while I have been fluctuating between 234 and 235 I noticed that I lost another inch on my stomach and 1/2" on my waist. This is the result of increased lean muscle mass (hence the increased weight) and the cardio burning off the fat. I fully expect my weight to drop again soon but I'm not going to stress over it because I know that weight doesn't drop in a linear easy to calculate pattern. Instead it seems to drop and then stall and then drop some more and then stall and so on.

    So be prepared to see your weight sort of 'stair step' down as you continue to monitor your foods, maintain an accurate (as can be) log, stick to your goals and include cardio and/or weight training.

    Good luck!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I eat mine back. It's important to keep your NET calories at or above your BMR.
    Why is this, if I may ask?

    Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) .... are the calories required if you were in a coma. Your heart, lungs, kidneys, etc. are using calories all day long.

    Eating very low calorie is very taxing on the body. When you are eating very few calories maintaining existing muscle mass is secondary to the basic bodily functions above. There is "healthy" weight loss that spares muscle tissue .... and fast weight loss.
  • freckledrats
    freckledrats Posts: 251 Member
    It depends. If your intake already takes into account your activity and the exercise is not above and beyond, then no. If you use the sedentary intake, then you should eat some back at least, since you do need to fuel your activity. It's not an exact science as there are gonna be overestimates and underestimates both ways, but I think eating some back is pretty safe.
  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
    I save them and cheat on weekends.....
  • crimsoncat
    crimsoncat Posts: 457 Member
    The only thing that motivates me to exercise some days is wanting more food. I eat mine back.
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
    Eat em back for a month and see what happens, than try not eating them back for a month and see what happens. See which way works best for you, believe it or not everyone is not the same!!! I personally eat back some (25-75%) of them to so I do not overeat the estimated calories.
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
    I eat mine back. It's important to keep your NET calories at or above your BMR.
    Why is this, if I may ask?

    Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) .... are the calories required if you were in a coma. Your heart, lungs, kidneys, etc. are using calories all day long.

    Eating very low calorie is very taxing on the body. When you are eating very few calories maintaining existing muscle mass is secondary to the basic bodily functions above. There is "healthy" weight loss that spares muscle tissue .... and fast weight loss.
    hDC5A5D9D
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    The only thing that motivates me to exercise some days is wanting more food. I eat mine back.

    haha Love it! That's me sometimes too! Usually after dinner when my wife makes brownies ;)
  • superfox12082
    superfox12082 Posts: 512 Member
    In order to lose weight, aren't you supposed to have a calorie deficit? I am also confused on this issue. Sometimes I end up eating (or drinking) them back and sometimes I don't. :frown:
  • superfox12082
    superfox12082 Posts: 512 Member
    I save them and cheat on weekends.....

    I like this idea.
  • jessdunn27
    jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
    I save them and cheat on weekends.....


    Aren't these calorie goals a daily thing and not something you can save up to cheat on weekends?
  • beelanc
    beelanc Posts: 71 Member
    bump...great explanations without referring me to "the roadmap" string. That sucker can get pretty darn confusing. LOL
  • zinatara
    zinatara Posts: 76 Member
    I don't always eat all of them, but I eat some and if I'm hungry or want a treat I can eat them all. I'm not one of the people that love working out, so for me it's a motivator.
  • DenyseMarieL
    DenyseMarieL Posts: 673 Member
    Hell yes, I eat them. I earned them, after all.
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    In order to lose weight, aren't you supposed to have a calorie deficit? I am also confused on this issue. Sometimes I end up eating (or drinking) them back and sometimes I don't. :frown:

    Yes of course but eating back calories you burned does not negate the deficit.

    If your BMR times activity level gives you 2000 calories per day and you reduce that to 1500 per day (a 500 cal deficit) then you should be able to lose about 1lb per week. This is what you do when you set your goals, you tell MFP to tell you how much to eat.

    So now you're eating 500 less per day and go out and walk for 3 miles and burn 300 calories....if you don't eat them back your deficit would be 800 -- the same as if you only ate 1200 calories and didn't exercise.

    If you are already down to 1200 a day -- which is VERY LOW -- and exercise for an hour and burn 500 calories that would be like eating 700 and not exercising....you would be starving.

    Eating back what you burn just brings you UP to your deficit goal.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    I was just thinking about this.. being able to eat my exercise calories back makes doing this bearable...or easy. . For me, it is diet survival to eat them back. I'll see how it goes.
  • jessdunn27
    jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
    The only thing that motivates me to exercise some days is wanting more food. I eat mine back.

    haha Love it! That's me sometimes too! Usually after dinner when my wife makes brownies ;)

    Totally understand this concept. Before I got confused on the issue and asked the question, I always ate the calories. When I first started the diet, the drastic calorie reduction was so difficult for me that exercising was the only way I earned calories to be able to eat something for dinner!! :) That only lasted about a week, though, before my body adjusted.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    I don't eat mine back, when I do I DO NOT lose, when I don't, I lose!!! That's just MY body... it doesn't like the whole "eat more to weigh less" philosphy!!

    I'm not entirely sure that 'eating back your exercise calories' is part of Eat more to Weigh less so much as "The Way The Website Is Set Up To Work"


    That said I use TDEE-20% and custom set my calories, so no I don't eat them back. I am slowly upping them tho. It seems that if I work out 4-5 hours a week that makes me moderately active when means Moar Food. And I will take an excuse for more food.
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    I was just thinking about this.. being able to eat my exercise calories back makes doing this bearable...or easy. . For me, it is diet survival to eat them back. I'll see how it goes.

    Yup :) probably for most of us.

    I used to eat 2800 calories per day on average....today I try to eat half that!!! Yikes! Talk about a fight. But each time I go out and ride 13 miles or walk 4 I know I get more calories so I eat some or all of them back -- my daily deficit is 1000 calories so if I burn 600 and eat 600 more then normal I'm still doing fine :) and I'm full :D
  • superfox12082
    superfox12082 Posts: 512 Member
    Thanks Erik.
  • girlnherdog
    girlnherdog Posts: 9
    i like your thinking! i'm going to try it. thanks!
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member


    That said I use TDEE-20%

    Using MFPs calculators my level is equivalent to using a TDEE calculator and doing about TDEE-25% when I eat back what I burn.
  • manique45
    manique45 Posts: 99 Member
    i do not eat the calories i earn. i only eat the normal daily intake and this speeds up my fatloss


    Speeds up your muscle loss as well......................


    MFP as DESIGNED expects you to eat your calories back. The calorie deficit is built in BEFORE exercise. When you exercise you increase the deficit...... too large a deficit speeds up weight loss ..... fat PLUS muscle = weight.

    Also (look up VLCD)..... when your deficit is large you are prone to plateaus also.

    Just be careful not to eat too many calories back .... machnes & MFP are "guesstimates" .... one of the key factors is exertion level.... no way MFP or machines can know that.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^ Great explanation!! I am living proof.... plateaus here its aweful
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    Good luck!

    I prefer to not starve so I'm willing to work hard to gain back the right to eat a little more :D:D (Big cheesy grin)
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    plateaus happen anyway. Fact is the human body isn't going to lose perfectly the way we want it to every week. Sure some do see mechanically accurate losses but most don't. Drop 5 one week and stabilize for two then drop 5 more and drop 3 and then gain one and sit there for a week or two before losing 4 a week 3 in a row! lol

    That's been my experience for the last 45 pounds I've lost!
  • AlyssaJoJo
    AlyssaJoJo Posts: 449 Member
    The only thing that motivates me to exercise some days is wanting more food. I eat mine back.

    This is me - every day. But between doing my "real" work out, my evening walk, and my fitbit I never eat them all back. But I also eat anywhere between 1600 and 1900 calories a day depending on my activity level.

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