Do yall eat back the calories you burn during exercise?

bethheyyy · June 2013

I am wondering if your supposed to or not?

Thanks!

diannethegeek · June 2013

Yes, if you set your profile up accurately MFP is designed for you to eat those extra calories you earn. With the caveat that MFP's estimates can be off a bit from what your body actually burns. Why else do you think MFP would add them to your daily goal?

scribe68 · June 2013

I did at first but once day I did yard work in 95 degree heat and burned about 600 calories. I couldn't see how I could eat all that so had pizza, 3 slices over the course of the night. I woke up bloated and 2 lbs heavier). It was temporary. So now I just try to stick with my 1200 a day and if I exercise I might eat a little more but otherwise just ignore the warning when I complete my day (you're not heating enough!!!)

This is probably bad advice but I just started a few weeks ago.

aszwarc · June 2013

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017416-earning-calories-with-exercise-to-eat-or-not-to-eat

MissJacquelineN · June 2013

So I saw "yall" and knew you were one of my people! lol.

I sometimes do- it just depends if I'm hungry and/or how my workout looks the following day. If it's a light day or I don't work out at all, I tend to avoid eating them back.

Mistyfied_MD · June 2013

I don't generally use the exercise calories burned to eat more calories. Only once or twice I indulged in something extra if I wanted it.

cw822 · June 2013

Try eating back your calories with something that is actually good for you, like lean meat, veggies/fruit instead of crap. The bloat is from the sodium, not that you ate back any calories you burned.

pinkpatron · June 2013

I try, but with burning 800-1k Cal a day, its hard. I usually have 1k calories left over to eat but I always try to eat filling, healthy foods.

Agannon0728 · June 2013

NO!! I never eat them back.. I always work out at night,and refuse to eat late and then go to sleep !!

pastryari · June 2013

cwolfman13 · June 2013

Get out your dictionary and look up the word goal. Then look at the word next to your calories...you will note it is the word goal. A goal is something to be achieved. Yes, you're supposed to eat them back...here's why.

You need to understand the method of calorie counting you are using. MFP is a NEAT method calculator (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) as opposed to a TDEE calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). These differ primarily in your activity level setting.

With a NEAT method calculator like MFP you're not supposed to include exercise in your activity level setting...only your day to day hum drum. So, when you do this properly, you get a calorie GOAL that includes a deficit for weight loss (depending on how much you told MFP you wanted to lose per week) that is NET of any exercise you do...meaning exercise is an extra activity requiring fuel.

The pros to a NEAT method calculator are that if you're new to exercise of inconsistent in your exercise, it's not biggie...just net to your goal and you'll lose weight. The downside is that most people have no clue what kind of tool they're using and have a serious calorie deficit built into 1200 calories and then they go do a **** ton of exercise and end up netting like 500 calories for the day...this is pretty much ED territory here.

When I did MFP, I ate back roughly 70% of my calories per my HRM and I lost at an average rate of what I told MFP I wanted to lose...1 Lb per week. I only ate back 70% to account for estimation error...data bases are pretty unreliable...machines are more reliable and HRM's are the most reliable, but it's all estimation. Just make sure you're not overestimating burn and/or underestimating intake...these are the most common pitfalls and the most common reason why people who are supposedly "doing everything right" don't see progress.

MelissaL582 · June 2013

I will usually eat half of what I burnt.

Onesnap · June 2013

Yes.

Here's my personal example.

1,200 calories consumed.
500 calorie workout done
That leaves only 700 calories that will have fueled my healthy 36 year old active body.

Not going to happen.

Also, this issue has been discussed on here for many years. Check out some past posts that may be helpful to you:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1013246-tdee-20-do-you-eat-back-exercise-calories?hl=eating+back+exercise#posts-15523193

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1010052-eating-back-calories?hl=eating+back#posts-15586062

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1014954-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories?hl=eating+back#posts-15550537

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1014525-can-someone-explain-why-u-would-eat-back-calories?hl=eating+back&page=2#posts-15544671

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1011388-exercise-calories?hl=exercise+calories#posts-15491477

cwolfman13 · June 2013

just log exercise....yeah...you might have the odd day of extra yard work or extra cleaning...but it's an isolated incident, not routine activity. Don't log that stuff...just actual exercise. My philosophy...I've always done a lot of yard work and cleaning, and I still got fat...it's not exercise.

diannethegeek · June 2013

You could try planning your day better and eating some of the calories you are going to burn before you burn them?

MelissaL582 · June 2013

This.

zytah · June 2013

I did eat my calories back when I first started (they were delicious!). as time went on I started eating less and less of my calories back. just wasn't hungry anymore. I will still indulge in a nice snack once in awhile but I think my body trained itself to tell me "I don't need to eat that right now" which is nice.

fitwithcurves · June 2013

I try not to (unless it's on one of my indulgence days).

Onesnap · June 2013

If I spend all day raking my yard I'm logging it. Bad advice to not log it. I always add something new to my workout routine and if I do something like kayaking but only once per month and hurt for two days afterwards you can bet your bottom I'm logging it as a workout.

Joehenny · June 2013

NO

bajoyba · June 2013

Always.
I may eat most of them and leave a little left over to make room for error, but I never leave them completely uneaten. The calorie goal that MFP gives you already has the necessary deficit built in. If you don't eat any of your exercise calories, the deficit is larger than it needs to be and increases the possibility that you will lose muscle mass as well as fat.
My ticker is proof that eating back your exercise calories totally works.

JonathanBB · June 2013

That short term weight gain may well have been due to the huge amounts of sodium in the pizza causing water retention, nit eating too many calories. Eat back your exercise calories. It is the fuel your body needs to run on. It is like expecting your car to go the same distance on 1 gallon of gas and 10 gallons of gas. If you take a long trip or are stuck in a lot of traffic you need to refill the tank more than if you are just doing your normal driving around town. Same with your body: if you are working it harder it needs more fuel than it does for just normal everyday activities.

Onesnap · June 2013

I've always been a healthy weight so I say log it. Gotta fuel the machine.

DopeItUp · June 2013

Of course.

Onesnap · June 2013

Thank you. There's no way the person ate an extra 3,500 calories on top of maintenance from pizza alone and actually gained 2 lbs.

Onesnap · June 2013

Yep, I lost 20 lbs in 2011 using MFP and ate back all of my exercise cals.

mrslcoop · June 2013

No. Here is what I do: On cardio days I eat back up to my BMR at a minimum (around 1450). On lifting days I eat my TDEE-15% + 200 Kcals (which is usually 1800-ish for me).

EDIT: I'm trying to lose only 1/2 or less lbs per week.

MaydayParadeGirl · June 2013

That's a good idea because your body burns less calories when you are sleeping and therefore is storing more foods, you aren't supposed to eat for like...three hours before you go to bed or something? At least anything heavy

cwolfman13 · June 2013

If I did it as a matter of routine, I would log it...otherwise I'm just having a few extra hard earned beers. I don't think it's bad advice...it's an isolated incident, not routine...no harm is going to come to the body if it's not routine.

TDavis0001 · June 2013

I usually burn about 600 per day, and I make it a point to not consume at least 500 of them.

kgraves3 · June 2013

You should absolutely eat back your exercise calories. If you're worried that you will overestimate them, I wouldn't be. I personally don't count things like house or yard work (even though they are in the MFP database) because MFP takes into account that sort of activity, based on how you describe your daily activity level. It's not vital that you eat ALL of your exercise calories, but you need to be eating the majority of them. Not doing so could cause you to go into starvation mode, because it drastically increases your calorie deficit. MFP was designed with all of these things in mind.
The calorie goal that MFP sets for you is more accurately a NET calorie goal, meaning the difference between what you eat and what you burn through deliberate exercise should equal your calorie goal.
For instance, my calorie goal is 1200 kcal/day. So to put my situation mathematically:
calories eaten - calories expenditure through exercise = 1200
Again, it's not absolutely vital that you eat every single exercise calorie your burn every single day, but you should eat most of them. Here's a more detailed explanation of why you should always eat your exercise calories (for future reference, this can be found in the Newbies Read Me 2 Post in General Diet and Weight Loss Help along with answers to other frequently asked questions): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

And to scribe68, pizza is sodium laden, so that bloating and temporary two pound weight gain was probably water retention rather than fat gain, if I had to give my non-expert opinion on it. To gain two pounds overnight you would need to eat a calorie surplus of over 7000 kcal.

And if you are still skeptical, my own experience has shown that eating them doesn't necessarily slow weight loss. I average almost three pounds of weight loss per week (which is unusually high) and I eat the majority of my exercise calories every day.

Do yall eat back the calories you burn during exercise?

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