Argument for not eating/entering exercise cals?

kiela64

I've noticed some people mention they don't enter their exercise, or they enter it but don't eat it back. I'm wondering what the reason for this is?

I'm thinking about trying to do that today/this week, because I was 1000cal over my goal yesterday (yikes! Still learning!). Though I think that would technically be eating them back, if retroactively.

But what's the reason behind not touching them at all, I'm curious?

IsaackGMOON

Well it depends on a few circumstances;

• Whether you're using the MFP NEAT method*
• Whether you're using the TDEE method
• How many calories you're eating on the MFP NEAT method*

If someone does the MFP NEAT method and eats 1200 calories, but doesn't eat back her exercise calories, then that's stupid because they'll be netting a low amount.

Eating back 50-75% of your exercise calories is advised just to compensate for inaccuracies.

kiela64

Alright, makes sense. Sorry for the missing info& thanks for your response!

I'm following the MFP method. I tried looking up TDEE & it's confusing to me. My exercise level also varies week to week, so I don't think it would work so well in my case.

I'm not eating 1200cals, I found it too low for me so I'm at 1300. At first I was eating 100% of the exercise cals, then I was trying 50%.

I thought maybe not eating them back this week might minimize the damage from overeating yesterday & keep me closer to on track. Do you think so?

Pinnacle_IAO

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

Well it depends on a few circumstances;

• Whether you're using the MFP NEAT method*
• Whether you're using the TDEE method
• How many calories you're eating on the MFP NEAT method*

If someone does the MFP NEAT method and eats 1200 calories, but doesn't eat back her exercise calories, then that's stupid because they'll be netting a low amount.

Eating back 50-75% of your exercise calories is advised just to compensate for inaccuracies.

Well said!
Though some do it to crash diet, most are just looking for an easier way to have steady, daily food intake.
The key is that 1 pound per week target.
I think that's the best goal for safe, steady results that last and contribute to optimal health as well.

Soopatt

Not eating them back for a few days after you have gone over seems a sound strategy, if you regularly eat them back as you are creating a compensation deficit to make up for the time you were over. You don't have to, but if you can, why not?

I don't log my exercise and consider it a bonus, but it really would not make a big difference if I did, it would be a tiny amount of extra food as all I do is ride an exercise bike every now and then. I don't know why people get so hysterical about it. A few extra bites of something? Who could be bothered? If I am starving I will have it, but if I am indifferent, I would rather bank those calories and lose more weight. I eat at 1200 and leave it at that. When I go over, I forgive myself and move on.

Weight loss is achieved through calorie control for the most part. You can't exercise your way out of a a bad diet as they say.

iLoveMyPitbull1225

I think it's due to the fact that the burns are just estimates and therefore it's highly likely that they are inaccurate.

IsaackGMOON

To be honest @kae612 , eating back 50-75% would be ok for you (I would say 75%).

When people eat at 1200 calories (mainly females), I usually say eat back 100% of your calories because it's such a low amount... they'll still be in a deficit most likely.

slaite1

kae612 wrote: »

Alright, makes sense. Sorry for the missing info& thanks for your response!

I'm following the MFP method. I tried looking up TDEE & it's confusing to me. My exercise level also varies week to week, so I don't think it would work so well in my case.

I'm not eating 1200cals, I found it too low for me so I'm at 1300. At first I was eating 100% of the exercise cals, then I was trying 50%.

I thought maybe not eating them back this week might minimize the damage from overeating yesterday & keep me closer to on track. Do you think so?

That's a fine idea. Some of my friends exercise all week and save their exercise calories to splurge on the weekend. You're basically doing the same thing. I use TDEE but often save calories when I go over.

Just don't overdo it. If you're eating 1300 and burn a huge amount, maybe eat back at least some of them, just less than normal. It does not have to be perfect. Don't starve yourself to hit perfect numbers for the week

shroodle88

I find it really hard to stay on 1200 without eating some exercise back. It just gets too depressing to be constantly watching every carrot. So I use exercise as a bonus and try to eat back half maximum. Sometimes I can allow myself a splurge and can make it up over the next day or two. It seems like win/win to me: I have more energy, build muscle, get to eat more AND stay under my kilojoule goal. Weightloss is quite slow but steady.

IsaackGMOON

shroodle88 wrote: »

I find it really hard to stay on 1200 without eating some exercise back. It just gets too depressing to be constantly watching every carrot. So I use exercise as a bonus and try to eat back half maximum. Sometimes I can allow myself a splurge and can make it up over the next day or two. It seems like win/win to me: I have more energy, build muscle, get to eat more AND stay under my kilojoule goal. Weightloss is quite slow but steady.

This is why I think 1200 calories shouldn't be the minimum for females... it sucks.

Sorry, but you're not going to be building muscle on 1200 net calories. Not one chance.

kiela64

Thanks everyone!

Yes of course perfection is definitely not possible, and I will listen to my body - if I feel weak or headachy I would definitely eat something. I don't do massive amounts of exercise, it would be maybe 200cal burned/day I work out.

Saving exercise calories for an event sounds like something I might try in the future as well (social eating can be my downfall lol). But on average eating back 50% seems good too.

I agree with the 1lb/week thing, that's definitely my goal I'm aiming for 20lbs down by the new year.

Thanks for all your responses

Soopatt

iLoveMyPitbull1225 wrote: »

I think it's due to the fact that the burns are just estimates and therefore it's highly likely that they are inaccurate.

Just to add to this -

Yes, this is why I don't log my exercise, little that it is. I also like having a small buffer on my food calories by not logging exercise, which means I don't have to stress about my guess work when I go to a restaurant or have a latte from a cafe, log a "medium" pear or lick a peanut butter knife (those sorts of entries are notoriously off in the database and add calories you can't be sure of).

I never lose more than 0.5kg a week eating 1200, sometimes less. If I was overdoing it and starving myself it would be dropping off me. It's not - it is going at the pace it should be.

I think it also depends on how accurately you log, on how lenient you can be on exercise calories. I am sometimes a lazy logger, which means I need a buffer. How sharp is your logging? Only you can answer that question.

jkal1979

Some of the reasons why some people say they don't eat them back:

• Lack of understanding how MFP works
• They want to speed up their weight loss
• Their doctor/nutritionist/personal trainer told them not to
• They use them as a buffer for inaccuracies in their food diary
• They follow the TDEE method where an exercise calorie estimate is already included in their calorie goal

kiela64

^ true! Exactly!

My logging is definitely not perfect. I guesstimate peanut butter because measuring it in a measuring spoon when it's so sticky.... I try to guess a little higher than I'd think, but still - definitely not perfect, no food scale, so even measured accuracy may vary.

My 1300 goal counts that I should lose 1.3lbs/week. The .3 imo is a buffer. I'm just aiming for 1lb/week, and that would make me happy.

I'm also still figuring out strategies to keep my eating under control in social or stressful situations, so like yesterday there are less good days.

jessicarobinson00

I don't log my exercise...that is unless I happen to have an entire blowout diet day..then I do. My reasoning is this: I don't use a food scale, so I'm banking on the fact that I need some wiggle room for underestimating what I'm putting in my body AND I find it difficult to gauge how many calories I'm actually burning when I'm exercising.
I saw a MFP member log 500 calories burned for 50 minutes of breast feeding...I'm going to say probably not! I err on the side of caution.

earlnabby

kae612 wrote: »

^ true! Exactly!

My logging is definitely not perfect. I guesstimate peanut butter because measuring it in a measuring spoon when it's so sticky.... I try to guess a little higher than I'd think, but still - definitely not perfect, no food scale, so even measured accuracy may vary.

Quick tip on the peanut butter. Put the jar on your scale and hit "tare" so it weighs zero. Take peanut butter out with a knife until the number of grams you want have been removed This will show up on your scale as a negative 32 grams (or whatever).

Playing around with your exercise calories as a way to compensate for a day where you overate or banking them for a special occasion is just fine. That is one way to do a form of intermittent fasting. On an everyday basis, you should be eating back a portion of them. How many of them depends on you, your calorie target, where you get the burn info from, your weekly weight loss target, etc. If your calorie target is closer to 1200 and/or your weekly loss goal is 2 lb a week, you should definitely make sure you eat back a good sized portion of exercise calories. If you have wiggle room (slower loss rate and/or higher calorie targets), play with them to find the right portion for you to eat.

I was brand new to the idea of NEAT when I started MFP. I set my weight loss target to 1 lb. a week. I got a Fitbit and started a water aerobics class. I ate back 50% of mt Fitbit calories earned and 25% of those earned from logging my class at first, and averaged a little over 1.5 lb. a week. I could easily, and safely, lose 2 lb a week at the weight I was but I kept the target where it was so I had wiggle room as I figured out the exercise calorie thing. After several months, I settled in to a routine where I eat back almost all of my Fitbit calories (they are pretty accurate) and about 50% of calories earned from logged exercise. I am closer to goal so my losses have slowed down to a little under 1 lb. a week.

kiela64

Cool! I'll keep that in mind for when I get my food scale.

G33K_G1RL

I use the TDEE methos so I don't log or eat back my exercise calories, EXCEPT when I go for a 50+ km bike ride or a day long hike. Then I'll eat dinner until satiated, and usually I end up eating 1/3 to 1/2 of my exercise calories back (over my usual calorie goal).

cupcakesplz

I don't eat my exercise calories back.
Not because I think I will lose more weight each week, but because I am finding it hard to eat them all.
I am working on eating them by drink full cream milk and cheese.
I am still learning and trying to find my balance.
I use my Fitbit charger HR and I love doing extra work outs during the day
I just can't bring my self to eating 1000 extra a day. Over the past 3 years I have put on 20 kg's and I am scared of eating food!

cld111

I exercise for the sole purpose of being able to eat more, so yes, I eat them back! But, I'm currently burning 500-1000 calories in exercise per day. If it was 200 or less, I probably wouldn't eat them back and just use it as a buffer.

BasicGreatGuy

At this point, I rarely eat some of my calories back. If I were hungry I certainly would. My metabolism is getting faster and faster. Very shortly, I can see me eating some of my calories back on a regular basis.

I use a heart rate monitor with my training every day. So, I have much more confidence in it and the numbers I am seeing in my training stats, than with MFP etc. I look to it first, if I am still hungry.

Francl27

IMO it depends how accurate you are with your logging and how much you have to lose.

I didn't eat them back at first, but I was estimating my portions, so probably eating more than I thought, I had no idea how much I was actually burning, and I had 80 pounds to lose. In this case, you probably don't have to eat them back.

If you weigh all your food though, you can probably safely eat back 50% of your exercise calories. The bottom line is that there is such thing as a too large deficit, and you might end up burning more muscle if your deficit is too large and you don't have that much to lose (and not getting enough energy and nutrition either).

Personally I just switched to the TDEE -20% method anyway after 4 months because I walk a lot and it was just a pain to have to enter every single walk and workout as exercise, and that's how I lost most of my weight. I also weigh my food.

earlnabby

cupcakesplz wrote: »

I don't eat my exercise calories back.
Not because I think I will lose more weight each week, but because I am finding it hard to eat them all.
I am working on eating them by drink full cream milk and cheese.
I am still learning and trying to find my balance.
I use my Fitbit charger HR and I love doing extra work outs during the day
I just can't bring my self to eating 1000 extra a day. Over the past 3 years I have put on 20 kg's and I am scared of eating food!

I have this problem on my pool days (3 times a week). Between walking my 10000 steps plus swimming 1.25 miles and a water aerobics class, I have about 1200 extra calories to eat. That is too much food. I typically eat back about 1/3 of them and the only way I can get up that high is by adding a glass of wine to my dinner.

edwardetr

I wanted to lose 1-2 lbs per week. The bulk of my exercise is a crossfit program that I guess to be generally consistent in effort from one week to the next. I started tracking my daily calorie consumption and tried to get it to be the same every day. I weighed myself every day to verify my weight was stable. I then reduced my caloric intake and I weighed myself every day and waited two weeks to see where my weight went. It was on track. If it were off, I would have adjusted my caloric intake accordingly. I have absolutely no idea how many calories I actually burn during exercise or my BMR or RMR. There are so many things that affect your calorie output, I don't understand how it can be accurately calculated. I use the only numbers I feel I have control over, my caloric intake and my weight.

cupcakesplz

If I don't lose weight next week I will know if I need to eat more!

CSARdiver

I don't log specific exercises here as I use the Polar app for this. I use the estimate Fitbit provides considering that is on the lower end of the estimation, but my goal is to maintain a deficit currently.

Considering there is a 20% degree of error in nutritional labeling this helps ensure I'm maintaining a deficit. As for fueling the workouts I eat back most of the protein and some carbs, depending on how I'm feeling.

cld111

earlnabby wrote: »

cupcakesplz wrote: »

I don't eat my exercise calories back.
Not because I think I will lose more weight each week, but because I am finding it hard to eat them all.
I am working on eating them by drink full cream milk and cheese.
I am still learning and trying to find my balance.
I use my Fitbit charger HR and I love doing extra work outs during the day
I just can't bring my self to eating 1000 extra a day. Over the past 3 years I have put on 20 kg's and I am scared of eating food!

I have this problem on my pool days (3 times a week). Between walking my 10000 steps plus swimming 1.25 miles and a water aerobics class, I have about 1200 extra calories to eat. That is too much food. I typically eat back about 1/3 of them and the only way I can get up that high is by adding a glass of wine to my dinner.

I so wish I had this problem where I thought this was too much food. I sometimes earn an extra 1k calories, allowing me to eat up to 2400, and I still go over.

ohmscheeks

I am a "softcore" calorie counter. I very rarely weigh, I don't create my own foods, I use generics/homemade entries, etc... So, I imagine that I am eating more than I log. And, with that in mind, I use my exercise calories to offset potential inaccuracies rather than to eat more...

nordlead2005

I rarely eat back my exercise calories, but it isn't intentional. When I play ultimate I typically eat lunch and bring something to snack before playing, probably getting over 1200 calories for the day. When I get home it is close to 7:30 and I never eat dinner that late. So, I'll find something to snack on, but not enough to combine for my last 500 calories for the day plus my exercise.

vanessaepc1

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

To be honest @kae612 , eating back 50-75% would be ok for you (I would say 75%).

When people eat at 1200 calories (mainly females), I usually say eat back 100% of your calories because it's such a low amount... they'll still be in a deficit most likely.

Interesting! I'm 5'1 - 130lbs, eating 1300-1500 daily. I try to lift weights 4-5 days/week and cardio 5-6 days/week. I thought not eating those calories back will burn fat faster. So what I'm doing instead is burning muscles, right? No bueno....

kiela64

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

To be honest @kae612 , eating back 50-75% would be ok for you (I would say 75%).

When people eat at 1200 calories (mainly females), I usually say eat back 100% of your calories because it's such a low amount... they'll still be in a deficit most likely.

vanessaepc1 wrote: »

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

To be honest @kae612 , eating back 50-75% would be ok for you (I would say 75%).

When people eat at 1200 calories (mainly females), I usually say eat back 100% of your calories because it's such a low amount... they'll still be in a deficit most likely.

Interesting! I'm 5'1 - 130lbs, eating 1300-1500 daily. I try to lift weights 4-5 days/week and cardio 5-6 days/week. I thought not eating those calories back will burn fat faster. So what I'm doing instead is burning muscles, right? No bueno....

From this thread, I'm guessing the accuracy makes a difference. Like @ohmscheeks said, I too am inaccurate with my calorie counting.

ohmscheeks wrote: »

I am a "softcore" calorie counter. I very rarely weigh, I don't create my own foods, I use generics/homemade entries, etc... So, I imagine that I am eating more than I log. And, with that in mind, I use my exercise calories to offset potential inaccuracies rather than to eat more...

But I think it's a lot different if you're using an accurate scale system for inputting calories. And also as @CSARdiver said,

CSARdiver wrote: »

Considering there is a 20% degree of error in nutritional labeling this helps ensure I'm maintaining a deficit. As for fueling the workouts I eat back most of the protein and some carbs, depending on how I'm feeling.

That's my takeaway from what people have said here. It's probably a good idea for me not to eat back more than ~50% on average, and "saving" or retroactively saving exercise cals is probably no big deal bc I'm over 1200cal/day. Considering I'm not logging with good accuracy as I'm w/o a scale and guess at things like peanut butter. If you're logging really accurately, with a scale and everything, then it might be a different story for you I'm also super impressed by your exercise level, I'm trying to increase my 3x/week cardio to 4x/week & it's proving to be a challenge, lol.