Do I Eat Back Calories?? Or Not.. Im Congused.

torchita

I came back to give mfp a chance again , and lost 22. Lbs in a month. By staying staying at close as possible to the 1300 calories mfp says I'm so posed be eating... I also been walking off 550--700 calories 5-6 days a week at the fastest speed possible for a person my weight.. Imy Problem is its been a week now an I haven't done anything different but did NOT lose weight. Someone mentioned that I'm so posed to be eating half my calories back that I walked off for he day. Is this correct ??? Because it doesn't make sense to work so hard to lose just to eat it back..

queenliz99

How are you calculating your calorie burns? MFP overstates the burns in the database.

DeguelloTex

Weight loss isn't linear. All the more so after you just lost 22 pounds in a month.

cwolfman13

go read the stickies...

SLLRunner

torchita wrote: »

I came back to give mfp a chance again , and lost 22. Lbs in a month. By staying staying at close as possible to the 1300 calories mfp says I'm so posed be eating... I also been walking off 550--700 calories 5-6 days a week at the fastest speed possible for a person my weight.. Imy Problem is its been a week now an I haven't done anything different but did NOT lose weight. Someone mentioned that I'm so posed to be eating half my calories back that I walked off for he day. Is this correct ??? Because it doesn't make sense to work so hard to lose just to eat it back..

You lost 22 pounds in a month, but have not lost anything this week, and you're worried?

First of all, 22 pounds in a month was a good portion of water, I'm sure, and some fat. In any even, that over five pounds a week, which is way too fast.

Secondly, one week is just one week. Weight fluctuates. Be patient.

As for your exercise calories, yes you should eat a portion of them back to properly fuel your body. Don't trust the numbers you get off MFP, gym machines, phone apps, or the internet, because they are generally way overestimated. I'm betting your calorie burns are overestimated as well. An example from my own experience to illustrate this:

Yesterday I forgot my heart rate monitor for the elliptical machine. Well, the machine gave me a burn of about 550 calories for 41 minutes. After I stopped laughing at that ridiculous burn, I subtracted about 20-25% of that burn and found the number to be in the ballpark of what I normally burn for that time--330-350 calories. I plugged in 75% of those exercise calories only because to otherwise would set me up for failure.

Even if you are not eating your exercise calories back, you can still be eating up to TDEE with inaccuracies in your food calories. It's so easy to choose the wrong entries, or to underestimate with generic entries and/or not weighing your food but choosing to use cups/spoons/eyeballs to measure solids. I suggest weighing your food so that you can learn what portions really look like.

Finally, I suggest opening your diary if you want specific advice on where your inconsistencies might lie.

besee_2000

People eat back calories because it can be too extreme of a deficit to sustain. Can you imagine eating at the rate for 6 months straight? You may lose the same amount of weight in 3 months but if you go back to your old eating habits you may gain twice as much back. Slow and steady wins the race and is why people eat back some of the activity calories. It is about about sustainability. If you can keep up with that more power to you. Careful you don't go too fast too soon.

torchita

I have been going by mgp calculation for a moderate walking dog at 3.0,. It estimates it But in reality. I walk at a 4 incline an at a speed of 3.4 bevasie its the best I can do due to being so heavy.. But mfp does not have the calculations to pick from because it jumps from 3.0 to a 3.5. An does not have encline on it either.. I just bought a very expensive treadmill 1 month ago to help me lose weight. an my Treadmill states that am actually burning between 670- for a 90 minute walk. I walk the fastest I possibly can also. My daily eating/ exercise is Eat1300/Burn670 or more is that day I have the energy.. I been trying the best to never go over my 1300 , so I don't ever end up eating back the burned calories. But now I'm not losing weight for a week now. An I haven't changed anything . iv asked for help on another thread an a few mentions the reason I stopped losing was because I'm at a high deficit. I don't understand how IMA ever lose it if I'm so pose to eat what I'm burning.. When I first started a month ago I was 281 lbs I ate like I was so posed to according mfp an did my daily 90 minute walking. I managed to lose 22 lbs this month. But somehow nothing the past week. My question is. Am I soposed to eat back half the calories I work off??? Or not. I would like a correct answer. Because I don't want to bust my *kitten* for nothing.. This amount of walking is really hard to do for a person my size ...

SLLRunner

What are your stats too?

You have about 40 pounds left to lose?

Oh, you will not lose weight every single week. Weight loss does not work that way, and it's in no way linear.

As for getting your correct answer: it is in the answers above.

MommyL2015

You can add entries into the exercise database yourself. I go here to get an estimation on what i burn: shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/walking-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
And then add an entry for myself to use here. I generally try to eat back half of what those calculations give me, but sometimes I eat more and sometimes less, depending on my day.

The way MFP is set up, as I understand it, is you are supposed to eat back your calories. Just make sure you're as accurate as you can be when estimating your exercise calories.

besee_2000

It sounds like you don't want to continue on as you are if you don't have to. Minimum effective dose, looking for the least amount of work to get results.

After going the way you have for a month, I would take it slow eating back your workout calories. You don't want a rubber band effect (all of a sudden you eat 1700cal from your 1300) your body could be more "calorie efficient" and try to gain back. Eat back a few calories back like 25% and build up monitoring how you feel.
Also have you been measuring other ways than weight? Grab that measuring tape and write down widths of arms, legs, chest, waist, and hips (try to be as consistent as possible on location). You might not be losing weight but your body can still be making changes especially with the walking.

Good Luck!

besee_2000

Oh forgot to add, to monitor you exercise calories best I would suggest a Heart Rate Monitor. Even some of the cheaper ones have about a 10% error. It says 100cal burnt, you at least burnt 90. I like the chest strap and watch combo for constant information. You can put your age, height, and weight stats in and can give you a more accurate number.

CKathy2012

With weight loss your body doesn't lose every week but it will as you stay with the lower calorie consumption. The suggestion about measuring is good, you are probably loosing inches. Stay with the program and you will gain success!! If you stay with 1300 to 1500 calories it will come off!! Best of luck, hang in there.

torchita

SLLRunner wrote: »

torchita wrote: »

I came back to give mfp a chance again , and lost 22. Lbs in a month. By staying staying at close as possible to the 1300 calories mfp says I'm so posed be eating... I also been walking off 550--700 calories 5-6 days a week at the fastest speed possible for a person my weight.. Imy Problem is its been a week now an I haven't done anything different but did NOT lose weight. Someone mentioned that I'm so posed to be eating half my calories back that I walked off for he day. Is this correct ??? Because it doesn't make sense to work so hard to lose just to eat it back..

You lost 22 pounds in a month, but have not lost anything this week, and you're worried?

First of all, 22 pounds in a month was a good portion of water, I'm sure, and some fat. In any even, that over five pounds a week, which is way too fast.

Secondly, one week is just one week. Weight fluctuates. Be patient.

As for your exercise calories, yes you should eat a portion of them back to properly fuel your body. Don't trust the numbers you get off MFP, gym machines, phone apps, or the internet, because they are generally way overestimated. I'm betting your calorie burns are overestimated as well. An example from my own experience to illustrate this:

Yesterday I forgot my heart rate monitor for the elliptical machine. Well, the machine gave me a burn of about 550 calories for 41 minutes. After I stopped laughing at that ridiculous burn, I subtracted about 20-25% of that burn and found the number to be in the ballpark of what I normally burn for that time--330-350 calories. I plugged in 75% of those exercise calories only because to otherwise would set me up for failure.

Even if you are not eating your exercise calories back, you can still be eating up to TDEE with inaccuracies in your food calories. It's so easy to choose the wrong entries, or to underestimate with generic entries and/or not weighing your food but choosing to use cups/spoons/eyeballs to measure solids. I suggest weighing your food so that you can learn what portions really look like.

Finally, I suggest opening your diary if you want specific advice on where your inconsistencies might lie.

I agree. An since I before I started a month ago I made sure I wouldn't fail this time so I purchased a exspesive new treadmill an a food scale an do measure by oz.. I also cut out processed foods an began a whole clean food diet which has made a huge difference in my skin & deleted a gurd digestion problem I struggled with.. To also not have an excuse to fail I even deleted salt an turned to amino acid which I use sparingly . I have a diet of most lean cheken breast black beans which I also biol free of salt. An the rest is veggies an bananas an blueberries. As for fluid intake. I drink close to a galon of water a day an allow myself to enjoy 1 cup of coffee a day.. I use to drink a pot of coffee a day but read it sometimes prevent weight loss. Everry carb I do eat comes from home made organic ingredients which is also weighted an calculated according to quantity. I do his to know exactly how many calories I ingest on a daily basis. I also eliminated all olis an fats that are usually added to cooking , but since I know they are vital to good health I make sure to get them from eating 3 whole eggs a week an 3 times a week I have a potion size of raw almonds. The walking I do is at a fast speed for my size. Which is between 3.3-3.5 at a duration of 60 minutes then after a break I do the additional to 30 to complete my daily 90 minute exercise I report to mfp. Many times I push myself to complete 100 minutes. I also have my incline at a 3.5 becuz its all I can tolerate with bad knees. I make sure that my daily calories are most come from protein an do also make sure that what ever carbs I do consume are from veggies or sweet potatoes. I admit my health feels so much better just from deleting processed foods. But was concerned as to why I did not lose anything this past week. The replies stated to this post are the first time that I've heard of the body adjusting to weight loss an that inches wld fall off.. I'm glad to hear this advice because I was going nuts tryung to figure out what I done wrong. I will take your advice an eat 25% of my burned calories an continue. Thank you for your time an advice..

BWBTrish

There will be sometimes weeks you dont lose anything

For example i am now after months of losing 2 pounds a week and 1 pound a week at a half pound a week
This on purpose because i am closer to my maintenance level/goal

So i set my settings to half a pound...Weeks go by and nothing really happens...ounce up ounce down etc. And than 1 whole pound suddenly...when i look the average of a month i lost 2lbs which is exactly half a pound a week.

when you really weigh all your food on a food scale...log everything, do you exercise and eat some back indeed....than you dont have to be concerned at all about not losing 1 or even 2 weeks. Because in the end it evens out.
Just steady as it goes and dont worry about it

And also you can eat a normal balanced diet...so everything and you will lose weight. The only rule is, you have to eat less calories than you burn that's all...dont make it too hard on your self.
Eat now the same you want to eat when you maintain your weight at goal weight...only less
Very simple.

good luck

Kalikel

Try to eat at least half of them. I'd start by trying to eat all of them for a few weeks. If you lose nothing, try 75%, then 50%.

MFP is set up so that you can lose weight and eat those extra calories. Give using the app as it's intended to be used...at least give it a shot.

PeachyCarol

MommyL2015 wrote: »

You can add entries into the exercise database yourself. I go here to get an estimation on what i burn: shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/walking-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
And then add an entry for myself to use here. I generally try to eat back half of what those calculations give me, but sometimes I eat more and sometimes less, depending on my day.

The way MFP is set up, as I understand it, is you are supposed to eat back your calories. Just make sure you're as accurate as you can be when estimating your exercise calories.

I will second the recommendation for the shapesense calculator. I feel it's more realistic than MFP. The site also has calculators for a bunch of other exercises.

MFP is set up so you should eat back some of your exercise calories. I'd say to eat back half. As you get more fit, you expend less energy for the same effort, so eat back a little less then.

Duchy82

I sometimes have 4 weeks straight of not losing anything then... Woosh i lose several pounds in one go so don't worry of stalling for a few weeks it happens. I just had a frustrating 4weeks of not losing anything and all of a sudden a pound gone this morning chances are I may have lost a bit more by tomorrow. I did put it in perspective yesterday when i got discouraged that nothing was happening when i worked out I'm actually averaging 2lbs loss every 10days.

As for eating back exercise calories the general consensus is to eat about 50% back, I'm pretty inconsistent, sometimes i eat them all, sometimes only a few sometimes none at all, it seems to be working for me. So whatever works for you really, just carry on as you are.

torchita

[I am serioislu going to buy one.. An yess agtee ita needed ti be as avcurate as possible.. I thank you for quote="besee_2000;33804568"]Oh forgot to add, to monitor you exercise calories best I would suggest a Heart Rate Monitor. Even some of the cheaper ones have about a 10% error. It says 100cal burnt, you at least burnt 90. I like the chest strap and watch combo for constant information. You can put your age, height, and weight stats in and can give you a more accurate number.[/quote]

I agree. It. Would be a great to be more accurate. I am seriously going to get one an I thank you for the help..

snikkins

I'm going to use myself as an extreme example as to why you're supposed to eat [at least a portion] of your exercise calories back.

In training for a marathon, the Hubster and I ran 20 miles this morning. My FitBit, which is synced with MFP, has me at 2,211 exercise calories for the day. It's 12:41p where I am and I don't plan on sitting for the rest of the day. If I ate none of them back at my .5/week deficit, I would end the day with 521 calories in the negative... after having ran 20 miles this morning. For the record, I've already gone over my normal allotment.

Again, this is clearly an extreme example, but at some point, it has got to give. I will say that I've seen some people use not eating back exercise calories at all to compensate for logging they know will be inaccurate. So, there is that.

TL;DR: If not eating exercise calories is creating too large of a deficit, don't do it.

torchita

snikkins wrote: »

I'm going to use myself as an extreme example as to why you're supposed to eat [at least a portion] of your exercise calories back.

In training for a marathon, the Hubster and I ran 20 miles this morning. My FitBit, which is synced with MFP, has me at 2,211 exercise calories for the day. It's 12:41p where I am and I don't plan on sitting for the rest of the day. If I ate none of them back at my .5/week deficit, I would end the day with 521 calories in the negative... after having ran 20 miles this morning. For the record, I've already gone over my normal allotment.

Again, this is clearly an extreme example, but at some point, it has got to give. I will say that I've seen some people use not eating back exercise calories at all to compensate for logging they know will be inaccurate. So, there is that.

TL;DR: If not eating exercise calories is creating too large of a deficit, don't do it.

MFP says in order to sstay at the weight i beganwith i would have to consume a wopping 2,250 calories.. iv been eating 1300 calories to lose the weight. that alone without exercise is a deficit of 950 calories of how i use to eat. i wanted to lose weight quicker so i figure if i burned off 3500 calories a week by treadmill. this would help. So i calulated that I would have to burn off no less then 5 84 calories in order to achiev the loss i want.. I fount it easier for me to work off an additional 125 calories a day in order to get the work done in 5 days time , and did this because i found myself feeling very drained walking at this speed and lenth for 6 days in a row.. im 45 and not in the best physical helth w bad knees so i understand in order to lose the weight it will be painful but nothing worth doing will come easy.. the 22 i did lose were exstreamly difult for me but i am to stuborn to give up.. This is the first time I decided that I that i was done of excuses and was gog to figure putt in the work to not fail.. so been using a scale on everything to make sure i am not missing up.. out of this entire month, i did allow myself 1 daay to indulg in a plate of food from a buffet. but i made sure it was nothing but fish an chiken with vegies.. i clearly know this had tons of calories so expected to not lose and even gain 1-2 lbs from the salt and way the food at these sort of places is cooked. but i needed to treat myself at least once a month to something because i have had a habbit of giving up all toghter when to much time passes and i began to feel deprved.. the 2 days i do not excersize i do my best to not go over my 1300 calories , but sometimes do go over by 12- 16 calories.. but other then this I am doing everything i know posible to lose it. i am pretty sure my problem is patience.. I have the problem of thinking my body should lose what i expect it to since i am putting in the work.. i need to understand that my body needs time to adjust and do its thing and will let go of the lbs when it sees fit to do so.. but durring the time i need to be consistant.. Than kyou for your Example.. it makes perfect sence..