To Eat or not Eat extra calories

CoderGal

Hi all! I am fairly new here...using MFP for about a month (maybe a little longer). I have been a little confused about the calories burned during exercise. Do I eat them? If I don't it seems that my weight loss is slower but I was told not to...I think the person was incorrect. When I do eat the extra calories it SEEMS that I do lose weight. What are your thoughts on this? I am fairly new to this health/weight loss issue so I am kinda confused. :ohwell: Any input is very welcome :happy:

I eat them and lost all my weight no probs without any stalls.

LiftAllThePizzas

i DO NOT eat my exercise calories back

Actually, reading your profile, it looks like in a roundabout way you DO eat at least some of them back, on your cheat Saturdays. Every 2 weeks you state that you go over your calorie goal of 1200 by about 3300 calories. You say that you work out 4-5 days a week, so that is a total of 8-10 days over those 2 weeks.

3300 divided by 8 workouts = 412 calories
3300 divided by 10 workouts = 330 calories

Of course I don't know what your actual workouts are, so I have no idea what your real burns are. But, those seem to be about right for moderate intensity exercise for 45-60 minutes per workout.

So yes, you eat at least some of your exercise calories back, but just the entire 2 weeks worth all at one time.


To OP: I also eat mine back, but I eat them spread out instead of in one chunk like that. Using the MFP database, I eat back roughly 75% of what it says (the MFP estimates can be a bit high). Another way to figure out your calories is to find out your TDEE, which includes your workouts, and minus about 20% from that number. That will give you your daily goal, with the exercise calories already figured in. The poster who eats around 1800 a day and is putting her burns in as 1 calorie is probably using this method.

yeah, you could look at it like that, except for exercise calories are usually expended in weight loss sooner than once every 2 weeks, so, im more than likely eating back half of my work outs, if that. i run a few miles a day, 5 days a week.

Sure, but whether you realize it or not, you're replenishing your glycogen stores on your 3300 calorie days. In the lifting community it's sometimes referred to as a refeed day. It's what we do so we can continue hard exercise without hitting a wall. So you are, in fact, eating your exercise calories back. In full.

And whether you call them 'exercise calories' or not doesn't make the blindest bit of difference to your body, but should maybe be mentioned when advising someone whether or not to eat their exercise calories.

i wasnt advising anyone to not eat back exercise calories. i made a statement, as many people have. some say they do. some say they dont. some say they do half. i said i dont eat back my exercise calories, and i dont. i didnt advise the op to do as i do, i stated what i do. i advised the op to do what works best for her, and stated if shes hungry, eat them back, if not, then dont. my statement was just that. a statement on myself. i dont eat back my exercise calories. i dont keep track of my burn after cardio AND lifting. i do not eat back my calories, because i dont keep track of my calorie burn. just as everyone else has a day here or there that they eat over their calories, so do i, only difference is, mine is planned. but i stick by my idea, that i do not eat back my exercise calories. this is all semantics. i dont eat back my calories. i eat over my calories 2 days a month, but you know what, i also eat UNDER the other 28 days a month... so if we are going to play semantics, then maybe im eating back my calories from the days where i came under my calorie goal, right? so, whos to say that im eating my exercise calories back? so, why you are telling me what i do, makes no sense, at all.

Careful, with all that stretching you might pull something.

jofjltncb6

i DO NOT eat my exercise calories back

Actually, reading your profile, it looks like in a roundabout way you DO eat at least some of them back, on your cheat Saturdays. Every 2 weeks you state that you go over your calorie goal of 1200 by about 3300 calories. You say that you work out 4-5 days a week, so that is a total of 8-10 days over those 2 weeks.

3300 divided by 8 workouts = 412 calories
3300 divided by 10 workouts = 330 calories

Of course I don't know what your actual workouts are, so I have no idea what your real burns are. But, those seem to be about right for moderate intensity exercise for 45-60 minutes per workout.

So yes, you eat at least some of your exercise calories back, but just the entire 2 weeks worth all at one time.


To OP: I also eat mine back, but I eat them spread out instead of in one chunk like that. Using the MFP database, I eat back roughly 75% of what it says (the MFP estimates can be a bit high). Another way to figure out your calories is to find out your TDEE, which includes your workouts, and minus about 20% from that number. That will give you your daily goal, with the exercise calories already figured in. The poster who eats around 1800 a day and is putting her burns in as 1 calorie is probably using this method.

yeah, you could look at it like that, except for exercise calories are usually expended in weight loss sooner than once every 2 weeks, so, im more than likely eating back half of my work outs, if that. i run a few miles a day, 5 days a week.

Sure, but whether you realize it or not, you're replenishing your glycogen stores on your 3300 calorie days. In the lifting community it's sometimes referred to as a refeed day. It's what we do so we can continue hard exercise without hitting a wall. So you are, in fact, eating your exercise calories back. In full.

And whether you call them 'exercise calories' or not doesn't make the blindest bit of difference to your body, but should maybe be mentioned when advising someone whether or not to eat their exercise calories.

i wasnt advising anyone to not eat back exercise calories. i made a statement, as many people have. some say they do. some say they dont. some say they do half. i said i dont eat back my exercise calories, and i dont. i didnt advise the op to do as i do, i stated what i do. i advised the op to do what works best for her, and stated if shes hungry, eat them back, if not, then dont. my statement was just that. a statement on myself. i dont eat back my exercise calories. i dont keep track of my burn after cardio AND lifting. i do not eat back my calories, because i dont keep track of my calorie burn. just as everyone else has a day here or there that they eat over their calories, so do i, only difference is, mine is planned. but i stick by my idea, that i do not eat back my exercise calories. this is all semantics. i dont eat back my calories. i eat over my calories 2 days a month, but you know what, i also eat UNDER the other 28 days a month... so if we are going to play semantics, then maybe im eating back my calories from the days where i came under my calorie goal, right? so, whos to say that im eating my exercise calories back? so, why you are telling me what i do, makes no sense, at all.

Careful, with all that stretching you might pull something.

In...

...for linguistic gymnastics.

(It's my second favorite kind of gymnastics.)

Oh, and OP, the "MFP way" is to eat back your exercise calories (because they aren't built in to the calculation of your calorie goal). An alternative is to add your average exercise to the total and work at a deficit from there, and many people do that, but it is *not* how MFP is set up. (My own approach is a hybrid of this...where I don't eat back the first few hundred calories (that are built in to my base), but do beyond that (using the fitbit to determine when that threshold has been reached).)

marciebrian

i DO NOT eat my exercise calories back

Actually, reading your profile, it looks like in a roundabout way you DO eat at least some of them back, on your cheat Saturdays. Every 2 weeks you state that you go over your calorie goal of 1200 by about 3300 calories. You say that you work out 4-5 days a week, so that is a total of 8-10 days over those 2 weeks.

3300 divided by 8 workouts = 412 calories
3300 divided by 10 workouts = 330 calories

Of course I don't know what your actual workouts are, so I have no idea what your real burns are. But, those seem to be about right for moderate intensity exercise for 45-60 minutes per workout.

So yes, you eat at least some of your exercise calories back, but just the entire 2 weeks worth all at one time.


To OP: I also eat mine back, but I eat them spread out instead of in one chunk like that. Using the MFP database, I eat back roughly 75% of what it says (the MFP estimates can be a bit high). Another way to figure out your calories is to find out your TDEE, which includes your workouts, and minus about 20% from that number. That will give you your daily goal, with the exercise calories already figured in. The poster who eats around 1800 a day and is putting her burns in as 1 calorie is probably using this method.

yeah, you could look at it like that, except for exercise calories are usually expended in weight loss sooner than once every 2 weeks, so, im more than likely eating back half of my work outs, if that.

It's not so linear. It's not like you exercise for 60 minutes, burn 500 calories, and BOOM, you've lost 1/7 of a pound. Weight loss is more about averages over the longer term.

My point was that you said that you eat 1200 calories a day, and don't eat back any of your exercise calories, when in fact you do eat at least some of them back (3300 over 2 weeks is not a small number) and it's misleading to claim otherwise, especially for newbies just figuring it out. I know that it wasn't intentional, and I'm sure that you consider the cheat day separate from your exercise cals, but it does factor in.

i know its not linear, im saying, i dont believe that after 2 weeks, i still have all those extra calories just sitting around to be used, as im sure they have been expended through other means such as fat loss.

Actually, I just read your edit.

According to a calorie burned calc, a woman weighing 150 lbs (I probably guessed high) running for 3 miles at a pace of 10 min. mile would burn 340. Do that 10 times over 2 weeks and it equals out to 3400 calories. That's pretty darned close to your overage of 3300. So yes, you are eating back your exercise calories.

never mind

CoderGal

Enjoying DavPul's comments.

Otterluv

Enjoying DavPul's comments.

Me too, he's crazy smart and good with words :flowerforyou:

Mcgrawhaha

well, like i said, i dont eat back my exercise calories. play with my words all you like. i dont eat back my exercise calories.

jofjltncb6

well, like i said, i dont eat back my exercise calories. play with my words all you like. i dont eat back my exercise calories.

Right...we got that.

You just eat back an amount that happens to be very close to your exercise calories every week or so.

Got it.

LiftAllThePizzas

well, like i said, i dont eat back my exercise calories. play with my words all you like. i dont eat back my exercise calories.

I don't eat back my exercise calories, I just eat back the same amount of calories I've burned during exercise and call them hoobajooba calories, so that magically stops them from being the same as my exercise calories.

What a joke.

Otterluv

well, like i said, i dont eat back my exercise calories. play with my words all you like. i dont eat back my exercise calories.

I don't eat back my exercise calories, I just eat back the same amount of calories I've burned during exercise and call them hoobajooba calories, so that magically stops them from being the same as my exercise calories.

What a joke.

CoderGal

well, like i said, i dont eat back my exercise calories. play with my words all you like. i dont eat back my exercise calories.

I don't eat back my exercise calories, I just eat back the same amount of calories I've burned during exercise and call them hoobajooba calories, so that magically stops them from being the same as my exercise calories.

What a joke.

:laugh:

red99ryder

I don't eat mine back ,, I figure as long as I am making progress to the goals I want to attain all is good , if things change ill change

hungrypotato

Eat Them All!!!!!!! Don't you like food? reason why you're here losing weight lol. Sometimes i'm so lazy and don't feel like going to the gym but then my motivation to get to the gym just so I can eat more . I have been successful. I have lost over 100 lbs.

But you have to make sure what calories you are putting in are accurate. That is the only problem I could see.

If you actually burned 200 but lets say the machine said you burned 600 then there comes a problem.

04ward

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