Psychology of "eating back calories"

iplayoutside19

To me it's math, energy consumption, and thermodynamics. As long as I'm making progress by eating my calories back that's what I'll do.

KombuchaCat

I always eat back most of my excersize calories. I love seeing that once I put my excersize in I have some extra room to eat more. It's motivating.

Shoechick5

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

The most widely used diet program on the planet (weight watchers) uses this concept in earning and eating Activity Points.

DebbieLyn63

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

The most widely used diet program on the planet (weight watchers) uses this concept in earning and eating Activity Points.

That is a fairly new added part to the WW program, and it is a way to earn some bonus calories that you can use thruout the week, but they never tell you that you HAVE to eat them.

Perhaps I should have said that I have never seen a program that REQUIRED you to eat your exercise calories back. Most programs have a certain amount of exercise built into the program.

toutmonpossible

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

It is extremely dangerous if you're going to follow it as a rote method and be unwilling to make adjustments, and blame the scale. Then some members suggest that people having difficulty losing eat more.

mambagirl

I think that eating back exercise calories is ridiculous!!! Why would I burn All of those calories then eat them back...Makes NO sense whatsoever ...BUT...I would eat some of those calories back if I were truly hungry or for the occasional naughty meal.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

I find my body gets extremely hungry anyways after a big workout and I naturally want to eat a lot more and it usually balances out. I do have a problem with more intense mountain hiking sessions when I burn 2k+ calories: I really cant eat back all those calories without forcing myself on 'good' foods, so I usually do something like eat high protein/fat meal that I crave like a burger/pizza and I get the craving out and eat back most of the calories at the same time. Its a good excuse to eat the "bad" foods

cwolfman13

I understand the math(s) and that MFP set a deficit without exercise and expect you to log exercise and eat the equivalent number of calories.

I'm intrigued - Does this work for you in terms of motivation?

Do you feel like a rodent in an exercise wheel trying to earn food ?

Do you punish yourself for overeating by racking up some exercise calories to neutralise it ?

Do you resent having your exercise efforts wiped out by "eating back" ?

Are you driven to regular exercise to accommodate your overeating ?

Or is the extra food a reward for something you enjoy doing anyway ?

1) When I started out with MFP, it was a motivating factor for me to get up and actually exercise. 2100-2200 gross calories was a lot more palatable than 1850 I was allotted without exercise.

2) Not really...I did enough exercise initially for good heart health as I was trying to clean up some bad blood work and hypertension issues. I didn't kill myself...I went out and burned 200-300 calories every day doing a lot of walking primarily. Eventually, I decided I wanted to get back into racing and running and lifting.

3) My exercise efforts aren't wiped out by eating back exercise calories. Whether you are doing the NEAT method or TDEE method, you're essentially eating back exercise calories. With TDEE, those calories are just built into your goal and part of your total activity level...so they're included in your calorie goal. With NEAT, you actively log and eat those back because they aren't included in you activity level. Either way, it comes out six of one...when I did MFP my net calorie goal was 1850 + exercise was generally 2100 - 2200 calories per day. Using TDEE - 20% my gross calories were aroiund 2150. 6 of 1 half dozen of the other. Also, I exercise for fitness and like having that activity fueled...try competing in a race with no ****ing calories for energy.

4) It isn't compensation for over eating...I use my diet for weight control and exercise for fitness.

5) I love exercise now...I love getting my fitness on...I love racing...I love lifting..I love challenging myself. Food is fuel.

Also, lost 40 Lbs doing exactly this

corgicake

The psychology of it for me is that my mind is conscious of the fact that I will have a hard time getting out of bed if I don't eat back what I burned so down the hatch go the carbs, even if I'm hot and tired and just want to call it a night.

LorinaLynn

Perhaps I should have said that I have never seen a program that REQUIRED you to eat your exercise calories back. Most programs have a certain amount of exercise built into the program.

MFP just uses a different way of getting to the same numbers.

If I used another site to calculate my TDEE, it's about 2300 calories. To lose one pound a week, I'd take 500 calories off that, and get 1800.

If I tell MFP I want to lose one pound a week, I get about 1350 calories. Once I exercise, averaging a burn of about 400 calories, I'm up to 1750, which is pretty darn close to the 1800 I'd get from another site.

Shoechick5

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

The most widely used diet program on the planet (weight watchers) uses this concept in earning and eating Activity Points.

That is a fairly new added part to the WW program, and it is a way to earn some bonus calories that you can use thruout the week, but they never tell you that you HAVE to eat them.

Perhaps I should have said that I have never seen a program that REQUIRED you to eat your exercise calories back. Most programs have a certain amount of exercise built into the program.

Not really new. It was in the Program before Momentum and Momentum came out in 2008. Momentum changed the way they were used though. Previously to 2008 it was use them the day you earned them now it's use them over the course of a week.

herblackwings39

I use MFP because I'm not consistent enough with my exercise to make TDEE work for me. I do find that having set up MFP with lightly active and eat back most of my exercise calories I end up close to the numbers I got when I figured my TDEE with 1-3 hours of activity a week. It's just easier for me to do it this way so if I plan to work out and don't I'm not eating calories I didn't put the work in for.

cwolfman13

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

You have to understand what method of calorie counting you're doing. When you understand that, you will understand that it's not flawed at all. Two primary methods...TDEE method and NEAT method. MFP uses the NEAT method. Unlike the TDEE method, the NEAT method does not account for exercise in your activity level when you set it up. It's extra activity that should be fueled.

If you understand what you're doing (little research is pretty easy) you understand that it comes out pretty much 6 of 1. When I did MFP my net goal to lose 1 Lb per week was 1850...with my exercise, I usually grossed between 2100 - 2200. I ultimately switched to the TDEE method because I was pretty consistent in my exercise regimen and just wanted to include exercise in my activity at that point. My TDEE - 20% is 2,150 calories. See...pretty much the same. A little tiny bit of research into what you're doing goes a long way.

I maintained for a few months until recently...works the same for that too. My MFP NEAT maintenance is 2,330 calories. With exercise, that puts me around 2650 - 2700...low and behold, my actual TDEE is around 2700. See...6 of 1. People just need to understand what method they are using and stick with that method. It's really not that complicated and I think that's what gets people all wigged out...they think it should be complicated so they over-complicate it.

Zombriana

I used to have my calories set to 1250 - 1350 and I'd exercise to eat. It was terrible. On the days that I wouldn't exercise I'd be STARVING and MISERABLE. I'd have loads of binge days and I had days where I ate too much and I'd punish myself by doing an hours worth of cardio.

VERY UNHEALTHY, mentally. Probably even physically, for me anyway.

For the past 2 months I've been eating my TDEE (which is around 1700) and I've been exercising to LOSE WEIGHT. I find that eating the same amount of calories every day has kept me from binging, hating myself, and staarrvvviiinnggg on other days. On really high burn days I'll eat a bit more, maybe 100-200 calories if I'm a little more hungry, and on days I don't exercise I'm more than satisfied with the 1700 I have.

I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago and I didn't gain a poound, In fact I lost 1.5 lbs while I was there! I didn't binge on vacation because I was used to eating a certain amount everday and it wasn't a terribly low number.

Please note that in those past 2 or so months I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, maybe 2 pounds, but my body is changing, due to the heavy lifting I've been doing as well. I've lost inches all over, and I've even kept my boobies.

3dogsrunning

I had never heard of the concept of 'eating back' your exercise cals before I joined MFP, and have always thought it was a flawed and even potentially dangerous concept. More often than not, I see people who get frustrated because they are 'eating back' their cals and not losing weight. For many people, the exercise database gives then way too many calories, and wipes out their deficit.

You have to understand what method of calorie counting you're doing. When you understand that, you will understand that it's not flawed at all. Two primary methods...TDEE method and NEAT method. MFP uses the NEAT method. Unlike the TDEE method, the NEAT method does not account for exercise in your activity level when you set it up. It's extra activity that should be fueled.

If you understand what you're doing (little research is pretty easy) you understand that it comes out pretty much 6 of 1. When I did MFP my net goal to lose 1 Lb per week was 1850...with my exercise, I usually grossed between 2100 - 2200. I ultimately switched to the TDEE method because I was pretty consistent in my exercise regimen and just wanted to include exercise in my activity at that point. My TDEE - 20% is 2,150 calories. See...pretty much the same. A little tiny bit of research into what you're doing goes a long way.

I maintained for a few months until recently...works the same for that too. My MFP NEAT maintenance is 2,330 calories. With exercise, that puts me around 2650 - 2700...low and behold, my actual TDEE is around 2700. See...6 of 1. People just need to understand what method they are using and stick with that method. It's really not that complicated and I think that's what gets people all wigged out...they think it should be complicated so they over-complicate it.

:flowerforyou:

PilatesConvert

The point of exercise is not to justify eating tons of food or unhealthy foods. That's ridiculous! The point of exercise is to use your body. To get stronger. To be healthier. To help keep things in good working order LONG TERM.

If you're only exercising to get more food you're thinking about this all wrong.

CorvusCorax77

The point of exercise is not to justify eating tons of food or unhealthy foods. That's ridiculous! The point of exercise is to use your body. To get stronger. To be healthier. To help keep things in good working order LONG TERM.

If you're only exercising to get more food you're thinking about this all wrong.

agreed. But I don't exercise so I can eat. But I exercise that extra ten minutes so I can have that chocolate.

Or on a day when I'm sitting on the fence about hitting the gym, and I see I went over on my calories, I'm more likely to go to have it even out. That's motivation.

Even when I ate based on TDEE, I stuck to my lifting schedule... but I found that myself, personally, I shaved work off here and there. Like I stopped doing my ten minute warm up. I'd do the bare bones. Get 'er done. But then, ya know, I put on extra weight because my TDEE was calculated on what I was doing and what I was doing changed.

I guess I just need the motivation to push myself that extra bit.

Now, I'm basically eating the same as I was when I was doing TDEE...only now I am working out a little bit more. I think that it makes sense.

ucabucca

For me monitoring my exercise and what I am burning since I am at a maintain not loosing is my reason for using the site. I have a tendency to not think it was much and thus deficit and thus loose weight so yes eating back has helped me and saved me from a yoyo metabolism as i was being told no exercise to then being told ok now it is even and I love it and feel healthy and strong and am ok with weight not always happy eating so much but if I want to play I have to eat bottom line.