Eating Back Exercise Calories?

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tristen_leigh
tristen_leigh Posts: 214 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Forgive me if this has been posted about before - which I'm sure it has. BUT, I'm trying to figure out how many exercise calories I should eat back, if any? I'm 5'7", 160lbs roughly. MFP set my calorie goal to 1,380 (-1 lb/wk) and I burn about 500+ calories daily working out.

My goal is to lose about 15-20lbs and tone up a little more. The 15-20lbs is an estimate... I am about 4 sizes smaller than I was when I weighed the same but was completely out of shape. True testament to the scale is JUST a number. So, it's hard to give an exact number I'd like to be - size 4 is the real goal (I'm a 6-8 now).

Anyway, any help is appreciated. I understand weight loss is all about calorie deficit - just not sure how to figure out how big the deficit should be.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    How are you arriving at your estimate of 500+ calories burnt through exercise?
  • KT_3009
    KT_3009 Posts: 1,042 Member
    You should try eating back 75% of your exercise calories to start with and see what progress you get with that, because no matter what the calories that you've been given (1380) is still a deficit and that alone will give you weightloss! Also remember that just because MFP says you'll lose 1lb per week you may lose at a slower rate because you don't have much to lose.
  • tristen_leigh
    tristen_leigh Posts: 214 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    How are you arriving at your estimate of 500+ calories burnt through exercise?

    HRM in hot power vinyasa yoga 6/x week for 60 to 90 minutes depending on the class.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    edited October 2015
    If you use MFP as designed, then you can eat back 100% of the exercise calories (assuming you fall perfectly inline with the estimates and log everything perfectly).

    So, start with 75%. If you lose 1lb/week, stay at 75%. If you lose faster, eat more, if you lose slower eat less. You have to keep records so you can look back over time (4-6 weeks).
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    tristen_leigh wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    How are you arriving at your estimate of 500+ calories burnt through exercise?

    HRM in hot power vinyasa yoga 6/x week for 60 to 90 minutes depending on the class.

    It's my understanding that heart rate monitors are much less accurate for calorie burn for non-steady state activities (like yoga). I would be cautious about eating all those calories back right away, as it may be over-estimated. If I were you, I would try eating a portion back (25-75%) and tracking my results over a period of time to see if my weight loss stopped.
  • GillianLF
    GillianLF Posts: 410 Member
    When I started here just 2.5 months ago I ate all my exercise calories back. I lost every week. In the last 3 weeks thereabouts I've upped my workouts and now eat back about 60-80% of my workout calories. My weight loss has slowed but I'm definitely still losing inches.

    For me I see it as fuelling the workouts so even though the scales aren't moving much the results are still in my favour.
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