Questiontion on exercise calories

needtolosethatweight26

I get
a divided opinion on this topic. Do I eat back my exercise calories or don't I?

Jess102979

I usually don't, but if I do, it's not very many.

needtolosethatweight26

Jess102979 wrote: »

I usually don't, but if I do, it's not very many.

MFP has set a 1200 caloric goal for me which I feel is a little less for a 160 lbs person. That's why I eat my calories. Am I right?

malibu927

The way MFP is set up you eat them back. However, as the calories burned are just estimates, it's best to only do 50-75% of those.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I eat 50%-75% of them back. If it is cardio I eat up to 75%, weights only 50%.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

anusharajesh13 wrote: »

Jess102979 wrote: »

I usually don't, but if I do, it's not very many.

MFP has set a 1200 caloric goal for me which I feel is a little less for a 160 lbs person. That's why I eat my calories. Am I right?

Change your goal to a 1lb a week weight loss, that is a massive 52lb or 4 stone over a year. You don't need to rush things.
Eat back the calories you feel you need up to 75% as MFP over estimates calories burnt.

cwolfman13

anusharajesh13 wrote: »

I get
a divided opinion on this topic. Do I eat back my exercise calories or don't I?

it's not a matter of opinion, it's how this particular tool is designed to work...because if you set up your activity level as per the descriptors, your activity does NOT include exercise activity...suffice it to say that exercise would thus be an unaccounted for activity. the way you account for it with this particular tool is to log it and earn calories to "eat back". other tools will include some estimation of your exercise activity in your settings and thus an estimation of those calories are already included in your targets.

there are numerous problems with this method (MFP) however...for one, people tend to be pretty inaccurate with their calories in...they use erroneous and generic entries from the database...they eyeball servings...they tend to not log certain things or forget things like cooking oils and whatnot have calories and need to be logged...people are also often times inconsistent in their logging. in general, people tend to underestimate and under log what they're actually eating.

secondly, people tend to overestimate calorie burns from exercise...they just take something from the database and log it as gospel without really questioning the accuracy or comparing it to other sources. people logging 900 calories for an hour of cardiovascular work are just fooling themselves.

mfp's method works if you are being as accurate as possible...but even when i was using this and logging i made allowances for estimation error...

the plus side to the mfp method is that it can teach you how to properly fuel your activity...particularly exercise activity...properly fueling exercise is essential to recovery and improving on your fitness. you will note that healthy and fit people eat. if i go out for a 50 mile bike ride and fail to fuel that activity, bad *kitten* is going to happen to my body...properly fueling your body is important.

also, it is important to consider what exactly you're doing for exercise...if you're doing low intensity kind of stuff like walking, etc it isn't going to be as important to refuel...walking for an hour isn't a huge stressor on your body. if you're doing more intensive workouts or training for something or having two-a-day sessions a few days per week, under-fueling that activity can be detrimental to the health and wellness you're trying to achieve. exercise is good for you...but it can also be a major stress on the body.