Do you use your extra calories after exercising?

Hey everyone!
Just curious to know if any of you guys use up the calories that you've burned through exercise.

Also I'm not really sure.. this might sound like a silly question, but if you do use your extra calories how do you know what your macros are for that day..?
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Replies

  • martazdz
    martazdz Posts: 89 Member
    I try not to eat the exercise calories back, sometimes I eat into them a little. The opinions here are divided and some people insist on eating them back. I guess it depends what works for you and how many calories you eat in first place. Sometimes I'm really hungry after workout and just have to eat. I am trying to plan my meals so I feel fuller without so many calories if it makes sense.
  • cdudley628
    cdudley628 Posts: 547 Member
    MFP is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. However, the calories burned are over estimated and most people only eat 50-75% of them back.
  • danielssmith
    danielssmith Posts: 34 Member
    I try to have 1750 spare calories over at the end of a week. These equate to about 1/2 to 2/3 of my exercise calories.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    I eat them all back - just like you will have to when you get to goal weight remember.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    Sometimes I do. I usually get a 20 min walk in a day in addition to my AM workout. I don't count those calories into my daily total.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    Every single one. But not always on the same day as the exercise.
  • radiosilents
    radiosilents Posts: 223 Member
    I had been eating some (and sometimes all) of them back until a few weeks ago, after I had hit a long plateau (three months!) and met with a dietitian, who looked at all my stats including activity level, and said that I should eat just slightly less than what I had been and stop eating any exercise cals, among other logical things like trying to eat more balanced meals and less junk. Looking at my food diary, she said that I was basically eating at maintenance, hence the plateau.

    Once I started following her advice, my plateau finally broke. It's been great. And for me mentally, it's turned out to be so much better not counting those exercise calories. I used to kind of obsess about how much more I could eat because of exercise. Now I just eat what I am allotted (1900 cals) and do my exercise because I love it and it makes me feel strong – not because it lets me eat more, lol!

    That said, this is just my experience. I think you can eat some of your exercise cals back and be OK, but know that indeed, it's pretty hard to get an accurate read on how much you really do burn for any given exercise. :)

    But I do love what NOT counting the exercise calories has done for me!
  • evolution328
    evolution328 Posts: 83 Member
    I usually don't eat them back
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    I never eat them back.
  • ciaraking95
    ciaraking95 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks for all the replies, I never eat my calories back but was curious to know what others think on it :-)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    The main reason I exercise is so I can eat more. so yes, I eat half sometimes all of them back
  • firststepformefal
    firststepformefal Posts: 180 Member
    I am one of the people who do not eat my calories back.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    if you are using MFP you should eat them back.. at least a large portion of them. if you are using TDEE NO
  • deluxmary2000
    deluxmary2000 Posts: 981 Member
    It depends on how much I exercise. If it's crossfit or a short (3 mile or less) run then I typically don't. If i burn 1100+ calories on a 10 mile run then I will absolutely eat some back.

    Also if I'm having a day where I'm EXTRA hungry (like right before my period) I'll eat them then and not feel guilty :)
  • LCD_80
    LCD_80 Posts: 26 Member
    I eat mine - not always all of them, and only what my garmin hrm says I've burned, not what MFP says.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    if you are using MFP you should eat them back.. at least a large portion of them. if you are using TDEE NO

    this is how mfp is set up. and if you don't, make sure that you are netting at least 1200 calories. otherwise, health issues can arise
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I eat back almost all (average 95%) of the extra calories I get from my Vivofit2 and about 50% of what I get from the MFP database for logging my swimming and water aerobics. I trust the activity tracker to be pretty accurate but I don't trust the database. In the end, I average out to about 75-80% of my overall exercise calories.

    It has been working just fine and dandy:
    58841349.png
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,249 Member
    edited November 2015
    I eat most of them as I need the fuel and fitness is more important to me than losing those last few pounds (even though it would probably improve my race times). Having said that, proceed with caution as many HRMs , treadmills etc etc tend to overestimate the calories burned and it's not uncommon for people to underestimate the calories they're consuming.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited November 2015
    I eat most of them as I need the fuel and fitness is more important to me than losing those last few pounds (even though it would probably improve my race times). Having said that, proceed with caution as many HRMs , treadmills etc etc tend to overestimate the calories burned and it's not uncommon for people to underestimate the calories they're consuming.

    Exactly. I have tested my Vivofit (not an HRM, just a step based tracker) by calculating my TDEE over a 30 day period using my actual real-time calories consumed and adding in 3500 for each pound I lost during that time period. My old Fitbit was about 100 calories high and my Garmin is actually about 250 low so I am comfortable using those numbers (even allowing for some error on my part while logging food, although I do weigh and measure everything). I didn't eat back as many of my Fitbit numbers as I do my Garmin numbers.
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
    I eat half of them back, but sometimes I am hungry enough to want all of them and I don't give myself a hard time when that happens.