Should I eat the earned calories?

Gselda312

I'm set up to consume 1200, if I burn 700 calories during my workout am I supposed to consume more??

LaurenAOK

Yes. Follow the calories MFP gives you. Some people only eat back 50-75% of the extra calories though, since MFP can overestimate then.

Also, 1200 may be too low of a calorie goal for you. You can find tons of info about that around these forums.

zira91

the thread below would definitely answer your questions.. just click on the link and read the post & replies.. community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10296398/eating-back-exercise-calories

Dreysander

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it said "should I eat earned cookies" for a second (it's still early). Heck yes, eat earned cookies!

Yi5hedr3

First, burned calories is about half what you think. So let's say 350. Of that you could eat about 200 back and be good.

wearmi1

I try not to, it's a personal choice for me. I figure if I don't eat them back it will make up for any inaccuracies with my logging or over estimates from what my fit bit is telling me I burned. Eat when your body needs it not because you have the extra available... but that's just my opinion.

SingRunTing

wearmi1 wrote: »

I try not to, it's a personal choice for me. I figure if I don't eat them back it will make up for any inaccuracies with my logging or over estimates from what my fit bit is telling me I burned. Eat when your body needs it not because you have the extra available... but that's just my opinion.

That's a good way to lose too much muscle mass.

If you don't eat back your calories, you'll lose faster than you should. Losing too fast causes you to lose muscle mass since your body can only metabolize a certain amount of fat everyday.

Obviously, this all depends on how far under your net calories you are everyday. 100 calories, I wouldn't worry too much, but 700 (like the OP is saying) is way too far under.

Asher_Ethan

How are you calculating that you burn 700 calories in a workout.

cwolfman13

wearmi1 wrote: »

I try not to, it's a personal choice for me. I figure if I don't eat them back it will make up for any inaccuracies with my logging or over estimates from what my fit bit is telling me I burned. Eat when your body needs it not because you have the extra available... but that's just my opinion.

if someone is eating 1200 calories and actually burning 700 that would mean they were only providing their body with 500 calories...you require more energy than that just to exist. provided that one is being accurate in their logging and reasonably accurate with their burn estimates, this is a great recipe for loss of lean mass, hair falling out, loss of menstrual cycle, etc.

1200 calories is the target given based on ZERO exercise and an activity level set to sedentary...obviously if you're burning 700 calories you are doing a lot of exercise and obviously not sedentary so it's completely illogical not to account for that activity. the more you do, the more your body needs.

TeaBea

cwolfman13 wrote: »

wearmi1 wrote: »

I try not to, it's a personal choice for me. I figure if I don't eat them back it will make up for any inaccuracies with my logging or over estimates from what my fit bit is telling me I burned. Eat when your body needs it not because you have the extra available... but that's just my opinion.

if someone is eating 1200 calories and actually burning 700 that would mean they were only providing their body with 500 calories...you require more energy than that just to exist. provided that one is being accurate in their logging and reasonably accurate with their burn estimates, this is a great recipe for loss of lean mass, hair falling out, loss of menstrual cycle, etc.

1200 calories is the target given based on ZERO exercise and an activity level set to sedentary...obviously if you're burning 700 calories you are doing a lot of exercise and obviously not sedentary so it's completely illogical not to account for that activity. the more you do, the more your body needs.

^End thread

extra_medium

MFP's caloric guidelines are based on what how much you should eat in order to lose weight without any additional burn through exercise.. so yes you should eat most (if not all) of them back. As TeaBea said though this is assuming you're logging your food accurately and getting a somewhat accurate estimate of your burn through your workouts.

Gselda312

Thank you so much everyone. This all has been very helpful. I have changed my calorie intake to 1450 and I will start you use up my earned calories.