Eating back calories burned

gavinsmama827
gavinsmama827 Posts: 6 Member
edited November 28 in Health and Weight Loss
Why are you supposed to eat back the calories that you burn from exercise? I don't understand

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    MFP gives you a calorie goal that puts you at a deficit before you do any exercise. If you exercise, you increase the size of this deficit. A deficit that is too high can impact your health and energy -- your body needs appropriate fuel to run. So when you increase the size of your deficit through exercise, you should consider eating some or all of those calories back so you maintain your health, energy, and muscle mass.
  • ronniejolley494
    ronniejolley494 Posts: 2 Member
    Your body requires a certain level of intake to keep from going into "starvation mode," which will cause your metabolism to crash to a screeching halt. MFP adjusts your caloric deficit to keep you within safe limits.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    ronniejolley494 wrote: »
    Your body requires a certain level of intake to keep from going into "starvation mode," which will cause your metabolism to crash to a screeching halt. MFP adjusts your caloric deficit to keep you within safe limits.

    While metabolic adaptation is real, "starvation mode" in the sense you're using it isn't going to be an issue for the vast majority of people. The real danger is that a large deficit, if sustained, can lead to low energy and losing too much muscle. It can also lead to health consequences like hair loss or gallbladder issues. And if one gets too hungry and isn't able to sustain it, it can lead to binges and lack of progress.

    So there are good reasons to avoid a large deficit, just not "starvation mode."
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
    Your body requires a certain amount of calories for it's day to day operation. Think of it like gas. On days where you are just driving to work and back you may not use very much gas. But, on a cross country road trip you will need to refuel. I take half of what myfitnesspal predicts i burned and just eat that. If I feel compelled too at the end of the day.
  • missblondi2u
    missblondi2u Posts: 851 Member
    Because food = good :)

    Plus if you really want to exercise effectively, you have to fuel it properly.
  • TaraTall
    TaraTall Posts: 339 Member
    Yeah, depending on how my day goes, I don't generally eat back my calories. Sometimes I do but my target is based on my lifestyle as is. So if I burn 200 cal, i might not eat it back but if I burn 500, I'm usually hungrier and will eat it back.
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
    TaraTall wrote: »
    Yeah, depending on how my day goes, I don't generally eat back my calories. Sometimes I do but my target is based on my lifestyle as is. So if I burn 200 cal, i might not eat it back but if I burn 500, I'm usually hungrier and will eat it back.

    I set up myfitnesspal as sedentary. My job is somewhat active but, i don't feel like bumping it up to lightly active. Lightly active 1.5 pounds a week is the equivalent of 1lb a week sedentary for me so as long as i'm losing somewhere between the 2 i'm happy. Of course i've generally been over 2lbs a week without particularly trying so i'm trying to make adjustments by eating all allotted calories and I bought a heart rate monitor which i can hopefully get working properly on my android phone.
  • gavinsmama827
    gavinsmama827 Posts: 6 Member
    Is there a way to see what MFP says my calorie intake should be now a days? I made this account to awhile ago and feel I should update some info
  • gavinsmama827
    gavinsmama827 Posts: 6 Member
    And thank you everyone for explaining that to me!
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
    gavinsmama827 wrote: »
    Is there a way to see what MFP says my calorie intake should be now a days? I made this account to awhile ago and feel I should update some info

    Yeah go to the log weight section and just change it to your current weight. Also under goals change it to what you want
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Because the more I exercise, the more I can eat while still staying at mfp's deficit.
  • napilibay
    napilibay Posts: 121 Member
    I emailed mfp about this today and they told me not to eat less than 1200 net calories. So if I'm given 1200 food calories, burn 400, I need to eat that all back to stay above 1200 net and avoid starvation.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    napilibay wrote: »
    I emailed mfp about this today and they told me not to eat less than 1200 net calories. So if I'm given 1200 food calories, burn 400, I need to eat that all back to stay above 1200 net and avoid starvation.

    If you're getting your exercise calorie burn from the mfp data base or exercise machines it is usually recommended to eat back 50% of those calories due to overinflation of their numbers.
    Fitbit etc etc are more accurate, but still not spot on for some.

  • aft85
    aft85 Posts: 54 Member
    they overinflate their numbers? :( I'm relying on that info!
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