Eating exercise calories

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TracyPedersen
TracyPedersen Posts: 16 Member
edited January 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone

I'm not new to MFP but have never posted on the forums before so hello.

I've used MFP on and off in the past but have started using it daily more recently. Basically last year I put on almost 2 stone due to medication and this year my aim is to lose that and to get back down to a healthy weight.

I decided to start using MFP again to help with my weight loss journey and have been using it properly since the beginning of January. However I have a question. I have started exercising again but I've not been eating my exercise calories back at all. Should I be? I never have eaten my exercise calories in the past but reading everyone's posts it seems that most of you do. Is it a problem if I don't eat them back? I'm not losing very quickly but have always been a slow loser. So I'm a bit worried that if I eat more calories I won't lose at all.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Replies

  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
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    There are literally pages of info on this if you punch your question into the search bar but quoting straight from one of those searches "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."
  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
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    Just eat 50-75% back, mfp tends to overestimate. You should base this decision on your weight loss though. If you eat some back and you stop losing, then stop eating them back.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
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    cujodog wrote: »
    I never eat back exercise calories. Why cheat your efforts

    Because MFP has already calculated a deficit, exercise creates an additional deficit. If I didn't eat back some of my exercise calories I would be eating a dangerously low amount of calories and I wouldn't have the energy to kick *kitten* at the gym.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    oh_happy_day wrote: »
    cujodog wrote: »
    I never eat back exercise calories. Why cheat your efforts

    Because MFP has already calculated a deficit, exercise creates an additional deficit. If I didn't eat back some of my exercise calories I would be eating a dangerously low amount of calories and I wouldn't have the energy to kick *kitten* at the gym.
    This ^^
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,203 Member
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    oh_happy_day wrote: »
    cujodog wrote: »
    I never eat back exercise calories. Why cheat your efforts

    Because MFP has already calculated a deficit, exercise creates an additional deficit. If I didn't eat back some of my exercise calories I would be eating a dangerously low amount of calories and I wouldn't have the energy to kick *kitten* at the gym.

    This ^^

    I aim to eat about half my exercise calories back, but on certain days when I do a lot of exercise, I might eat them all. I do need the fuel.

    I have successfully lost 26 kg and am now in the bottom half of my normal BMI range. :)

  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    oh_happy_day wrote: »
    cujodog wrote: »
    I never eat back exercise calories. Why cheat your efforts

    Because MFP has already calculated a deficit, exercise creates an additional deficit. If I didn't eat back some of my exercise calories I would be eating a dangerously low amount of calories and I wouldn't have the energy to kick *kitten* at the gym.

    cujodog is the same person from another thread this morning who told a man not seeing progress to cut his calories to 1000 calories per day. I'm not sure if they're a troll, they have an eating disorder, or they're just plain uninformed.

    In any case, yes, eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. I say 50% because MFP/gym machines overestimate calorie burns and people tend to underestimate how much they actually eat if they don't use a food scale. I have a Fitbit Charge HR and I eat back 80-100% of my exercise calories and I'm still losing weight.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Yes you should eat them back if you do a significant amount of exercise - apart from being how the tool is designed it's also good practice for when you hit goal weight and will need to take them into account to maintain.

    Put some effort into making sure your estimates are reasonable though.
    Depending on your exercise there's different ways to estimate calorie burns. MFP database is good for some, comically high for others, low for others. Just as some machines are accurate and some are way off.

    But keep in mind as mentioned above actual long term weight trends are your best guide to how accurate your logging is and if your resulting calorie balance is appropriate. How good your food logging is has a much higher level of impact than exercise calorie burn accuracy.
  • TracyPedersen
    TracyPedersen Posts: 16 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the replies. You have been really helpful.
  • Karstey050
    Karstey050 Posts: 62 Member
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    Without exercise I only burn about 1550 calories. MFP has me at the 1200 calorie level, which is not enough of a deficit for me to lose 1 lb/week. I have to walk 2 miles per day yo just reach a 500 calorie deficit! I never eat my exercise calories because I wouldn't lose any weight if I did.

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