Advice about whether to obey MFP's extra calories for exercise

stacicali

Looking to trim 15 lbs of fat but gain lean muscle. My trainer has suggested that I ignore the calories MFP grants me for exercise, but I am concerned this could slow my metabolism. Does anyone know the right answer? Thanks!

VinceFrat

I use a 10% rule just to be sure. If the ellipical trainer says i burned 600 calories, i record 540 calories. Seems that a lot of people including my dietitian think that those machines over calculate. I don't know if they do or not but I am serious about losing weight so I don't take a chance. Good luck!

inglysh731

It depends. I was eating 100% of my calories burned back but I was on a very low calorie diet due to the fact that I work from home and am sedentary 22 of 24 hours of the day.
Over time, I increased my baseline calories by 150 per day and reduced the % that I ate back to around 60%. In the beginning I had about 50lbs to lose and when I dropped 30 lbs, I experienced a significant swing in my metabolism including feeling hungry A LOT more than I used to... I won't starve myself and try to listen when my body is telling me something. Long and short, it'll depend what your baseline calorie consumption is as well as your activity level, frequency and regularity. If you're working hard, you'll need to fuel those efforts.

I ride bikes for fitness and have a "powertap" which measures wattage. While not perfect, I understand this is/can be a more accurate way of measuring calories than some machine based estimators. When relying on my HR/Garmin/MFP to tell the story, there was a significant degree of variability.

Ex:
MFP estimated a workout at 1523 calories
HR/Garmin estimated same workout at 1050 calories
Powertap estimated same workout at 867 calories

The strava and endomondo estimates were (in some cases wildly) different still.

All said and done, keep documenting your weight/calories and monitor for progress. Be prepared review and modify your diet/activities as needed in order to achieve the results you are looking for. Seems like a long time, but I try to give myself at least two weeks of data before making big changes due to natural fluctuations in weight, etc. Things I consider are how productive my workouts/efforts seem, how much weight I can lift/number of repetitions, improvements to baseline power levels, relative perceived exertion... I can tell when somethings up when I can't hit the power numbers I've seen in the past OR am unable to sustain my normally high average HR. If I'm dogging it with 2-3 days of recovery between efforts, I know somethings up.

Some progress will be immeasurable by a scale so be sure to look at your success in ways outside of that number.

singingflutelady

If you want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time you have to have a small deficit or maintenance so I would eat back your exercise calories. You will not gain muscle having a large deficit. The one thing to remember is that recomp is a very slow process. Also women eating a surplus and training hard can only gain maybe 1/2 -1 lbs a month in muscle if they are lucky.

RGv2

Yes, you should be eating back your exercise calories especially that you're trying to do a recomp (cut fat & add muscle). Basically, your trainer doesn't know how NEAT (what MFP uses) works. In order to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, you need to put in a ton of work and your diet needs to be on point. Part of being on point means you need to eat close to your maintenance calories.

If you're not eating back exercise calories, you'll be in too steep of a deficit to add much appreciable muscle after any noob gains. Adding muscle is extremely difficult.....for guys, it's exponentially more difficult for women (due to lower testosterone levels), so along with the work your diet (and enough calories) really need to be as close to correct as possible.

With that said, what do you have MFP set to for a goal loss per week; .5lbs, 1lb, 2lb?

elaineamj

MFP assigned me 1200 cals to lose 1lb a week (only 5ft tall). I started off eating back 50% of MFP's exercise calories. I used trendweight and tracked my average weight. After 20 days (not including my initial sharp water weight loss), trendweight said I was losing an average 1.5lbs a week. So I started eating back all my exercise calories. It's only been a week and I am going to give it 20 days to determine how it is working for me. I'm still losing at a rapid clip this week though (2lbs down). I'm starting to think it takes my body 1-2 weeks to catch up to any diet changes.

Plus, while I try to be as accurate as possible with logging (use a kitchen scale, etc), at least 1-2 meals a week (when I eat out) are estimates so I know my logging isn't super tight and I typically overestimate calories to be on the safe side. I just try to be as consistent as possible with my inaccuracies lol.

I figure I need to give myself time and exercise some patience while I find the right balance for me. At worst, I delay things by a few weeks - and that's no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

RoxieDawn

use this link...

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

RGv2

Yes, you should be eating back your exercise calories. What you explained as your goal (lose the last bit of fat/gain muscle) is called a recomp. In order to recomp, you need to put in a ton of work within a progressive lifting program, and you need your calories to be as close to TDEE as accurately possible (usually a cut of about 250cals or so). Basicallly your trainer doesn't understand NEAT (how MFP works). If you're not eating back exercise calories, there's no way you'll be anywhere near TDEE. You'll most likely be at far to steep of a defect to gain any appreciable muscle past noob gains, and honestly could prohibit even maintaining muscle.

Gaining muscle in ideal conditions is extremely hard.....for guys. It can be exponentially tougher for women (a lot to do w/ testosterone levels). The work needs to be there, and your diet will need to be on point. Part of that will need to be making sure you get enough calories.

With that said, what do you have your goal set to; .5lbs, 1lb, 2lbs per week? Also, we can't see your diary so we don't know how much of a deficit you're running daily. That would be helpful for more specific info, but basically to run a recomp you'll want to be in no more than a 250 cal per day deficit (on average). It's not fun, but with how little you have to lose and wanting to gain muscle at the same time, your cal estimations really have to be as on point accurate as possible because there isn't a ton of wiggle room.

Annie_01

I think it depends on the exercise and the intensity of it.

I do light weight/low intensity resistance training so I never eat those calories back. I really burns very few calories over what I would be normally exerting.

I usually don't eat my walking calories back either unless it is a long distance and fairly brisk. I just use my walking for meeting my daily activity level.

I do however add some calories if I go hiking depending on the length of time and the terrain. I usually am starving not long after I get back.

This method works better for me. When I first started trying to lose weight I was eating my exercise calories back. One day I realize that being able to eat more was driving my exercise. I decided that I was better off letting my diet drive my weight loss and letting exercise drive me to better health. For me keeping the two separate but realizing that it took both to get me where I wanted to be in the end has worked.

Just to add however...the calorie level that you set for yourself is important in determining whether you eat those exercise calories back. If you are eating the bare minimum (1200) then you probably do need to add some of those calories back.

lml852014

I only eat back half of my exercise calories and still make sure I have some left over for the end of the day in case of a few slip ups or by accidentally forgetting to log something. Its been working as my weight is starting to go down. When I was eating back all of my exercise calories I wasnt losing at all.

TeaBea

stacicali wrote: »

Looking to trim 15 lbs of fat but gain lean muscle. My trainer has suggested that I ignore the calories MFP grants me for exercise, but I am concerned this could slow my metabolism. Does anyone know the right answer? Thanks!

Are you using the number MFP gave you? MFP is designed for you to eat calories back, they give you a deficit BEFORE exercise. Calorie burns are often generous estimates. Eat back about half.

If you are plugging in your own number (that includes exercise up front) then ignore MFP's additional calories. You've accounted for exercise already.

You won't slow your metabolism. But the point of eating exercise calorie back is to fuel your workouts and keep a moderate deficit. Too large a deficit makes it hard to hold onto the lean muscle you have. You very likely won't be gaining any muscle unless you are eating very close to maintenance (recomposition).

ConicalFern

inglysh731 wrote: »

It depends. I was eating 100% of my calories burned back but I was on a very low calorie diet due to the fact that I work from home and am sedentary 22 of 24 hours of the day.
Over time, I increased my baseline calories by 150 per day and reduced the % that I ate back to around 60%. In the beginning I had about 50lbs to lose and when I dropped 30 lbs, I experienced a significant swing in my metabolism including feeling hungry A LOT more than I used to... I won't starve myself and try to listen when my body is telling me something. Long and short, it'll depend what your baseline calorie consumption is as well as your activity level, frequency and regularity. If you're working hard, you'll need to fuel those efforts.

I ride bikes for fitness and have a "powertap" which measures wattage. While not perfect, I understand this is/can be a more accurate way of measuring calories than some machine based estimators. When relying on my HR/Garmin/MFP to tell the story, there was a significant degree of variability.

Ex:
MFP estimated a workout at 1523 calories
HR/Garmin estimated same workout at 1050 calories
Powertap estimated same workout at 867 calories

The strava and endomondo estimates were (in some cases wildly) different still.

All said and done, keep documenting your weight/calories and monitor for progress. Be prepared review and modify your diet/activities as needed in order to achieve the results you are looking for. Seems like a long time, but I try to give myself at least two weeks of data before making big changes due to natural fluctuations in weight, etc. Things I consider are how productive my workouts/efforts seem, how much weight I can lift/number of repetitions, improvements to baseline power levels, relative perceived exertion... I can tell when somethings up when I can't hit the power numbers I've seen in the past OR am unable to sustain my normally high average HR. If I'm dogging it with 2-3 days of recovery between efforts, I know somethings up.

Some progress will be immeasurable by a scale so be sure to look at your success in ways outside of that number.

What were the Strava estimates like? I use a HR monitor on my rides, but I tend to use whichever is lower between Strava and Garmin connect and eat back those calories (I'm too hungry after a ride not to!). Presumably the Powertap data is most accurate? Can the Powertap not talk to the Garmin?

Sorry for hijacking thread.

peaceout_aly

stacicali wrote: »

Looking to trim 15 lbs of fat but gain lean muscle. My trainer has suggested that I ignore the calories MFP grants me for exercise, but I am concerned this could slow my metabolism. Does anyone know the right answer? Thanks!

If you want to eat back some, they suggest only eating back HALF because MFP is very generous in the burns that it shows.

erianswilliams

It all depends. When I was trying to lose weight, I would try my best not to eat back my exercise calories. Now, I'm on maintenance. I'm trying to lose visceral fat & gain muscle. So, I do eat back my exercise calories, but not with unhealthy food. I usually eat higher protein foods or foods with healthy fats...especially right after a workout.

Hope all this advice helps!

ElizabethOakes2

I eat back half of what MFP says most of the time (not this week, because Valentine's Day has a prime rib dinner with my name on it waiting for me) and that seems to work pretty well for me.

stacicali

Thank you so much to all who replied. I wish you all good karma for helping out a rookie. My diary is now public, so feel free to offer constructive criticism. I am trying to focus on protein and healthy fats while avoiding sugar, but it is more difficult than I thought. To answer those who asked questions:
TeaBoa - Yes, I am using the calorie recommendation that MFP gives me. Thanks for the advice about consuming half the extra exercise allotment. Many have echoed that same advice.
RGv2 - Thank you for explaining recomp. I can research that now that I know what it's called. I definitely don't want to go through all the soreness of weight training only to possibly lose and not gain muscle. My goal is 1.5 lbs fat loss per week. Based on your feedback, I just ordered a food scale to improve my reporting accuracy so that I can hit that 250 cal sweet spot. Thank you!