Eating back?

heather_nicole24

So I have used this app for a while, but I have neglected it lol. So I'm getting back in, and I'm reading up not to eat back your work out calories? So what is everyone's feedback on this? I was thinking if you're burning the extra calories I should intake more calories, but maybe not?

shadow2soul

MFP is designed for you to eat them back. It's a unique system. Most other methods take into account exercise when giving you a calorie goal, but MFP does not. MFP doesn't take into account your exercise until you log it.

It is recommended to start with eating 50% back and adjust up or down as needed. If in 4 weeks your weight loss averaged out to be more than planned; eat more. If the average loss is less than planned; eat less.

Bettina82

For 10 days I was not eating back any of the calories I burned with exercise and I was starving! I would wake up at 2 am so hungry. I started to eat back 50% of the calories burned and I can tell a difference.

murp4069

I eat back a relatively low number of exercise calories during the week, instead I "bank" them for the weekend when I tend to eat a bit more. This works well for me. I average eating just over 50% back over the course of an entire week. My weight loss has been fairly on point with my goal so I think that this technique is working.

TeaBea

MFP as designed gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. Even people who can't/won't exercise still lose weight.

When MFP gives you additional "earned" calories, that ideally gets you back to the deficit you signed up for. It's a general recommendation to eat back 50-75% of those calories because calorie burn estimates tend to be generous.

WHY would you want to eat back exercise calories? Large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle. If you just want a number on the scale, lose fast. If you want fat loss, lose at a moderate pace.