Want to log my exercise but don't want those "eat back" calories- ugghh.
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New to MFP since the beginning of the year... I didn't realize that the exercise calories were over-estimated. That said, I eat them back... every single one... and I'm still losing at the desired rate. So, do I assume that my metabolism is higher than MFP is calculating?0
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Everyone is different. Listen to this community's idea. Read nutritionist's idea. Then listen to your body.
I work out 1hr/day, 5day/week - free weights/calisthenics MWF, Zumba TTH. And the #!&*/best friend, the Fitbit, adds in all my walking everyday. I tend to NOT eat back my calories unless I'm hungry. Sometimes MFP gets mad. I don't answer to MFP.
I don't have off limits foods. I never go to bed starving. If I want more, I eat more. If I want less, I eat less. I'm down 119lbs. MFP is a tool that is here for you to use how you want. If you feel fine and are seeing results, feel free to ignore those "extra" calories.0 -
I never eat back the exercise caloroes and i would NEVER listen to someone who tells me to do so, there is NO one size fits all, CICO really doesn't work for everyone and setting your own exercise calories is your best answer.
The funny thing is, i need to lose less than 10 pounds, can you imagine if i ate back the exercise calories. Yet i've had peope here who REALLY NEED to lose 60, 70+ pounds giving me advice.
There are people who think they know what will work for you, if you are eating 1900 calories a day, leaving the exercise calories is a wonderful way to create a deficit.....and you'll only lose weight if somehow you create a calorie deficit.
(i always catch the weight gain before it becomes an issue)0 -
catrowan74 wrote: »New to MFP since the beginning of the year... I didn't realize that the exercise calories were over-estimated. That said, I eat them back... every single one... and I'm still losing at the desired rate. So, do I assume that my metabolism is higher than MFP is calculating?
I posted this in another thread, even while I have said that MFP's exercise calories are overstated, I do so not because of personal experience, but because everyone else has said so. I am guessing that there are specific exercises that are overstated, but others that are right on, and still others that are understated. Yet, people keep saying they are all overstated because, well, that is what everyone says. I think the reality is that they are closer for most things than people give them credit for, and the issue is imprecise logging habits that mean the amount eaten is incorrect.0 -
I never eat back the exercise caloroes and i would NEVER listen to someone who tells me to do so, there is NO one size fits all, CICO really doesn't work for everyone and setting your own exercise calories is your best answer.
The funny thing is, i need to lose less than 10 pounds, can you imagine if i ate back the exercise calories. Yet i've had peope here who REALLY NEED to lose 60, 70+ pounds giving me advice.
There are people who think they know what will work for you, if you are eating 1900 calories a day, leaving the exercise calories is a wonderful way to create a deficit.....and you'll only lose weight if somehow you create a calorie deficit.
(i always catch the weight gain before it becomes an issue)
You're all over the place here. CICO doesn't work for everyone yet you'll only lose weight if you create a deficit?
You clearly don't understand how MFP works and if someone is eating the base level of calories needed to meet nutritional needs and not eating any exercise calories they are doing damage to their body.
And his 1900 per day goal INLCUDES a deficit already, so exercise is increasing that deficit, lowering nutrition and increasing muscle loss. None of which is a good thing.0 -
I don't eat my calories back and feel fine, even though i've only been on 1150 for about 30 days (i'm pretty short). I just changed my settings so that MFP doesn't add them in for me. So i only ever see my calorie goal and no additions from exercise.0
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catrowan74 wrote: »New to MFP since the beginning of the year... I didn't realize that the exercise calories were over-estimated. That said, I eat them back... every single one... and I'm still losing at the desired rate. So, do I assume that my metabolism is higher than MFP is calculating?
Either that, or you are very accurate at logging, or you are at the high end of your stated activity level, or you log actual workouts only, or the exercise you do is not one that's over estimated.......a number of possibilities. If it ain't broke......
There is something that many people don't understand............everything is an estimate.
The reason CICO "doesn't work" for some people is they are eating more than they think, or they are burning less then they think. CICO has worked for hundreds of years, for millions of people.
Activity level is a range....not one number. When I started MFP I assumed I was at least lightly active. I got a FitBit and that told me the truth. Sedentary.....middle of the pack.
Not everyone weighs portions. Some of us use measuring cups, this isn't bad, but it's not the best either. Some people "eye-ball" this is even worse. Some people choose incorrect entries. Plenty of those to choose from.
Some of us log walking the dog as exercise, but if our actual activity is low enough, then it's already in our activity level.
When we get close to goal a 1/2 pound a week loss would be good progress (this is for those who are within 15 pounds of goal).
That's a measly 250 calorie a day deficit. That can easily be wiped out with inaccurate logging. A 1/2 pound loss is easily something that does not show up on the scale. It could be masked by water weight, waste, whathaveyou.
Eating back (a sensible portion) of exercise calories works for most MFP users.0 -
catrowan74 wrote: »New to MFP since the beginning of the year... I didn't realize that the exercise calories were over-estimated. That said, I eat them back... every single one... and I'm still losing at the desired rate. So, do I assume that my metabolism is higher than MFP is calculating?
If you are losing at the desired rate eating them all back then you are fine. I started out eating back 50% but I was losing faster than expected so I have started eating back more. I agree with rileysowner. I think some may be overestimated but others are not. In my experience they haven't been that high and I could probably eat them all back. I am working toward doing that. Personally I want to be able to eat as much as I can and still lose weight.0 -
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I don't eat my calories back and feel fine, even though i've only been on 1150 for about 30 days (i'm pretty short). I just changed my settings so that MFP doesn't add them in for me. So i only ever see my calorie goal and no additions from exercise.
I hope you are very short. 1150 is very low and you are probably losing a lot of muscle too. Most people shouldn't eat only 1150 calories a day.0 -
I can't imagine not eating back exercise calories. You will burn out so fast doing that. Either use the tdee method as others suggested or eat back half of your estimated calories. I get so hungry from exercise and if I didn't get the extra calories, it would totally not be worth the hunger. I've lost 85 lbs in the past year eating back half of my estimated calories. I don't think I could've kept it up this long without fueling my body.0
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chandanista wrote: »
Okay......
For those who don't know what TDEE is: TDEE is a calculator that includes exercise (unlike MFP). So TDEE users do in fact account for exercise calories. So even over riding calorie burns to 1 ...... still accounts for exercise.0 -
I never eat back the exercise caloroes and i would NEVER listen to someone who tells me to do so, there is NO one size fits all, CICO really doesn't work for everyone and setting your own exercise calories is your best answer.
The funny thing is, i need to lose less than 10 pounds, can you imagine if i ate back the exercise calories. Yet i've had peope here who REALLY NEED to lose 60, 70+ pounds giving me advice.
There are people who think they know what will work for you, if you are eating 1900 calories a day, leaving the exercise calories is a wonderful way to create a deficit.....and you'll only lose weight if somehow you create a calorie deficit.
(i always catch the weight gain before it becomes an issue)
I'm super short and have been working on my last ten pounds, just entered maintenance actually. I ate back 50% of my exercise calories doing it. Sometimes more. It doesn't matter if you have 10 pounds to lose or 100... the math is the same.
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I don't eat my calories back and feel fine, even though i've only been on 1150 for about 30 days (i'm pretty short). I just changed my settings so that MFP doesn't add them in for me. So i only ever see my calorie goal and no additions from exercise.
I hope you are very short. 1150 is very low and you are probably losing a lot of muscle too. Most people shouldn't eat only 1150 calories a day.
yah. it's not much, but honestly, that's what i get for being a munchkin and wanting to lose weight (munchkin = short, not "skinny"). I'm at about 500-750 calorie a day deficit, so even my maintenance level is pretty low. i work out about 1/2 hr each day, but have a sit on my but for 8 hrs a day job. I certainly wasn't saying anyone should live long-term on big deficit, only that in the short term, a calorie deficit = weight loss and if you you're at a good weight loss rate and feeling good, you don't have to eat back calories. And, btw, I am noticeably stronger now than a month ago because i focus on strength training for maintaining muscle mass and caloric deficiency for weight loss as opposed to cardio. If i start feeling like *kitten*/can't do workouts/am not improving strength-wise, then I would definitely reevaluate. Just saying you don't have to eat workout calories back in MFP, and can actually turn it off so it doesn't even show them in the calorie calculation if that's easier0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »I never eat back the exercise caloroes and i would NEVER listen to someone who tells me to do so, there is NO one size fits all, CICO really doesn't work for everyone and setting your own exercise calories is your best answer.
The funny thing is, i need to lose less than 10 pounds, can you imagine if i ate back the exercise calories. Yet i've had peope here who REALLY NEED to lose 60, 70+ pounds giving me advice.
There are people who think they know what will work for you, if you are eating 1900 calories a day, leaving the exercise calories is a wonderful way to create a deficit.....and you'll only lose weight if somehow you create a calorie deficit.
(i always catch the weight gain before it becomes an issue)
You're all over the place here. CICO doesn't work for everyone yet you'll only lose weight if you create a deficit?
You clearly don't understand how MFP works and if someone is eating the base level of calories needed to meet nutritional needs and not eating any exercise calories they are doing damage to their body.
And his 1900 per day goal INLCUDES a deficit already, so exercise is increasing that deficit, lowering nutrition and increasing muscle loss. None of which is a good thing.
Agreed. CICO works for every single person that exists, as is it a function of the human body. The reason why some people think CICO doesn't work for them is actually due to their own inaccuracies. Unless you're manually setting your own calories by using your TDEE, the way MFP is designed means that you should be eating a portion of your exercise calories back, as you'd be netting too little otherwise.
Unfortunately some people take exercise calories to the extreme, it becomes unrealistic, and that's why people fail. I've seen people log sex sessions as exercise, 5 minutes of jumping jacks, 2 hours of "cooking", and a slew of other things that are really not sufficient exercise. If you're looking to list any activity as exercise just so you could eat more food, then yes, you will fail because you're eating back overinflated burns. Furthermore, so many people log their food terribly. They choose incorrect entries, they log half days, negate their deficit by a cheat day or, if they have less weight to lose, screw themselves over by not weighing their food.
Personally I don't deal with MFP's burns because I use a Fitbit. I set myself as sedentary so that I'm given a lower amount of calories to eat and I earn more as the day goes on. After doing this since July, I've learned I can eat back all my exercise calories and then some. I'm 5'3" and I was 139 pounds in July and by mid-February I was 109 pounds. I am currently in the process of bulking, so I'm sitting at 113 at the moment. If I didn't eat back my exercise calories when I was losing, I'd be netting a crazy low amount of calories and I wouldn't have retained all the muscle I have. I'm still having issues with it because I'm trying to bulk and finding I can actually eat more calories than Fitbit says I can. If I don't do so, I still lose weight. I weigh everything I eat to the gram and I try to be as accurate as possible. If I can't be, then I leave a bit of padding, but I would never eat none of my exercise calories back. It's just not feasible for someone as active as I am. For people who are sedentary and don't do anything aside from light cardio a few times per week, I could see where it could end up being an issue. Your mileage may vary, but observing your own trends for a few weeks and reassessing always works.0 -
You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.0
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joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.0 -
joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.
I just don't see the point in eating back calories you've worked hard to burn unless it's a special occasion. Also I'm a true believer in lifting heavy if you are doing cardio to preserve muscle
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joseserpas1788 wrote: »joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.
I just don't see the point in eating back calories you've worked hard to burn unless it's a special occasion. Also I'm a true believer in lifting heavy if you are doing cardio to preserve muscle
You eat to fuel your exercise, and to learn how to eat in maintenance. If you're trying to lose weight you're already in a caloric deficit, and stored fat isn't a great source of energy for intense exercise.0 -
I've had extremely good, solid, reliable success (40+ pounds and counting, currently at a 23 BMI) by simply leaving a calorie "buffer" on most days, usually somewhere around 200-300 calories. If the buffer is too small, I have a suspicion I might go over - simply because I underestimated intake or overestimated exercise. Likewise, I try not to make the buffer too large, either - because I don't want to lose lean muscle, which is a very real danger when one sets one's goals too aggressively (which is what we're talking about here, when we're debating how much exercise calories to "eat back."
Sure, you'll lose more weight if you forgo eating back exercise calories, but if a ton of that is muscle you're not helping anything.
Anyways, do what you will - but I'm personally of the mind that if you're into fitness, your body really needs adequate fuel to do it, and setting your calorie deficit goals too aggressively will sabotage you over time.0 -
joseserpas1788 wrote: »joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.
I just don't see the point in eating back calories you've worked hard to burn unless it's a special occasion. Also I'm a true believer in lifting heavy if you are doing cardio to preserve muscle
Yeah, but that's what you're not understanding. Unless you're customizing your calorie allowance via the TDEE method, MFP's calorie allowance has a deficit built in. The goal is not to create an even bigger deficit to the point where you net 0 calories. It's not beneficial for the body. A lot of people here have a negative relationship with food, so I can understand why eating is seen as a negative thing, however, food is exactly what your body needs to function.
If you consume 1200 calories, but burn off 600 of them by doing a two-hour long cardio session at the gym, you're only netting 600 calories. While the average person would think "Yay, an even bigger deficit! Faster weight loss! Great!", people with more experience know what will come within the next month. "Why am I hungry all the time no matter how much I eat? Why is my hair falling out? Why am I under the weather all the time?" Simple; your body is not getting the fuel it needs to function. Even if you lift heavy, if you're not eating a sufficient amount of calories to fuel your body, you're not going to preserve muscle. Period.
I'm not saying someone has to eat ALL of their calories back. I do, but I'm experienced with doing this and I have more muscle than most women my height/weight, so I can eat more than they can. However, if someone is only eating 1200 calories and has themselves set as sedentary and they truly are working out hard, they should eat a portion back. Obviously this changes if the person has themselves set as anything higher than lightly active, which is why the general rule is 50 to 75%. I'd actually say 25 to 50% until someone can accurately assess their rate of loss. The bottom line is that if you're an 150 pound person pulling in a rate of loss of 3 to 4 pounds per week, you're screwing over your body big time and you're going to learn that the hard way.
Not too long ago, there was a poster here only eating 700 calories per day to get rid of her "fat"; she was 105 pounds. She posted photos of herself and to be honest, she looked like she was around 120 or more. She had no muscle tone whatsoever and her entire body just looked loose. She did that to herself because of the whole "eat less, lose more" philosophy and now it's gonna take her at least a year or more of body recomposition to fix the damage.0 -
Not to mention when you lose muscle that's not just the muscles on your limbs that make you look good naked, it's organs like your heart too. And organ failure ain't no fun.0
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I've been eating most of my exercise calories - and have been losing slightly faster than mfp would predict. I don't log incidental 'exercise' such as going for a walk to get lunch as I figure that's built in to my activity level. Working well for me, seeing as though I really, really like to eat :-)0
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ColoradoDan wrote: »I mean I really don't want to eat them back but I suppose if I have too I will. From my experience in past 35 days when I eat them back I don't lose weight. When I don't eat them back I lose about 1-2lbs a week.
I am so full already from my normal meals during the day. I hate the fact I get to end of day and MFP is like - hey you better eat an extra 400-600 calories because you worked out. I mean that is a big full meal basically. I feel like I am stuffing myself.
If I am supposed to say eat 2000 a day and I burn 500 calories (which is a stretch - I don't work that hard) then I would be at 1500 if I don't eat them back. That doesn't seem bad - I know a lot of men on here that eat at 1500 normally. FUNNY ENOUGH - that is actually my suggested calorie intake once I get to my goal weight!!!!
There is no way I am working out hard enough to earn 1 extra full meal a day. I mean for the most part I am walking or slow jogging for 15 minutes with some hard sprints in between and doing some circruit machines at a high intensity to get the heart rate up.
Sounds like you are underestimating your food then. But if underestimating your food and not eating back exercise calories gives you the 1-2 pound per week loss you desire, keep doing what you're doing.
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I wait until I have eaten all my allotted calories, or until I have logged them for the day then I sync my Fitbit so the exercise calories are not added until I have logged my food for the day. It's kinda odd because I pretty much workout the same amount every day, so I know about how many calories will be added. I like to see the added calories, but I rarely eat any back0
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joseserpas1788 wrote: »joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.joseserpas1788 wrote: »You're better off not eating back burned calories ... Will only speed the weigh loss process up and you will achieve your goals a lot faster .. Also fitness trackers treadmill machines are not very accurate with how much u burn.
No. Going beyond a healthy rate of loss is not better for you at all. Stop spreading misinformation. The general rule is that people should not exceed a rate of loss that goes beyond 1% of their bodyweight per week. If so, they risk losing muscle in addition to fat, especially if they're not doing any resistance training in an attempt to preserve it. This is part of what causes the whole "skinny fat" look. Also, your hair falls out, your skin turns to crap, as well as a slew of other health problems. The whole "faster is better" mentality is exactly why people crash diet, lose a bunch of weight, then gain it all back.
I just don't see the point in eating back calories you've worked hard to burn unless it's a special occasion. Also I'm a true believer in lifting heavy if you are doing cardio to preserve muscle
Because . . . if you get your calorie goal from MFP, you're *already* at a deficit -- even without exercise.0 -
So today I walked around a track for 15 minutes slowly - and shot layups on the basketball court. 276 calories it says to eat back - whoa!
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I did adjust what MFP told me to eat calorie wise down 200 calories to speed things up - maybe I can afford to eat back 200 calories of what I burned.0
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I enter my exercise, let MFP do its thing, and just aim for the net number at the end of the day to be about half to equal of what MFP says I burned, instead of aiming for 0.0
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