Trusting MFP when eating back?

sijomial

They are very rough estimates based on little information. You might be lucky and find them accurate for you.
If you follow the MFP method then yes you should eat them back.

The key is to be consistent and then adjust your goal calories based on results over a reasonable period of time like 4 weeks.

toutmonpossible

I don't log exercise because I don't want MFP to adjust my calories. In addition, calorie reduction is the most important part of weight loss.

I would not eat additional calories if you feel good after exercise. If you have an exceptionally long or strenuous workout then you would eat a little extra.

SideSteel

For those of you saying "don't eat them back, what's the point of exercise then" you aren't likely understanding how MFP works.

MFP is unique in how it sets up intake recommendations when using it's default setup. You are supposed to eat them back*

Explanation here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf


* However, they seem to be over-stated in terms of how many calories they assume you are burning. I think a reasonable recommendation would be to eat 50-75% back across the board, monitor results and adjust.

FearAnLoathingJ

ive noticed on my cardio days the number of calories burned on the machine are much lower than what mfp says,so I usually go with that.

LorinaLynn

For those of you saying "don't eat them back, what's the point of exercise then" I would urge you to get a clue.

MFP is unique in how it sets up intake recommendations. You are supposed to eat them back*

Explanation here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf


* However, they seem to be over-stated in terms of how many calories they assume you are burning. I think a reasonable recommendation would be to eat 50-75% back across the board, monitor results and adjust.

This.

And trial and error. I lost exactly as predicted by eating almost all my exercise calories, using MFP estimates. Some of the entries are more accurate than others. Something like "running, 6 mph" is going to be pretty close, because it's going by your stats and pace. "Elliptical" is completely useless, with no variables for your pace or resistance, so it has as much chance of being accurate as a broken clock.

FearAnLoathingJ

My suggestion.... if you want to lose weight, don't eat them back. What's the purpose of eating back all the calories you just burned off by eating them back. Waste of time to exercise. Don't let your all hard work be done in vain, don't eat back the calories and see if you lose, then again, just do what works for you.

I don't see how people can exercise and not be hungry. it makes me ravenous

xjoseyx

i dont trust the calories burned on MFP. I trust what my heart rate monitor tells me. I generally dont eat my calories back because why did i do all that effort to burn them if im just going to eat them again? Unless, of course, i plan on having chinese food lol

oawalden

I have a BodyFit Media armband as well and I go by that instead of by MFP because, I too, think it shows a more accurate calorie burn for the day....yet I still make sure I don't eat them all back (just in case).

Also, as far as "eating back" the calories you burned.... when you do work out, you do need more "fuel/food" on those days so that your body can get you through your work out. Also, you burn for a while afterwards so you end up in the negative by the end of the day. I would suggest eating back most of the calories on the days that you work out so I can replenish the nutrients my body needs that I depleted during my workout and it wasn't until I started eating MORE that I started losing more consistently. I have not had a "regain" since I started doing this. Slow and steady wins the race. I didn't gain it overnight, not going to lose it overnight either.

Hope this helps. Everyone's body works differently so this is just my own personal journey of what is working for me.

sgk0411

I generally eat back some to most of the exercise calories because I don't have much wiggle room when it is set at 1/1.5lbs a week loss and I work out every day. When I was a lot bigger, I had a lot more wiggle room but now that I only have a few more lbs to lose, it sets me at 1300-1400 a day without working out. If i set it to .5lbs a week, it sets me up to 1600 calories a day. So really, if I burn 400 a day, no matter what, i'm not gaining extra by eating that much on days when I work out. My heart rate monitor pretty much matches mfp.

tiger4nikki

I am unsure if MFP is correct on the calories burned either, so I don't eat many of them back. If I have been really active that day, I might eat up to half back. If it's a "slower" exercise day, I don't generally eat them back.

ohnstadk

I usually cut the calories mfp gives for exercise by 150 to 200 for each exercise. And then only eat half of those back if hungry. For example, if I do a 30 minute circuit and mfp says that I burned 450 calories. I will subtract 150 from that total, logging the exercise as 300 calories burned. If I am hungry I will then eat a snack around 150 calories. That way I am not starving myself, nor am I overestimating the calories earned.

Joshacham

I believe that MFP often overestimates exercise calories so definitely be careful eating them ALL back. I bought a Bodymedia Fit and learned that, in my case, MFP was often doubling what I was actually burning.

See, that's weird. I would use the Nike Run app and saw that Nike was overestimating the amount of calories burned compared to MFP. I shrug and go with what MFP said I burned in 50 minutes of running at 6 mph rather than what Nike says. It's a head scratcher.

I've eaten all of my calories and, at times, over the amount now that I'm maintaining and I haven't seen any significant gains or loss when it comes to my weight.

LiftAllThePizzas

I have a hard enough time eating my original calories, so I never eat my exercise calories back!!

Yeah, orthorexia does that to people.

stuffinmuffin

From getting a heart rate monitor I found that MFP underestimated walking cals and overestimated running cals. I guess this all balanced out in the end.

Remember this is all 'rough' science not exact to the calorie and that will go for your food input too, so don't take it totally seriously.

Eat most of the cals back but keep a buffer of say - 50 cals if you're worried. Same on another day if you eat 50 cals over your limit it probably wont make any difference.

jwdieter

Given the OP is a young, thin, man who is working out, eating back the MFP cals is more than likely just fine. He definitely shouldn't be skimping on calories.

MFP underestimates my caloric burn for a lot of gym activities.

acpgee

My experience is that the MFP burn rates are way off. My typical workout is 65 minutes on the elliptical targeting a heart rate of 140-150. According to the heart rate monitor, I burn 500-540. According to the machine itself 750-780. According to MFP its 926.

magerum

MFP calorie estimations are just that, estimations. For me they're radically low, for many they're very high. Over time and through use of a properly tuned HRM I have been able to eat back all of my exercise calories. The key is measuring your burns the best you can.

andresconejo

Ok that's so confusing an dim planning on buying a HRM, but not very soon, so, what i'm thinking it's just to eat my calories (i'm maintaining) , i may eat less, but i will never go over them and maybe don´t eat the excrcise cals back because i'm supposed to eat like 2500 calories to maintain my way so i guess it's enough and i don´t need excercise cals.. maybe if i want to "cheat " i will only eat half of them, is this okay??

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Also i have another doubt, i should add the excercise to my daily goal, right? LEt's say, MFP gives me 2500 cals as my daily goal, and if i burnt 700 cals and i want to eat them back i should add 700 to 2500 so i can eat like 3200 on workout days, right?

HPLW0705

I noticed, after purchasing my HRM, that the calorie counts on MFP are highly inflated. I would run 3 miles and it would tell me I was buring over hundred calories more than when I used my HRM. Same with other exercises as well. MFP has me set at 1250 and since I've been doing Insanity and running, I tend to be so hungry that I eat back most of my exercise calories the majority of the time. I usually end up eating around 1600-1700 calories a day, netting around 1250 and I've been losing steadily.

TheRealParisLove

I just wanted to mention that not everyone is going to be way over on calorie burn estimates here. I am very fit, and have a maximum heart rate more like that of a 25 year old, not 43 (my real age). MFP is consistently under estimating my calorie burn due to the standardization of the calories burned formula. I can usually add 10-30% more calories burned to my totals.

I'm just mentioning this because not everyone is going to fall into the "normal" range that is calculated here. Listen to your body, and if you have frequent hunger pains that last an hour or more, it may be time to increase your calorie consumption.