What is eating back calories & should I be??

clairem1122

I used this website which I believe uses The Mifflin, M. D., St Jeor formula in order to calculate my TDEE.
https://healthyeater.com/how-to-calculate-your-macros

So following instructions, I calculated my Resting Energy Expenditure (REE), then my TDEE, then I subtracted 20% for weight loss.

This gave me:
1290 kcal (sedentary)
1478 kcal (light activity)

I base all of my days on these two alone, so sedentary for my non gym days, and light activity for my gym days.

I keep seeing people talk about "eating back their calories". What does this actually mean?? Am I eating back my calories and should I be???

Sorry to sound stupid

Maxematics

If you're using your own calorie goal following TDEE and not MFP's calorie goal, you shouldn't be eating back exercise calories as the TDEE method accounts for that already. So if you log exercise on MFP, you shouldn't be eating back any calories they give you on top of your custom calorie goals, as the extra calories for your exercise are accounted for through your TDEE.

Sued0nim

No because you have taken a cut from TDEE which means you are including exercise

Those who eat back exercise are following MFP's NEAT calculation

rankinsect

All depends on the method you use.

MFP is set up for NEAT - it estimates your daily calorie burns based on activity level, but not exercise, and builds in a deficit to get your target weight loss per week. Exercise is added on top and should be "eaten back", assuming the calories burned in exercise are actually accurate.

If you're doing TDEE, the exercise is counted in already, so you don't eat anything back.

Really, regardless of method, these are just good estimates to start with - after a month or two, you can track your progress, and make changes. No calculator is going to know everything about your individual body composition.

cwolfman13

MFP gives you a calorie target for weight loss based on zero exercise...your calorie target is based on your day to day activity along with your BMR...suffice it to say that exercise would then be unaccounted for activity and it should be accounted for somewhere...the more you do, the more energy your body requires.

If I do no exercise and maintain weight at 2300 calories, MFP would give me 1,800 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...that's a 500 calorie deficit to lose weight. Now lets say I exercise and burn 600 calories...my maintenance has now moved to 2,300+600=2,900 calories and thus I could eat those 600 calories and still be in a 500 calorie deficit...so I could eat 2,400 calories because 2,900-2,400=500 calorie deficit still.

It's important to learn how to fuel your fitness...fitness and exercise isn't just about weight loss or weight management...it is about your overall health and well being and it needs to be fueled. Most people who end up with "over-train" issues aren't really overtraining...they are under feeding for the activity they are doing.

The more strenuous your workouts are, the more important it is to fuel that hard work...exercise is very good for you, but strenuous exercise is also a big time stress on the body and breaks the body down and requires energy for recovery and repair of your body.

Note that if you're using the TDEE method you would not eat back exercise calories because exercise should be accounted for in your TDEE and thus an estimate of those calories required to support that activity would be included in your energy targets.

Verdenal

rankinsect wrote: »

Really, regardless of method, these are just good estimates to start with - after a month or two, you can track your progress, and make changes. No calculator is going to know everything about your individual body composition.

Exactly, no calculator is going to do it all. The individual has to keep records, check her weight regularly and make adjustments as needed. As a matter of psychology or behavior, I think it's a bad idea to eat back calories unless you're ravenous. It can lead to overeating.