fit calories how many to eat back

bnorris2013
bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This is actually a question for the hubby - He just got a walking treadmill desk about a month or so ago - he is walking so much that when fitbit syncs to myfitnesspal it is telling him he has about 1200 extra calories he should be eating because of the walking ---- So my hubby had not been eating it back and he is not loosing and I told him it's because he is not eating enough so what we want to know is how much of those 1200 extra walking calories should he eat back he is trying to lose 2+ a week

Replies

  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
    Zero. If you're not losing weight, increasing your calories is not going to cause you to lose more weight.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I think your hubby needs to get his food logging on point before deciding to eat back his exercise calories.
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I think your hubby needs to get his food logging on point before deciding to eat back his exercise calories.

    This.

    Even after fixing the logging problem, there isn't a right answer as there are so many ways calories burned are calculated. You have to monitor your results and make choices from there. I personally eat back about 75 percent on most days. Good luck!
  • flutters_me2
    flutters_me2 Posts: 9 Member
    Sooo, if you eat back its bad? I'm also confused on this eat back calorie thing
  • flutters_me2
    flutters_me2 Posts: 9 Member
    Because it gives you a calorie goal of what you should I take based on your activity level. So the added exercise is extra exercise right? It already calculates some of your "exercise" by the activity level. ????
  • ekat120
    ekat120 Posts: 407 Member
    Definitely make sure he's logging accurately. My Fitbit is right on in terms of estimating how much I burn, so I eat all of them back. But I'm a 140 lb female who weighs all of her food on a digital scale, so your mileage may vary.
  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
    Not sure why everyone is talking about logging food properly - He logs everything down to the gram so his food is logged properly --- I am only referring to the fitbit sync when it brings in his steps and gives him extra food calories to eat because of it as he gets about 22-25k steps in a day now
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,474 Member
    edited May 2016
    If he is not losing weight, he is consuming more calories than he is burning. CI > CO.

    If he wants to lose weight, he needs to consume fewer calories than he is burning. CI < CO.

    What is his activity level set at in MFP?
  • ekat120
    ekat120 Posts: 407 Member
    My Fitbit is right on in terms of estimating how much I burn, so I eat all of them back. But I'm a 140 lb female, so your mileage may vary.
  • dljsm
    dljsm Posts: 1 Member
    Yeah... If he's doing everything right, and not losing weight, it's either a medical condition or he's not telling you everything. I usually eat very little back, and have amazingly dangerous results!
  • kea9f
    kea9f Posts: 27 Member
    I think it depends on a lot of factors...that's a huge number of calories to play with though, it might be worth going to see a doctor. I'm guessing with trying to lose 2+ pounds per week, he's pretty significantly overweight, in which case I'm not sure the same "starvation" rules (for whatever they are worth) apply. Doctors cut morbidly obese people down below 1200 calories a day when they're trying to lose weight I think. If he's not morbidly obese, which at 22k steps I kind of doubt he is, then he should probably be making an effort to net whatever the MFP calculator says. Is it one of the HR fitbits? Maybe try a HR monitor and see if he's really burning as many as he says? I think my fitbit overestimates my calorie burn.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    i eat back some exercise calories if i get hungry. if not, i don't bother.

    it's not likely that your husband burned that many calories, though - that's an insane amount of calories for slow walking. my fitbit gave me 400 calories for our last 8 hour trip to disneyland which included lots of fast walking and lots of small up and down hill walking. i have yet to find anything that is accurate for my calorie burn, but i don't worry about it.

    btw, eating more won't actually make you lose weight. if he's walking for hours and not losing weight, chances are he's not accurately weighing and logging all his food.
  • StephanieJane2
    StephanieJane2 Posts: 191 Member
    If I don't eat most of my exercise cals I don't lose weight. Body needs to re-fuel after exercise x
  • StephanieJane2
    StephanieJane2 Posts: 191 Member
    Also be aware that some apps give you far too many cals x
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
    Just to supply some kind of perspective Garmin has never given me close to 1200 calories back just for walking, and I'm pretty active.

    I guess the point is that because calories burned are calculated in so many different ways, the number may not be reliable. This is why many don't follow this number exactly, and don't eat back all their exercise calories. If I'm logging religiously and not losing, I would question my CI and CO numbers. If the logging (CI) is correct, then CO is the incorrect variable.

    I haven't read through the whole thread but if your husband is doing other exercises the burn for those activities might be off as well.

    The short version is your husband may have to play with the number of exercise calories eaten back until he gets the desired result. This is going to take some patience and time. Good luck!

  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
    That is what our main concern is that the fitbit app is giving him back wayyy to many calories and so we are just wondering what percentage of those should he actually eat back
  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
    I suppose he could start eating back like maybe 200 extra calories and then move it from there - As he should certainly get something extra back for taking so many steps even if it is at a slow pace

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