Do you eat back what you lose from exercise

tuni8220

My MFP is 1720, i play an hour of basketball and it tell me that I earn about 685 calorie plus. Do I eat that or just disregard it and maintain and stay track of the 1720.?

janejellyroll

If your calorie goal comes from MFP, it's designed for you to eat back what you burn from exercise. However, some people find that the calorie burns provided by MFP are over-estimates, so they only eat back a portion of these. I don't know enough about basketball to know if 685 for an hour is realistic or not.

RobD520

I would eat back 50 to 75% to start. If you are playing a straight hour that estimate may be close.

cee134

The exercise calories for what is burned are often wrong. I personally don't go over 80% but it depends on what you do and for how long.

CasperNaegle

Just think about totally calorie burn you have in a day.. If you are trying to lose weight keep yourself in a deficit. I agree that calorie burn from exercise is typically highly over stated. Be conservative and watch what your weight does over time.

MissusMoon

I would never advise eating all of them. If you aren't hungry and have plenty of energy, you don't have to eat them. Personally I don't touch them unless I'm really hungry, but I eat out a lot--which means estimating calories--and they serve as a good buffer for me.

tuni8220

yeah thanks for all the info, I usually tend to not eat the extra calorie they give me from exercise.

ElJefeChief

tuni8220 wrote: »

yeah thanks for all the info, I usually tend to not eat the extra calorie they give me from exercise.

I wouldn't advise just ignoring the "earned" calories. Your body needs fuel for it's workouts.

I agree with the idea that you shouldn't probably eat back all of them (because either there is an overestimate on the burn side or an underestimate on the intake side), but if you eat back none of them you might hurt your performance and ultimately your weight loss goals.

PinkSuede

I personally dont usually.. I do not even log exercise. That being said I'm not at this point doing any intense exercise. Mine usually consists of walking, weights, and beginners yoga. On days I exercise though if I feel hungry I do allow myself to eat about half of what MFP or my treadmill estimates I burned. I choose to err on the side of caution. I don't allow myself to go hungry though. I listen to my body. If you're burning 600-700 calories regularly through exercise I would probably make it a habit to eat about 50% of those calories back because that's a pretty big deficit to ignore. It could catch up with you.

janejellyroll

tuni8220 wrote: »

yeah thanks for all the info, I usually tend to not eat the extra calorie they give me from exercise.

If you are engaging in regular physical activity, you probably want to eat at least some of them back. Fueling your activity is important for long-term health and energy.

OliverFiles

I usually don't eat the calories back. Only if I exercised at the end of the day and I'm a little hungry afterwards, I'll have something small that's no more than 50% of the exercise calories.

dbhuff369

Rewarding yourself for exercise has been shown generally to be a losing strategy. You tend to overestimate calories burned and underestimate calories rewarded. You are better off setting a weekly level of expected activity, and using that to calculate calories (though even there I find MFP a bit high, I use this: https://legionathletics.com/flexible-dieting/)

sgt1372

tuni8220 wrote: »

My MFP is 1720, i play an hour of basketball and it tell me that I earn about 685 calorie plus. Do I eat that or just disregard it and maintain and stay track of the 1720.?

I'd disregard it. MFP's estimates for exercise can be WAY off. If you eat back all those cals back, you'll just get fat.

It's unlikely that an hr of basketball would burn 685+ cals unless you're playing full court game w/10 people for a full 4 quarters, where everyone is constantly moving.

Compare this with a full hour of spin biking at 22 mph or erg rowing 10k meters (which are fairly moderate rates of effort) constantly for an hour which will burn about 600-650 cals/hour and you should see my point.

You are burning some cals playing basketball. Just probably not as much as MFP says. Your guess is as good as mine as to how much it really is. Mainly depends on the intensity and duration of intensity of the activity. If it's just a shoot around 1/2 court game, I wouldn't give it more than 150 cals but if it's a true full court game, then 650 would probably be about right.

NorthCascades

dbhuff369 wrote: »

Rewarding yourself for exercise has been shown generally to be a losing strategy. You tend to overestimate calories burned and underestimate calories rewarded. You are better off setting a weekly level of expected activity, and using that to calculate calories (though even there I find MFP a bit high, I use this: https://legionathletics.com/flexible-dieting/)

You think my estimate of how many calories I'm going to burn next Sunday is more accurate than my estimate of what I just did? That makes no sense.

cerise_noir

I use my Fitbit for burned calories and I still eat only half back. When I was using mfp for exercise calories, I used to eat back 1/4-1/3.

rankinsect

NorthCascades wrote: »

dbhuff369 wrote: »

Rewarding yourself for exercise has been shown generally to be a losing strategy. You tend to overestimate calories burned and underestimate calories rewarded. You are better off setting a weekly level of expected activity, and using that to calculate calories (though even there I find MFP a bit high, I use this: https://legionathletics.com/flexible-dieting/)

You think my estimate of how many calories I'm going to burn next Sunday is more accurate than my estimate of what I just did? That makes no sense.

Well, I use the TDEE method (don't add in exercise except for long things like hikes or scheduled workouts), but I use that for a totally different reason - because I pre-plan and pre-log my days and it gives me a way to set a goal for a day that hasn't happened yet. I don't necessarily know how much unplanned exercise I'll do on any given day, but I can get a reasonable approximation of the exercise I do on an average week.

I would definitely recommend eating some of those back, although 680 calories/hr seems pretty high, that's quite a very intense workout, that would require a pretty high level of physical fitness to sustain for an entire hour. Olympic level athletes tend to come in ~1000 calories/hr or so, for a frame of reference.

Chilli7777

I would listen to what your body is telling you. If you aren't hungry then dont eat them back. If you are hungry then enjoy a healthy post workout snack like a protein shake mixed with a banana. You don't need to consume all of the exercise calories back if your body isn't telling you it needs it.

dragon_girl26

I usually eat back most or all of my exercise calories from my Polar watch. I'm.still losing, so I'd say it's fairly accurate. If you're using MFP calculations, best to eat back 50% at first. If you're losing faster than your expected weight loss rate, then eat 75% or more. It's mostly trial and error, but yes, MFP intends for you to eat them back.

tuni8220

sgt1372..yes play full court 4-4/ 5-5 and a full hour in the morning and it gets very competitive. We run all the time since everyone there rather be playing ball than lifting weights. But I agree the MFP may over estimate the calories burned and i surely try not to eat what I am rewarded with. Same goes to say if my body is telling me I am hungry I eat something sensible and not go over board...thanks y'all!

CasperNaegle

The other thing to keep in mind is calorie intake and burn doesn't have to just be a daily thing. You can balance yourself over a weeks time be just fine. I keep my calories flat and have them set based on my typical 4-6 hours a week of workout. It fluctuates but if I stay on my 1700-1800 calories I know I will lose over time.

mysticwryter

I don't really do that.....I use it as a guideline to see what my caloric intake is. While MFP isn't 100% given, I maybe burning more/less depending on amount/intensity/duration. Tread lightly with what it says cause you maybe eating more/less than what is being calculated.

janejellyroll

dbhuff369 wrote: »

Rewarding yourself for exercise has been shown generally to be a losing strategy. You tend to overestimate calories burned and underestimate calories rewarded. You are better off setting a weekly level of expected activity, and using that to calculate calories (though even there I find MFP a bit high, I use this: https://legionathletics.com/flexible-dieting/)

Okay, but what if you're not "rewarding" yourself, you're using an estimate of how many calories you just burned to refuel your body and then using emperical evidence (that is, how much you gain/lose/maintain) to determine how accurate the estimate is over time?

If I burn 1,000 calories in a long run, eating those back isn't a "reward." It's how I survive.

And I don't know why using an estimate of what I expect to burn in a week is going to be a better strategy than estimating what I just burned and adding that to my daily limit. Some people may prefer one method over another, but they're just two ways to get to the same place.

tuni8220

side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?

janejellyroll

tuni8220 wrote: »

side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?

If you want a low sodium peanut butter, the best bet is to either get it freshly ground (some natural food stores will have a machine on-hand to do this) or buy one that says "no salt added." They're all going to be pretty much the same in terms of calories, I believe.

NorthCascades

If I drive my car 400 miles, I have to put a whole tank of gas in it. That's not a reward, that's reality.

With the car, it'll just leave me stranded on the side of the road. If I don't eat enough, I'll start out by feeling tired and lethargic, I won't recover after exercising (instead I'll just continue feeling exhausted and sore for days) and if I keep it up long enough my hair will fall out. It'll take a while, though; it isn't immediate and show-stopping like the car, because humans are more flexible and adaptive than cars. You can continue even while you're harming your body.

If I drive 100 miles, I don't know exactly how much gas I've used, just like if I run 10 miles I don't know exactly how many calories I've burned. Nobody in here thinks you don't have to put more gas in your car after you drive just because you don't know exactly how much you used.

TeaBea

tuni8220 wrote: »

side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?

All nut butters will be calorie dense....they are mostly fat. I can't answer the lower sodium question (no medical issues for me).

If a reduced calorie peanut butter is of interest - look for powdered peanut butter (PB2, PB Fit, etc). These have the fat pressed out & are not the same texture. But they add good flavor to oatmeal, smoothies, and yogurt.

Skip the name brand reduced fat peanut butter spreads. I tried Skippy (or Jiff?)......anyway, the fat was 25% less and the calories were almost the same! Nut butters contain healthy fats.....not artificial garbage.

When I'm craving sweets, I just have sweets (in moderation of course). This has got to be a lifestyle change for me, gained the weight back because elimination diets for work for me.

rsleighty

I usually do eat what Pacer tells me I have burned. If I don't I get too tired and rundown and am more likely to binge.

75poundstogo

When you start MFP its important to know how the tool works and how to accurately track things. That said don't try to know everything at once or juggle too many metaphorical balls. Just focus on meeting your calorie goals, recording when you go over, and learning how to eat. You'll learn what portions make sense, what foods fill you up for lower calories, what foods keep you satisfied etc.

Onto day 42 on MFP and I am starting to get into the habit of not eating back calories (entirely or significantly) or keeping my calories lower on inactive days. On active days where I will be working out, I will use the surplus for a workout snack or small treat/reward (small ice cream cone, session IPA beer) after working out to keep me satisfied/happy.

My calorie goal is 1660 cals/day. I usually always eat that, if not a couple hundred calories above. I have a goal of ~500 calorie deficit by the end of the day - barring days when I'm tired or on rest days. Some days, I will admit, I don't meet my goal. I try to get in some extra steps or movement if I am not going to meet my ~500 goal.

Doing this I've managed to lose about 2 lbs per week which is just what I am aiming for. Healthy, steady weight loss but more rapid than just 1lb per week. Girl needs to see results.

If I'm hungry and or craving something, I will use my extra calories to satisfy that goal. I would rather treat myself than be too restrictive and fall off the wagon.

The beautiful thing about MFP and the community is that we believe in moderation. We know its a lifestyle. We know we will have off days, but we stay consistent most days.

Trish1c

I eat them back but I'm at 1200 so I almost have to; I do tend to manually input a smaller number (at least a 10% reduction) then what MFP says I earned. I would eat some but not all of yours back to be on the safe side. Don't feel like you have to eat. If you are not hungry, don't eat.

75poundstogo

What about when you are doing a workout with a heart rate monitor?

CasperNaegle

75poundstogo wrote: »

When you start MFP its important to know how the tool works and how to accurately track things. That said don't try to know everything at once or juggle too many metaphorical balls. Just focus on meeting your calorie goals, recording when you go over, and learning how to eat. You'll learn what portions make sense, what foods fill you up for lower calories, what foods keep you satisfied etc.

Onto day 42 on MFP and I am starting to get into the habit of not eating back calories (entirely or significantly) or keeping my calories lower on inactive days. On active days where I will be working out, I will use the surplus for a workout snack or small treat/reward (small ice cream cone, session IPA beer) after working out to keep me satisfied/happy.

My calorie goal is 1660 cals/day. I usually always eat that, if not a couple hundred calories above. I have a goal of ~500 calorie deficit by the end of the day - barring days when I'm tired or on rest days. Some days, I will admit, I don't meet my goal. I try to get in some extra steps or movement if I am not going to meet my ~500 goal.

Doing this I've managed to lose about 2 lbs per week which is just what I am aiming for. Healthy, steady weight loss but more rapid than just 1lb per week. Girl needs to see results.

If I'm hungry and or craving something, I will use my extra calories to satisfy that goal. I would rather treat myself than be too restrictive and fall off the wagon.

The beautiful thing about MFP and the community is that we believe in moderation. We know its a lifestyle. We know we will have off days, but we stay consistent most days.

Great story!!