how much exercise calories do you eat

L010
L010 Posts: 139 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
How much calories should I add for my exercise. I use fitbit to track calories burnt during workout.
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Replies

  • glenneyre1
    glenneyre1 Posts: 4 Member
    A lot of times I think the calories you burn are greatly overstated by most apps/workout trackers.

    There are a couple of different ways I do it, depending on what personal plan I am sticking to. My most common is to only allow for 400 extra calories, even if the tracker says more. The other would be taking only a % of what they say I did. (Between 50-75% typlically)
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Depends how I'm logging. If I'm going by TDEE, then I don't log my workouts separately nor do I eat back my exercise calories. If I'm using the MFP approach, then I will log my exercise and I will eat back most/all my exercise cals.

    For me, estimating cals burned has never been the problem many MFPers report it being.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    Based on other threads I've seen posing the same question @janejellyroll is in the minority regarding fitbit accuracy.

    Personally, MFP puts me at 2260 at "maintenance", plus exercise burn from my Polar HR monitor at ~600 calories 3-4 times per week. For argument's sake we'll say I average 3.5 exercise occurrences/week (halving to 300 calories) resulting in a calculated average TDEE of 2560 calories. I found a spreadsheet on Reddit that back-calculates TDEE from calorie intake and daily weight changes, averaged on a weekly basis which I've been using diligently since late July. By its math, my TDEE is 2385 calories, a difference of 175/day. That doesn't seem like much but summed over the course of a week that's 1225 calories, which equates to 0.35lb/week (assuming 3500 calories/lb). Anecdotally, in my efforts to recomp/drop my body fat below 12% (from 15-16%) I was using a TDEE estimation and eating back 100% of my exercise calories per my HR monitor prior to starting to use this sheet in July, and felt like I didn't see any progress. Since starting to use the sheet I have averaged a 144 cal/day deficit (~6%), which equates to 1008 cal/week deficit, 0.288 lbs/week loss, and a total expected loss over 16 weeks of 4.608 lbs. Coincidentally, over this time I've lost 4.4 lbs on a weekly average basis (181.3 to 176.9 lbs).

    TL;DR: YMMV on eating back exercise calories. It's not something you can just set-and-forget, especially if you're making changes to your activity level. Pick a level, keep to it for a few weeks and track changes. If you're not gaining/losing per the expected surplus/deficit adjust accordingly and continuously re-evaluate.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    All of them!
  • StatsGuy99
    StatsGuy99 Posts: 35 Member
    I avoid eating back any calories from lifting, as estimates of calories burned during lifting are horribly inaccurate. As for cardio, I use very conservative estimates for my number of calories burned but I do eat all of them back.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    I eat 100% of mine. Based on my real life results, I have found my Fitbit to be very accurate so I feel confident eating them all.

    This^

    Test your FitBit out, see how it does. Many times it's very accurate, but your mileage may vary.

    Tons of info here..........
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Of ones that I can actually measure accurately, I eat anywhere from 85-100% back.

    For activities where I would have to estimate, I don't record them or eat any back.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited November 2017
    You should eat back all of your exercise calories if you are using the MFP method for establishing a regular caloric deficit. That said how this will affect your weight loss comes down to how good your estimate of calories burned is. If your tracker wildly overestimates your burns you might eat more than you should to maintain your deficit. Another thing to keep in mind is fitbits display TDEE, not calories burned from exercise....so I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "eating back" what your fitbit gives you. I mean if you look at your calories before your workout and after and if your workout is short then I suppose the fact that it is TDEE wouldn't add that much.

    Some people hedge their bets and only eat back something like 50% of the calories they think they are burning from exercise just in case they are overestimating their burns.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited November 2017
    I eat a fair bit back. With me though theres a greater inacruacy chance thn with most people. Most days my fitbit will say to eat like 2300 and ill eat around 1700-1800. 1. My work truck adds 5-7kish steps a day of the 20-25k i get- So even before the added steps theres alot of walking and room for error 2. i have PCOS and i believe it effects how many calories i burn and 3. Based on eating how i do and losing as planned at reasonable rates if i ate them all back not only would i not lose id pack on the pounds lol.

    But for average people id say fitbits relatively accurate, Atleast a good place to commit to and monitor results for a few weeks/months so you know the answer for sure. When losing weight eating as much as you can is a win, Would be doing yourself a favor for life taking the time to commit to finding results/data so you can accurately calculate your average daily burn- Following what fitbit says to eat closely for a bit is a great start you can then compare the data to your losses
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,164 Member
    You need to look at your own results and decide from there. There are people who find that fitbit overestimates their activity and they only eat a portion of them back. Some like @janejellyroll and @TeaBea find theirs to be very accurate. My fitbit actually underestimates my calories burned by ~200-250 per day so I eat back more than what fitbit says I burn because if I don't I keep losing even though I am in maintenance.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    You should eat back all of your exercise calories if you are using the MFP method for establishing a regular caloric deficit. That said how this will affect your weight loss comes down to how good your estimate of calories burned is. If your tracker wildly overestimates your burns you might eat more than you should to maintain your deficit. Another thing to keep in mind is fitbits display TDEE, not calories burned from exercise....so I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "eating back" what your fitbit gives you. I mean if you look at your calories before your workout and after and if your workout is short then I suppose the fact that it is TDEE wouldn't add that much.

    Some people hedge their bets and only eat back something like 50% of the calories they think they are burning from exercise just in case they are overestimating their burns.

    It also depends on how good your cals in estimates are. Cals out could be dead on, but if cals in are way off, then it'll impact actual vs expected results.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    You should eat back all of your exercise calories if you are using the MFP method for establishing a regular caloric deficit. That said how this will affect your weight loss comes down to how good your estimate of calories burned is. If your tracker wildly overestimates your burns you might eat more than you should to maintain your deficit. Another thing to keep in mind is fitbits display TDEE, not calories burned from exercise....so I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "eating back" what your fitbit gives you. I mean if you look at your calories before your workout and after and if your workout is short then I suppose the fact that it is TDEE wouldn't add that much.

    Some people hedge their bets and only eat back something like 50% of the calories they think they are burning from exercise just in case they are overestimating their burns.

    It also depends on how good your cals in estimates are. Cals out could be dead on, but if cals in are way off, then it'll impact actual vs expected results.

    Yes, good point. And I suspect that a good portion of the people who say they can't lose when eating back exercise calories or that they can only eat back a smaller portion are actually underestimating their calories in.

    Inaccurate logging of calories consumed can make it necessary to have exercise calories serve as a "buffer" in order to see any weight loss.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    You should eat back all of your exercise calories if you are using the MFP method for establishing a regular caloric deficit. That said how this will affect your weight loss comes down to how good your estimate of calories burned is. If your tracker wildly overestimates your burns you might eat more than you should to maintain your deficit. Another thing to keep in mind is fitbits display TDEE, not calories burned from exercise....so I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "eating back" what your fitbit gives you. I mean if you look at your calories before your workout and after and if your workout is short then I suppose the fact that it is TDEE wouldn't add that much.

    Some people hedge their bets and only eat back something like 50% of the calories they think they are burning from exercise just in case they are overestimating their burns.

    It also depends on how good your cals in estimates are. Cals out could be dead on, but if cals in are way off, then it'll impact actual vs expected results.

    Yes, good point. And I suspect that a good portion of the people who say they can't lose when eating back exercise calories or that they can only eat back a smaller portion are actually underestimating their calories in.

    Inaccurate logging of calories consumed can make it necessary to have exercise calories serve as a "buffer" in order to see any weight loss.

    Agreed. I like/use the buffer mentality for certain situations.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I don't sync my Garmin with MFP. I think that can lead to over-counting activity or double-counting. Instead I just log my deliberate activity (runs, walks, hikes, bike rides, etc.) in the exercise log. I eat all the calories I'm given. Usually MFP understates the calories burnt, because I run and walk hilly roads, but that's better than overstating them.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    I use a garmin and it's very accurate for me. I eat back all of my calories. You just need to experiment and conpensate for any over/under estimates.
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    I haven't been doing the greatest job of exercising since I went back to work nearly full time (running around a hotel has burned enough energy that weights and stretching are all I've been doing at home.) But when I do cardio, I eat back almost all of them. I don't eat back the weights and stretching because they don't seem to increase my hunger signals.
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    I eat back all or most of them. I've lost 30 lbs. since July, so for me it's working.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Mine are calculated by Apple Watch and I aim to eat all of them. So far so good. I used Fitbit alongside AW for a while and Fitbit always gave me an extra 200 or so each day, which for me would have put me in maintenance.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    All of them, of course.
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    I aim to eat half, and that's about the average. I listen to my body though and if I'm really hungry I'll eat all of them.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Great info, thanks!
  • L010
    L010 Posts: 139 Member
    Thank you all. I use fitbit to just find out how many calories are burned during exercise and add those calories in MFP as exercise of the day. for all other caluculations I use MFP . I do not sync the two.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited November 2017
    100% and been maintaining my goal range since April 2016.

    I've had a Fitbit Charge HR, a Garmin Forerunner 225, and now a Garmin Fenix 5 in that time. I've let them all sync to MFP.
  • Polo265
    Polo265 Posts: 287 Member
    Most of the time I eat back all of them. MFP has be set for 1200 calories, so I feel I need to eat those extra calories.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm leaving a couple hundred on the table. But I've set MFP for 1 lb a week loss and can afford to lose more than that, so by not eating all my exercise calories I'm losing ~ 1.5, but on my rest days (today) i have the extra bit to eat.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    edited November 2017
    None. Since my maintenance numbers on calculator estimators is in the 1400’s I’m only able to trim about 1500 calories to make a weekly deficit anyway. My exercise calories (approx 1/2 hour cardio 6 days a week + weights 2x week) probably give me another 1500 ish so I’m close to on track to losing a nice safe 1lb a week.

    If I had more calories to play with I’d probably try to eat to a 1.5 lb ( 5000 to 5500 cal) deficit a week. If that meant I ate some exercise calories- that is what I’d do.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I generally eat back 50% and leave the other 50 as a cushion to cover overestimated fitness burns or underestimated calories. Most weeks, I lose a little more than planned, but not dangerously so. (Currently, I'm 30 lbs or so from goal, 20 lbs or so from the top of my healthy BMI range. I can safely lose about 1 lb/week. I have MFP set to 1/2 lb. On average, I'm losing around a pound a week. So, could I eat back more exercise calories? Yeah, probably. But this way, if I go out to eat with friends and the cheese pizza at my local pizza place that doesn't list calories is cheesier than the Pizza Pizza slice I input into the tracker as 'probably about the same values', well, I've got that buffer.
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