Exercise calories

Fivefootcaloriecounter
Fivefootcaloriecounter Posts: 123 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm on 1200 calories a day , should I eat back my exercise calories ?

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited January 2018
    Hard to say without more info, but probably. 1200 cals isn't very much, and exercise requires cals for energy/recovery beyond what is needed otherwise.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • Fitnessgirl0913
    Fitnessgirl0913 Posts: 481 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Hard to say without more info, but probably. 1200 cals isn't very much, and exercise requires cals for energy/recovery beyond what is needed otherwise.

    What they said. Also start eating back just a portion and see how you feel. MFP and trackers tend to overestimate your exercise burn and if you eat all your exercise calories back you may bring yourself out of your deficit. It is accurate for some but not all, start with half and adjust as necessary.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    Everyone has an opinion on that. When my primary goal was to lose weight, I had success with eating back half the calories. It gave me some extra fuel to feed my workouts, and was a nice reward for a hard days work. I was afraid to eat them all back because I just wasn't 100% sure the estimates were accurate as far as calories burned were concern (they sure can vary depending on intensity, body weight, etc.)


    Now I tend to eat back all of them, as I am in maintenance and not really concerned about losing anymore, I prefer to fuel my muscles as I am trying to increase strength.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,208 Member
    Mfp is set up for you to eat back the exercise calories. At 1200 calories per day you should definitly eat some of them back. Since exercise calories are hard to know and many machines and mfp often overstate them a good rule of thumb is to start by eating half of them and after about 4 weeks reevaluate. If you are losing faster than expected you can eat back more, if you are losing slower then eat back less. 1200 is your calorie goal with no exercise, so if you are exercising then you need to eat some of them back.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Yes, you should. That's how MFP is designed.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited January 2018
    The answer is the same as when you joined the site back in 2016. (The answer is yes BTW!)

    Is there another part to the question?
    Did you try and fail to lose weight while eating back exercise calories?
    Did you try not to eat back exercise calories and fell off the wagon because it was too restrictive?
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