Add back calories, or no?

HarveysBud
HarveysBud Posts: 421 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

Thanks in advance everyone.

Replies

  • RecognitionT
    RecognitionT Posts: 120 Member
    Add half to be safe.
  • HarveysBud
    HarveysBud Posts: 421 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Yes you should eat back cardio cals, that's how MFP is set up to work. However that will depend on how accurate your logging is and how accurate your burns are.

    Your weight loss trend will tell you how accurate your calorie burns/deficit are. 200 calories is just shy of 0.5lb per week, how much are you losing average per week now compared to the rate of loss you're expecting.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Yes you should eat back cardio cals, that's how MFP is set up to work. However that will depend on how accurate your logging is and how accurate your burns are.

    Your weight loss trend will tell you how accurate your calorie burns/deficit are. 200 calories is just shy of 0.5lb per week, how much are you losing average per week now compared to the rate of loss you're expecting.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation

    Thanks for the video @tinkerbellang83 , insightful. To his point, and yours @RecognitionT, going to add back 1/2. Thanks you two.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    What are you doing for your warm up routine? 200 cals is ~ 15 minutes of running for me, so I would eat those back.

    But bottom line is to compare actual results to your plan and adjust your calories up or down to meet your plan.
  • jefamer2017
    jefamer2017 Posts: 416 Member
    If I ate back all my calories I would be gaining weight. I eat back some on certain days. In fact yesterday I ate 2000 calories but my goal is 1460. According to my fitness pal I still had another 1300 calories to eat after I already ate 2000. My job is very physical.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    That is the way MFP is designed. Exercise isn't included in your activity level if you've set it up the way MFP intends...thus, it is unaccounted for activity. The more active you are, the higher your calorie requirements are

    How many calories you eat back would depend on how accurate your expenditure estimates are. I always went by what my HR monitor said for aerobic activities and never had any issues doing that...while not completely accurate, it was good enough. Once I started being really consistent with my exercise though, I just went to the TDEE method and incorporated everything into my activity level.
  • HarveysBud
    HarveysBud Posts: 421 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    What are you doing for your warm up routine? 200 cals is ~ 15 minutes of running for me, so I would eat those back.

    But bottom line is to compare actual results to your plan and adjust your calories up or down to meet your plan.

    20 minutes on the Elliptical usually gets me 208-220 cals. Stick to 200 to be conservative. And I agree, thanks @Tacklewasher. Appreciate the comment.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    jefamer2017 wrote: »
    If I ate back all my calories I would be gaining weight. I eat back some on certain days. In fact yesterday I ate 2000 calories but my goal is 1460. According to my fitness pal I still had another 1300 calories to eat after I already ate 2000. My job is very physical.

    What is your activity level set to if your job is very physical? Sounds like you've got that set too low.
  • HarveysBud
    HarveysBud Posts: 421 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    That is the way MFP is designed. Exercise isn't included in your activity level if you've set it up the way MFP intends...thus, it is unaccounted for activity. The more active you are, the higher your calorie requirements are

    How many calories you eat back would depend on how accurate your expenditure estimates are. I always went by what my HR monitor said for aerobic activities and never had any issues doing that...while not completely accurate, it was good enough. Once I started being really consistent with my exercise though, I just went to the TDEE method and incorporated everything into my activity level.

    I like it @cwolfman13. I think I am going to go with the TDEE method as well after a bit more research. Appreciate the feedback, as always.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    That is the way MFP is designed. Exercise isn't included in your activity level if you've set it up the way MFP intends...thus, it is unaccounted for activity. The more active you are, the higher your calorie requirements are

    How many calories you eat back would depend on how accurate your expenditure estimates are. I always went by what my HR monitor said for aerobic activities and never had any issues doing that...while not completely accurate, it was good enough. Once I started being really consistent with my exercise though, I just went to the TDEE method and incorporated everything into my activity level.

    I like it @cwolfman13. I think I am going to go with the TDEE method as well after a bit more research. Appreciate the feedback, as always.

    TDEE works if you are consistent in your exercise/activities. If you keep to the same program week after week, it works. I'm still a bit too scattered to use TDEE, although I'm thinking about it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    HarveysBud wrote: »
    Should I add back the calories I burn daily at the gym doing cardio?

    OW: 252lbs, CW: 228lbs, GW: 205lbs - started this journey in JAN. I've set my daily calorie intake to 1700. I've been advised to not add any calories back for lifting, which I understand (I think), but should I add back the modest 200 cals I burn during my warm up cardio routine?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    That is the way MFP is designed. Exercise isn't included in your activity level if you've set it up the way MFP intends...thus, it is unaccounted for activity. The more active you are, the higher your calorie requirements are

    How many calories you eat back would depend on how accurate your expenditure estimates are. I always went by what my HR monitor said for aerobic activities and never had any issues doing that...while not completely accurate, it was good enough. Once I started being really consistent with my exercise though, I just went to the TDEE method and incorporated everything into my activity level.

    I like it @cwolfman13. I think I am going to go with the TDEE method as well after a bit more research. Appreciate the feedback, as always.

    TDEE works if you are consistent in your exercise/activities. If you keep to the same program week after week, it works. I'm still a bit too scattered to use TDEE, although I'm thinking about it.

    Yeah...that's my winter problem...
  • jefamer2017
    jefamer2017 Posts: 416 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    jefamer2017 wrote: »
    If I ate back all my calories I would be gaining weight. I eat back some on certain days. In fact yesterday I ate 2000 calories but my goal is 1460. According to my fitness pal I still had another 1300 calories to eat after I already ate 2000. My job is very physical.

    What is your activity level set to if your job is very physical? Sounds like you've got that set too low.

    Just now saw this. I have it set to active because I only work 3 days a week and the other 4 I do nothing except one workout. I nap eat and watch TV all day long.
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