Do you increase calories on days you workout?

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Smallville127
Smallville127 Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Or do you always keep them the same?

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  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I have my activity level set to sedentary, log my exercise, and eat back roughly half the calories it says I burned. I sort of figure that the extra 50% works as a cushion against guesstimated calories, maybe walking at a slightly slower pace than I thought, the fact that strength training burns are near-impossible to calculate accurately, etc., etc. I exercise daily (note: we're talking about getting in 90-120 minutes of walking or 70 minutes on a fitness glider daily and—when I'm not recuperating from surgery and temporarily medically advised not to lift anything heavier than 3lbs—strength training either 3 days/week full-body or 5 days/week alternating upper and lower body with dumbbells up to 20lbs and increasing.), but depending on the workout, the calories fluctuate.

    So, my base calories as a 46-year-old sedentary woman, 5'3", trying to lose 1/2lb/week are 1400, but I typically eat anywhere from 1700-1900 when factoring in exercise calories.

  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    edited April 2018
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    No, I decrease them. I think.

    Which sounds strange, but I'm in a mode where I track calories during the week at a small deficit, but not on the weekends. I also work out 5 during the week, but not on the weekends -- although, unlike the workweek, I don't spend most of the day sitting at a desk. So I suspect I generally eat more on the weekends. It's not necessarily true, but it probably is. This is less a dieting decision than a lifestyle decision. It's very easy for me to eat in a more or less fixed, habitual manner during the week when my days are more structured, but on the weekends I want to relax.

    But you probably mean to ask whether or not I eat back exercise calories. Yes, I do. Like @estherdragonbat, I eat back about half, based on MFP's estimates of my calorie burn. At the moment I'm trying to cut a little for the summer, so I'm cutting back an extra 400 calories/day on days I track. As I was more or less maintaining before, this should result in losing what I'm trying to lose over about 6 weeks.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Yes - but I only use the MFP estimates for strength training (for other exercises there's often better ways to estimate).

    My longer cycle rides actually demand I increase my calories on the day.

    It's a good lesson and lifetime habit that the more you do the more you get to eat/need to eat, the less you do the less you have/need to eat.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    MFP is designed for us to eat back the exercise calories burned. Sometimes the burns are inflated in the database so keep that in mind. I always ate around 50-75% of mine back, depending on how hungry I was.
  • carolsoules
    carolsoules Posts: 34 Member
    edited April 2018
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    You can, but there's not really a reliable way of tracking calories burned unless you have a medical-grade calorimeter. Even fit bits are AT BEST 28% inaccurate when studied against the real deal. And just forget about the numbers on the cardio machines.

    Set your activity level accurately in your settings and you should have a pretty good baseline. If you go a little over on days you rest or a little under on days you work out, as long as you're consistent it'll all come out in the wash.

    Listen to your body--if you begin to feel fatigued or if your workouts plateau, you'll know you need to eat more. In that case, increase by 150-200cal/day for a week and see if it helps.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited April 2018
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    I have maintained my goal weight for 2 years and I eat back 95% of my Garmin calories.

    If I was wanting to lose weight, I would set my MFP weight loss goal to "lose, say 0.5 lbs / week" and then still eat my exercise calories back, because MFP would reduce my base calorie limit (the limit pre-exercise).

    Basically, yes, you eat back your exercise calories.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    But of course, if you're not logging accurately, who knows if you need to eat your exercise calories back?

    Most people terribly underestimate their food intake, which is why so many people need to only eat back 50% of their exercise calories.

    I prefer to use a digital food scale and weigh calorie-dense food in grams.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    carolsoules wrote: »
    You can, but there's not really a reliable way of tracking calories burned unless you have a medical-grade calorimeter. Even fit bits are AT BEST 28% inaccurate when studied against the real deal. And just forget about the numbers on the cardio machines.

    Set your activity level accurately in your settings and you should have a pretty good baseline. If you go a little over on days you rest or a little under on days you work out, as long as you're consistent it'll all come out in the wash.

    Listen to your body--if you begin to feel fatigued or if your workouts plateau, you'll know you need to eat more. In that case, increase by 150-200cal/day for a week and see if it helps.

    Sorry but this is a huge exaggeration - you only need to aspire to reasonable, not perfectly accurate.

    Some cardio machines in the gym can be extremely accurate (power meter equipped bikes for example).

    Fitbits are hardly gold standard devices and remember up to 28% inaccurate doesn't mean inaccurate for everyone and that inaccuracy can be both ways, over and under.
  • SunnyDdance
    SunnyDdance Posts: 4 Member
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    If I can't eat my calories on the day of the exercise... because it is too late to eat. I put half the deficit on the next day... and don't worry about going over on the day after exercise. Keeps me from being too hungry.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    I also use MFP as intended and add my exercise calories. I don't always eat them the same day but I follow a weekly calorie goal so it balances out. If you want to eat the same every day then use a TDEE calculator that already takes exercise into the equation and averages them out over the week.

    As far as estimating calorie expenditure, it's not difficult to monitor your progress over a few weeks and adjust accordingly to see where you need to be. I eat 100% of mine with no issues.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    if im hungry, i do. if not, i dont.

    i usually eat back some.

    yesterday i ate back nearly all of them. cause .... peanut butter! lol

    which really sucks cause my food scale died so im having to estimate, which i am good with, but with things like peanut butter, can be dangerous.

    new scale on the way LOLOL

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