When to eat back exercise calories?

freespirit427
freespirit427 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Example: I run at night and my Fitbit gives me exercise calories back for the workout. But obviously when I do it at night.

Do I assume to eat back the half of calories during the day assuming I plan to work out?

Do I only eat them back after the run at night? When I may or may not be interested in eating them?

Silly question I’ve always thought about.

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Once I was pretty regular with exercise, i knew roughly what I would need to eat throughout the day to fuel my exercise....eventually I just went with TDEE instead of MFP's NEAT method.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Once I was pretty regular with exercise, i knew roughly what I would need to eat throughout the day to fuel my exercise....eventually I just went with TDEE instead of MFP's NEAT method.

    Same. I hated trying to hit a moving target.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I'd both eat and log them the next day cuz it would bother me to have extra calories the one day and be in the red the next day. But you can do it any way that works for you.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    I’m new to Fitbit...do you find that the calories burned are accurate? I only log strength training. I run but don’t log since it recognizes that and logs it. I find that the calories burned from running are more than other on line calculations.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    I personally do not like to eat calories that I haven’t burned yet, in case I miss a planned workout. So I would eat them the next day. However, there’s nothing wrong with eating them earlier in the day as well.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    i eat some of them back before if i need to but otherwise i will eat them after on the same day. but i'm a sucker for ice cream. you could eat them the next day if wanted
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    it doesn't matter. Personal preference FTW.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Ditto to not eating them unless really sure the workout was going to happen. I'd get enough last minute surprises to take away the workout.

    So if the evening plan appeared to be going well, some 200-250 cal snack 45-60 min prior was good.
    Then afterwards another 200-250 snack if dinner was done - which usually wasn't so easy to include the extra in dinner.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Talan79 wrote: »
    I’m new to Fitbit...do you find that the calories burned are accurate? I only log strength training. I run but don’t log since it recognizes that and logs it. I find that the calories burned from running are more than other on line calculations.

    Once the HR goes up high enough, it'll start using HR-based formula for calorie burn.
    It'll take a couple weeks for Fitbit to tweak that for you in order to be better estimate. Still may not be great even if better.

    But still easily thrown off, like if HR is naturally elevated over average, or med's, or stress, or heat, ect.

    It actually would be more accurate to use step-based if the distance was good.

    So Fitbit creates an Activity Record when you log that workout - so you can see the stats instead of buried in the daily stats. Add notes to that for future review if desired.
    And then take the Start, duration, and distance given, and create your own Workout Record on Fitbit - that will then use the database entry for calories burned, which could be much better in comparison.
    There is no double logging problem - Fitbit is replace only method (if start/duration match).
    It'll show the original stats in Activity Record, it'll use in daily total and show the stats in the Workout Record.

    Now, this is reliant on the distance being good estimate of course.
    You getting distance from known track or treadmill, or what Fitbit says?
    Ever calibrated Fitbit for your avg running pace to confirm distance is correct, or changing stride length if needed?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I eat basically the same breakfast and lunch every work day. When I exercise a lot, I have a bigger dinner.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    I eat basically the same breakfast and lunch every work day. When I exercise a lot, I have a bigger dinner.

    This. And toss in dessert.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Talan79 wrote: »
    I’m new to Fitbit...do you find that the calories burned are accurate? I only log strength training. I run but don’t log since it recognizes that and logs it. I find that the calories burned from running are more than other on line calculations.

    I would use a formula or tracker... the MFP listings are for duration at a range of speeds (so less accurate on # of miles, which is the key variable for calories burned along with your weight)...your speed might be at the low end of the range MFP used for that listing. Running is pretty well characterized given number of miles and your bodyweight (at least on a relatively flat road surface) - calorie burn calculated that way should be pretty accurate.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    nevermind my last statement... re-read your post and realized you were using a Fitbit. That may potentially be using HR (poorly) in its calculations.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I normally make sure I eat a bit more before to fuel my workout. If it's a longer workout, I'll also eat during to fuel the workout (I need at least 1 packet of fruit snacks every 20 miles of cycling to not bonk- plus I like an ice cream stop if possible, and significantly more than that every 10 miles of running). ..and I will be ravenously hungry and normally eat more afterward. - so I do eat back most of them that day. Most of my cardio is in the evening.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    ..and my dancing calories typically get spent largely on alcohol and a snack afterward.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    I have the Flex2, so it doesn’t have a HR monitor. The treadmill said I burned 200 calories and ran 2 miles. The Fitbit said I burned 240. I was thinking if it was off by 40 calories for 2 miles, it will be wrong at the end of the day when I have 13,000 steps.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Talan79 wrote: »
    I have the Flex2, so it doesn’t have a HR monitor. The treadmill said I burned 200 calories and ran 2 miles. The Fitbit said I burned 240. I was thinking if it was off by 40 calories for 2 miles, it will be wrong at the end of the day when I have 13,000 steps.

    But there is a walking stride length that could result in good distance estimate and good calorie burn info for that big chunk of the day.
    And a running stride length that could be off for that 20 min.

    Then again - trusting a treadmill is calibrated correctly is iffy, especially in commercial gym except after a belt change.
    If that distance happens to be correct and it had your total weight with shoes/clothes - probably a good estimate.

    Did the Fitbit match the distance for the 2 miles?
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    It doesn’t give me mileage, just steps and calories. It lets me edit and update the miles. I’ve had the app open and counted while walking. The numbers are correct. I guess I just thought the calorie burn was high.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    It gives you distance - all Fitbits do. Because it's part of the math to get calories. Since it's calculated, it's tracked and displayed.

    You need to start a workout on the device to see the stats for just that just of time.

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