Fitbit/Exercise Calories Question

whatalazyidiot

Ok, so first of all, I know I need to eat my exercise calories because that's how MFP's calculations are set up. Totally fine with that.

But I searched through some of the past topics about this, and it looks like some people eat all of them, while others only eat half.

Is there any rhyme or reason to this? Is it because you're not 100% sure how much you actually burned during a workout?

I just re-started last week, and so far have been eating most of them, but leaving about 50-100 leftover just in case. Except a couple days when I was super hungry still, so I had another snack assuming my body was trying to tell me something.

I use my Fitbit for my workouts, so I am just going based on that. I was a little concerned that the Fitbit is off slightly, which is why I have been eating about 75% of my calories burned.

I figure a lot of it will be trial and error, depending on my body and stuff, but was curious what other people do and your reasoning behind it.

I have a lot to lose (I need to lose about 125 lbs), if that makes any difference.

cwolfman13

whatalazyidiot wrote: »

Ok, so first of all, I know I need to eat my exercise calories because that's how MFP's calculations are set up. Totally fine with that.

But I searched through some of the past topics about this, and it looks like some people eat all of them, while others only eat half.

Is there any rhyme or reason to this? Is it because you're not 100% sure how much you actually burned during a workout?

I just re-started last week, and so far have been eating most of them, but leaving about 50-100 leftover just in case. Except a couple days when I was super hungry still, so I had another snack assuming my body was trying to tell me something.

I use my Fitbit for my workouts, so I am just going based on that. I was a little concerned that the Fitbit is off slightly, which is why I have been eating about 75% of my calories burned.

I figure a lot of it will be trial and error, depending on my body and stuff, but was curious what other people do and your reasoning behind it.

I have a lot to lose (I need to lose about 125 lbs), if that makes any difference.

It's completely arbitrary and yes, it is because people are unsure or have not established a more or less accurate way of measuring energy expenditure.

I always ate most of my exercise calories back...usually around 80% to account for estimation error in both logging and expenditure. The whole 1/2 thing seems like way overkill to me.

AnnPT77

Yes, it's to be conservative if you're worried that your exercise calories may be over-estimated. MFP wants you to eat back 100% of your actual exercise calories, the question is how close estimated is to actual.

No matter what percentage you eat back, the real answer is to be consistent about it for about 4-6 weeks, then compare your results to a reasonable goal weight loss rate (average pounds per week, given your size and habits). If you're losing too fast for best health/happiness, eat more. If you're losing more slowly and feel pretty excellent and satiated, eat a little less. Rinse and repeat.

I estimated my exercise calories as carefully as I could (checking multiple ways of estimating at first), then ate pretty much all of them back, all of the time. It worked just fine for weight loss, and has continued to work well into year 3 of maintenance.

whatalazyidiot

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Yes, it's to be conservative if you're worried that your exercise calories may be over-estimated. MFP wants you to eat back 100% of your actual exercise calories, the question is how close estimated is to actual.

No matter what percentage you eat back, the real answer is to be consistent about it for about 4-6 weeks, then compare your results to a reasonable goal weight loss rate (average pounds per week, given your size and habits). If you're losing too fast for best health/happiness, eat more. If you're losing more slowly and feel pretty excellent and satiated, eat a little less. Rinse and repeat.

I estimated my exercise calories as carefully as I could (checking multiple ways of estimating at first), then ate pretty much all of them back, all of the time. It worked just fine for weight loss, and has continued to work well into year 3 of maintenance.

That makes sense. Thank you!

whatalazyidiot

cwolfman13 wrote: »

whatalazyidiot wrote: »

Ok, so first of all, I know I need to eat my exercise calories because that's how MFP's calculations are set up. Totally fine with that.

But I searched through some of the past topics about this, and it looks like some people eat all of them, while others only eat half.

Is there any rhyme or reason to this? Is it because you're not 100% sure how much you actually burned during a workout?

I just re-started last week, and so far have been eating most of them, but leaving about 50-100 leftover just in case. Except a couple days when I was super hungry still, so I had another snack assuming my body was trying to tell me something.

I use my Fitbit for my workouts, so I am just going based on that. I was a little concerned that the Fitbit is off slightly, which is why I have been eating about 75% of my calories burned.

I figure a lot of it will be trial and error, depending on my body and stuff, but was curious what other people do and your reasoning behind it.

I have a lot to lose (I need to lose about 125 lbs), if that makes any difference.

It's completely arbitrary and yes, it is because people are unsure or have not established a more or less accurate way of measuring energy expenditure.

I always ate most of my exercise calories back...usually around 80% to account for estimation error in both logging and expenditure. The whole 1/2 thing seems like way overkill to me.

Yeah, I noticed I was a little hungrier some days, so figured I hadn't eaten enough of my exercise calories. So far, only half isn't quite enough for me.

Stellamom2018

I eat back half of what my fitbit says, only because I always have a day or two each month that I end up going way over, by like 500+ calories. These days even out a lot more for me knowing that I have an exercise buffer. The months where I dont go over, I just lose a bit more then my monthly goal, and what's wrong with that?

hesn92

I eat back all of my exercise calories because I like to eat lol. If I see a green number there I'll take them. The idea is to pick a method (eat back all of them, half etc) and do that consistently for a few weeks and measure your progress to see if you're losing at the expected rate.