Eating Calories Back After A Workout

PoundsOfJules

Hi there!

So I've been going through some of the boards and it seems like the general rule of thumb is to eat half of your workout calories back. Does this mean that these calories should be consumed on the day you workout or can they be spread to days you don't workout as long as the deficit is still present at the end of the week?

Thanks

erickirb

You can bank calories and spread them out. MFP is designed for you to eat them. the reason people say 50% is due to overestimations in cals burned on MFP and many machines such as elliptical.

MFP uses NEAT method in which you eat the cals back, or there is TDEE which averages your workout cals/week. pick one method and stick with it long enough to see if it works for you.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

aisak13

Honestly, MFP's suggested calories and macros are horrid... but as E said above, pick a method and stick with it. I find it easier to use TDEE as I am consistent with my workouts and my activity, so it makes meal planning a hell of a lot easier than saying "How much did I burn today". But that's what works for me... and yes, you can spread out your calories over the week.

PoundsOfJules

erickirb wrote: »

You can bank calories and spread them out. MFP is designed for you to eat them. the reason people say 50% is due to overestimations in cals burned on MFP and many machines such as elliptical.

MFP uses NEAT method in which you eat the cals back, or there is TDEE which averages your workout cals/week. pick one method and stick with it long enough to see if it works for you.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

aisak13 wrote: »

Honestly, MFP's suggested calories and macros are horrid... but as E said above, pick a method and stick with it. I find it easier to use TDEE as I am consistent with my workouts and my activity, so it makes meal planning a hell of a lot easier than saying "How much did I burn today". But that's what works for me... and yes, you can spread out your calories over the week.

Thank you tons for breaking that down for me! When I started I was eating back all the cals and not losing any weight so I just stopped eating them back. That hasn't really been working either and - seems like you agree - not eating them back is wrong.

It sounds like using the TDEE will make it loads easier for prepping and keeping consistant, as my workout schedule is relatively consistant.

One of my biggest concerns is picking a method, sticking with it, and it ends up not being the correct one. Although I suppose anything is better than what I had been doing!!

Thank you again both for your input

poisonesse

Personally? I don't eat my exercise calories. I just eat. Some days I go over (and it does come out of my exercise calories, but not on purpose), some days I'm under... but my eyes have always been set on my daily goal, exercise calories are just for my general knowledge of how active I'm being.

whmscll

I would not be able to eat at a deficit without eating exercise calories back, I only get 1300 cals and it is a struggle for me to eat that on days I completely rest from exercise. Even if it’s just 120 calories from lifting, I need those.

aokoye

On days like today where I burned over 400 calories rowing inside, I wouldn't be able to maintain a healthy deficit without eating exercise calories back. My calorie consumption would be way too low.

sijomial

Should I eat back exercise calories?
Clearly as I want to maintain weight I need to be eating back my exercise calories, personally I think that's a skill to learn while losing weight rather than seeing exercise as something to do for weight loss as opposed to health/fitness/fun. I want to be fit and healthy for life and exercise is a habit that supports that goal.

Should I eat 50%?
Well frankly that would be mathematically dumb. The estimates for the majority of my exercise are very reasonable (Garmin or Strava or a power meter) if not slightly low for the majority of my outdoor exercise.

Should I use MyFitnessPal estimates and then halve them?
That would be dumb too as at least for my kind of cycling there's far better methods available. The skill of estimating is to make your estimates reasonable and consistent.
The database on here has hundreds of different exercises with varying degrees of inaccuracy, applying a blanket 50% reduction would suggest people think on average the database is giving double reality, not just some entries looking extravagantly high.
I'm also against deliberately undercutting one part of the CICO balance to compensate for inaccuracy elsewhere - if your routine changes you lose that balancing factor.

Should I use the TDEE method?
Remember the TDEE method also has people eating back exercise calories - they are just estimated in a far more vague way (without knowing the actual exercise type, duration or intensity).
Not suitable for me as my exercise volume varies enormously day to day, weekly, monthly and even seasonally. I also like and often need to eat more on days I do more exercise.
If someone has a consistent exercise routine and also like a fixed daily eating goal then the TDEE method makes perfect sense.

liz0269

A third option is to do as suggested and eat back half of your calories but keep an eye on your weekly stats. In the app, at the bottom of the page is a button called Nutrition. If you click that, you can view your stats. There is an option to toggle by day or week. You can also set it up in the options to show for a fixed seven day period or for a rolling seven day period. I have mine reset every Monday. This gives me flexibility over the weekend because I know I have earned the extra calories. I never let myself go over my weekly calories.
As far as calorie accuracy, I went a different route. I calculated an average calorie burn per hour of exercise and that's what I use. I do a variety of things but they average out to 330 calories per hour. It's easier to track and it is working. I am rarely hungry. I put in half a pound a week of loss and I am actually losing 3/4 to a pound per week so I am happy.