What % of exercise caloroes do you eat back ?

size102b
size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi what % of exercise calories do you eat back to get the best losses ?

I’ve an Apple Watch but never eat all the calories back I burn 4-5 days a week 1000 - 1200 Exercise calories but only eat 1200-1400 calories
I’ve still 35lbs to BMi healthy so not sure if I should eat any back or more as the losses are slow

Thanks

Replies

  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I eat 100%. But I weigh my food (so my intake is as close to accurate as it can be) and my exercise calories come from a tracker I’ve used for several years so I’m confident that the numbers work well for me.

    Where is that 1000-1200 exercise calories coming from?

    If it’s your “move” calories on your watch, that’s not the same as mfp exercise calories. Apple Watch move calories come from anytime you are doing something “active” (which means everything from a workout to unloading the dishwasher). Your mfp calorie goal already includes the calories for your regular day to day activities (eg unloading the dishwasher). So some of that 1000-1200 (assuming it’s from your move calories on your watch) is already included in your mfp goal.

    If the 1000-1200 exercise calories is coming from the “active calories” on workouts you’re tracking on your Apple Watch, those are calories your should be eating in addition to your mfp calorie goal.

    If the 1000-1200 exercise calories are coming from workouts you’re logging in mfp using the calorie burn numbers from the mfp database-probably start with 50% and see what your weight loss looks like after 6 weeks.
  • TallGent66
    TallGent66 Posts: 84 Member
    Ballpark 50-75%.

    The estimates are all over the place for how many calories are burned hiking, as one example.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2019
    100%

    100% eaten of some gym machines was in retrospect a bit high but didn't stop me losing weight on track.
    100% eaten of HRM estimates were mostly too high but didn't stop me losing on track.
    100% eaten of many tens of thousands of calories from Strava estimates was probably on average a bit high but didn't stop me losing on track.
    100% eaten of Wattbike estimates would have been too high but there's an easy way to get accurate numbers so I corrected them.
    100% of hundreds of thousands of calories from Garmin cycling estimates over the years were on average too low. Hasn't stopped me losing or maintaining on track depending on goal at the time.
    100% of a accurate power meter estimates for cycling not surprisingly works fine.


    PS - a bigger issue for you OP is that I believe Apple and MyFitnessPal don't integrate properly. Are you sure your estimates given are just for exercise?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited August 2019
    PS - a bigger issue for you OP is that I believe Apple and MyFitnessPal don't integrate properly. Are you sure your estimates given are just for exercise?

    ^^Yep. Agree the Apple watch is a problem.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited August 2019
    I basically eat back half, but I no longer use MFP's automatic add-the-calories thingy; I turned it off. I didn't like the day to day variability, as it was hard to plan ahead with any real precision. My cardio is 300 calories, so I added 150 to the base number MFP suggested and just set it at that for day-to-day repeatability. I find that easier to work with. In this way, I have no connectivity/app or sync issues, which were frustrating.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I don't sync my watch to MFP, I just enter deliberate exercise (walking, running, bike) and use the calories MFP gives me. I eat back 100% because the walking and running calories are pretty accurate. If your exercise is not something that is easy to calculate (ie.. moderate intensity - how do you define that?) then I'd eat 50-75%.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,437 Member
    I get 300-900 excercise calories daily on my Apple Watch, and usually well over 1,000 “move” calories. I don’t record daily stretches, yin yoga, or any weight training as exercise. They just fall under generic “move”.

    I don’t eat exercise calories back. I use a flat 2000cal suggested by my dietician and my trainer, which is higher than suggested by MFP. Every couple of weeks I’ll have a big night out, but I’m trying to be more mindful.

    I weigh religiously.

    I’ve lost 75’ish, about 14 of those since I started working with my PT on weight training in March. I’ve slimmed down and am muscling up pretty decently for an old chick. (Sometimes,when the scale doesn’t budge, I gotta remind myself of that.)

    You might want to revisit your calorie allotment if you’re doing that much activity. I’ve felt much stronger and more ready & able since I bumped up.

    It was well worth it to me to get professional advice along the way. One of my gyms, (open to public membership) is part of a local hospital, and dietetic advice was one of their perks.
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 669 Member
    edited August 2019
    100%. But only works when I weigh everything. I do wear a Fitbit also, but honestly my calorie burn estimates were pretty good before the Fitbit. I didn’t go by MFP estimates, which I think are a little high. I researched calorie burns for different activities. (I’m a numbers geek)
    But I intentionally came on mfp trying to lose vanity weight without under eating like I had in the past. No desire to waist muscle or make my skin look older.
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    edited August 2019
    When I go cycling, I use a wahoo chest belt to monitor my heart beat and their app posts automatically to myfitnesspal,

    I found that wahoo over-estimates my calories spent. For a man of my age/size, it posted 410cal for 26 min. When entering it directly, it was a more plausible 250. I have to adjust.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    100%
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    100%
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    edited August 2019
    I eat 1200-1400 calories a day
    I burn 800 calories through exercise alone 5 days a week.
    I’ve not eaten 2600 in over 2 years lol I’d gain weight
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    size102b wrote: »
    I eat 1200-1400 calories a day
    I burn 800 calories through exercise alone 5 days a week.
    I’ve not eaten 2600 in over 2 years lol I’d gain weight

    800 cals doing what and for how long? How are you estimating that?
  • wifeoferp
    wifeoferp Posts: 86 Member
    edited August 2019
    I don’t eat any back. I used a macro calculator (from legion athletics but there are several good online ones) to calculate my calories/macros based on my weight and activity level and just use the goals it gave me. You can adjust those in MFP as your own custom goals even without being a paid member. That way I don’t have to worry about how accurate my Apple Watch is.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    1976gemini wrote: »
    0.
    My calorie limit whether I burned it or not is still my limit.

    If you use MFP to set your calorie goal, exercise, but don't eat back any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.

    Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    All of them because for the most part, my exercise calories come from my Fitbit. I don’t usually log weight lifting which I have found isn’t accurate. Steps, cardio, running calories are very accurate for me so I eat them all. Unfortunately, my Fitbit hasn’t been synching for 2 months now.....
  • cbihatt
    cbihatt Posts: 319 Member
    I don’t eat any exercise calories. But, I have adjusted my goals to accommodate that. I chose a higher activity level and a slower rate of weight loss. So, I am essentially taking exercise into consideration without actually trying to figure out the exact number of calories my activity burns. Turns out, I estimated really close to what a TDEE calculator would give me. So, it works for me. But, my method is not for everyone. Some people like the preciseness of numbers. I prefer to take a more relaxed approach. The less I have to keep track of, the better.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    50% on a hungry day
    0-25% on a normal day
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    Nearly always 100%, after taking pains at first to learn how to estimate them conservatively/carefully . . . all through 50 pounds of weight loss and nearly 4 years of maintenance since.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    I started with sendentary with a .5 lb per week goal. This got me 1240 for calories.

    I use conservative estimates for my exercise that I entered myself. For example, 125 for 30 min on my treadmill or 75 for 30 minutes combined yoga/strength training.

    Then, I mostly eat those calories. Not always, because some days I run out of time and have calories remaining. (I can't eat after dinner due to GERD.)
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  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    I am in maintenance and I set my own calories in MFP (I am not longer very precise with the weighing and logging).

    My workouts are not very intense anymore, and since I am a very petite/short older woman, I know that I don't burn that much exercising. I don't wear any trackers, I never did. I care more about the minutes or weekly hours that I spent exercising, than about the amount of calories burned.

    I enter in my exercise dairy exercise minutes for every daily routine, and I give myself two calories per minute for cardio, and one calorie per minute for strength training, yoga, and calisthenic. At the most I may have between 150 and 200 extra calories a day that I may choose to eat or not, depending on how hungry I am and how was my weekly weight fluctuating.

    So far, this approach has been working very well for me.
  • bwhitty67
    bwhitty67 Posts: 162 Member
    0%. I walk daily and Pilates.
  • marierenicks1
    marierenicks1 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Guys I am totally confused by these exercise calories and if eating them or not can someone point me in right direction.
    I am om MFP 1220 Cals day but with my 2 walks burn 246 cals so Yesterday
    GOAL 1220 FOOD 1213 - EXERCISE 246 = NET 967 but says on diary page
    TOTALS 1520 DAILY GOAL 1554 REMAINING 34 CALS EARNED 334 EXTRA C FOR EXERCISE.

    Friday GOAL 1220 FOOD 1,166 daily goal 1,343 remaining 177

    Can anyone tell me if I am doing this correctly .

    Cheers :)

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