Eating calories back

Jumpropegirl5467

Do you guys eat your calories back ? So far I have lost weight by never eating my calories back. But I have been getting some suggestions to eat them back. What are you guys’ opinion ? Does it affect weight loss or how does that work ?

Jacq_qui

So up until a few months ago I never ate them back. I decided to try it after reading quite a lot about it on here, and I hadn't lost any weight for three or four weeks at that point. I gave it three weeks to see what would happen. The first week the scales didn't move at all really, but weeks 2 and 3 saw me lose. I don't eat all of my exercise calories back, although that is usually because I have left it too late in the day to catch up. I think I am more honest and meticulous about logging everything now.

lukew11

Normally I dont, Your calorie deficit will be smaller if you eat back your calories, In turn that will slow your progress. If I ever do eat my calories back I usually go with 1/2 of what it says just for a margin or error.

MidlifeCrisisFitness

I only eat back cardio. Not usually all of them.

BUT it depends on your lifestyle setting. It's all interconnected.

glassyo

lukew11 wrote: »

Normally I dont, Your calorie deficit will be smaller if you eat back your calories, In turn that will slow your progress. If I ever do eat my calories back I usually go with 1/2 of what it says just for a margin or error.

The way MFP works is it already gives you a deficit so not eating exercise calories back leads to a bigger deficit (which lots of people would love) but can also get you to undereat and the effects of that are NOT what people would love.

I eat every last calorie I'm allotted back and always have and always will.

nooshi713

You’re supposed to eat them back but the problem is that it is really difficult to estimate calorie burn accurately. A lot of people seem to struggle with weight loss when doing this. I see people on the boards claiming to burn 500-900 calories per workout and they weigh less than me. I don’t think that’s realistic. With my maximum exertion, I burn about 300 per hour. I feel it is probably safer to eat half of them back because that’s probably more accurate.

sijomial

nooshi713 wrote: »

You’re supposed to eat them back but the problem is that it is really difficult to estimate calorie burn accurately. A lot of people seem to struggle with weight loss when doing this. I see people on the boards claiming to burn 500-900 calories per workout and they weigh less than me. I don’t think that’s realistic. With my maximum exertion, I burn about 300 per hour. I feel it is probably safer to eat half of them back because that’s probably more accurate.

Safer?
What is the danger you are averting here? To me under-eating is more of a danger.

Accurate?
How is halving an estimate more accurate if you don't actually have a good idea that the estimate is double reality?

OP - exercise is not for weight loss, it's for health, fitness, body composition and even enjoyment! Hopefully it's a habit for life and not just a few months.

If you used a TDEE calculator to work out your calorie allowance would you deliberately choose the wrong activity and exercise category to game the estimate?

If you used an all day tracker to work out your calorie needs to acheive a certain rate of weight loss would you decide to take off a random number off that allowance to speed things up?

AnnPT77

It's true that if you follow instructions, MFP calculates your calorie goal, including an allowance for weight loss, based on before-exercise activity. Then, you're supposed to log your exercise, and eat back a rational estimate of your exercise calories, too, to keep that same calorie deficit for the same weight loss rate.

If you have a very moderate weight loss rate target in your MFP profile, like half a pound a week, when you could safely lose faster, and you simultaneously do exercise that's pretty mild/short, amounting to maybe another 100-200 calories, it's probably fine to let that exercise increase your calorie deficit for faster weight loss.

If you have a really aggressive weight loss target, like two pounds a week, plus you do many hundreds of calories of exercise per day (long run, long bike ride, lengthy swim, multiple cardio classes, whatever), and you don't eat back any of those exercise calories, you're potentially creating a pretty significant physical stress for your body, and increasing health risks.

Anything in between is a judgement call.

But: Losing too slowly is frustrating. Losing too fast is a health risk. If I'm going to make a mistake, I know which of those I'd rather experience, because frustration is way easier to correct than (say) hair loss or a screwed-up gallbladder. YMMV.

Dogmom1978

Based on the foods that I enjoy eating, without exercising, I go over almost every day. I exercise so that I actually HAVE a deficit, and because I’m trying to be healthier and not look like a toothpick should I ever achieve my target weight. I eat back SOME of my calories, but definitely not ALL. And if I know for example, that I want something special that is high in calories, I do extra cardio so I can still lose weight.