Eating back your fitness burned calories: Yes or No?
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Not any more. I've changed from the MFP settings to my TDEE less 20%.
It's given me more calories and I'm feeling happier and more settled.
It's different for everyone, find what works for you! :-)0 -
I eat back my calories, but not all of them.
First, because I think MFP tends to overestimate calories burned so to be on the "safe side" I don't eat them all back.
Second, I set a maximum total caloric goal for myself of 1600 calories so if I have a day where I exercise a lot more than usual, I don't end up overeating that day.
So far, so good. I'm losing an average of 1.4 lbs per week and I'm very happy with that.0 -
Not any more. I've changed from the MFP settings to my TDEE less 20%.
It's given me more calories and I'm feeling happier and more settled.
It's different for everyone, find what works for you! :-)
TDEE -20% takes your exercise into account.0 -
no, never. But then again I don't go by the # MFP told me, I go by TDEE -20%.
^^this. However, if I have worked out for the day and do go over my calories a little bit I do not get upset with myself. If I'm hungry, then I eat.0 -
I have done that in the past and for me it turned into a fast way to feel like crap. My net calories were too low and I got too tired and hangry. I need to eat more to keep doing this for the long haul. I no longer have any need to race to the finish. I'd rather take it slow and make healthy, permanent, new habits.0
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To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (150 lbs. to lose when I started).
Eating back exercise calories burned = fueling my workouts so that I can run faster, lift heavier, and achieve awesomeness, not just skinniness!
I'm in this for the long haul, and am using MFP as it was designed. That said, the burns in the database are too high, I cut them in half for the most part. Once my running speed increases, they will probably be more accurate. I also weigh and measure my food so that I know everything is as accurate as possible.
Well FOR YOU that may make sense but FOR ME it doesn't. I am disabled and cannot run at any speed, I cannot lift weights at all, I cannot use any exercise machines and I am not even supposed to be walking for exercise.
That being said, I will repeat myself: To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (104 lbs. to lose when I started).
Your stated goal is muscle building along with weight loss so there is no comparison.0 -
To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (92 lbs. to lose when I started.)
Working my butt off to burn calories = I get to eat good stuff I love so I don't have to deprive myself, setting myself up for an unhealthy binge.
Then we agree. My statement is FOR ME and yours is for YOU
Except yours is based on a false premise, that exercise is for weight loss. Exercise is for fitness and cardiovascular health. The calorie goal is supposed to be based on your weight loss goal. The deficit is built in. So if you exercise and create an even bigger deficit, you are NOT hitting your calorie deficit goal. You are way under, which will screw your body up and eventually come back to bite you.
It will work in the short-term but virtually everyone who comes on here talking about how they don't eat exercise calories because the point is to lose weight ends up in one of three categories:
-Disappearing and going back to old ways because it's too hard to keep up with starving yourself
-Complaining about hitting that "mysterious" plateau
-Seeing the light, upping calories, and reaching target weight0 -
I eat a portion back. For example, if I burn 300 calories at the gym I'd probably eat 100-200 of those back.
Food is fuel. You absolutely need to eat more if you're going to be exercising off a significant amount of calories. I had a friend in real life who I convinced to use MFP. Her calorie goal is 1,200 and after a while I realized she was only netting ~300 calories a day because she burned ~900 calories at the gym... not okay!
If I were you OP, I'd be as accurate as humanly possible with food logging and then eat back around 1/2 of your exercise calories. If you find that you feel hungry, sluggish, etc then you know your body needs more fuel for your workouts.0 -
To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (150 lbs. to lose when I started).
Eating back exercise calories burned = fueling my workouts so that I can run faster, lift heavier, and achieve awesomeness, not just skinniness!
I'm in this for the long haul, and am using MFP as it was designed. That said, the burns in the database are too high, I cut them in half for the most part. Once my running speed increases, they will probably be more accurate. I also weigh and measure my food so that I know everything is as accurate as possible.
Well FOR YOU that may make sense but FOR ME it doesn't. I am disabled and cannot run at any speed, I cannot lift weights at all, I cannot use any exercise machines and I am not even supposed to be walking for exercise.
That being said, I will repeat myself: To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (104 lbs. to lose when I started).
Your stated goal is muscle building along with weight loss so there is no comparison.
So you don't exercise, but you eat back your exercise calories. Hmm...that doesn't really make sense. Seems you should just move on to the next thread then! I think it is pretty clear the OP is clearly asking for advice from those who work out and burn a significant amount of calories from working out.0 -
I like to log my workouts to track my progress, and my workouts aren't always exactly the same, so I tell MFP that I'm sedentary despite the fact that I run 6x/week. I log my workouts and eat back the calories. Since my cardio is running and not a machine, it's fairly accurate. No other physical activity gets logged (for example, I don't try to nitpick how much I burned running around with my daughter or if I walked around a lot on a particular day to try to justify eating more. To me, that all counts as sedentary calories because I'm not drenched in sweat while doing it).
On my off-day, I eat at the sedentary calorie goal plus I allow myself to use calories I have 'saved' from throughout the week if I'm still hungry. If I underestimate my calories burned from activity, I just end up losing the weight faster, so it's win-win.0 -
I never did and I am healthy.0
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To be quite honest, I did not go by MFP, BMR or TFEE. I set my own calorie goal and it is 1,375. My exercise is limited normally to walking only since I am disabled and not even supposed to do that. I lost 67 lbs. in 84 days doing it my way. Since then, in 5 weeks I have only lost 3 lbs. due to a seemingly never ending foot injury (diabetic sore followed immediately by multiple fractures in the same foot). I am sticking to the diet plan and things are going slow but I will not give up.mmmm the thing is, my BMR is super low (1180 cal) so if I eat those hard gained 300 cal a day I won't lose any weight! I was just wondering if it would be helpful to eat them once in a while, meaning if eating that would increase my metabolism in the long run even if I'm not losing weight eating them
Good Luck
Wow, 1400 calories is really low.
67 pound loss in 84 days. Now you are injury prone and having health issues.
Hm. Wonder what could be causing that?
Hm. Wonder why your bones won't heal?
Hm. Wonder why your weight loss has stopped with 30 to go?
Because you need to freakin EAT!!
The cause........ diabetes WITHOUT high blood sugar (A1C of 4.2)
The cause......... Bilateral Foot Charcot Neuropathy and bilateral Plantar fasciitis causing the bone issue (look it up)
The cause......... Weight loss has slowed because of no ability to even walk for exercise
Pretty simple stuff which could have been formed in an actual question instead of "Self Appointed MFP Doctor - ignorance,0 -
To be quite honest, I did not go by MFP, BMR or TFEE. I set my own calorie goal and it is 1,375. My exercise is limited normally to walking only since I am disabled and not even supposed to do that. I lost 67 lbs. in 84 days doing it my way. Since then, in 5 weeks I have only lost 3 lbs. due to a seemingly never ending foot injury (diabetic sore followed immediately by multiple fractures in the same foot). I am sticking to the diet plan and things are going slow but I will not give up.mmmm the thing is, my BMR is super low (1180 cal) so if I eat those hard gained 300 cal a day I won't lose any weight! I was just wondering if it would be helpful to eat them once in a while, meaning if eating that would increase my metabolism in the long run even if I'm not losing weight eating them
Good Luck
Wow, 1400 calories is really low.
67 pound loss in 84 days. Now you are injury prone and having health issues.
Hm. Wonder what could be causing that?
Hm. Wonder why your bones won't heal?
Hm. Wonder why your weight loss has stopped with 30 to go?
Because you need to freakin EAT!!
The cause........ diabetes WITHOUT high blood sugar (A1C of 4.2)
The cause......... Bilateral Foot Charcot Neuropathy and bilateral Plantar fasciitis causing the bone issue (look it up)
The cause......... Weight loss has slowed because of no ability to even walk for exercise
Pretty simple stuff which could have been formed in an actual question instead of "Self Appointed MFP Doctor - ignorance,
FYI, you could eat 2300 calories a day and still drop weight according to TDEE. Your weight loss is stopping because you don't eat. It has nothing to do with exercise. You were NETTING like 1100 calories a day when you were exercising and not eating them back.0 -
To me it is quite simple if the goal is weight loss like it is for me (92 lbs. to lose when I started.)
Working my butt off to burn calories = I get to eat good stuff I love so I don't have to deprive myself, setting myself up for an unhealthy binge.
Then we agree. My statement is FOR ME and yours is for YOU
Except yours is based on a false premise, that exercise is for weight loss. Exercise is for fitness and cardiovascular health. The calorie goal is supposed to be based on your weight loss goal. The deficit is built in. So if you exercise and create an even bigger deficit, you are NOT hitting your calorie deficit goal. You are way under, which will screw your body up and eventually come back to bite you.
It will work in the short-term but virtually everyone who comes on here talking about how they don't eat exercise calories because the point is to lose weight ends up in one of three categories:
-Disappearing and going back to old ways because it's too hard to keep up with starving yourself
-Complaining about hitting that "mysterious" plateau
-Seeing the light, upping calories, and reaching target weight
FOR YOU exercise is for what you choose for it to be. FOR ME it is for WEIGHT LOSS. It is that simple. I have seen many of your type, the Self Appointed MFP Doctors who try to group everyone and they need to do what you do or they will fail. People are here for different purposes and with different limitations and abilities. I was simply responding to the original post with (and said so) WHAT I DO. I never asked for anyone's approval or opinion. I will stick to the advice from the four doctors I see between VA and private doctors.0 -
Yes, I eat them all back nom, nom, nom 0
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It depends on your settings- if your settings are "active", but your activity is your workouts, then no i wouldn't eat them back.
Mine is set to "sedentary" so that my workouts count as additional burns and I eat them back.
I also manually adjusted my settings to be at TDEE-20% so I wouldnt have to worry about MFP math and could manage on my own.
I'll be honest though, I typically eat back about 60% of my fitness calories but that's parnoia about underlogging food, overlogging fitness0 -
If you're doing the MFP method (NEAT method), then yes, you're supposed to...this is because when you set your activity level, you're NOT supposed to include exercise, just your daily hum drum...then you log your exercise after the fact and eat those calories back (accounting for some estimation error of course). It's really not a controversy when you actually know and understand how this tool works. Saying that it's some kind of controversy is like saying their is same great debate as to whether you're supposed to drive screws with a hammer.
It's really very simple...let me lay out a formula...somewhat oversimplified, but just to get the point across. BMR + NEAT + TEF + EAT = TDEE.
Now, when I use MFP, my activity level only includes my BMR + NEAT + TEF...we'll say...1800 + 550 (NEAT and TEF) = 2350. This is my MFP maintenance number per the NEAT method...so MFP gives me a calorie goal of 1,850 NET calories to lose 1 Lb per week. But you'll notice that nowhere in that formula is my EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)...it is unaccounted for in MFP's formula...that is because MFP is only going to actually give me credit for my EAT after I've performed the exercise and logged it. Therefore...let's say I burn 350 calories....my 1 Lb weight loss goal would be 2,200 gross calories...my TDEE maintenance would be 2,700 calories (2,350 NEAT maintenance + 350 EAT). So, when I use TDEE I cut 500 calories off my 2700 TDEE number = 2200 calories...boom...same gross calories as MFP. The only difference is that one method accounts for exercise after the fact (MFP) and the other accounts for it as a part of your daily activity (TDEE)...they both get you to the same place.0 -
I eat them back if I am hungry...it's that simple. I choose filling options like cottage cheese or a protein bar and sometimes a cookie and a fudgestick...cause I can and I am hungry.
Don't eat them back just for the sake of doing it...0 -
Go to www.iifym.com0
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I am terrified to eat back my calories. I still havent figured out the best formula though. I am unsure of MFP as when I put in the settings to lose 2 pounds a week and it said to eat 1200 but my BMR is about 1530. I don't have the answer.0
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