do I really need to eat back 1800 calories?

dvanamp

I ate 1600 calories today which is right around my goal for each day. I went for a 10 mile run tonight and RunKeeper said I burned 1800 calories. I'm not very hungry I could eat a snack maybe before bed but do I really need to eat back 1800 calories?

lithezebra

I don't think that eating back some of it tomorrow will do too much damage.

ebgbjo

That 1800 calorie for the run may not be accurate as well. Best method, which still isn't 100% accurate is to use HRM with chest strap.

But even burning 50-75% of that, you definitely need to eat more.

Donald_Dozier_50

My method - I never eat back exercise calories no matter what the self-Appointed MFP Food Police or self-Appointed MFP doctors say or think.

ostrichagain

My method is to eat back until I feel satisfied. I try not to under-eat or over-eat. I think of this as training for the long term.

carolemorden9

If you're hungry for a snack, have a snack. If not, then just go to bed. I usually eat some of my exercise calories back and have been successful so far. Great run tonight!

dvanamp

I should also clarified that I don't usually run as far as I did tonight I just wanted to see how far I could go and I made 10 and a half miles my normal Run is from 2 to 4 miles.

MB_Positif

You better eat 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches right now!

Honestly, the point of eating back exercise calories while in a caloric deficit for weight loss is to prepare you for maintenance. In the future you will be eating say 2,000 calories a day to maintain your weight. If you then burn 1,800 calories running you will need to eat a significant portion of them in order to not continue losing weight. However, as lithezebra said, you could definitely eat some of them tomorrow. If I personally was going to be running 10 miles this evening, I would have eaten some extra calories earlier in the day to fuel my body for the run. Then a snack afterwards. The rest can be used up throughout the week on days you have a smaller burn.

cmcollins001

My method - I never eat back exercise calories no matter what the self-Appointed MFP Food Police or self-Appointed MFP doctors say or think.

So, according to you, assuming that the food logging is accurate and the calories burned is accurate, eating 1600 calories and then burning 1800 calories, therefore netting -200 calories for the day is a long term healthy and manageable solution?

caribear1984

My method is to eat back until I feel satisfied. I try not to under-eat or over-eat. I think of this as training for the long term.

^This is generally what I do. I tend to think the projected calorie burns are way high. Very rarely do I eat them all back.

Nacima26

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

FauxAngel13

First off, awesome work on making the 10 miles!!! That is a big achievement, especially if you are usually only running 2-4. What does MFP say for the calorie burn if you try to track in manually... I would guess that based on your pace it would be closer to half that? External apps as well as MFP all calculate calories differently as a result sometimes its best to cross check. HRM's are the most accurate way to log burnt cals but even then aren't 100%. I would say check MFP and maybe another source, take an average of all the answers you get, even so eat what you feel comfortable with, a protein shake and some fruit or other appropriate snack would be good, it is still important to refuel.

MB_Positif

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

I explained it a little further up. Your calorie goal on MFP is already enough for you to lose weight without any exercise. When you add in exercise the intention is that you would eat the calories burned (whether before or after). It prepares you for maintenance. See my other post a few boxes up.

sstillwell

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

The idea is that you are setting a CONSTANT deficit - a goal. Let's say that you target 500 calories per day deficit, which means eating 500 calories per day fewer than you burn. over the course of a week, that adds up to 3500 calories, or roughly a 1 pound/week weight loss rate. Now, if you exercise MORE than expected, that means you're going to have a larger deficit than expected - and you'll be depriving your body of nutrients that it needs to stay healthy, and possibly prompting it to kick into "starvation mode" if you do it for long enough. Therefore, you strive to keep that deficit at the planned level. If you kick *kitten* exceptionally hard, then eat back your exercise calories, but KEEP your deficit where it is. That doesn't mean splurge on ice cream and go overboard, it just means stay at your constant deficit for the day...or close to it.

Clearer?

heybales

You want a good workout tomorrow or the next day?

Fuel your workouts.

You just used up a boatload of glucose, you already missed prime time to drink the chocolate milk to aid recovery, but at least have a good sized meal with good amount of carbs and protein to aid repair over night.

And no, not 1800.

From that 1800 must be taken what you were already expected to burn during those hours.

Goals - Daily maintenance figure is what you were expected to burn today without exercise already.
So that / 24 is how many calories per hr were already accounted for you burning.

Figure out how many hrs your workout was and do the math for how many calories you were already expected to burn.

Now take 1800 minus that amount.

What is left is what you burned above and beyond what was already accounted for. Now take 20% off that figure. Log that and eat it back within next 24 hrs.

Be smarter than your body, there are so many reasons why you won't be able to read it correctly. Like dehydrated and you drank a bunch of water, not hungry.
Or messed up electrolyte levels from drinking too much plain water while sweating out lots of sodium and using up lots of potassium, can leave you feeling ill at stomach.

This is where you use your knowledge and recognize you can aid recovery, and keep your deficit already built in to your goal at a reasonable level.
By eating back majority of exercise calories above what you were going to burn anyway.

Probably need to plan the day better too if run was too late.

snazzyjazzy21

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

You do want to burn calories, but you also want your body to have enough calories to run on. Your BMR is the base amount of calories your body needs just to keep your heart pumping, your hair growing, everything. If you eat too little, your body doesn't have enough to keep all of these things happening. Once or twice is fine, but if you always eat too little, your body is going to have to turn to other places for fuel, like muscle. Then, it will start to 'cut out' less important things, like hair growth, in an effort to keep you alive. My personal advice is to try and eat back 50% of your exercise calories, more if you've burned enough to drop your 'net' (calories eaten-calories burned) below what your BMR is.

cmcollins001

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

The purpose is maintain a healthy calorie deficit. Period. Exercise helps increase that deficit and helps with overall health, body composition, etc.

The way MFP is designed, when you fill out your profile it sets a calorie goal for you to reach a day. IF you set it to lose 2 lbs a week, then you calorie deficit is 1000 calories per day. If you burn, let's say, 500 calories with exercise, you have increased the deficit to 1500 for the day.

Healthy weight loss, according to most health and fitness experts, is 2 lbs per week. 2 lbs per week is 7000 calorie deficit or 1000 calories a day. So if you're burning 500 calories and eating under your maintenance level by 1000, then you are trying to lose more than 2 lbs per week. While this will work for a while, when you get to your goal, there is the risk of doing damage to your metabolism from under eating.

TL:DR You're calorie deficit is already set, the way MFP does the math, you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. If you don't like doing it that way, you can use the TDEE - 20% method (search for it) where exercise is already added in...or use a some other method.

ThickMcRunFast

First off, congrats on the 10 miles!

Second, unless you are very overweight, you probably didn't burn 1800 calories. The actual number will depend on a lot of factors (gender, weight, body fat%, VO2max etc), but 100 cals/mile is an ok rule of thumb.

As far as eating it back, don't stuff yourself tonight, but eat a calorie dense snack. You may find that you are crazy hungry tomorrow, so up your calories then. Once in a while, not eating back a big burn is fine, but I wouldn't make a habit of it if you continue running long distances. You need to fuel yourself, after all.

heybales

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

You do want to burn calories, but you also want your body to have enough calories to run on. Your BMR is the base amount of calories your body needs just to keep your heart pumping, your hair growing, everything. If you eat too little, your body doesn't have enough to keep all of these things happening. Once or twice is fine, but if you always eat too little, your body is going to have to turn to other places for fuel, like muscle. Then, it will start to 'cut out' less important things, like hair growth, in an effort to keep you alive. My personal advice is to try and eat back 50% of your exercise calories, more if you've burned enough to drop your 'net' (calories eaten-calories burned) below what your BMR is.

Actually, BMR is considered even more basic than those functions, water management in all the cells and organ usage. Those higher level functions actually use even more energy.

But so true it's easy for body to slow those down. Another big noticeable one when it becomes winter - heat regulation. Since metabolism is heat anyway, if you are colder than normal, body isn't getting enough fuel to raise heat for colder situations.

Donald_Dozier_50

My method - I never eat back exercise calories no matter what the self-Appointed MFP Food Police or self-Appointed MFP doctors say or think.

So, according to you, assuming that the food logging is accurate and the calories burned is accurate, eating 1600 calories and then burning 1800 calories, therefore netting -200 calories for the day is a long term healthy and manageable solution?

So according to me " I never eat back exercise calories no matter what the self-Appointed MFP Food Police or self-Appointed MFP doctors say or think."

CyberEd312

could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

The easiest way to understand it is:

You eat in a caloric deficit for weight loss period... has nothing to do with exercise.

You exercise for fitness not weight loss so you need to fuel your body for the workouts you are asking it to do. But you may want to invest in a heart rate monitor to get a better estimate of your calories burned... MFP's approach has your deficit built in so when you exercise you are doing that for fitness and are expected to eat those calories burned back...