Eating back exercise calories?

Danimri84

Thanks for all the input. Especially the advice that was not snarky or accusatory I need to research some more food choices it looks like.

Oh look, someone provided a mass amount of info and is called snarky again. Shocker. :huh:

I said I doubted that because you didn't get fat from "forcing" down a mere 1300-1500 cals a day. Why is it suddenly difficult to do so?

I doubt you even touched any of the links I provided, especially given your follow up comments.

Take the info if you want or don't. Perceive "meanness" where there is none. Doesn't really affect me.

You're welcome.

Excuse me for not reading them immediately. I do intend to. I have never eaten large amounts of food, just drank a lot of soda and ate almost exclusively crappy junk food, and didn't exercise at all.

BIRD0

How are you calculating your burns? That seems like a lot.

I just look up the exercises on here and go by what it says. I walk 3-5 miles pushing a 35 pound kid in a stroller at 4 mph. I do an hour to an hour and a half of Zumba. I lift weights for an hour or so. I am working out hard and often.

MFP is grossly inaccurate with their numbers for exercise.

Danimri84

Hi,

Before you begin eating more calorie dense foods, I would look into how you are calculating your calorie burn. Perhaps investing in a heart rate monitor might be an option. I burn 600 calories an hour doing very intense spin or running. I do believe one can burn 600 doing zumba if he/she is totally into it for the entire 60 minutes. However, walking 3-5 miles would be much less. for me, strength training doesn't burn many calories, although it is important for many other reasons, including longer term burn.

If you are full and satisfied, I would be inclined to reevaluate/recalculate your calorie burn. On many Saturday mornings I do a triple - run, spin and swim, for a total of about 1500 calories (usually 3 hours of straight exercising) and I am ravenous when I am done and for the day. I really want to eat those calories.

I worry about you sabotaging your weight loss by incorrect calorie burn estimations. I would start there.

Good luck!

I probably do need a heart rate monitor. I will have to see if there is one that I can afford, I am on a very tight budget. Thanks for the advice.

Cranquistador

how are you only netting one hundred cals?

rayraex

I wouldn't worry about eating back your calories until you are closer to your goal weight. If you are dieting the way you are and exercising that much, the weight should be falling off.

Danimri84

Thanks for all the input. Especially the advice that was not snarky or accusatory I need to research some more food choices it looks like.

Oh look, someone provided a mass amount of info and is called snarky again. Shocker. :huh:

I said I doubted that because you didn't get fat from "forcing" down a mere 1300-1500 cals a day. Why is it suddenly difficult to do so?

I doubt you even touched any of the links I provided, especially given your follow up comments.

Take the info if you want or don't. Perceive "meanness" where there is none. Doesn't really affect me.

You're welcome.

And btw, I did thank you for providing the links. I'm sure they will be helpful.

susieoj

Don't don't don't trust the MFP calculations for calorie burn if you want to lose weight and monitor your activity accurately, calorie expenditure is very different for different people based on many factors that MFP simply cannot determine despite its best intentions get a decent HR monitor or a bodymedia device if you want to really know what you're burning - or save the money and just eat a consistent calorie amount daily with balanced macros also, your body should tell you if you're hungry after a hard workout, mine sure does. It should also tell you if you're not eating enough to continue doing hard workouts... By causing you to pass out or get really dizzy and nauseous in extreme cases...

trogalicious

I wouldn't worry about eating back your calories until you are closer to your goal weight. If you are dieting the way you are and exercising that much, the weight should be falling off.

this is really, horribly, awful advice.

it's also not accurate and shouldn't be listened to.

Danimri84

How are you calculating your burns? That seems like a lot.

I just look up the exercises on here and go by what it says. I walk 3-5 miles pushing a 35 pound kid in a stroller at 4 mph. I do an hour to an hour and a half of Zumba. I lift weights for an hour or so. I am working out hard and often.

MFP is grossly inaccurate with their numbers for exercise.

I didn't know that, thank you for the heads up!

jonnythan

No matter how inaccurate MFP numbers are, you're not eating nearly enough by a long shot.

I prefer an activity tracker like a Fitbit to an HRM. Fitbits are meant to be worn 24/7 and give you a much better idea of your overall calorie burn.

Anyway, it shouldn't be hard to eat more calories. Milk, ice cream, butter, peanut butter, etc.

sijomial

I wouldn't worry about eating back your calories until you are closer to your goal weight. If you are dieting the way you are and exercising that much, the weight should be falling off.

Bad idea and a bad outcome.
Have a read of this....
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

butterfly10398

I would definitely consider eating back some of the workout calories, but I would also be very skeptical of following the calorie burn guides on here... they are not always the most accurate way to get a reading... You may want to consider getting a heart rate monitor that also tracks your calories burned... You can personalize it and it is a much better way to get an accurate reading... But I also agree about eating more calorie dense foods... But most of all listen to your body... If you are losing weight great, if you aren't then you need to consider something else... Keep working at it and you'll find out what is right for you...

jonnythan

I wouldn't worry about eating back your calories until you are closer to your goal weight. If you are dieting the way you are and exercising that much, the weight should be falling off.

It would be better if you never posted advice until you learned that netting 100 calories is incredibly bad and damaging.

Achrya

I wouldn't worry about eating back your calories until you are closer to your goal weight. If you are dieting the way you are and exercising that much, the weight should be falling off.

Except no.

MFP already calculates your deficit (Anywhere from 250-1000 calories a day) You don't need to add to that deficit by not eating back your exercise calories. A bigger cut isn't always the answer.

Laststand2011

Somewhere around there most days. I walk 3-5 miles a day, Zumba, strength training. I work from home, so when I get bored, I work out.

WOW, wish I had the discipline to work out when I'm bored. GOOD JOB! ;0)

Contrarian

You shouldn't be "well under" your calorie goal. The purpose of this site is not to eat as little as possible, but rather, to stay at a moderate calorie deficit until you achieve your desired results.

I would urge you to get a heart rate monitor to get a more accurate idea of the calories you are burning, and to try to be as close to your calorie goal as possible. You need to fuel your workouts. Some calorie dense foods are nuts, full fat dairy products, avocados and peanut butter.

There are many resources available on this site, and you have kindly been provided with some links. When you have time, you should peruse those links.

Serah87

I asked my doctor (who is a weight loss specialist by the way) this exact question and the answer is "No". Unless you are burning thousands of calories a day you should not be "eating back" your exercise calories if you are trying to loose weight. We have allowed ourselves to subscribe to this "your body will go into starvation mode" and it just isn't true - unless in you in an extreme situation like eating 500 calories a day, exercising and burning 5,000 and doing this everyday.

As I have read the many threads on this subject I have expected that what my doctor told me was the situation. Especially if you feel great! Bravo to you for your efforts!

Bad advice, please don't listen to this.

shapefitter

It is the same old posts those kids keep posting on here. Ha ha, very funny!

jonnythan

I asked my doctor (who is a weight loss specialist by the way) this exact question and the answer is "No". Unless you are burning thousands of calories a day you should not be "eating back" your exercise calories if you are trying to loose weight. We have allowed ourselves to subscribe to this "your body will go into starvation mode" and it just isn't true - unless in you in an extreme situation like eating 500 calories a day, exercising and burning 5,000 and doing this everyday.

As I have read the many threads on this subject I have expected that what my doctor told me was the situation. Especially if you feel great! Bravo to you for your efforts!

Turns out that doctors don't really know a lot about weight loss nutrition, unless they've specifically studied it somewhere besides medical school.

_Waffle_

I'm usually well under my calorie goal, but I've noticed that with the calories I "earn" from exercise, I am only netting about 100 calories a day. I eat a total of 1300-1500. I'm not hungry, I have great energy. Should I be forcing myself to eat back my exercise calories? I would really be having to force it down...

Yes! I don't want to hear "Can't eat" when I have to do 5000+ some days. Just do it. If you're still down and not hungry a big spoon of peanut butter is a great way to fill in calories. There's no excuse. I don't always feel like eating back all of mine either. I've already had 2565 calories today and I need 1350 more. You bet it's all getting eaten back.