Eating Back Exercise Calories

jjinteso

Over the past few weeks I have done quite a bit of research on this topic. There are posts on this website that state that you can, don't have to and should. There are "professional" websites that contain contradictory information.

Here is what happened to me and why you may NEED to eat at least PART of your exercise calories back.

I started my diet in mid April. At the end of May, I found this site. By the middle of August, I had lost just over 50 pounds. I was leading a completely sedentary lifestyle. Then I found a message board on here with weekly challenges. I started doing them. I even went out and bought a pedometer. I started walking a minimum of 3.5 miles per day and doing the challenges. By the end of August, I bought a Fitbit Flex. It started showing me how many additional calories I was burning per day. I did not change the sedentary settings on MFP or Fitbit to show being more active.

As my weight continued to drop, so did the number of calories that MFP told me I could eat if I wanted to maintain my current weight loss goal per week (2 pounds per week). I am now "allowed" 1380 calories per day. I was eating close to (but not over) that number each day.

Over about a 2 week period, things started changing with my body that I either attributed to losing weight or just really didn't notice. 1. I was starting to get cold very easily 2. Muscles were sore 3. Got constipated 4. Lost less weight than I should have

There were several other things as well. Last Thursday night, on my way to going out to dinner, I went to a bookstore to buy an exercise book. I got extremely lightheaded and felt like I was going to pass out. I felt better after dinner but not 100%. I had similar results the next day. I checked both blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Both were normal. After much research, reading and studying, I came to the conclusion that you NEED to have a MINIMUM of 1200 NET calories.

What is a NET calorie? If you take that calories that you consume in a day and subtract out your exercise calories that is your NET calories. This is actually shown on the top of your "My Home" area on MFP. Do NOT believe posts or websites that tell you unequivocally that you do not need to eat back your exercise calories. You MUST have a minimum of 1200 NET calories per day to stay functioning properly. I realized that I was eating way too few calories. There were days that I had 83 and 131 net calories. I averaged 762 net calories over a 2 week period leading up to last Thursday. I have also adjusted to only lose 1.5 pounds per week to give myself a larger margin of error.

You can view graphs of your gross and net calories, under the Reports section on this site. I learned everything the hard way. Although it could have been much worse.

I know that I will get quite a few comments about how stupid I am, but I feel that this post is worth the negative comments.

MzManiak

TL;DR sorry :flowerforyou:

Moral of the story: Just do it.

Great post OP. Hope you're feeling better these days and losing weight healthily.

admegamo

I almost always eat my calories burned but when I don't, I tend to feel bad because everyone seems to feel you shouldn't. Then I feel like a pig. (I probably am)

Good story and I hope everything is well for you now.

sybrix

Eek, glad you figured out what the problem was and are eating healthier!

It took me a while to get the whole eating exercise calories back thing. I had no idea what net calories were when I first started exercising. Now I love it, because I actually feel motivated to exercise so I'm allowed to eat more, lol.
Don't be scared to set your weekly weight loss calculations to 1 lb or even .5 lb. People seem to always go for 2 lb/week because they want it off ASAP but IMO it's more manageable if you don't have that huge deficit to worry about all the time.

cmriverside

As a man, you should be shooting for a Net Calorie Goal of about 1800. I'll let the men chime in on this, but 1200 would be a minimum for a smallish woman.

Plus, with only 20 pounds to lose, you should be set at "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

You'll still lose weight. You'll feel MUCH better. Maybe that is a later chapter in your book, or maybe you haven't "gotten" that part yet.

Sarra33

I was eating 1100-1200 net calories a day and was losing weight too fast (4 pounds in the last few days). I think the problems is twofold.

I think the calories calculated for my exercise are too low. I have a hard time believing that a 5k run only burns 320 cal but if I put my time and pace in that's all MFP gives me.

I also think I need more net calories.

So my plan for the next 2 weeks is to set my baseline at 1600 cal (instead of the 1200 MFP was giving me) and eat half my exercise calories at minimum. I do 300-400 cal of exercise 5-6 days a week so my aim is 1800 cal a day.

We'll see how that goes, I think it is a fine tuning process for each person and what works at one weight and activity level may not work 20 pounds later with a different exercise plan.

FINALLY_MrsJones

I think the calories calculated for my exercise are too low. I have a hard time believing that a 5k run only burns 320 cal but if I put my time and pace in that's all MFP gives me.

I would suggest a heart rate monitor. That way you can find out what you're ACTUALLY burning. As for everything else, I agree with the OP. I try to eat back at least half (if not all) of my exercise calories, otherwise I do NOT feel good. I feel tired, weak, and I get constipated as well (even though I drink 8-12 glasses of water a day).

lynnee47

I totally agree with DanuMarie1, a heart rate monitor works really well as it takes your heart rate into account. The number of calories you burn on a 5k run depends on a number of things, your weight, the speed you run, how your are feeling, whether it is flat or hilly. A HRM will help to assess all this. Be warned though you may find that MFP does slightly give you too many calories, which doesn't help your weight loss. For example, yesterday I ran a 10k race in 50 minutes and burned 390 calories (I am petite) but MFP said i used 445. If you are having a problem losing weight this could be the problem.

PS Make sure you get a HRM that you can programme.

deksgrl

As a man, you should be shooting for a Net Calorie Goal of about 1800. I'll let the men chime in on this, but 1200 would be a minimum for a smallish woman.

Plus, with only 20 pounds to lose, you should be set at "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

You'll still lose weight. You'll feel MUCH better. Maybe that is a later chapter in your book, or maybe you haven't "gotten" that part yet.

^THIS!!!!

indarican

Hey all I am also having issues with eating back my calories. I have my goal set at 1600 calories a day. I need to lose close to 80lbs and i severly messed up my metabolism with starvation diets. I am trying to stick with the calories but I am finding it impossible to do unless I go back to eating unhealthy. For example, yesterday I ate 1705 calories but lost 957 calories from exercise. leaving me with a net of 748 calories... and this was on a bad day (went out drinking with friends). usually I end up with way less unless i get into the cookies and chips and stuff, which i really dont want to do. Any suggestions on how to get up the calories without feeling like im stuffing myself for no reason?

jjinteso

Look at my diary. I have been having the same challenges. Pitas and hummus, almond butter and soft pretzels are good adds.

mjf0461

Good post, but do remember everybody's system is different. What your net calories is may not match mine. But you should know what your net calories are for sure. You should also double check mfp with my weight and log it that way.

Keep going strong.

cwolfman13

People just need to understand how this tool works and this method of calorie counting. You're not going to get validating information elsewhere because by and large the TDEE method is the most common method for determining calorie needs. With that method you include some estimate of exercise up front in your activity level...so it's included in your estimate of total calorie requirements from which you take your cut. Essentially you are eating you exercise calories with this method, just not deliberately...they're built into your goal already.

With MFP, it is NOT accounted for in your activity level. It has to be accounted for somewhere and with MFP, that somewhere is on the back end after you do it and log it. It's actually all very simple if one takes about 5 minutes to actually read up on this particular and specialized tool...there really is no debate when you actually understand how this tool works.

Good job OP and glad you're losing in a healthy way now.

Trositano

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have had similar concerns. The Lose It app was giving me a daily calorie budget of 1.120, in addition to that I was burning approximately 1500-2000 calories a week exercising. The result- I stopped losing weight. Your body learns to function with less as a survival mechanism. Thanks again for the info.

jjinteso

I am glad that this topic continues to help people. I have now lost 90% of my final goal and in a healthy way!! I have only 8.6 pounds to go. I have actually increased the number of calories that I eat so I only lose 1.5 pounds per week instead of 2 and it works better for me.

Cheeky_and_Geeky

Hey all I am also having issues with eating back my calories. I have my goal set at 1600 calories a day. I need to lose close to 80lbs and i severly messed up my metabolism with starvation diets. I am trying to stick with the calories but I am finding it impossible to do unless I go back to eating unhealthy. For example, yesterday I ate 1705 calories but lost 957 calories from exercise. leaving me with a net of 748 calories... and this was on a bad day (went out drinking with friends). usually I end up with way less unless i get into the cookies and chips and stuff, which i really dont want to do. Any suggestions on how to get up the calories without feeling like im stuffing myself for no reason?

How often are you exercising? That seems like an awful lot. I do HIIT, Yoga, & Strength training & try not to burn more than 300 per day & exercising no more than 45mins per day. Anymore than that for me is overkill. Are you using a Heart Rate Monitor? MFP tends to overestimate on calories burned. Are you using a food scale? People tend to underestimate calories consumed when eyeballing food portions. If you go out with friends, eat a healthy snack or meal before you go so you're not tempted to eat junk food. I also pre log my food for the day in the morning so I know exactly what I'm going to eat & I usually stick to it. Good luck!

SweetestHoney

I feel bad sometimes when I eat back my calories but I guess my body needs it. I do find that I get hungry more often since I work out regularly even on the days I don't workout.

extra_medium

Hey all I am also having issues with eating back my calories. I have my goal set at 1600 calories a day. I need to lose close to 80lbs and i severly messed up my metabolism with starvation diets. I am trying to stick with the calories but I am finding it impossible to do unless I go back to eating unhealthy. For example, yesterday I ate 1705 calories but lost 957 calories from exercise. leaving me with a net of 748 calories... and this was on a bad day (went out drinking with friends). usually I end up with way less unless i get into the cookies and chips and stuff, which i really dont want to do. Any suggestions on how to get up the calories without feeling like im stuffing myself for no reason?

Like the other poster hinted at, I would try to figure out if that 957 was accurate before I worried too much about how to eat it all back.

If that is an accurate number, I suggest scaling back to a more manageable 200-400 cal or so.. I can't think of a reason to be burning and eating back an extra 1000 cal very often unless you're training for a triathlon or something

Jenn_N_SC

bump

page7x

Thanks you for sharing.

Queenkaren

Good to know. I was wondering about that. Here's another question. With weight loss calculation does it take into account things like cooking and housework calorie burns? I see it listed in exercise, but was assuming a certain amount of general calorie burn with general daily activities is figured in. Does eating back exercise calories keep you from hitting plateaus??