Eating back Calories?

WaterBunnie

Thanks so much for the great feedback, I'm going to try to get a fitbit this weekend.

I bought a FitBit One and have never regretted buying it.

cwolfman13

if you're going by the MFP (or cardio machine) calorie burns, most are notoriously overestimates. Try only eating back 1/2 to 2/3rds of what MFP gives you. Best bet is to get a good HRM (heart rate monitor) with a chest strap. There are plenty of brands out there but Polar and Garmin seem to be the best. It's a bit of an investment but worth it IMHO.

Or find the "in place of a road map" thread and try out the TDEE method - a lot of folks swear by it.

ETA: here's a link to one of the many threads:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet?hl=in+place+of+a+road+map

This is false MFP does not over estimate. If you search for online calories burned calculators you will see that sometimes MFP is actually lower I think their number are in line based on the information they have.

I eat mine back when my body says it is hungry and it is working for me. sometimes i work out so hard that i am tired and i can 't anything but rest. but the way MFP is set up is for you to eat them back.

Also be truthful with your self which is something that folks don't do. if you are only giving 50% during exercise that its probably not a good idea to eat all of the work out calories. I say just do your own research and respond to YOUR body.

I just want to reiterate that is is FALSE that MFP overestimates and in casing where this happens there is usually other information that MFP wouldn't know.

Actually it does for many people. To flat out say it's false is incorrect. I can reassure you that 120lb women aren't burning over 1000 calories doing mild running. Heck, as a 190lb guy I can't do that. So yes, it does over estimate for some. This is why many of us prefer to include exercise as part of our TDEE and make a deficit from there.

funny you mentioned TDEE when i put my numbers in for TDEE-20% it comes very close to MFP plus my exercise calories and TDEE does not ask which exercise you are doing, only how many hours a week. So how far off can MFP be? I doubt it seriously if MFP is giving a 120lb woman 1000 calories for mild running. walking has been my primary exercise and the calories burned has gone down since i lost weight and i weigh way more then 120 lbs.

TDEE and MFP should be about 6 of 1 if you're doing it right. For many, the calorie burns in the database are vastly overstated. I looked up my 12 mile ride at 15 MPH that I took yesterday and MFP database gave me an 800 calorie burn...no friggin' way...that's about 17 calories per minute and I assure you it wasn't anywhere close to that...my HRM gave me 500 calories...much closer to reality.

Like I said, both methods should come out roughly 6 of 1 provided you are estimating your calorie burn correctly and you are comparing same loss goals...i.e. TDEE - 20% is closer to a 1 Lb per week loss goal...so actually, if you're comparing a 2 Lb per week loss goal with TDEE - 20% and they're coming out 6 of 1 as you state...then that would mean you are overestimating burn with the MFP database.

pavrg

MFP's calorie numbers for most activities seem to be based on full exertion -- 90%+ of heart rate max. The little charts on the machines are inaccurate for most people -- according to them, I work out at 110% of my max heart rate -- I should be having a heart attack every time I do sprint work. OTH, sustaining that for more than 2-3 minutes straight is nearly impossible.

Running seems to be accurate though, because for reasons beyond my comprehension the calories burned by running a mile don't appreciably change with speed or exertion.

If you're sitting there in the 65-80% range, which you probably are if you're biking/swimming/using the elliptical for long distances and long periods of time, you might want to multiply the MFP number by 2/3.

bunkahes

Okay. Sometimes i eat my calories if only if i am hungrey, alot of the times i end up in the negitive i eat small snack. But. I am a low cal diet from my doctor. So thats 1600. I eat better i drop the calorie level down to 1350. So if estimate wrong there is a little lee way. I also have a paper journal. Just in case something fails like the app or my phone.

tamadrummer001

I don't and I have been gaining muscle and losing fat each week for the past few weeks. When I first started the diet I was eating way too little, like 1300 to 1700 each day and burning an estimated 3400 each day and actually maintained or got fatter.

Now I am eating about 2200 to 2500 each day and burning about 3800 - 4350 kcal.

I am losing fat and gaining muscle and very happy with the progress at this time.

elisa123gal

I'm losing slow and steady eating them back. Having more to eat helps me stay on plan and not feel deprived. However.. I do the elliptical for 65 minutes and I decrease mfp's calorie burn total from nearly 800 calories to 600, which the exercise machine reflects. I think I might even reduce it to 500 for a week and see if I lose more... but I enjoy having the extra calories to eat..it keeps me motivated.

Stage14

I eat my exercise calories back, but I use a HRM to estimate my calories, not MFP. I have still been losing, albeit slowly since I'm set at about 0.5 lbs per week.

ClementineGeorg

I eat my workout calories back and I still am on track with losing weight after more than a year.
I do not count long walks or cleaning as exercise.

I use MFP estimates, but I am carefull of the intensity I log. If I don't feel like faiting after working out, it's definetly not logged as circuit training. :laugh: If I don't feel the burnount, even if it's a classic high intensity workout, it's logged as low intensity.

janicelo1971

I don't and I have been gaining muscle and losing fat each week for the past few weeks. When I first started the diet I was eating way too little, like 1300 to 1700 each day and burning an estimated 3400 each day and actually maintained or got fatter.

Now I am eating about 2200 to 2500 each day and burning about 3800 - 4350 kcal.

I am losing fat and gaining muscle and very happy with the progress at this time.

holy crap! what exercise are you doing every day to burn over 4 thousand calories??? Im lucky to burn 6-700 in a few hours of hard work!

psuLemon

I don't and I have been gaining muscle and losing fat each week for the past few weeks. When I first started the diet I was eating way too little, like 1300 to 1700 each day and burning an estimated 3400 each day and actually maintained or got fatter.

Now I am eating about 2200 to 2500 each day and burning about 3800 - 4350 kcal.

I am losing fat and gaining muscle and very happy with the progress at this time.

If you are losing weight you are not gaining new muscle. You ar3 confusing strength gains with gaining new muscle. Its actually virtually impossible to gain muscle while cutting fat. One is an anabolic state and the other is catabolic. Also, if you truly are burning 3500 calories a day then its impossible to gain muscle with such a high deficit. Unfortunately many people associate seeing muscle (losing fat) as gaining muscle.

Not trying to be rude but pointing out semantics. Its great you are losing weight and fueling your body.