eating back exercise calories

MB_Positif

Yes. Generally all.

CyberEd312

Yep about 85% of them leaving 15% for error in estimates of caloric burn.... has worked pretty good for me so far..... Best of Luck

Kimsoontobe

OP looking back at your diary it is a little hit and miss...sorry :ohwell: I looked back over it

It seems like you have around 1500 cals a day to eat plus exercise cals...I am just guessing from what I looked at.

If that is so then, I would say eat at least half of your exercise cals back ...As when you have added them they seem to be around 300 ish.

Having said that do what works for you x

What is OP? I see that a lot on posts

meerkat70

nope.. i eat the same calories everyday regardless of the amount I burn.. and I usually burn 500-900 daily.

Presumably you're working from TDEE? Which is more or less the same as eating back...

I do. Not all of them. Like Ed Davenport, I leave a bit to allow for margin of error.

I mostly am trying to lose weight to maintain a healthier, happier me. To do that, I need to workout. To workout I need to eat well. Working out enables me to eat well. It's a virtuous circle.

LTGPSA

Yes, I do. I have been able to do so and lose weight, plus my body needs fuel - so, why on Earth would I deprive myself. :flowerforyou:

RosyBest

yeah eat most back

kdmorris71

Just discussed this with my trainer - here's what his input was....typically you can estimate the amount of calories you need to consume by taking your actual weight and a zero at the end. For example if you weigh 150 lbs. then 1500 calories, thats without factoring in your fitness levels and your daily activities. To lose fat, you want to create a deficit, so eating back your calories isn't going to help you - unless you are eating like a 1200 cal diet, because you never want to fall below that amount of calories - too low.

Also, you don't want to make your mind associate work outs with calories - here's why, I used to think that if I worked out hard enough I "deserved" that extra treat. This mentality is NOT healthy, you want to exercise to be fit and muscle burns more fat while you are sedentary than the lack therein. A good goal (and mine) is to keep your calorie intake at about 50% carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fats. Eat good fuel, you don't put garbage in your cars fuel tank, don't put garbage in your mouth! Think lean meats, green veggies, and make it at home if you can!

Here's to your success and all of ours!

meerkat70

What is OP? I see that a lot on posts

Original Poster. (The person who started the thread.)

meerkat70

No. The "why not?" is because I'm looking to lose fat fairly quickly.

You're also likely to be losing a fair bit of muscle mass, if your deficit is too high.

trogalicious

No. The "why not?" is because I'm looking to lose fat fairly quickly.

You're also likely to be losing a fair bit of muscle mass, if your deficit is too high.

and left with a fair amount of loose skin afterwards too.

MelodyandBarbells

Just discussed this with my trainer - here's what his input was....typically you can estimate the amount of calories you need to consume by taking your actual weight and a zero at the end. For example if you weigh 150 lbs. then 1500 calories, thats without factoring in your fitness levels and your daily activities. To lose fat, you want to create a deficit, so eating back your calories isn't going to help you - unless you are eating like a 1200 cal diet, because you never want to fall below that amount of calories - too low.

Also, you don't want to make your mind associate work outs with calories - here's why, I used to think that if I worked out hard enough I "deserved" that extra treat. This mentality is NOT healthy, you want to exercise to be fit and muscle burns more fat while you are sedentary than the lack therein. A good goal (and mine) is to keep your calorie intake at about 50% carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fats. Eat good fuel, you don't put garbage in your cars fuel tank, don't put garbage in your mouth! Think lean meats, green veggies, and make it at home if you can!

Here's to your success and all of ours!

Eating back the right amount of exercise calories won't hurt you because MFP already has that factored in. For instance , if you need 2000 calories per day just to maintain, and you tell MFP you want to lose 1 lb a week, it will recommend a 500 calorie per day deficit = 1500 calories. If you exercise on top of that, you can either strive to lose even more by not eating your exercise calories, or at the other extreme, eat 1000 calories of cheese cake to make it up. Really, damnit, I wish I was that guy.

As for associating exercise with food, exercise is healthy, food is good, what's not to like?

kdmorris71

If you have to overcome the way you think about food and fitness - its just not good to think, I worked out - I can eat cake! It's a retraining of the brain to start thinking, I worked out, I want something healthy to eat so I don't destroy my hard work! Its not that food isn't good, and MFP is helpful, but you need to make sure you know whats needed for your body to lose weight. I was eating back my calories, but now that I understand - NOT anymore. Food doesn't control my life. I do.

MelodyandBarbells

If I don't eat more calories than I burn on an ongoing basis, I won't destroy my hard work. Like you've said, MFP, food scales, HRMs and reading labels are really quite helpful with that. There's already been a recent topic about whether you could essentially eat junk food and lose weight and there were people on both sides of that argument so I don't expect our views to be identical on this. Ultimately we all need food to live, and whether it's cheese cake or chicken thighs, I don't discriminate

EDollah

No. The "why not?" is because I'm looking to lose fat fairly quickly.

You're also likely to be losing a fair bit of muscle mass, if your deficit is too high.

You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong. I just got Bod Pod results today, as a matter of fact and of the 80+ pounds lost, exactly 1.5 pounds was from muscle. "You will lose muscle" is a myth if you hit protein and lift weights, at least it's a myth for me, maybe not everybody.

ETA - no loose skin either, thus far. I have 35 more pounds to go though so we'll see.

JamericanBoy

No. The "why not?" is because I'm looking to lose fat fairly quickly.

You're also likely to be losing a fair bit of muscle mass, if your deficit is too high.

You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong. I just got Bod Pod results today, as a matter of fact and of the 80+ pounds lost, exactly 1.5 pounds was from muscle. "You will lose muscle" is a myth if you hit protein and lift weights, at least it's a myth for me, maybe not everybody.

ETA - no loose skin either, thus far. I have 35 more pounds to go though so we'll see.

Agreed!

erickirb

For those that do TDEE they do eat back 70-90% of the exercise cals for the week, but averaged out for the weeks so they eat the same everyday. So instead of doing 1300 on days you don't workout and 1800 on days you burn 500, they may eat 1650 everyday.

marleniap

nope.. i eat the same calories everyday regardless of the amount I burn.. and I usually burn 500-900 daily.

Does it make a difference with your weight loss?

Nikoruo

It really depends. generally i'll eat back half of it but if i need to eat all of them back just to make sure my minimum isn't below 1200 then i will

marleniap

Just discussed this with my trainer - here's what his input was....typically you can estimate the amount of calories you need to consume by taking your actual weight and a zero at the end. For example if you weigh 150 lbs. then 1500 calories, thats without factoring in your fitness levels and your daily activities. To lose fat, you want to create a deficit, so eating back your calories isn't going to help you - unless you are eating like a 1200 cal diet, because you never want to fall below that amount of calories - too low.

Also, you don't want to make your mind associate work outs with calories - here's why, I used to think that if I worked out hard enough I "deserved" that extra treat. This mentality is NOT healthy, you want to exercise to be fit and muscle burns more fat while you are sedentary than the lack therein. A good goal (and mine) is to keep your calorie intake at about 50% carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fats. Eat good fuel, you don't put garbage in your cars fuel tank, don't put garbage in your mouth! Think lean meats, green veggies, and make it at home if you can!

Here's to your success and all of ours!

Nice information. Thanks poster. :flowerforyou:

marleniap

Just discussed this with my trainer - here's what his input was....typically you can estimate the amount of calories you need to consume by taking your actual weight and a zero at the end. For example if you weigh 150 lbs. then 1500 calories, thats without factoring in your fitness levels and your daily activities. To lose fat, you want to create a deficit, so eating back your calories isn't going to help you - unless you are eating like a 1200 cal diet, because you never want to fall below that amount of calories - too low.

Also, you don't want to make your mind associate work outs with calories - here's why, I used to think that if I worked out hard enough I "deserved" that extra treat. This mentality is NOT healthy, you want to exercise to be fit and muscle burns more fat while you are sedentary than the lack therein. A good goal (and mine) is to keep your calorie intake at about 50% carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fats. Eat good fuel, you don't put garbage in your cars fuel tank, don't put garbage in your mouth! Think lean meats, green veggies, and make it at home if you can!

Here's to your success and all of ours!

Nice information. Thanks poster. :flowerforyou:

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