Non exercise calorie eaters, please explain something to me
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I never eat back my calories, and I'm losing weight. :-)
I don't eat then back because since I don't have a hrm I have no idea what I'm actually burning, and I k now devices tend to over estimate.
Ok - these are the kinds of responses I don't get.......
You eat 100% .............or 0% ................because there are NO numbers in between.
The purpose of FUELING workouts is eating enough for basic bodily functions (heart, lungs, kidneys) ...plus enough to maintain muscle muscle mass. I eat my exercis calories back because I want to lose FAT....not muscle.0 -
I didn't have time to read through all the posts, but I'll just add that I was one of those people for months and months.
I've logged EVERYTHING - every. freaking. day. for a year! I've been all over the map on calorie intake, trying to find what worked for me. Tried TDEE-20%, but the moment I'd start eating back calories, I'd gain. I think part of that problem was I wasn't consistent with exercise, and to do TDEE, you have to be consistent. Even with that said, reducing goals and eating back still caused a gain.
As it turns out (for me), I had an underlying health issue (insulin resistant) and was eating at a deficit but all the wrong foods(for me). I just THOUGHT I was eating healthy, but some of it was driving my sugars through the roof. I'm starting to reverse that now with a low carb low sugar diet and hoping I don't end up with a burned out pancreas.
Point to that rant, some MFP'ers are probably walking around with (possibly unknown) health issues that make "their" journey more challenging than yours. You cannot assume anyone complaining about not losing is automatically failing because of any one specific factor. If the answer to weight loss was a "one-size-fits-all" answer or formula, then we'd all be swimwear models by now. And just because I found what works for now, doesn't mean it won't change 10x before I reach my ultimate goal.0 -
Those people generally plateau, not directly from their diet approach, but due to it's un sustainability.
I didn't post fast enough. The above is for those on a harsh deficit.
I believe that plateau's are just people either not giving it their all and just getting comfortable or people thinking they have to do the same thing over and over again. I don't think it has anything at all to do with eating back your calories.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TheFitHooker/view/you-have-to-change-or-you-ll-remain-the-same-584922
I wrote a blog post over that.
Just because one way works for someone, doesn't mean it's for everyone. Like I said, I have been at this for 2 years steady now, and I've lost 132 lbs, never eat back my workout calories and never will, there might be a time I go a little over my daily goal, but won't eat them all back. I normally don't go over 100 more calories. This works for me, but might not work for someone else.
The people who are complaining they aren't losing weight and not eating back their workout calories and are at 1200, maybe this method isn't for them. I support whatever works for anyone, but I don't expect to get flack for what works for me. Why would I change my method if it's worked for me?
ETA:// MFP is set up a certain way but it doesn't have to be used to that method, there is no law that says we have to lose it this way or we can't be apart of this site. Sometimes things need to be tweaked to work right for us.
TBH, I think you are seeing the results that you've seen because the more you have to lose, the quicker and easier you lose. Have you noticed your progress slow down now that you're getting into a healthier weight range?
I'm 118 lbs, I'm at my goal weight, my goal was 120 lbs. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm working on toning and tightening. So to answer that question, once I hit my goal, I quit focusing on the scale. I weigh once in awhile but not like I use to. I lost my weight in a 2 year span. I lost it slow because slow is better, I went from 250 lbs to 118 lbs. I don't have much loose skin and I workout daily.
But that didn't answer her question at all. Her question was did you notice that weight loss slowed down more/got more difficult when you were close to your goal weight than when you first started losing?0 -
After reading this thread... I'm starting to think I'm doing it wrong.
I eat food, look at how much I've gone over, THEN I exercise off what I've gone over. I guess that's considered eating my exercise calories, I'm just doing it backwards.0 -
This site is a tool for keeping you on track with your personal goals. The societal programmed obsession with scale weight diminishes the ultimate goal of being healthy, feeling better, looking in the mirror and being proud of what one has accomplished.
Throw away your scale become comfortable with your body as you progress along your transformation into a healthier you. If you could only walk a quarter mile when you started your journey, and now you can walk a mile, then who cares what the scale says? If you always took the elevator, and now you walk up five flights of stairs to your office, then who cares what the scale says? If you feel better, breath better, and your clothes are starting to fit better, then who cares what the scale says.
Focus on you, focus on you, and focus on YOU! Do not believe the façade of what society programs and projects as “beautiful.” You ARE beautiful!
Never surrender, never quit, never forget, and never compromise! Your goals are YOUR goals, and do not let the distractions of scale weight denigrate your path to a healthier happier you.0 -
I eat some of them back, but not all. Some days it wants me to consume 2,300 calories, and I just can't eat that much with the foods I have in my house. I'll have to eventually, but I'll start eating full calorie yogurt, peanut butter, cottage cheese, stuff like that, so it will be easier. Right now it's just too much. I rarely go above 1800 calories.0
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Those people generally plateau, not directly from their diet approach, but due to it's un sustainability.
I didn't post fast enough. The above is for those on a harsh deficit.
I believe that plateau's are just people either not giving it their all and just getting comfortable or people thinking they have to do the same thing over and over again. I don't think it has anything at all to do with eating back your calories.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TheFitHooker/view/you-have-to-change-or-you-ll-remain-the-same-584922
I wrote a blog post over that.
Just because one way works for someone, doesn't mean it's for everyone. Like I said, I have been at this for 2 years steady now, and I've lost 132 lbs, never eat back my workout calories and never will, there might be a time I go a little over my daily goal, but won't eat them all back. I normally don't go over 100 more calories. This works for me, but might not work for someone else.
The people who are complaining they aren't losing weight and not eating back their workout calories and are at 1200, maybe this method isn't for them. I support whatever works for anyone, but I don't expect to get flack for what works for me. Why would I change my method if it's worked for me?
ETA:// MFP is set up a certain way but it doesn't have to be used to that method, there is no law that says we have to lose it this way or we can't be apart of this site. Sometimes things need to be tweaked to work right for us.
TBH, I think you are seeing the results that you've seen because the more you have to lose, the quicker and easier you lose. Have you noticed your progress slow down now that you're getting into a healthier weight range?
I'm 118 lbs, I'm at my goal weight, my goal was 120 lbs. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm working on toning and tightening. So to answer that question, once I hit my goal, I quit focusing on the scale. I weigh once in awhile but not like I use to. I lost my weight in a 2 year span. I lost it slow because slow is better, I went from 250 lbs to 118 lbs. I don't have much loose skin and I workout daily.
But that didn't answer her question at all. Her question was did you notice that weight loss slowed down more/got more difficult when you were close to your goal weight than when you first started losing?
The only time my weight loss stalled is when I stopped focusing on losing the weight. When I was working out side my house, I stopped working out and the weight stalled. I quit working outside the house, started focusing on eating clean and focused on working out and those last 10 lbs flew off. So to answer that, no it didn't stall until I quit trying.0 -
Ok, I'm new to all of this. Could someone explain what "eat all your exercise calories back" means? I consume around 1800 calories a day and am just about to start an exercise program. So since I already consume a good amount of calories, what is meant by "eating your calories back"? I guess I am just ignorant of this concept.0
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Well, I think you're right, you should probably just concern yourself with your own routine and methods.
I would imagine there are numerous reasons people don't always eat their calories back from exercise. For those who have a higher calorie intake as it is, 1800+, I can imagine that you could feel like you're eating enough within that and trying to consume more when you're not hungry would feel pointless and uncomfortable. I also think that MFP can overestimate on calories burned for certain exercise so perhaps people are worried about that aspect. I am sure there are a multitude of other reasons.
I actually think it's so rude to suggest people who don't eat their exercise calories back are so stupid or naïve that they assume MFP is "sabotaging" their weight loss.
Haha, I knew I would get a response like this. Should I add a disclaimer? I'm sure not EVERYONE refuses to eat back their exercise calories because they are 'stupid' or 'naive' enough (your words) to think MFP is sabotaging them. But believe me, I see it a lot. 'I don't see the point' and 'why would you burn calories only to eat them again' are common responses.
To each his own. Bariatric surgery patients and those on medically supervised weight loss programs usually don't eat exercise calories back. I am usually pretty active (3 miles/day or cross fit) and have lost by not eating my calories back. However, I am working on building muscle mass to bump up my metabolism so that when I'm not this active, I don't gain. I think everyone's different, but point taken... people having trouble definitely need to try different methods in order to achieve success.0 -
"Well, I think you're right, you should probably just concern yourself with your own routine and methods"
^^This0 -
I know, I know. I should not concern myself with other peoples methods and should just concentrate on my own.
However, I would say 90% of the threads I read that say 'help, I'm not losing weight!' are made by people that are not eating their exercise calories back
Please could someone explain to me why you would join a website designed to help you lose weight, with many, many successful members, and trust this website to give you your daily calorie amounts, your macro targets, and to provide the nutritional information for thousands of different foods, yet when it tells you to eat your exercise calories back, said website is obviously out to sabotage your weight loss?
Please, for the love of God,
My health care provider and dietician do not want me to eat back my exercise calories, and I have lost 85 pounds in less than 8 months, so I really don't think you have to follow the exact program that mfp designs for you. I am healthier than I've been in years, I have more energy, and I am having a very successful weight loss. I think that I'm doing just fine doing it my way.0 -
Ok, I'm new to all of this. Could someone explain what "eat all your exercise calories back" means? I consume around 1800 calories a day and am just about to start an exercise program. So since I already consume a good amount of calories, what is meant by "eating your calories back"? I guess I am just ignorant of this concept.
What they mean by eat back your exercise calories is, if you burn say 500 calories in a day, you now have 2300 calories you can consume.0 -
I don't eat mine back (unless its a long run day then I eat about 1/2 of them back) but thats because I figured out what my TDEE was based off my activity and did my calories around that. I eat 1900-2000 calories most day, therefore I have no need to eat my exercise calories back. Its easier for me personally to plan my day knowing thats the calorie range I need to be in and theres less pressure on my exercise calories burned to be able to eat what I want.
This is what I do, too. Rather than worrying about how many calories I burned for a particular workout, or trying to eat or not eat based on my appetite, I calculated a constant calorie goal based on my average weekly workouts. Now I just log all my workouts as having burned 1 calorie.0 -
so the assumption is that if you put in a goal above 1200 in MFP then you are doing TDEE? um... no
i could have a goal of only losing 1lb a week and that would put me at sedentary of 1700 a day before exercise so with the whole eating back calories i would need to eat 1700 calories + any exercise calories.
That's not what anybody said at all...
Seems like he did a pretty good job, MFP had you set up at 1200 calories + exercise calories, your dietician set you up between 1600 - 1900 calories which is eating some of your exercise calories back. You pretty much just made the OP's argument by saying your dietician agrees with what she is saying. It seems most of the people who have a problem with what the OP is saying are actually eating their exercise calories back, but just don't realize it, because it is already manually entered into what they can eat, and the ones who don't do it, that is also fine if it is working with them, but you have to admit that we see tons of threads everyweek where somebody isn't eating them back, and not losing weight.
that's basically what this is saying.
He pointed out that SHE is doing the TDEE method. You assume he meant everybody eating more than 1200 calories is doing TDEE, which is not what he said at all.0 -
OMG...the types of threads the OP is refering to are what made me switch to TDEE...who wants to worry about an extra number that you really can't track accurately and flucuates daily anyway? That made me frustrated and HUNGRY on rest days.
I eat 2100 calories/day, lift stuff and walk. Some days I eat more and do nothing. It all averages out at the end of the week. Tres simple, n'est pas?0 -
I tend not to eat my calories back because I have my MFP goal set to only lose 1lb a week. Because of my weight, MFP tells me to eat 2010 calories. Even with exercise and me being a big girl (and I tend to estimate calories burned conservatively compared to the numbers MFP gives me) I generally find if I eat the calories back its too much now. I feel overstuffed. So I would rather not. I can't let myself go back to the mindset that it is okay to eat until I am stuffed. I'd rather be a little hungry. I find I'm losing about 1.5lbs to 2lbs a week.0
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Because MFP, and exercise machines, way overestimate exercise calories. I don't work out often enough or hard enough to burn so much that it would sabotage my weight loss by not eating the calories back.0
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so the assumption is that if you put in a goal above 1200 in MFP then you are doing TDEE? um... no
i could have a goal of only losing 1lb a week and that would put me at sedentary of 1700 a day before exercise so with the whole eating back calories i would need to eat 1700 calories + any exercise calories.
That's not what anybody said at all...
Seems like he did a pretty good job, MFP had you set up at 1200 calories + exercise calories, your dietician set you up between 1600 - 1900 calories which is eating some of your exercise calories back. You pretty much just made the OP's argument by saying your dietician agrees with what she is saying. It seems most of the people who have a problem with what the OP is saying are actually eating their exercise calories back, but just don't realize it, because it is already manually entered into what they can eat, and the ones who don't do it, that is also fine if it is working with them, but you have to admit that we see tons of threads everyweek where somebody isn't eating them back, and not losing weight.
that's basically what this is saying.
He pointed out that SHE is doing the TDEE method. You assume he meant everybody eating more than 1200 calories is doing TDEE, which is not what he said at all.
My point is how does anyone know that she is doing the TDEE method? She's consuming 1600-1900 calories a day and not eating back exercise. Where does she what her overall needs are if her TDEE is 2200 and she eats 1600 a day that's a deficit of 600 calories a day before any exercise.
it depends on a persons goals what they aim to consume. so just because she was upped to 16-19 doesnt mean it's eating back her exercise calories as assumed on an average it could simply be upping her calories at a moremoderate rate of weightloss.
How does anyone know what a persons daily consumption should be with out them providing the details of their lives? it boils down to people making assumption of others based on limited information.0 -
I've seen many different people lose tons of weight by not eating their exercise calories back. What works for some may not work for others. I personally feel like I'm starving if I don't eat them back, but I rarely eat all of them.
Some that use the TDEE method never eat their exercise calories back because it's already accounted for in their activity level. There are different reasons people don't eat their exercise calories.
I'm willing to bet 90% of those people needing help because they are not losing weight are either 1) eating more than they think they are, or 2) overestimating their calories burned. In either case, it doesn't matter if they eat their exercise calories or not. As long as a deficit is there, they will lose weight.
ETA: Bottom line: Not losing weight and not eating exercise calories are two mutually exclusive traits.
I've been eating my exercise calories back since I started on here and it's worked fairly well. However in the last few months I've hit a bit of a wall and I believe some of it is just brain drain from juggling what I burn for how much more I can eat each day. I'm not saying it doesn't work, I just need a break from it and want to try something new. I'm trying the TDEE method starting today, eating 200-300 less calories than my TDEE which already has my activity built in. I know there's debate on whether you should eat your TDEE or if it's OK to go a bit lower like I'm trying. It still gives me plenty of calories and my net each day should be about the same as it's been or more. If I feel like it's not working I'll up my calories to TDEE and see how that goes.
I would totally agree with the poster above and add that not everyone's brain works the same way. I can see how either approach would make sense to different people. You get to the same place just from a different angle.0 -
I'm not counting any more, but when I was, the vast majority of the time I didn't "eat back".
I had calculated my TDEE/BMR and went for a TDEE-15% with my exercise factored in.
Much of the time I logged my exercise as 1 calorie.
Yes, I know that's not how MFP is set up to be used, but that's how many of us have used it.
For me, personally, "eating back" was not how I wanted to view the math.
Thinking in discrete 24hour segments was not how I wanted to view the process.
I'm sure there are others who approach things as I have.
There's more than one way to skin that cat as they say...0 -
You are making the rather bold assumption that we are all using MFP's guestimate as to what our daily caloric needs are. Which is far from accurate. A lot of us have been here long enough and successful enough to know that it doesn't work for every one. We know that MFP tends to shove way too many people immediately on the 1200 calorie a day diet when I don't think it is appropriate. A lot of us now have moved to a TDEE - X% approach which doesn't need us to eat back our exercise calores because that is already included in our TDEE to begin with. A lot of us calculate our own TDEE based upon our own data (using MFP's food diary to calculate our caloric intake) as opposed to the on-line TDEE calculators to get as accurate a TDEE as possible.
It just seems a tad arrogant to think that there is one and only one way to do things. You use a variety of tools and a variety of resources to take the best of each.0 -
I've seen many different people lose tons of weight by not eating their exercise calories back. What works for some may not work for others. I personally feel like I'm starving if I don't eat them back, but I rarely eat all of them.
Some that use the TDEE method never eat their exercise calories back because it's already accounted for in their activity level. There are different reasons people don't eat their exercise calories.
I'm willing to bet 90% of those people needing help because they are not losing weight are either 1) eating more than they think they are, or 2) overestimating their calories burned. In either case, it doesn't matter if they eat their exercise calories or not. As long as a deficit is there, they will lose weight.
ETA: Bottom line: Not losing weight and not eating exercise calories are two mutually exclusive traits.
I've been eating my exercise calories back since I started on here and it's worked fairly well. However in the last few months I've hit a bit of a wall and I believe some of it is just brain drain from juggling what I burn for how much more I can eat each day. I'm not saying it doesn't work, I just need a break from it and want to try something new. I'm trying the TDEE method starting today, eating 200-300 less calories than my TDEE which already has my activity built in. I know there's debate on whether you should eat your TDEE or if it's OK to go a bit lower like I'm trying. It still gives me plenty of calories and my net each day should be about the same as it's been or more. If I feel like it's not working I'll up my calories to TDEE and see how that goes.
I would totally agree with the poster above and add that not everyone's brain works the same way. I can see how either approach would make sense to different people. You get to the same place just from a different angle.
Actually, in order to lose weight, you must eat less than your TDEE. I think you mean that there's debate on whether or not you should eat at or below your BMR. In that case, yes, there's tons of debate on that.0 -
I know, I know. I should not concern myself with other peoples methods and should just concentrate on my own.
However, I would say 90% of the threads I read that say 'help, I'm not losing weight!' are made by people that are not eating their exercise calories back
Please could someone explain to me why you would join a website designed to help you lose weight, with many, many successful members, and trust this website to give you your daily calorie amounts, your macro targets, and to provide the nutritional information for thousands of different foods, yet when it tells you to eat your exercise calories back, said website is obviously out to sabotage your weight loss?
Please, for the love of God,
I very seldom ate exercises calories back, and I still don't every time, unless I am hungry. My weight loss was slow but steady and I never plateau, and I knew better than ask for help or opinions in the forums. I have been on maintenance for over two years; so I am one of those very successful members that did things her way. I guess that some of us 'snowflakes" do get the love of God after all.
Go ahead, do your own thing and leave the rest of us to do ours and for the love of God don't tell everybody what to do or what they should do unless they ask for. I am sure that the good Lord don't care if we eat or not our exercises calories.0 -
Because my family doctor, dietitian, and personal trainer all told me I SHOULD NOT eat back my calories when I asked them directly.
1. Eating back your calories can create an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise.
2. Why do the work to create a deficit if you're going to eat the deficit back?
3. It's more important to eat intuitively than to always eat back your calories or never eat back your calories. If I am starving after a hard work out, I eat some of my calories back. If I have energy and feel okay, I don't. I am not afraid of fueling my body. I am not afraid to work out hard and not eat those calories back either.
4. It's hard to calculate calories burned accurately. If you're off in your calculations and always eating back your calories, your progress will be much slower or there may be no progress at all. This is especially true the closer you are to your goal.
I have averaged 3 lbs a week for two months. I don't binge. I don't feel weak. I go over my calories and eat back my exercise calories when I am hungry. I feel great. I am reaching my goals. Waiting for my plateau, but even those who do eat back their calories are waiting for/experiencing that. It's a part of weight loss whether you do or don't eat back your calories. When people try to blame normal plateaus on the choice to not eat back calories, I find that pretty irritating.0 -
Although I see your point I do think it's not so simple as eat all the calories. MFP in my experience over estimates exercise calories. That's not so much a problem if you know this and can adjust accordingly but for newbies it can be confusing as you think your doing everything right. If you set your calorie goal at 2 pounds a week then you will probably still be making a deficit but if your eating at a more sensible 0.5-1 pound a week deficit it doesn't take much to end up over eating.
If you are hitting the gym hard on a regular basis then I see the point, eat back some of your exercise cals, If you are fairly sedentary and do some light walking I don't really see it helping, different strategies works for different lifestyles. Also if you are dangerously overweight and losing with the advice of a doctor/nutritionist it may be better for that individual to lose weight at a faster rate (i.e a larger deficit) than someone who only has a stone a lose.0 -
The Bigger the deficit, the bigger the lose0
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I know, I know. I should not concern myself with other peoples methods and should just concentrate on my own.
However, I would say 90% of the threads I read that say 'help, I'm not losing weight!' are made by people that are not eating their exercise calories back
Please could someone explain to me why you would join a website designed to help you lose weight, with many, many successful members, and trust this website to give you your daily calorie amounts, your macro targets, and to provide the nutritional information for thousands of different foods, yet when it tells you to eat your exercise calories back, said website is obviously out to sabotage your weight loss?
Please, for the love of God,
I have not read through the thread, so I am probably echoing others. This is a matter of semantics. I, and many others, set their calories using TDEE which already accounts for exercise burn. This just makes more sense FOR ME. It also makes logging easier since I am not trying to figure out calories burned for each workout.0 -
plus mfp tends to over estimate exercise calories so ive heard
Use a heart rate monitor.0 -
For me, honestly, it was not understanding how things work. I had a very simplistic "Calories In < Calories Out" approach and figured that if my goal was X then eating fewer calories than X would allow me to achieve my goals quicker, so I saw it as an achievement when I exercised my calories down below my target.
However, rather than post that I'm not losing any weight I read the (many) threads by people who had already said the same and have started to try and hit my goal rather than 'beat' my goal each day.
It's tricky because the idea of eating more to lose more is so utterly counterintuitive but I really have reached the point of despair with my weight refusing to shift so I'll give anything a go at this point.0 -
plus mfp tends to over estimate exercise calories so ive heard
Use a heart rate monitor.
They are not that accurate either, specially when you are mostly doing strength training.0
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