Those who eat back exercise calories?

samiyan05

Hello
I'm just kind of confused and I know this is a touchy subject on here. I would like to actually see results from people who eat back the calories burned from exercise. The reason being because I feel like I am sabotaging myself on the days that I do it but then if I don't I feel like I'm eating too little and that may be why I'm not losing weight... Idk... I've lost 50lbs and I wish I kept a diary back when I lost most of it so I would know exactly how because now that the scale isn't moving it's driving me crazy not knowing what I did so differently back then...


Anyone who eats back your calories and lost weight please tell me how much you eat and how much you lost.

I'm 6 ft tall
Sw 250
Cw 202 (the last 2lbs before 200 keep fluctuating!! Grr)
Gw 175
And the scale just won't move! !

Any help here!?!

samiyan05

....

besaro

every last one, its the only reason I exercise.

mclgo

Hi there!
I have lost 25 lbs in about 21 weeks. I usually eat back most of my exercise calories. And some days I go OVER my limit, but I'm still losing.
For me the key seems to be exercise - period. If I don't walk, I don't lose much. If I do, I lose more. No matter how much or how little I eat.

Hope this helps!

Nomitron

I was actually just wondering this exact same thing, I look forward to seeing some replies.

fitnessMommy68

I don't necessarily eat back the calories all the time but I do add work out minutes to offset out to eat eating. I talked to a professional physical fitness person and he said that fast food and resteraunts nutritional information are not accurate. I can see that becasue I watch those subway people add mayo to their sandwiches like it's the only thing they are putting on it. I would watch your measurements too when eating back calories. I will take the opportunity to make a meal I really like on exercise days but make sure I measure. When I don't, I don't lose.

MommaRobs

I have been under my allowed calories for weeks, with and without exercise, and I am barely losing anything. It is so frustrating. So is the key to losing eating back all of the calories from exercise and not staying under? I'd love to know.

JazzKat71

I've only been on MFP for just under two weeks (so I'm still a newbie), but I notice this is indeed a VERY touchy subject here. From what I could gather (from those that responded), the people who ate their calories back (who mostly thought people who didn't were foolish), were usually people who were maintaining their weight or at a point where they were looking to lose between 5 and 10 pounds. Whereas the people who refused to eat their exercise calories, seemed to be people who still had a lot more pounds to go.

I don't eat them back. For someone like me, who already has a lot of calories to eat, eating my exercise calories back would only result in me eating high calorie junk...because lets face it, I know myself well enough to know I'm not going to use those calories to eat more of the good stuff.

I'm always interested to see this debate though lol

simplycorey

It really depends on how hungry I am that day. Sometimes I won't eat any, sometimes maybe half and sometimes almost all of them.

samiyan05

every last one, its the only reason I exercise.

I noticed you've lost a lot of weight (congrats btw, that's awesome!)

Have you always eaten them all back or just since the weight has been off?

Gnasher1960

I have always eaten back my calories. I set my profile to sedentary so I had to eat back any exercise calories otherwise I'd be way under my goal. If I didn't I'd always be hungry. As long as you keep to a deficit then you should be losing weight. I started losing about 2lbs per week and gradually decreased to 1/2lb a week as I lost the weight. I've gone from 230lbs to 160lbs.

My diary is open if it helps.

I recently stopped exercising due to injuries, so I upped my calorie intake so as not to lose weight while not lifting. I haven't been particularly good either but I'm still losing!

grimendale

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
The above should help explain the exercise calorie idea. For the record, I've eaten my exercise calories throughout the 100 lbs loss.

Tiff050709

It really depends on how hungry I am that day. Sometimes I won't eat any, sometimes maybe half and sometimes almost all of them.

This

aelphabawest

I eat back all of my calories. I'm not dieting - I'm changing my lifestyle. And that lifestyle now includes a permanent level of movement and fitness. Which, in order to do well, requires eating. I regularly run 4-6 miles, hike 10+ miles, etc. - if I don't eat most of that back, I won't have any energy at all to do that sort of exercise.

sydneyplainjane

Hi there!
I have lost 25 lbs in about 21 weeks. I usually eat back most of my exercise calories. And some days I go OVER my limit, but I'm still losing.
For me the key seems to be exercise - period. If I don't walk, I don't lose much. If I do, I lose more. No matter how much or how little I eat.

Hope this helps!

Yeah, this is the same for me. For some reason, "how" I create my deficit matters. If I have a food deficit, I don't seem to lose much. But, if my deficit is through exercise, I have more success.

In response to the OP, though, whether or not I eat back my exercise calories depends on how I'm doing for the week. For instance, yesterday, I had what I'd call a bad food day, and went way over my calorie limit. So, today and tomorrow, I probably will NOT eat back my exercise calories. On a normal day, I usually eat back some exercise calories, but not all.

Healthy_Hunnie

I am looking to lose 30 lbs total. SO far I have lost 13. Each day is different for me but I have my daily caloric intake goal set at 1400 net. Meaning the goal is taking excercise into consideration. So some days I can eat up to 2200 cals because I burned 700-800 cals in an exercise session. Lately I have been under my calorie goal for the day, but I know the first month, I was typically right at the goal or over and I still lost 10lbs in the first month.

I believe that working out and monitoring what you are eating is the real key. You need to get the right nutritents and proportions of protein, carbs and fats.

FOr my weight, I will take 60% of my total lbs and turn that number into grams of protein. I aim to eat that much protein a day. I get protein from milk, egg whites, meat (steak, fish, chicken), and protein bars/shakes. I am also a firm believer in Shakeology. It definitely helps with maintaining your nutrient levels.

LarryDUk

I would, but it kinda gets complex the more I work out. For a long period I was burning 2000 exercise calories a day. I did not eat that much back! I tend to keep my intake between 1800-2200 a day and that works for me, no matter what I do for exercise.

conniemaxwell5

I eat mine back and I've lost 58 pounds.My net calories are set at around 1600 calories. If I burn 300 with exercise, I eat 1900. I'm set to lose 1/2 pound a week.

It's about having an overall deficit. Your body is burning calories all day, not just when you exercise. On average I burn 2200 calories a day, so eating 1900 gives me a daily deficit of 300. A pound of fat is 3500 calories, so it takes me about 12 days to lose a pound.

lgowell10

Im not here to tell you or anyone what to do, so ill just share what I do.

I set my activity level to sedentary so that mfp gives me a basal calorie number. then I edit my goals myself to have a 500 calorie deficit a day. Now that puts me at less than 1200 kcals which is bad for you, but i workout and move every day. When I plan out my meals for the day i plan on burning ~450kcals at the gym any more that i burn is for snacks. my goal each day is to get the number in the top right as close to 0 as possible. some days im over, and others im way under, but i judge what i eat off from how i feel so if im extremely full, im not going to force myself to eat more. likewise if im hungry, i eat more. I look at the weekly numbers to see how many calories i am over or under my goal. thats where i judge how well im doing.
My goal on mfp is for 1,080kcal, but i usually eat around 1500, i just like seeing the 0 at the end of the day.

aubeatle

It all depends on how you set up your profile. If you set your activity level to "sedentary", then YES you should eat back your calories. If you set it to "active" or "lightly active", then you should not. Since MFP has you at a calorie deficit whether you exercise or not, it all depends on your activity level.

This post is also very helpful: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

Miss_Mabee

Touchy subject indeed! I EAT BACK.... kind of.

My reasoning is that my body requires a certain amount of calories to keep my organs running and healthy. Therefore I never go under 1200 or I am probably killing brain cells
I don't always eat back ALL of my calories but enough to keep a reasonable amount of calories in my system to stay healthy, active and awake!
And I also think it's a lifestyle change. I want to get into the lifelong habit of understanding that days I eat more, I can work out to compensate. That means that I won't go without my favorite foods forever, thats just terrible. I just have to work for the things in life I want
I've been on here for a year now and I think I would have gone crazy or given up if there were no "rewards" and I was stuck at the same calorie count this whole time.
I've lost all my weight while eating back at least some of my calories. Sometimes I workout to "earn" myself something super awesome for dessert. That's how I look at it anyways
I hope you find what works for you!