Do you eat all of your exercise calories?

katscoots

I've lost almost 20 lbs - I have not been consistent in calorie counting for the last several months - but when I was exercising and logging regularly; I ALWAYS ate back my exercise calories - especially when I was down to a whopping 1200 calorie alottment per day.

Serah87

I do the TDEE method, exercise calories already included into that.

oc1timoco

I eat back what I can. I eat slowly and drink a 12 oz. glass of water before I begin. When I'm full, I stop. Usually about 50-60%

ruthrowlett1

I'd like to hear from those who have lost a significant amount of weight eating back all of their exercise calories. I see all over the threads that they need to be eaten back or fear the starvation mode... but when i am taking the time to look at the diaries (that are open) of the people who say you MUST eat them back, they (from what I see from the open diaries) aren't eating them back or not eating more than half of them back. I'd just like to see for myself some success stories. I know why they should be eaten.. just want to see for myself. Thanks

It's hard to tell just by looking at diaries. Some people use a different method from MFP. The TDEE less a % method incorporates exercise calories up front..... calories are technically eaten back....just not added to MFP.

People using MFP may eat a percentage of calories back because MFP is known to inflate calorie burns for many activities. Also, some people "bank" their calories for the weekend.

I eat my calories back (nearly 100%) because
1. I use a heart rate monitor & have more confidence in the numbers
2. Losing weight at a slower rate is acceptable to me because I am over 50 an want to preserve as much muscle mass as possible
3. My activity level is set to sedentary & I only log "actual" workouts.

Starvation mode is way overblown.....do anorexics have screwed up metabolisms?....yes. But you have to work pretty hard. Eating back calories is more about.....do you want to lower you body fat % ....or just lose weight?

Also consider those with a great deal of weight to lose have some (initial) protection against muscle loss.

Great response! I also use a HRM because our machines are about 40% off. I sometimes eat my calores but I get 1200 per day and try to defiantely eat the 1200!

btsinmd

I generally eat about half of my exercise calories, but it's hard to see that from my diary, because I don't always eat them on the same day, but many times the next day, and because I have myfitnesspal set to a larger number of calories than my sedentary life really calls for. I determined what I need to eat per week to lose a lb a week and am doing that, but day to day, it's not quite as clear.

This has been working quite well for me for months, but again most of the calculation is in my head, not in the app.

4daluvof_candice

Doing TDEE is easier for me that way I dont over estimate burns. all I have to do is stay committed to my fitness program and eat my 2091/day!

cwolfman13

I lost around 40 Lbs using this tool as designed. What people fail to realize is that MFP is simply a different method of calorie counting and dieting than they are used to. Most people are accustomed to trying to create a weight loss deficit with their exercsie or using some combinatio nof exercise and diet. With MFP, your weight loss deficit and calorie goal is based soley on your day to day hum drum...exercise is unaccounted for activity in the formula...it is extra and thus you are given credit for it after the fact when you log it. Other calculators will include some estimate of your exercise in your activity level (which is what most people are used to) and thus that activity is already accounted for up front in the formula...thus eating back exercise calories would be unproductive...you would be double counting those calories.

You just have to understand the tool and the equation you're using. Also, you need to check your "burn" against other sources...if you're just taking some number from a database, it's likely off...this is usually due to the fact that people generally tend to overestimate their actual level of effort. For just about any exercise, there are formulas out there...also you can compare those to a HRM or machine...but ultimately you have to understand that it's all an estimate. Eventually you kind of figure out roughly how much you're burning doing a specific exercise though. I usually took about 80% of what my HRM told me and compared that number to a formula driven output...worked fine for me.

walkinthedogs

I figured out (at least I think) how many cals I should be eating a week with the usual amount of exercise that I normally do (estimating lower rather than higher on cal burn) and use that as my target. If I workout more or less that week, I don't adjust it because I am fairly predictable and get the same amount in, just in different ways. I try not to eat over that and my exercise calories are already added back in to that figure. I like working on a weekly basis, rather than daily, if that makes any sense. I just couldn't stand the "you can eat an additional 600 cals or whatever it was that day" mentality. I strive for 1600 cals period. So far I have lost a little over 10 lbs (yes slowly), and about 5 inches from neck to thigh. It gives me enough to eat generally and I'm not starving and it helps with the mental part of my lifestyle change. I need structure, some sort of semblance and repetition for the mental aspect of changing my eating habits. I'm actually up to 14 lbs, but I like to be at that particular weight loss for a good week before I post since it fluctuates constantly.

majope

I eat most of mine back, although I tend to leave a 100-200 calorie buffer at the end of the day to account for measurement discrepancies. I'm a runner and quickly found that if I don't fuel myself enough, I feel like crap when I try to run. I also have a heart rate monitor that's accurate to within about 10%, so I'm fairly confident that I know what I'm burning.

I lost 30 pounds doing this a few years ago, then came back to tracking last January and lost about 14 more. Just came back now to lose some pesky summer pounds (less running in the heat + too many burgers and beer = time to track again!), so if you want to check out my diary go back to last winter or spring.

emaren

I guess that we are all different.

I train hard six days a week at bootcamp. When I say 'hard', I mean that I can barely speak during the class, I need to drink a lot of water at the end and my muscles are almost permanently sore.

Given that other than that I make a sloth look energetic, my daily allowance maintenance of 2430 is probably high.

So I track what I actually burn each morning (650-700 in 45 minutes) and I track what I eat and drink.

Each I eat about 1400 - 1700. Which gives me a supposed net of 800 to 1000.

I lose about a pound or so each week.

If the calculations are correct and if my food measurements are correct, that means that my maintenance is actually 1300-1500.

Which seems kinda low, considering I am 6-2 and 220.

But this works for me.

I do not eat everything back by a long way, but I do not stress going over my allowance when I am super hungry..

sydneyplainjane

For me, it depends on the kind of exercise. If I go for a walk for 30-60 minutes, I usually don't eat them back, or, if I do, maybe just half. If it's a more strenuous workout, then I'll eat back most of them...mainly because, after the strenuous workout, I feel as though I need them!

ShesFabulous

Thank you everyone!

mynewlife10

I don't eat any of it back. I stay with my daily calorie intake goal. My "ticker" shows 0 weight loss but I have lost. I guess it doesn't work. Can't remember how to get rid of it.

mynewlife10

Given that other than that I make a sloth look energetic

HAHAHAHAHA!

redladywitch

Sometimes I eat a portion of the calories back.

addean1

Im Down 59 lbs, and I generally eat most of my exercise calories back. There are days when I do a Jillian DVD, And go for a run, or do elliptical in the morning with dh, and go for a run in the afternoon with my son,. And I likely won't eat all of those simply because I'm not that hungry, but I do try to keep my NET calories between 1300-1500 calories.

gomisskellygo

I usually do not eat back my exercise calories. However, I do have a mental "bank" if I go over a day or two I am fine with it.

NewMnky1

I don't typically eat mine back. I found when I did that I didn't have as much success with the weight loss, but again, every person is different, some need to eat it back others don't. Even now that I am in the maintenance phase I still don't eat them back or if I do it is very rare.

I purchased a Garmin running watch with heart rate monitor strap and it is the best thing (beside a food scale) that I bought to help with my weight loss goals. It is expensive, but I use it every day I exercise, including when I do my strength training.