Should I still eat my exercise calories?

brendalast

I don't think you should otherwise it counters itself out. I have been dieting now for a year and if I ate the cals that I burnt I really feel that I wouldn't have lost as much as I have.

WantToBeHealthy36

bumping for later

CyberEd312

I eat mine back and have lost a few pounds.... Best of Luck

TeaBea

Yes, if the calories were burned, eat them

This !^

MFP is designed for you to eat the calories back. BUT, MFP "guesstimations" tend to be generous. So eating back a % of the calories back is a good idea.

Not eating calories back (on a regular basis) ....does not help protect existing muscle mass.

TeaBea

I did, and kept gaining. Now, I never do, and have lost 16 pounds. Yayyyy!

Then you were eating more than you thought you were, or your BMR was much lower than MFP calculated it to be, or you were burning less than you thought you were.

Yep this ................MFP is based upon estimations. You sometimes have to tweak things (or there is some user error).

Then there's the "Biggest Loser" affect. Not everyone can expect to lose 2 pounds a week. Morbidly obese can lose quickly.....but closer to goal......you should be looking at a moderate weight loss goal. There is FAT loss & weight loss. Fast weight loss is fat+muscle (unless you are obese). Moderate paced weight loss can be "just" fat loss. Exercise helps you keep existing muscle mass BUT you have to fuel your workouts.

errorist

Where do you get her coming across superior? I think you are taking something way to personal that you shouldnt...

People who eat back their calories are:
"shovelling the calories [...] back in"
"stalling their weight loss"

That poster boasts of her combination of a very low calorie diet (600 calories) with incredible calorie burns (1500 calories). "Tiredness and lethargy is 90% mental" she tells us.

I'd say there's a tone there. Perhaps I'm being over sensitive. But there is a tone there.

cwolfman13

it's personal preference.

if you want to lose weight, then i don't see the point of shovelling the calories you've worked off back into the body. you get to see it as a reward and it will probably slow or stall your weight loss. weight loss is simply calories in < calories out. the bigger the delta, the faster you'll lose (or gain) weight.

i usually burn about 800-1500 cals of 'proper' exercise each day (weights/cycling/swimming/running/circuits etc), with the occasional rest day thrown in. on fast days (tues,weds & thurs), i'd stick to the 600 cal limit so am massively negative on those days. it didn't affect the intensity at which i could work out as tiredness and lethargy is 90% mental where you *think* you should be low on energy. i'll qualify this by saying that when i was on the weight loss phase about 13 months ago, i'd weigh just before the gym session on the 3rd day of 600 cal fasting, see that i'd lost another 1-2kg and could nail anything i wanted in the hard workout that followed.

as usual, ymmv. :-)

You're clueless as to how this tool works aren't you?

Mr_Knight

Should I still eat my exercise calories if I don't FEEL like I worked out?
I did a bit of cardio this morning and then walked a few mile tonight, and I feel like the number I calories it wants me to eat back are pretty high.

Walking burns very few calories. "A bit of" cardio now and then also doesn't sound like much. It is a very common occurrence on MFP for people with relatively light exercise routines to stall (or even reverse) their weight loss by attempting to eat back over-estimated exercise calories.

Your body will tell you if you need more fuel.

Shayberz

I sometimes do and don't it all depending if I'm not hungry I won't force myself but I try to use them esp if it comes to a treat why not.

BlueBombers

I eat most of mine back and haven't had a problem.

erickirb

it's personal preference.

if you want to lose weight, then i don't see the point of shovelling the calories you've worked off back into the body. you get to see it as a reward and it will probably slow or stall your weight loss. weight loss is simply calories in < calories out. the bigger the delta, the faster you'll lose (or gain) weight.

i usually burn about 800-1500 cals of 'proper' exercise each day (weights/cycling/swimming/running/circuits etc), with the occasional rest day thrown in. on fast days (tues,weds & thurs), i'd stick to the 600 cal limit so am massively negative on those days. it didn't affect the intensity at which i could work out as tiredness and lethargy is 90% mental where you *think* you should be low on energy. i'll qualify this by saying that when i was on the weight loss phase about 13 months ago, i'd weigh just before the gym session on the 3rd day of 600 cal fasting, see that i'd lost another 1-2kg and could nail anything i wanted in the hard workout that followed.

as usual, ymmv. :-)

You're clueless as to how this tool works aren't you?

They probably know, spankythewond is just trolling (5 posts only, and no profile pic to boot)

errorist

LOL nvm I thought you were talking about OP. ya I did find the comment that said that,, I don't think I read that comment cause it was on the longer side so I just skipped over it. lol I agree kind of a tone there :flowerforyou:

Aww! I should probably learn to quote more effectively

KANGOOJUMPS

do what you want to,

nm212

Should I still eat my exercise calories if I don't FEEL like I worked out?
I did a bit of cardio this morning and then walked a few mile tonight, and I feel like the number I calories it wants me to eat back are pretty high. I walk a fair amount every day(my job is just walking in circles really) so it didn't feel like a lot of exercise to do it tonight. Should I still eat back all of my calories?

I think you should only eat back calories you burn that go beyond your normal daily routine. It sounds like walking is a usual thing for you, so unless you add in some heavy exercise in addition to that, I wouldn't eat all of it back. (Maybe half if you are really hungry or stick to healthy calories -hummus or vegetables or fruit or nuts...etc) Otherwise, I wouldn't in your case but listen to your body. It will tell you what you need.

bajoyba

Read this
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

This.

+1

morethanthis0

If trying to lose weight, I wouldn't eat them back. Unless you are hungry and feel hungry, then eat! If you feel fine & not hungry then there is no need to eat the calories burnt

erickirb

If trying to lose weight, I wouldn't eat them back. Unless you are hungry and feel hungry, then eat! If you feel fine & not hungry then there is no need to eat the calories burnt

That is not how MFP works. Hunger is not the best indication of the body's nutritional requirements.

I could easily drink 4000 cals/day and still be hungry or eat 800 cals of carrots and be full, but it is the full option I am not getting enough nutrition

leslielrd12

I've just started again, but i try to leave a bit of a buffer for myself. May be a 100-150 calories or so for incorrect food measurements or incorrect calories burned. Just tracking my food intake at all helps me lose but i typically work out hard, so I feel like i need it.

ksmithnh

I'm still pretty new to all of it, but I really think its different for each person. For me, if I am eating all of my calories and I burn <200, I don't use them unless I'm really hungry for some reason. If I have a much bigger burn like 300-500, then I'll use some of them so that my net calories don't go too low. I think you have to see how you feel. But be careful of not eating enough - it will definitely slow you down.

RobynUnfiltered

If you are hungry eat some back but make good choices, if not then stick with your target and don't eat them back. I find if I eat them back all the time I don't lose much but that may just be me.

Dnarules

My answer would be no for the simple fact you'd be eating what you've burnt off. I use to and ended up putting weight on. Try to stick to what your calorie goal is. That's my suggestion...

If you use the MFP method, you are already at a deficit. You are supposed to eat back exercise calories.

OP. if you feel the number is too high, eat half of them.

anname9203

I eat mine back most of the time and I still lose weight. My daily caloric intake calculated by MFP is LOW so I am pretty hungry if I don't eat the exercise calories back. Before using MFP I was on Weight Watchers for several months and things are accounted for differently there. I felt comfortable right away eating my exercise calories on MFP because I know that what I'm allocated for as far as calories here is much lower than what I had with Weight Watchers so I was pretty sure I wouldn't gain if I ate them.

sarafischbach9

Depends. This is truly an individual thing.

I personally do not eat them back, or I eat only some of them back ( like maybe half or less ). A lot of people say that the calories estimated is too much and you may not lose weight as quickly as you'd like.

It also depends on how you have your goals set. If you have your goals set as sedentary and then you ADD your exercises in, then you are supposed to eat those back or some of it, at least. If you set your activity level to moderately active thinking about all you do in your day, from working to cleaning to school work to working out, then you do NOT add exercises in and do not eat all those calories back.

Now i personally do not eat all my calories back for these reasons:

1. I think my calories burned are overestimated, but not by too much. I think they are in the ballpark but I think i am burning more around 200 ish rather than 300 for my workouts. But still...

2. Depends on how intense I think my exercises are. I know one day I ate half of my calories back because I had an intense exercise ( burned over 300 that time ) and then got really hungry.

If you find you are going to bed hungry, then you probably are not eating enough. You might want to add a 100 or 200 calorie snack somewhere in your routine.

spankythewondermonkey

nope, wasn't trolling. i did say "it's personal preference" and "i personally", and i'm male btw.
just because my viewpoint is different to others doesn't make any of us right or wrong. just different.

in years gone by, i'd exercise then eat back what i thought i'd burned off. this resulted in no weight loss simply because my estimates were wrong.

my choice to not eat back the calories used whilst exercising, on fast days, was an experiment to see what the effects would be on me. i didn't find any negatives other than some muscle mass loss, so kept with it. as said, your opinion may differ.

spankythewondermonkey

You're clueless as to how this tool works aren't you?

i guess so. i only used the mfp app to count calories on 600 cal fast days.

spankythewondermonkey

apologies all.

i've just re-read the original post and had mistakenly assumed that the initial question was in relation to weight loss and not just general exercise. my reply was orientated around losing weight, which was my reason for using MFP.

Azurite27

If you're using the MFP estimates, I do not suggest eating back all the exercise calories because they tend to be a bit high. Try starting by eating back 50-75% of those calories and adjust every few weeks until you find the percentage that works for you. If you have a more accurate count from a HRM or activity tracker, try eating 70-100% and adjust after a couple weeks. Any burn is just an estimate so just be consistent so you can gauge what your body needs and can adjust.

janninegrainger

I'm new to this, however I eat some back if I'm hungry, if not i don't! I don't see the point in eating if I don't want it! X

Unknown

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