To eat or not eat the calories you burn?

benefiting

So last time I weighed myself my scales recommended I eat a minimum of 1350 calories or so, so I upped it to that from my 1200 calories. After doing a sample meal plan I managed to get to 1,273 calories and that was without exercise. 4 out of 7 days I'll be burning around 400+ calories which means on those days my net will be around 873 calories which isn't healthy but I have no idea what I could eat to eat back those calories. Is it healthy to not eat them back? What should I do? I don't want to get calorie obsessed but I don't want to under-eat either.

KarenJanine

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

Read this post.

KarenJanine

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

benefiting

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

chrisdavey

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Eat more sweet potato if it makes you feel like a better person then.

brevislux

one avocado = 300 cals. no problem.

erickirb

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Why do you consider a smoothie or peanut butter junk?

benefiting

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Why do you consider a smoothie or peanut butter junk?

I failed to mention I have already included a smoothie in my meal plan and I can't eat peanut butter so the only options left were junk food. :P

benefiting

one avocado = 300 cals. no problem.

Unfortunately, and I mean unfortunately I can't afford avocados right now. They are ridiculous priced in Australia!

smc864

How do you feel after working out? How have you been feeling after eating 1200 calories? Listen to your body.

I eat roughly 1300 calories/day and do not eat back exercise calories. I lift weights 5 times/week and do cardio 3 times/week. I feel great and have been losing weight consistently while maintaining my lean body mass. People freak out on MFP the second someone mentions not eating back their exercise calories, but in reality the MFP plan is the only place I've heard of doing such a thing.

For a while I used to eat back my exercise calories but decided to stop when my weight loss slowed down. Do what you think is best for you.

When you are eating super clean 400 calories is a huge meal... I understand why you think it's hard to get that many more calories but some good ideas are almond butter, avocado, and cooking with coconut oil.

Good luck to you!

ETA: invest in some good whey protein... like Optimum Nutrition. One scoop is 130 calories and 24g of protein!

erickirb

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Why do you consider a smoothie or peanut butter junk?

I failed to mention I have already included a smoothie in my meal plan and I can't eat peanut butter so the only options left were junk food. :P

Okay, then add bacon to everything, add olive oil to soups, sauces, salads, eat and drink higher Milk fat % milk products, drink a glass of juice, bacon, etc

benefiting

How do you feel after working out? How have you been feeling after eating 1200 calories? Listen to your body.

I eat roughly 1300 calories/day and do not eat back exercise calories. I lift weights 5 times/week and do cardio 3 times/week. I feel great and have been losing weight consistently while maintaining my lean body mass. People freak out on MFP the second someone mentions not eating back their exercise calories, but in reality the MFP plan is the only place I've heard of doing such a thing.

For a while I used to eat back my exercise calories but decided to stop when my weight loss slowed down. Do what you think is best for you.

When you are eating super clean 400 calories is a huge meal... I understand why you think it's hard to get that many more calories but some good ideas are almond butter, avocado, and cooking with coconut oil.

Good luck to you!

Thank you so much!

benefiting

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Why do you consider a smoothie or peanut butter junk?

I failed to mention I have already included a smoothie in my meal plan and I can't eat peanut butter so the only options left were junk food. :P

Okay, then add bacon to everything, add olive oil to soups, sauces, salads, eat and drink higher Milk fat % milk products, drink a glass of juice, bacon, etc

You really like your bacon, aye? :P

erickirb

I eat roughly 1300 calories/day and do not eat back exercise calories. I lift weights 5 times/week and do cardio 3 times/week. I feel great and have been losing weight consistently while maintaining my lean body mass. People freak out on MFP the second someone mentions not eating back their exercise calories, but in reality the MFP plan is the only place I've heard of doing such a thing.

For a while I used to eat back my exercise calories but decided to stop when my weight loss slowed down. Do what you think is best for you.

How do you know you maintained LBM? You may just have lost both but uncovered what was left of your lean muscle.

Weight loss should be slow, and all the other calculators that don't tell you to eat the exercise cals back give you a higher caloric intake that averages your weekly exercise per day:
say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

KarenJanine

And it really isn't hard to eat another 400 cals - a milky coffee, a smoothie, a piece of cake, peanut butter, ice cream, chips, yadda yadda. Eat what you like to meet your calorie goal.

I refuse to eat junk to reach my calorie goal.

Why do you consider a smoothie or peanut butter junk?

I failed to mention I have already included a smoothie in my meal plan and I can't eat peanut butter so the only options left were junk food. :P

My point was you can eat anything *you* like. Obviously you don't specifically have to choose something from the list, they were simply examples of things that I might choose if I had 400 cals left to eat (depending on what macros I was aiming for).

smc864

I eat roughly 1300 calories/day and do not eat back exercise calories. I lift weights 5 times/week and do cardio 3 times/week. I feel great and have been losing weight consistently while maintaining my lean body mass. People freak out on MFP the second someone mentions not eating back their exercise calories, but in reality the MFP plan is the only place I've heard of doing such a thing.

For a while I used to eat back my exercise calories but decided to stop when my weight loss slowed down. Do what you think is best for you.

How do you know you maintained LBM? You may just have lost both but uncovered what was left of your lean muscle.

Weight loss should be slow, and all the other calculators that don't tell you to eat the exercise cals back give you a higher caloric intake that averages your weekly exercise per day:
say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

I know that I have maintained my lean body mass because I have gotten my body fat % done 4 times over last 8 months and every time it is done I have 113-114 pounds of lean body mass. I would find it to be a huge coincidence that every time it's done I have the same amount of lean body mass within a pound or so.

brevislux

one avocado = 300 cals. no problem.

Unfortunately, and I mean unfortunately I can't afford avocados right now. They are ridiculous priced in Australia!

Well there are other calorie-dense healthy foods. Nuts and seeds, tahini. Just add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your salad and you're covered.