Who Eats Theyre Exercise Calories?

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  • jos05
    jos05 Posts: 263 Member
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    If you're only taking in 1200 calories a day...this is already a deficit. Then if you work out and you've "earned" 250, 500, 1000+ calories by working out... that's an even bigger deficit.

    ****your body will need those work out calories if you want to build muscle.


    You don't have to eat all your workout calories back; but you do need to fuel your body in order to burn fat... not lean muscle.

    I think people just get to thinking... gotta lose, gotta lose... and that's fine... but you need to be healthy too!

    I always eat mine... if I didn't eat them... I would probably starve or just be weak all the time... ugh! Oh well... that's my 2 cents
  • silverinc13
    silverinc13 Posts: 216 Member
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    *their
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Yeah, it cracks me up that when the question is "Do I eat back?" The overwhelming response is, "Yes! That is how the MFP plan is designed!"

    But when it's "MFP gave me 1200 calories?" It's "MFP is WRONG! 1200 is too low! You can't eat below your BMR!" :laugh:

    That ususally comes from individuals entering goals that are far to aggressive for their height weight and it bottoms out at 1200.
    Then why doesn't MFP make peoples' BMR their floor, not 1200? It's because 1200 is widely accepted as an appropriate floor for all and up to 2 lbs/week as an appropriate goal loss.
  • kimjoan
    kimjoan Posts: 192 Member
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    Nope Im not new joined January 2012 Im sorry I thought I could ask this question
    Sadly it seems on here there are people who like to correct what you do I think I wont bother asking anything so that way I dont get moaned at

    :noway:

    Thus the reason I don't often post on these boards - I do read them though. This is suppose to be a place of encouragement and my thoughts are that if you don't have something nice AND productive just don't post.

    With regards to your original question... I asked my physician - who is a nationally recognized expert in bariatric medicine - this exact question. His response was that unless one is a high level athlete who works out for hours a day, every day and your goal is weight loss you SHOULD NOT be eating back your exercise calories. The average person who is trying to loose weight functions just fine on 1,200 to 1,800 calories a day.
  • aljharvey
    aljharvey Posts: 73 Member
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    I haven't been eating my exercise calories. Seeing that people are having results from this I think I will look into this.
  • xilka
    xilka Posts: 308 Member
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    I always eat them back, and I reached my goal weight in a slow and steady, healthy year.
  • sackings79
    sackings79 Posts: 11
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    ^^^ wishing I could "like" this post lol

    I listen to my body on whether to eat some back or not. If I burn more than 700 calories working out my body will need more fuel either that day or the next. Currently I am down 45 lbs, however I have not always been accurate on counting my calories. If you need to eat more your body will let you know.

    What is your routine where u burn 700 calories?
  • sackings79
    sackings79 Posts: 11
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    I always eat them back, and I reached my goal weight in a slow and steady, healthy year.

    Congratulations on setting a.goal and following through with it. I'm sure it is very rewarding.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
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    You aren't "doing it wrong" if you aren't hungry, you have plenty of energy to be active, your hair isn't falling out, your skin isn't flaking off, and you are losing a reasonable amount of weight per week. (Anywhere from .25 to 2 pounds per week.) MFP is a TOOL on the Internet. Use it, but use your own body as a gauge. Nobody but you lives in your body.
  • DriRose
    DriRose Posts: 28 Member
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    I haven't been consistent with a healthy diet and exercise lately but over the summer I lost 20lbs at a 1200 calorie diet (goal set to 2lbs lose a week) and I worked out every other day. I usually did not eat my exercise calories back but if I worked out at night AFTER I reached 1200 calories, I would usually be hungry and have a snack or small meal. On weekends I ate about 1500 calories.

    If you're feeling super weak and shaky after a workout definitely eat some of them back because feeling faint is not fun

    Everyone can tell you what is right or wrong for THEM, but in the end its your choice and what works best for you :)

    (P.s. my maintaining calorie level is around 1600 because I'm petite - well, now - and as an online college student the only activity I do is exercise so a 1200 calorie limit was not hard for me)

    Good luck with everything!
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
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    I have been eating them back. I lost the weight I wanted to here, now am I maintaining. I lost most of my weight subtracting from TDEE, which includes exercise (so basically I was still eating exercise calories). MFP has been dead on for me with eating them back.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Yeah, it cracks me up that when the question is "Do I eat back?" The overwhelming response is, "Yes! That is how the MFP plan is designed!"

    But when it's "MFP gave me 1200 calories?" It's "MFP is WRONG! 1200 is too low! You can't eat below your BMR!" :laugh:

    That ususally comes from individuals entering goals that are far to aggressive for their height weight and it bottoms out at 1200.
    Then why doesn't MFP make peoples' BMR their floor, not 1200? It's because 1200 is widely accepted as an appropriate floor for all and up to 2 lbs/week as an appropriate goal loss.

    Don't know, it probably should.

    All it does is take your stats and figures out what it would take to reach your goal. If you're 115lbs and you enter in 2lbs a week MFP does the math and won't go below 1200.

    I know....you think it's safe for a person of healthy weight to still be able to lose 2lbs per week....you've made it known.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    Don't know, it probably should.

    All it does is take your stats and figures out what it would take to reach your goal. If you're 115lbs and you enter in 2lbs a week MFP just bottoms at 1200 when, for a person that size it would probably need to be something like 7-800 cals.

    I expect they do that because they set your deficit based on how many pounds you want to lose per week and people don't realize you shouldn't aim for a 2lb/week loss when you only are 10 or 20 lbs overweight. A percentage deficit system is generally better but it's also less intuitive. Putting a floor at the general recommended minimum is probably the best compromise.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Nope Im not new joined January 2012 Im sorry I thought I could ask this question
    Sadly it seems on here there are people who like to correct what you do I think I wont bother asking anything so that way I dont get moaned at

    :noway:

    Thus the reason I don't often post on these boards - I do read them though. This is suppose to be a place of encouragement and my thoughts are that if you don't have something nice AND productive just don't post.

    With regards to your original question... I asked my physician - who is a nationally recognized expert in bariatric medicine - this exact question. His response was that unless one is a high level athlete who works out for hours a day, every day and your goal is weight loss you SHOULD NOT be eating back your exercise calories. The average person who is trying to loose weight functions just fine on 1,200 to 1,800 calories a day.

    Lulz, I'd tip over at 1800 calories a day. So a person who eats 1300 calories a day, and works off say...400 should be netting 900 calories?

    Yes, if you're doing TDEE -% you're not supposed to because the exercise is built into your daily goal.

    If you're doing NEAT (MFP) you're supposed to because the exercise isn't built into your daily goal.....with this strategy it can be tricky as calories burned isn't an exact science and, for some, it can take some adjustments to make sure what % of exercise calories the individual can eat back as they can be over exaggerated.
  • TheMrsCole
    TheMrsCole Posts: 114 Member
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    ^^^ wishing I could "like" this post lol

    I listen to my body on whether to eat some back or not. If I burn more than 700 calories working out my body will need more fuel either that day or the next. Currently I am down 45 lbs, however I have not always been accurate on counting my calories. If you need to eat more your body will let you know.

    What is your routine where u burn 700 calories?


    Kickboxing is my biggest calorie burner.
  • marianne_s
    marianne_s Posts: 986 Member
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    No. I work too hard to burn those calories so there is no way I'm eating them back.

    That's kind of how MFP is designed though......It already has your deficit built in.

    Sure, I get that, but I'm still not doing it. One of the reasons I was overweight was because I ate when I didn't need to. Just because I have calories "available" doesn't mean I need to use them.
    then you're just doing it wrong. by design.

    I've lost 30 lbs and have reached my goal weight, never plateaued and am maintaining, but if you want to say I did it "wrong", then okay.
    Listen to the other replies too. I ate mine back, retained lean body mass, lost fat. You can keep your head in the sand as long as you won't, it isn't going to hurt my feelings. You're still doing it wrong. Losing weight via muscle AND fat, and losing fat are two separate things. Closely related, yes, but different.


    Exactly....!!!

    A good percentage of those 30 pounds was probably lean muscle....
  • marianne_s
    marianne_s Posts: 986 Member
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    Yeah, it cracks me up that when the question is "Do I eat back?" The overwhelming response is, "Yes! That is how the MFP plan is designed!"

    But when it's "MFP gave me 1200 calories?" It's "MFP is WRONG! 1200 is too low! You can't eat below your BMR!" :laugh:

    That ususally comes from individuals entering goals that are far to aggressive for their height weight and it bottoms out at 1200.

    Yes, probably set themselves to lose 2 pounds a week... which a lot of MFP newbies tend to do
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Then why doesn't MFP make peoples' BMR their floor, not 1200? It's because 1200 is widely accepted as an appropriate floor for all and up to 2 lbs/week as an appropriate goal loss.

    Don't know, it probably should.

    All it does is take your stats and figures out what it would take to reach your goal. If you're 115lbs and you enter in 2lbs a week MFP does the math and won't go below 1200.

    I know....you think it's safe for a person of healthy weight to still be able to lose 2lbs per week....you've made it known.
    There is an ignore feature here, if you're tired of hearing my opinions.

    Do you think with the thousands of people who funnel through here that MFP didn't choose methods that protect them from legal repurcussions from someone who got hurt from following their diet plan? It wouldn't be that hard for them to add a floor of one's BMR and not let anyone below a certain BMI choose 2 lbs/week. Maybe someone who thinks a diet plan needs those features to be safe should spearhead a class action suit.
  • dnorman2014
    dnorman2014 Posts: 3
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    Eat'em up... you've EARNED them! Enjoy!
  • lsorci919
    lsorci919 Posts: 772 Member
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    Only if I'm hungry still after I've reached my calorie goal.

    Listen to your body. It will let you know if it needs more food.

    Don't whatever you do listen to your body. Dieting makes your hunger hormones behave strangely and tell you your full when you're not.

    It's the same the other way. That's why we're all here isn't it? Our bodies telling us lies about how hungry we are and how good that last piece of pizza looks.

    You've all already been put on a deficit by MFP. Do any extra exercise and you MUST eat those calories back. It ain't going to work better, faster. You'll lose lean body mass, race to the end, go back to eating how you were before and put more back.

    It happens all the time. Listen to the grouchy experienced ones.

    I ate when I wasn't hungry, that's what got me here. boredom eating, over eating, eating because I could. I didn't listen to my body when it told me I was full. By no means am I saying don't eat them back, I'm just saying, if you're not hungry, why would you?

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