Eating back calories lost from exercise - is it needed?

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  • ScottH_200
    ScottH_200 Posts: 377 Member
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    So then, should I eat back my calories burned through exercise? ;-)
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    I have been asking this same question for 2 years now! NO ONE WILL EVER TELL ME.

    There are literally hundreds of posts where people explain why you should eat your exercise calories back. And I do not exaggerate. This question gets asked almost every day. Maybe you just don't like the answers.

    Your deficit is already built in by MFP. MFP doesn't take exercise into consideration, so when you exercise, you should eat a portion of those calories back. Your MFP calorie goal is a "net" goal, not a "gross" goal.

    Ouch, sorry for asking then D:

    This wasn't aimed at you. People ask all the time. This was aimed at the person who said they've been here 2 years and no one has answered this question :).
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I eat 5-6 small meals a day that are high in protein and i eat 1300 or less calories a day and have lost 113 lbs in 15 months and I do not use my exercise calories in my number because that's just an excuse to eat garbage for me. So in my personal journey, no I don't eat them back. I have lost the weight steadily which is just about 2 pounds per week on average. I lift, play sports and do cardio for my work outs so it is pretty intense activity and I have no problem keeping it going.

    The less you have to lose the more important it will become to eat them, as a larger deficit will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, greater chance for thinning hair, weak nails, essentially the slowing down of non life sustaining functions performed by your body.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I have been asking this same question for 2 years now! NO ONE WILL EVER TELL ME.

    There are literally hundreds of posts where people explain why you should eat your exercise calories back. And I do not exaggerate. This question gets asked almost every day. Maybe you just don't like the answers.

    Your deficit is already built in by MFP. MFP doesn't take exercise into consideration, so when you exercise, you should eat a portion of those calories back. Your MFP calorie goal is a "net" goal, not a "gross" goal.

    Ouch, sorry for asking then D:

    This wasn't aimed at you. People ask all the time. This was aimed at the person who said they've been here 2 years and no one has answered this question :).

    Pretty sure it was sarcasm. :drinker:
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I eat 5-6 small meals a day that are high in protein and i eat 1300 or less calories a day and have lost 113 lbs in 15 months and I do not use my exercise calories in my number because that's just an excuse to eat garbage for me. So in my personal journey, no I don't eat them back. I have lost the weight steadily which is just about 2 pounds per week on average. I lift, play sports and do cardio for my work outs so it is pretty intense activity and I have no problem keeping it going.

    The less you have to lose the more important it will become to eat them, as a larger deficit will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, greater chance for thinning hair, weak nails, essentially the slowing down of non life sustaining functions performed by your body.

    Excellent point.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    I have been asking this same question for 2 years now! NO ONE WILL EVER TELL ME.

    There are literally hundreds of posts where people explain why you should eat your exercise calories back. And I do not exaggerate. This question gets asked almost every day. Maybe you just don't like the answers.

    Your deficit is already built in by MFP. MFP doesn't take exercise into consideration, so when you exercise, you should eat a portion of those calories back. Your MFP calorie goal is a "net" goal, not a "gross" goal.

    Ouch, sorry for asking then D:

    This wasn't aimed at you. People ask all the time. This was aimed at the person who said they've been here 2 years and no one has answered this question :).

    Pretty sure it was sarcasm. :drinker:

    Ahh, I guess my sarcasm meter is off today :). Sorry about that. In that case, that was a great answer.
  • gurlygirlrcr80
    gurlygirlrcr80 Posts: 162 Member
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    I eat 5-6 small meals a day that are high in protein and i eat 1300 or less calories a day and have lost 113 lbs in 15 months and I do not use my exercise calories in my number because that's just an excuse to eat garbage for me. So in my personal journey, no I don't eat them back. I have lost the weight steadily which is just about 2 pounds per week on average. I lift, play sports and do cardio for my work outs so it is pretty intense activity and I have no problem keeping it going.

    The less you have to lose the more important it will become to eat them, as a larger deficit will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, greater chance for thinning hair, weak nails, essentially the slowing down of non life sustaining functions performed by your body.

    Excellent point.

    I work with a nutritionist and a doctor and I see them both every 3 months (check ups and blood work and consult). I'm right on track.
  • cmisaacs66
    cmisaacs66 Posts: 2 Member
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    I generally try not to eat back the calories I burn doing exercise, it works for me.
  • missomgitsica
    missomgitsica Posts: 496 Member
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    MFP has the deficit built into your daily calories. So essentially, if you hit what they say your calorie goal is every day, you'll lose your target weight, if that makes sense. When you exercise and eat those calories back, you net your goal.

    That being said, MFP does overestimate exercise calories so I would say don't eat them all back. Invest in a heart rate monitor so you can have a more realistic estimate of what you burn and what you can eat back.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    I eat 5-6 small meals a day that are high in protein and i eat 1300 or less calories a day and have lost 113 lbs in 15 months and I do not use my exercise calories in my number because that's just an excuse to eat garbage for me. So in my personal journey, no I don't eat them back. I have lost the weight steadily which is just about 2 pounds per week on average. I lift, play sports and do cardio for my work outs so it is pretty intense activity and I have no problem keeping it going.

    The less you have to lose the more important it will become to eat them, as a larger deficit will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, greater chance for thinning hair, weak nails, essentially the slowing down of non life sustaining functions performed by your body.

    Excellent point.

    Agreed.
  • gurlygirlrcr80
    gurlygirlrcr80 Posts: 162 Member
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    I eat 5-6 small meals a day that are high in protein and i eat 1300 or less calories a day and have lost 113 lbs in 15 months and I do not use my exercise calories in my number because that's just an excuse to eat garbage for me. So in my personal journey, no I don't eat them back. I have lost the weight steadily which is just about 2 pounds per week on average. I lift, play sports and do cardio for my work outs so it is pretty intense activity and I have no problem keeping it going.

    The less you have to lose the more important it will become to eat them, as a larger deficit will lead to a larger % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle, greater chance for thinning hair, weak nails, essentially the slowing down of non life sustaining functions performed by your body.

    Excellent point.

    Agreed.

    i would agree if it wasn't supervised but it is and I have no problems with any of the above things mentioned. In fact, my liver and kidney function are improving. but like i said...it's supervised.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    I currently have to lose 125lbs+ and I aim to eat around 1500 calories a day.

    Don't worry about differentiating exercise calories, your body has plenty of energy stores to drawn upon. KISS applies, especially when starting out.

    Good luck!
  • streamgirl
    streamgirl Posts: 207 Member
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    One thought I've really appreciated for the whole weight loss process in general is that it is an experiment. I think that takes a lot of pressure off. If you assume "I'm set to lose 1 pound per week" and then you don't, you will be disappointed. If you think "this is a journey over the long term. I will learn a lot about how my body works. Eventually, I will understand how to help my body lose weight," you are much less likely to be disappointed and quit. I say this because across forums, some things work for me and some things don't. Try a couple of months of eating back calories and see how it goes. Maybe you'll need to tweak it and not eat back calories or only eat back a fraction. The cool thing is that figuring this out it completely within your ability and eventually you will find what works!
  • Bernadette60614
    Bernadette60614 Posts: 707 Member
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    I can only go on my experience:

    Do something as long as it works, and then do something else when that stops working.

    I originally did not eat all my exercise calories back, and then I was absolutely starving...so I had a binge every 3 to 4 days.

    I then ate all my exercise calories, but my weight loss stalled.

    Repeated this cycle 3 to 5x.

    Then, I figured that maybe I should go back and recalculate. MFP allows you to put in how much weight you need to lose each week (or want to lose). My weight loss goals weren't sustainable.

    With a new weight loss goal, I went from 1200 calories per day to 1600. With 1600 calories I don't eat back my exercise calories, I lose at a steady, slow rate and I don't binge.

    You have to figure, MFP is not like sitting down with a personal nutritionist, trainer, weight loss coach who will tweak a program for you. You have to just do that tweaking yourself.
  • broox80
    broox80 Posts: 1,195 Member
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    I totally agree with the KISS approach of looking at things. When I quit focusing so much on the numbers and just got my azzzzzzzz moving and ate to fuel my body with out deprivation or restriction, I started to lose. It has been steadily coming off since. I still have a lot to go, but I am learning good habits.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I have been asking this same question for 2 years now! NO ONE WILL EVER TELL ME.

    you have to be kidding me? this gets explained multiple times per day...not to mention, it is explained in those stickies you're supposed to read when you sign up for the site.

    But...here goes again....and I will use my numbers...this is all pretty much 5th grade math. With MFP, you do NOT include exercise in your activity level...it's just your day to day bull ****. Exercise activity has to be accounted for somewhere in the equation in order to determine total calorie requirements...with MFP, this is done after the fact when you log it.

    So, my NON EXERCISE maintenance calories are 2,350 (light active setting with NO exercise)...which means MFP gives me a goal of 1,850 net calories to lose 1 Lb per week (500 calories less my theoretical maintenance). Now I decide to exercise...on average I burn around 400 calories per day (more for long ride days obviously)...so now MFP tells me to eat 2,250 calories...but ohnoes, I'm trying to lose weight right? Well, those same 400 calories get added onto my NON EXERCISE maintenance as well...so my new maintenance now becomes 2,750 (2,350 + 300) and 2,750 - 2,250 = 500 calorie deficit still.

    Where people go wrong is that they grossly overestimate their calorie burn...they go swimming for an hour and log a 1,000 calorie burn...sorry...didn't happen...probably about half of that. People also tend to underestimate their consumption. These two things are what makes MFP kind of difficult...if you are not a precision kind of person and just a, "meh...looks like about 30 grams" kind of a person and you don't check you calorie burns for reasonableness, this probably isn't going to work too well for you.

    Also, if you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, massive calorie deficits due to not eating back exercise calories aren't as detrimental as they are when you start to lean out...when you start to lean out it becomes very important to not under-fuel your body too much...it becomes a very fine line.
  • hollygreigs
    hollygreigs Posts: 4 Member
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    I probably eat 1/2 back as I only get 1200 calories a day and it's pretty hard. Especially when 1
  • hollygreigs
    hollygreigs Posts: 4 Member
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    I probably eat 1/2 back as I only get 1200 calories a day and it's pretty hard. Especially when 1 banana is over 100 calories.
  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
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    This should clarify it:

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
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    I have a 100 lbs to lose also wait! 96 lol and I'm new on here BUT I have seem MOST not ALL or FEW but MOST say you need to eat back 1/2 of what you burn... that said I have not been doing that my lbs. have came off slow but I've also lost inches so it's a win.

    I just changed my program up but for me, what I have found with calories burned is they give you a safety net, I don't eat them back but knowing that I can, seeing that I'm not on the edge come dinner but seeing I have plenty of room left just makes me feel better, I can stick to my 1200 limit and even feel smug when I see how many I have left and it is also there if you are hungry you can go over by using your burn calories and not beat yourself up.

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