Confused! Eating back calories?

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inky16
inky16 Posts: 113 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I'm super confused on this whole eating back calories thing. I've seen tons of people on here post about how important it is, after a work out, to eat back your calories. But then, to lose weight, you have to have a calorie deficit. So, if you're eating back all your calories, doesn't that eliminate the deficit? Am I missing something here?

Help please! :)

Replies

  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    MFP already calculate a deficit when they give you your calories. Therefore the calories you burn during exercise are not accounted for. it's advisable to eat at least a portion of them back as you need fuel for your work outs.
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
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    MFP already calculate a deficit when they give you your calories. Therefore the calories you burn during exercise are not accounted for. it's advisable to eat at least a portion of them back as you need fuel for your work outs.

    ^ This
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    MFP is set up for you to lose even without exercise.

    So when you work out, you can eat back those calories and still lose.

    But bear in mind that all figures are estimates.

    Many users dont eat back all of their exericise cals.
  • BigVeggieDream
    BigVeggieDream Posts: 1,101 Member
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    But bear in mind that all figures are estimates.

    I second that. I just was reading a post today and a whole bunch of what seemed like MFP veterans were saying that MFP overestimates calories burned for exercise.
  • inky16
    inky16 Posts: 113 Member
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    Thanks for the help all. I use a heart rate monitor to determine calories burned, because it turned out to be more reliable than the machine or MFP's estimations.

    But just to clarify, you all are suggesting that I eat back some or all of the calories burned? Like I should get it back close to zero remaining for the day? Or just whatever feels right at the time? (I say that because I'm rarely hungry after a work out - my mind tricking my body into not wanting to "ruin" all the work I've just put in.)

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