Eating back burnt calories,defeating the object?

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  • GBrady43068
    GBrady43068 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    Do you mean eating back exercise calories defeat the purpose of losing weight?

    I eat back at least half of my exercise calories and continue to lose weight.

    yeah,I don't understand burning off all them calories then eating them back.Makes no sense to me
    It makes sense if you consider that you are already starting out at a deficit. Not eating back at least some of the calories you burn COULD potentially leave you with insufficient nutrition.

    ^^^This. And that's all folks.
    I agree. I will likely be missing out on some portion of my dietary needs if I continually have an extra big deficit. MFP is already building in a 600 calorie one...I don't need an extra 300-400 more.
  • gulfcoastnik
    gulfcoastnik Posts: 19 Member
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    I do not really understand it all. If I excercise it says more calories, but I am also supposed to have a loss of -3500 calories to lose 1 lb?

    It just confuses me more and more..... and then when macro's and all that come into the conversation I just don't get it. sometimes it feels so confusing. I don't intentionally do anything. IF I am hungry I eat my calories, last night I had over 600 left and did not eat them. This weekend I went over one day by at least 600. I have lost so...I don't know.
  • csverdin
    csverdin Posts: 12 Member
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    My wife had weight loss surgery and she had hit a wall with losing weight. The doctor and nutritionist increased her calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 on days when she doesn't work out and told her to have at least 1000 net calories per day when she works out. The weight has started coming off again. Keep in mind that everybody is different. You have to get to know your body and what it needs. If you run into a wall, try increasing your calorie intake to keep up with the exercise you are doing to keep your body from going into conservation mode.
  • DblChinz
    DblChinz Posts: 31 Member
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    I do not eat mine right now because I would like a bigger deficit to lose weight a bit faster. i have a lot more weight to lose close to 100 lbs so it won't hurt me now but as I get smaller I will have to eat them back. the reason most do eat them back is b/c your mfp goal already includes a deficit so when you exercise that's a deficit upon a deficit so you can eat the exercise calories back if that makes any sense.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    I'm in a 700 calorie deficit a day.My maintenance is 2700.I do 5 days a week of high volume intense weightlifting and never eat back my calories
    So, 2700 is a 700 calorie deficit? I think you are fine not eating back calories.

    No,2700 is my maintenance calories,I'm eating 2000,hence a 700 deficit

    If you aren't eating back your lifting calories, you're more likely at a 1000 calorie deficit, assuming your maintenance calories aren't calculated to include exercise. If your sedentary TDEE is 2700, you're roughly running a 1000 calorie deficit (700 + 300) which puts you at 2000 net calories/day. If you calculate your TDEE with exercise and it's 3000, the same 1000 calorie deficit puts you again at 2000 net calories/day. At the end of the day, it works out the same.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    If you are in maintenance, why eat at a deficit? That will make you LOSE weight, not maintain. This isn't rocket science.
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    But if my maintenance is 2700 now and I eat back my burnt calories I'll be back at maintenance
  • AlyssamR6712
    AlyssamR6712 Posts: 114 Member
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    Do you mean eating back exercise calories defeat the purpose of losing weight?

    I eat back at least half of my exercise calories and continue to lose weight.

    yeah,I don't understand burning off all them calories then eating them back.Makes no sense to me

    The reason to eat them back is because in order to burn fat your body needs fuel, so the more you work out the more fuel your body will need. that doesn't mean because you ran and burned 1200 cals you earned some pizza or cake... lols... your body needs FUEL not junk, nutrient dense foods. maybe add an extra meal in there somewhere.

    I go by the rule of if im hungry, i eat... if im not, i won't eat them back.

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  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    If you are in maintenance, why eat at a deficit? That will make you LOSE weight, not maintain. This isn't rocket science.

    I'm cutting not maintaining,losing 1lb a week
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    I'm in a 700 calorie deficit a day.My maintenance is 2700.I do 5 days a week of high volume intense weightlifting and never eat back my calories

    That is because you are using the TDEE method. MFP used as designed does not include exercise in the activity level...it uses your NEAT and takes a cut from that and then you account for exercise after the fact.

    Example...my TDEE is around 2,700 calories as well and I lost steadily at 2100 - 2200 calories gross. My NEAT maintenance (non exercise maintenance per MFP) is 2,350..so my cut to lose about 1 Lb per week was 1,850...but with exercise I was eating right around 2100 - 2200 gross eating my exercise calories back. 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

    You just have to know and understand the method you are using. In the TDEE method, some estimate of that exercise is included in your total from which the cut is taken thus it would be "double dipping" to eat them back...not so with the NEAT method.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Different strokes for different folks I guess.Just never understood it myself

    Do you understand that too high of a deficit can be a bad thing?
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
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    But if my maintenance is 2700 now and I eat back my burnt calories I'll be back at maintenance

    Where did you get 2700? Which calculation method did you use?

    Update: Wolfman beat me to the punch. I'm assuming you aren't using MFP to get your calorie targets, and if so, logging and eating back exercise calories is not needed.
  • kassidylynSanborn
    kassidylynSanborn Posts: 14
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    Yes!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    But if my maintenance is 2700 now and I eat back my burnt calories I'll be back at maintenance

    Nope, If your maintenance is 2700, without exercise, and you burn 400 from exercise, your maintenance for the day is 3100, so eating 2000, would be a 1100 cals deficit, you would have to eat 2400 to keep your deficit at 700. Again this is assuming you calculated your maintenance without exercise.

    If your TDEE is 2700 and includes exercise, then you would not eat the cals back anyway, as they are already included in your 2700 (2000 intake)
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    But if my maintenance is 2700 now and I eat back my burnt calories I'll be back at maintenance

    Just because you don't understand, doesn't mean it's wrong.

    It looks like you are working off of TDEE, not MFP's setup?

    When you say 2700 is your maintenance - does that INCLUDE your lifitng?

    If so, then no, you wouldn't eat them back.

    MFP does NOT include exercise until AFTER it is completed and entered. Use MFP - you are given calories to eat at a deficit WITHOUT exercise. Then you exercise = bigger deficit (which is NOT often a good thing, you want a healthy deficit). So then you eat them back, taking you back to your original deifict.

    Do you really not understand, or are you just stirring things up?

    If you work off of TDEE and are telling people eating their exercise cals negates their exercise, you are confusing those who use MFP's setup and need to eat their exercise cals.
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    Depends on diet,how you train,are you an Ectomorph Mesomorph or Endomorph etc
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Depends on diet,how you train,are you an Ectomorph Mesomorph or Endomorph etc

    nope...nope....nope...and most definately nope.
  • Gingerkid05
    Gingerkid05 Posts: 60 Member
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    I don't plan to but if I do whatever. I think that sometimes you need them but if you are full then don't.
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    But if my maintenance is 2700 now and I eat back my burnt calories I'll be back at maintenance

    Just because you don't understand, doesn't mean it's wrong.

    It looks like you are working off of TDEE, not MFP's setup?

    When you say 2700 is your maintenance - does that INCLUDE your lifitng?

    If so, then no, you wouldn't eat them back.

    MFP does NOT include exercise until AFTER it is completed and entered. Use MFP - you are given calories to eat at a deficit WITHOUT exercise. Then you exercise = bigger deficit (which is NOT often a good thing, you want a healthy deficit). So then you eat them back, taking you back to your original deifict.

    Do you really not understand, or are you just stirring things up?

    If you work off of TDEE and are telling people eating their exercise cals negates their exercise, you are confusing those who use MFP's setup and need to eat their exercise cals.

    yes my maintenance with my daily expenditure included.Stirring things up?Yeah I always 'stir things up' with calories lol.Just wanted some opinions,not saying they are wrong or I'm right I'm just interested
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    Depends on diet,how you train,are you an Ectomorph Mesomorph or Endomorph etc

    nope...nope....nope...and most definately nope.

    Why not?

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