Eating back exercise calories

N1ckL12

HI guys, I know this subject has been covered loads, I have read loads of threads, I just cant get my head around it all.

I am male, 32 years old, weigh 88.3kg and im 5'9".

I started Insanity 2 weeks ago and set a 1500 calorie intake on MFP, I have been good as measuring intake on meats, potatoes etc, guessing at salad like rocket lettuce and cucumber

in 2 weeks I have not lost any weight

I have a heart rate monitor and estimate that I burn off 600 calories (average) in each Insanity session.

Do I eat back 600 calories to make up for the exercise? if so why am I exercising if a deficit in food is enough? to me eating back calories feels like im exercising just to eat more food.

So far I have been eating back those calories and hit my target of 1500 calories per day - I have gone over by a few hundred on a couple of occasions, but this is still less than the 2500 calories an average male should be eating. MFP says at the end of the day ' if you eat like this for 5 weeks you will weigh XXX) always lower than my current 88kg. what's happening? why aren't I losing weight??

As I have said, I have read loads of threads and still none the wiser

Thanks

Nick

BigTireFlipper

I am a big supporter of eating back calories. That being said, I don't eat them all back. If my HRM says I burnt 600 cals then I eat back no more than half of them if I can help it. The main reason is that whenever I go and eat back all my cals I end up stalling in my weight loss. Eating back up to 50% still keeps me averaging about 2 lb per week. Every person is going to be a little different. Experiment and find your happy medium. Oh. And don't believe the inflated burn rates that MFP seems to give you for exercise. Wow are they liberal.

LaneB89

Water weight from increased activity. Inaccurate calorie counting. Inaccurate TDEE. Any number of reasons your weight hasn't changed. That said, you need at least 1 month at a given caloric intake before deciding whether or not it works for you. If after 1 month your weight loss is not going as planned, make adjustments to your intake/expenditure to get the level of deficit needed to lose weight at the pace you want. Whether or not you "eat back exercise calories" is largely irrelevant. Net calorie intake is what matters, and if your net intake isn't getting you the weight loss you want, you need to tweak it, whether that means eating less or exercising more.

enitsirhck

If you think you're not getting enough, try eating back 60%.

P90X/Insanity is pretty intense, and your body may be swollen, sore and even though you are losing weight you are also presumably building muscle. In addition to taking your weight measurement on the scale, try tracking the circumference of your biceps, thighs, waist and chest. You may not see a change on the scale but you may see a difference in your overall shape.

N1ckL12

another question I should ask then is 1500 calories enough for me? Insanity Nutrition guide estimates that in a sedentary state my body needs 2344 calories per day. If I exercise in line with Insanity i.e. 6 days a week my calorie intake should be 2869 calories per day (this takes into account a deficit of 500 calories per day to lose weight).

If the insanity nutrition guide is correct I am not eating sufficient calories!!!!

There is so much advise out there which contradicts each other.

Im sooooo lost!!!

N1ckL12

I measured my waist - no change yet

gotolam

another question I should ask then is 1500 calories enough for me? Insanity Nutrition guide estimates that in a sedentary state my body needs 2344 calories per day. If I exercise in line with Insanity i.e. 6 days a week my calorie intake should be 2869 calories per day (this takes into account a deficit of 500 calories per day to lose weight).

If the insanity nutrition guide is correct I am not eating sufficient calories!!!!

There is so much advise out there which contradicts each other.

Im sooooo lost!!!

Just stop making it so complicated. You can't dial-in to an exact calorie level and immediately lose weight. Consider the following:

1) Weight loss isn't linear. You don't eat a 7000 calorie deficit and instantly lose two pounds. Your body isn't a math equation.
2) Increase exercise = increase glycogen and water weight. Your muscles are holding on to both to assist itself in repair. Go back to #1.
3) Exercise is a very small part of the weight loss equation. You have to run a mile just to burn off a small bag of chips. Despite the adverts, you'll never cardio your way out of being overweight. Eat less.
4) No one got skinny by eating more. You're asking if you should follow the plan to eat 2800 calories. The simple answer is no. Not if you want to lose weight.

Eat less than what you are burning. It'll take a bit to figure this out and TDEE/BMR is a start but you'll have to find out what works for you. Don't eat more just because some math formula tells you to. Find out what your body needs and try to stay as close to that number as possible.

LaneB89

another question I should ask then is 1500 calories enough for me? Insanity Nutrition guide estimates that in a sedentary state my body needs 2344 calories per day. If I exercise in line with Insanity i.e. 6 days a week my calorie intake should be 2869 calories per day (this takes into account a deficit of 500 calories per day to lose weight).

If the insanity nutrition guide is correct I am not eating sufficient calories!!!!

There is so much advise out there which contradicts each other.

Im sooooo lost!!!

Is 1500 calories "enough" for you? I can't answer that, only you can - based on how you feel. If you feel sick/tired/underfed, then it sounds like it's not enough. If you otherwise feel fine, there's nothing wrong with it. My question to you is, what difference do you think it makes? Not eating "enough" calories will not cause you to magically retain weight. Increasing your calories to 1700, 1800, 2000, whatever will not somehow jump start the weight loss.