Eating the calories you burn

the_summer_belle

OP in regards to your post if you want to maintain you need to eat at your TDEE and not below if you eat below you are in a deficit and will loose weight. TDEE is easy to workout i found a helpful blog today about this in relation to MFP fit101.org. As for eating back exercise calories I never have and i have lost weight slowly and im starting to lean out by strength training and sticking to macros, just as I planned but if you want to maintain its probably not a bad thing to eat back those calories as exercise will put you in a deficit thus you will loose weight. If you are happy with your weight and want to lean out you need to stick to macros and lift weights at least x3-4 a week eat at your TDEE and minimize cardio as too much cardio burns muscle away.

Bry_Fitness70

I'm in maintenance mode, so my goal is to finish with a specific net amount of calories every day, around 2,500. I set my TDEE for sedentary, and eat back most of my exercise (or other significant physical activity) - calories otherwise I will lose weight.

KarenJanine

thats what mfp says...

i am however trying to cut fat and gain muscle and am always over on my protein lol

I would recommend familiarising yourself with the TDEE method for calculating daily energy requirements. This will be useful for both your own goals and when working with clients.

You can calculate your daily energy expenditure using a calculator like this:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I'm pretty certain your energy requirements will be higher than 1400 cals.

I'd also recommend this thread for further guidance:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

the_summer_belle

thats what mfp says...

i am however trying to cut fat and gain muscle and am always over on my protein lol

I would recommend familiarising yourself with the TDEE method for calculating daily energy requirements. This will be useful for both your own goals and when working with clients.

You can calculate your daily energy expenditure using a calculator like this:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I'm pretty certain your energy requirements will be higher than 1400 cals.

I'd also recommend this thread for further guidance:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

^this :flowerforyou:

RSEC75

the idea is that you're already eating at a calorie deficit. if you were eating at your needs for the day then you wouldn't eat backt he exercise cals because they would be the cals you were "cutting" for the day.

I was eating at 1600 a day, for a 500 cal deficit but then i was also walking 12-15k a day which supposedly burned aroiund 600+ cals. I definitely noticed I was losing way more than a 500 cal deficit should cause me to lose but it did mean I was only really operating on about 1000 cals a day for a few weeks which im pretty damn sure isn't good for me.
so not eating back exercise cals did cause me to lose quite a bit more weight but long term.. that **** just ain't right for your body.

this

If you set your goal at the rate to NOT loose weight (but still want to loose it) then NOT eating back the calories makes sense. However MFP leads you to set a goal which has a deficit built in. If you already have a deficit built into your goal and you don't eat back the exercise calories you will have an even bigger deficit and could loose weight at an unhealthy rate.

Notreadytoquit

I want to know the same thing. Read through entire thread and am confused.

Someone took time out to hurt a well meaning person's feelings ... several say they never eat back calories ... pasta info was alarming ... but do I or don't I eat those calories back?

At 1200 cal/day I'm hungry and have to exercise to eat enough each day. Doesn't help I live with men who regularly eat 4 times what I eat after I spend so much time cooking low fat delicious meals. Very confusing.

njmark72

It depends on how quickly you want to lose your 3 lbs. If its no big deal and you are in no rush then eating the 300 calories you burned isn't going to make you fatter. Unless of course your 1400 calories is greater than your Basal Metabolic rate. Then you will gain.

It's all about being in a deficit. If you are calorie deficient you will lose, if you are calorie positive you will gain.

Mark.

SezxyStef

I want to know the same thing. Read through entire thread and am confused.

Someone took time out to hurt a well meaning person's feelings ... several say they never eat back calories ... pasta info was alarming ... but do I or don't I eat those calories back?

At 1200 cal/day I'm hungry and have to exercise to eat enough each day. Doesn't help I live with men who regularly eat 4 times what I eat after I spend so much time cooking low fat delicious meals. Very confusing.

no one set out to hurt anyone's feelings..

MFP is setup to eat back exercise calories per my previous post. It uses the NEAT Method where a deficit is given in your daily calorie goal to lose the amount of weight you wish weekly...the suggestion is to eat back 50-75% as MFP can over estimate them.

Now for you with 8lbs to go @ 1200 calories...I suspect you have your weekly goal set at 2lbs...which is quite agressive and isn't necessary. 1/2lb to 1lb a week is a good rate of loss which won't leave you hungry.

SezxyStef

It depends on how quickly you want to lose your 3 lbs. If its no big deal and you are in no rush then eating the 300 calories you burned isn't going to make you fatter. Unless of course your 1400 calories is greater than your Basal Metabolic rate. Then you will gain.

It's all about being in a deficit. If you are calorie deficient you will lose, if you are calorie positive you will gain.

Mark.

No she won't gain if eating over her BMR she will likely lose....my BMR is 1400...I eat 2k a day and maintain on 2137...you have mixed up BMR (calories required to function) and TDEE calories required to maintain.

lemurcat12

yes i see what you mean... i guess maybe this site just wants the quickest results for people. i honestly just use it because it is so easy to keep track of my intake daily.

and @tavistocktoad not sure what you mean but losing weight and cutting fat are two very different things... i probably will gain a few pounds of muscle ...

The site doesn't want anything. The site works based on the info provided. At very active and your age, 1400 sounds like it's related to a 2 lb goal, certainly a loss goal. And, as pointed out above, the site works based on the expectation that people eat back exercise calories.

Now, IF all your exercise is included in your "very active" estimate, you wouldn't eat them back. I eat back calories only when my level exceeds "active," which isn't that hard to do when I run or bike a lot. However, 1400 calories and very active is premised on you trying to lose and probably an aggressive goal. If you are trying to recomp it seems to make no sense. You inputs have to be wrong.

njmark72

In reply to:

No she won't gain if eating over her BMR she will likely lose....my BMR is 1400...I eat 2k a day and maintain on 2137...you have mixed up BMR (calories required to function) and TDEE calories required to maintain.


If you read my entire post and didn't pull out one sentence you would understand what I was saying. What I said was, if she is burning 300 additional calories through exercise and then eats those calories and her BMR is > than the 1400 calorie allowance she is taking in she will lose weight.

I am not confusing anything. You are obviously burning more calories than your BMR in order to maintain your current weight.

Mark

earlnabby

I found my happy place. I set my activity for sedentary (I am mostly sedentary with a few lightly active days unless I am actually exercising) and my goal for 1 lb a week. I eat back about 1/2 to 2/3 of calories earned both from targeted activity which is the only thing I log, and my fitbit steps (which is where cleaning house, etc. comes in) and I have been averaging about 1.25 to 1.5 lb a week loss.

SezxyStef

In reply to:

No she won't gain if eating over her BMR she will likely lose....my BMR is 1400...I eat 2k a day and maintain on 2137...you have mixed up BMR (calories required to function) and TDEE calories required to maintain.


If you read my entire post and didn't pull out one sentence you would understand what I was saying. What I said was, if she is burning 300 additional calories through exercise and then eats those calories and her BMR is > than the 1400 calorie allowance she is taking in she will lose weight.

I am not confusing anything. You are obviously burning more calories than your BMR in order to maintain your current weight.

Mark

I did read your entire post....and what you said was " Unless of course your 1400 calories is greater than your Basal Metabolic rate. Then you will gain."

that statement is wrong flat our wrong. If the 1400 is greater than her TDEE then she will gain, If the 1400 is greater than her BMR (depending on how much she will continue to lose or maintain or gain...) not flat out gain.

People burn their BMR in a coma...as it is defined as the rate at which the body uses energy while at rest to keep vital functions going, such as breathing and keeping warm. Anything above that activity requires additional calories otherwise you lose weight...hence the definition of TDEE which is Total Daily Energy expenditure which includes BMR+daily activity which includes exercise = Maitenance.

Your entire statement except for the last part really doesn't make a whole lot of sense...