maintenance and eating back workout calories

r5d5

In maintenance, are you able to eat back some of the calories you burn, like say 200 out of 600, AND NOT gain back weight?
I just want to be 100% that I understand how maintenance works! I'm 5'3" and I've been maintaining my weight of 118--120ish now for about 4 months. I maintain on about 1,350. By running mostly, but I rarely ate back any calories burned. Maybe only like 50 or 100 tops. And that's worked for me to be roughly the same weight.
But I'm back at college now, so I have access to a gym and along with running, I do the elliptical, stationary bike, weights, row machine, other weight machines, ect... on various days, about 30 to 60 min each session, 5 days a week. Not that I want to eat back ALL those burned calories, but can I still maintain my weight if I eat say...1400 instead of 1350? I'm just nervous about gaining back the weight I lost, and I'm wondering, if because you're in maintenance, does that mean you don't get to eat back your calories burned? Because my thinking right now is that the body gets used to eating a certain amount and expending a certain amount of calories exercising that if I were to eat back any burned calories, my body would think it was too much of an excess and I would just gain.

Any help/clarification would be great! Thanks!
(And I know my diary is private...I'm not asking for help on figuring out my eating habits or anything. I haven't gained weight yet! I'm just trying to address something BEFORE it becomes a problem!)

caesar164

If your eating at maintenance, then any calories you burn would put you at a deficit, causing you to lose weight, so eating those calories back would keep you at a maintenance.

tigerblue

If you are including exercise calories in your goal, then don't eat them back. If your calorie goal is before exercise, then you should eat about 75-80% back. (If you count 100%, then you are counting your regular activity calories twice during the exercise.)

At 1350, that sounds like a before exercise goal. I am 5'2", 129 lbs and 47 years old and I lose at 1350 total calories. I maintain at just under 1600 calories, (that is including eating back exercise). I exercise about 30-45 minutes most days.

ExRelaySprinter

I'm similar to the lady above.
I'm 5ft,3.5, 128 lbs and 48 yrs old.
I lost at around 1400 [with daily exercise] and now maintain on around 1600 [with 40 mins Cardio 4 times a week]. I eat back ALL my exercise calories.
I've even had the odd fast food "splurge" and i've been OK...... (So far. )

Francl27

If your eating at maintenance, then any calories you burn would put you at a deficit, causing you to lose weight, so eating those calories back would keep you at a maintenance.

This.

If you're gaining weight eating back exercise calories, you're either overestimating your exercise calories, or underestimating your food intake.

heybales

Besides waiting for results to see how close the estimates are, you can also do the math to hone in on better estimate in the first place.

Daily maintenance figure (under MFP Goals) / 1440 minutes = calories per min you are already accounted to burn.

That figure x minutes of exercise = calories for that time already accounted for that your eating goal is based on.

HRM or database calories for workout - that figure = calories burned above and beyond what already expected.

So for punching in to calculator.
Additional calories burned to log and eat back = HRM or database calories - (minutes of exercise x daily maintenance / 1440)

That applies in a diet too actually.

cwolfman13

If you're properly following the MFP method you eat back exercise calories regardless of your weight control goals because exercise activity is not accounted for in your activity level...

Really though I would think if you were losing at X Lbs per week or whatever as a general trend...at this point you should just be able to do the math and figure out roughly how many calories you need to maintain...it's all just math.

r5d5

Thanks everyone! Ya'll clarified my questions!
I appreciate it!!!