Should you eat back your extra calories from excercise?

caribbean1019

I am looking for some direction please. Should I be eating back my extra calories from workouts?

I was reading through some posts and now I am confused. Clarity would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Corismom

I don't, but I have a lot to lose...my thought, why exercise if you are just going to eat them back?

bparsont

I don't believe you should. If you meet your DAILY calorie goal and then you exercise and get "extra" calories to use don't and you will lose weight. It logically makes sense to control calories and exercise so it makes you body's metabolism kick in and burn off excess weight (fat). That's what I've been doing and I've lost 10# in 1 month.

allysonvb

I don't eat them back, either- make sure that you consume the minimum 1200, but it is personal choice on the rest.

kristie874

Read the info in the links below for clarification. They explain well.

oshmom

From what I have learned in my MANY years of weight loss and/or management, you need to eat the burned to keep your body from starvation mode and NOT hold on to fat and cals. However, I have to admit, usually I don't eat all that I burn in hopes of bigger, quicker results.

ce_fit

Was just going to post those links. It explains everything. Personally I have found that I eat about 40 - 45% of my excercise calories earned and I am able to loose my weight.

anubis609

Varies from person to person. Is it logical to eat them back in order to maintain a daily NET calorie loss in order to have the correct deficit per week; i.e. 500 NET calorie deficit x 7 days = 3500 calories [1 lb]? Yes.

Is it absolutely necessary to do so? No.

It's up to you. I personally don't eat mine back either, and I've been doing that for almost a year without a negative rebound like most studies have shown. There are a small percentage of people that don't experience the rebounding weight gain. If it works, no matter how you do it, then that's how your body responds to your own personal method.

If you're really curious, don't mind experimenting with your intake, AND not fazed by a negative outcome, then try both ways. See what really works.

tritta01

As long as your net calories are not under 1200 (which is on my home page) then you are fine if you go under you need to eat back those calories so your body doesnt go into starvation mode or plateau.

crystal_sapphire

some have posted some informational links for you to read on why you should eat your exercise calories in terms of net cals.

i would just keep in mind that if you want to do that (and there is a ton of people with huge success stories from eating them back) , perhaps think of getting a heart rate monitor so that it's much more accurate when you log your calories as I find MFP over estimates how many cals are burned. Or as someone else said they just eat a fraction back which is what i do sometimes.

superstarcassie

I do- or at least some. I need fuel for my body! I would not have been able to lose weight without them. I need that energy to do my tough workouts. I need it to lose fat instead of muscle. Do what works for you, but I know that it is really hard to keep with if for an extended time by not eating some of them. I've been with MFP for almost a year and have kept with it because of eating my exercise cals. It means that I can have the foods I want and crave within reason and still lose weight- 112.5 lbs in a year!!

caribbean1019

Thanks to everyone for responding to me. I appreciate all the input and am grateful for some facts too Good luck to all of you

SunLove8

I am looking for some direction please. Should I be eating back my extra calories from workouts?

I was reading through some posts and now I am confused. Clarity would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

YES. I didnt' think I should when I started either; however, your body has to have FUEL. If you only eat 1200 and burn 400 than your body is only running 800 calories. It's unhealthy and it will prevent any muscle growth, slow your metobolism and eventually keep you from loseing any weight. I didn't eat my exercise calories at all when I started and since I started eatting them I've been losing more weight, gaining more muscle and looking a lot better.

borys12

I didn't eat my exercise calories at all when I started and since I started eatting them I've been losing more weight, gaining more muscle and looking a lot better.

Exactly the same happened to me. I eat more now, and losing more.

isislc

When I work out and have a huge deficit in calories I try to eat enough to keep me at least at a Net of 1200 calories. Anything less will put you in starvation mode and your body will fight to keep what it has. Even if you have a Net of 1000 should be ok but nothing lower. This sight will actually prompt you that you aren't eating enough also.

FearAnLoathing

I dont

gp79

I do consume my exercise calories.

I believe it will vary from each person slightly but here's my experience.

Background: I've been using MFP for 2 months maybe, and about a month ago began reading the forums. I saw this topic discussed and seemed alot of people were confused so I read the stickies about it, probably the same one you did, which gave in detail, the reasons to consume your calories from exercise.

Still unsure, I decided to test it for myself.

In short, yes, for me, I consumed all or most of my excess calories and still lost my goal weight. Actually I lost 1/10th of a lb more.

My workouts burn between 600 - 900 calories for a 45 minute workout. I'd find that according to MFP i'd be low in my weekly times but higher in my weekly calories burned.

If by the end of the day I have 500 or more calories left, I eat something healthy / wholesome to get to no more than a 500. Some days, knowing I will be doing a workout, will plan meals with higher calorie contents to avoid having a late night snack.

I'm religious about logging my food in MFP. If you'd like to analyze my diary and exercise for the past week feel free. I did this while traveling to MD for the week to attend a seminar. Some days I was over, some days I was under.

Finally I dont think it's something you can just read about and say "will this work for me". It's something you need to try. I know it's scary to think about eating over what MFP says, but it's really telling you to eat your exercise calories.