Be a HELP not a HINDRANCE!

BrattyLori

Hello people who have only a few lbs to lose! I mean anyone who is starting their weight loss program at ONE hundred and anything.

PRETTY please quit telling obese people to "eat back their exercise calories". That's just MEAN. Obese people need to go into your imaginary starvation mode. We're not trying to lose a few lbs to look better in a bikini, we're trying to LIVE. We're also in this mess because we're in deep, deep denial about what we're doing and what we NEED to do and we're looking for all the excuses we can to continue to do that. I'm tired. I dont have time. My whatever hurts. I dont want to go into STARVATION mode.

Quit handing out excuses for obese people to OVEREAT. No medically trained doctor will tell an obese person to eat back exercise calories. They advise obese people to eat balanced, nutritious meals, but never eat back exercise calories. They say, "Good job being healthy and losing weight properly!"

Eating back exercise calories is called MAINTAINING.

I will concede that someone at or very near their goal weight, or a growing child or a pregnant woman probably needs to eat a bit more to lose weight healthfully while exercising more, but otherwise, your advice is just hindering your obese friends.

Cut it out.

amydcarlson

Do you know that MFP automatically cuts 500 calories from what your body actually needs for the day. Therefor, if you eat back your exercise cals, you are still not eating that 500 calories of the original deficit. I'm just sayin', because I didn't know that at first, either.

shaunshaikh

Eating back exercise calories isn't maintaining if you've already built in a deficeit into your calorie goal. That is, if your maintainance calories are 2,500 calories and you set your goal to 1,500 in order to lose 2 lbs per week. If you burn 500 calories during a workout and don't "eat back" your calories, that's a 1,500 calorie deficeit per day. Obese people can roll with larger calorie deficeits than people who have less weight to lose though.

I think starvation mode only comes up with someone's weight loss stalls even though they only eat 800-1000 calories per day and workout every day. The people who think starvation mode doesn't exist don't have a way to explain this phenomena.

erickirb

Actually if you set your goal to 2bls/week, you must eat your exercise calories to lose 2bls/week. If you don't eat them you may lose more, but if you goal is 2lbs/week, you must eat them. It is based on a math calculation 1000 cal deficit below maintenance will yield a 2 lb/week loss, if that is your goal and you burn another 500, that should lead to 3lbs/week based on a 1500 cal/day deficit (1000+500). If you want to lose your goal of 2lbs, and not more, you have to eat the 500 back to get your deficit to 1000 (-1500+500)

No doctor would tell an obese person to eat 1200 cals/day, most likely they would say 1600, which would be the same as if you goal was 1200 and you burned 400 through exercise, and ate those cals for a total of, you guessed it 1600, the amount the doctor told you to eat. MFP is set up the way it is for a reason, it works. Not eating exercise calories on MFP would be like going to WW and not bothering to count points, they are the main components of the programs.

Eating back calories would only be maintaining if you chose maintenance as your weekly goal, if you chose 1 lbs and ate exercise cals you would lose 1 lb and it is all about the deficit I mentioned above.

We are here to help people do this in a healthy way and a biggest loser way.

AdamATGATT

I would respectfully disagree.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad

grlaurie

This post really made me laugh. Everytime I see that eat your calories back I think not a chance. I need to lose so much weight that any cal deficiet is needed. Also staration mode, I firmly believe that it would not happen until several weeks if even then. I love this site and i dont think anyone means to be harmful...

amyindm

I guess I'm confused? If you're eating a set number of calories each day that is recommended for your weight, then if you expend an additional 500 calories then you're essentially in a place where you're not taking in enough to sustain your body. I know that when I was on weight watchers they focused on basically the same idea.

The problem that people, including me, have often had is when we think that exercise is a license to eat "whatever". But honest journaling of calories and accurate calories burned through workouts doesn't seem to be something that excludes a particular category of people who are trying to lose weight. Am I wrong? I'm fairly new to the MFP model.

Karleyyy

So many people are eating back exercise calories, including myself, and I lose almost 2 lbs a week. I started in the 170's. if it didn't work it wouldn't work.

kirstinlee

Thank you.
I've been wanting my mom to join this site, but after seeing the debate about eating back exercise calories, I've backed off.
She's obese and doesn't know how to choose healthy foods, so if she was informed to "eat back her exercise calories" she would most likely exercise and then make up for it with pizza or McDonalds. I'm not saying that that's what everyone would do, but it is what she would do.
I can understand if she was limiting herself to, say, 1200 calories a day period, and then exercising on top of that... I would want her to eat more, too. Those 900 net calories wouldn't support her. However, that isn't the case. It would be hard work for her to limit herself to 2,000 calories a day, let alone a low enough number that she would enter into starvation mode.

BrattyLori

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

FearAnLoathing

what works for you dosent work for everyone

bethvandenberg

I don't think that people who tell others to eat back their exercise calories are being mean. I think there are a bunch of different factors at play here. People have their own opinions about it. I think that this isn't an exact science as until you're tested how do you really know what your real BMR is? How do you know if you should eat them back or not?

As we've all seen people feel strongly about that subject on here. To eat them or not I believe is the person who's trying to lose the weight's decision.

I know when I first came on here I was at 1290 cals a day and then I got tested and truly have a BMR of 1800. I was eating way to little to keep my body going. I've up ed my calories now and am losing again. I do eat back some of my exercise calories b/c sometimes I'm hungry. If I'm not then I don't.

erickirb

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

Maybe not but they are probably losing as much muscle as they are fat, not the point of losing weight, most people mean lose fat. If your goal is 2lbs, why would you want to lose more than your goal, it is your goal for a reason.

dmmsquared

OK... Here's a response from someone who hasn't been ONE hundred and anything in a while, but working on it.

What is being said about eating your exercise calories is 100% CORRECT! You don't wan't to go into starvation mode, because you will NOT lose weight that way and it is NOT HEALTHY.

No one is telling you to OVEREAT. They are saying to keep with the net calories you are told will help you lose weight.

If you put all your information into MFP and you are told to eat 1,200 calories a day to lose weight and do that, and then you exercise and burn 500 calories, you are netting 700 calories. That is not healthy. You need to replace some of those calories you burned to still get to the 1,200 calories... AND YOU WILL STILL LOSE WEIGHT and be healthy.

It's not going to come off fast. We didn't gain the weight fast, so it's going to take work, effort and a lot of encouragement from people here and your friends/family.

I can't say that I always eat back all my exercise calories, but on the days that I exercise, yes I do eat back most and so far I've lost 20 pounds and I will continue to eat this way until I reach my goal weight.

Please check out the link in my signature. There's a lot of helpful information in there.

amydcarlson

I mean, depending upon your goal, MFP has built in a deficit for you. For example: Mine has me set at taking in 1200 cals/day. (I'm 5'1) With my goal of 1 lb. per week of weight loss, the 1200 is right because in order to "maintain", someone that is my size, age, and sex actually needs 1700 cals. So If I exercise "away" 400 cals, I can eat those back for the grand total of 1200. This way my metabolism stays revved up, AND there is still a 500 calorie deficit, so I will continue to lose weight. It's working so far....slowly, but surely. :happy:

bethvandenberg

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

Now how do you know that? Really not one person on earth? Do you know everyone on earth? I think you speak in pretty large generalizations. I'm just saying. So it doesn't work for you. We get it. Relax.

Naomi91

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

Maybe not but they are probably losing as much muscle as they are fat, not the point of losing weight, most people mean lose fat. If your goal is 2lbs, why would you want to lose more than your goal, it is your goal for a reason.

Exactly. Thank you. We are on a quest to lose FAT right? not muscle and fat? There is such a thing at a fat skinny person. I would like to be lean and mean thank you.

PeachyKeene

My doctor said for me to eat 1200 calories, and I don't have to eat those exercise calories. If I eat 1200 calories, that keeps my body from ever going into Starvation mode. I can exercise all those calories away and have enough fat to fuel my body. I totally agree with this post!!

erickirb

what works for you dosent work for everyone

math is math, if know your BMR is correct and you are measuring food and exercise calories burned correctly, then it would be the same for everyone that does not have a thyroid issue. 500 cals/day deficit = 1lb/week loss.

Phoenyxtears

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

No, but they are screwing up their body's systems in doing so. I only eat back whatever amount it takes to reach 1200ish net cals if I have the time.

BrattyLori

There isn't ONE person on planet earth who is officially obese who is exercising a ton and eating 800 to 1000 calories per day and on a plateau.

Now how do you know that? Really not one person on earth? Do you know everyone on earth? I think you speak in pretty large generalizations. I'm just saying. So it doesn't work for you. We get it. Relax.

Relax? Sister, I'm about as tightly wound as they come. ;D