SURVEY! Serious participants only!

MeekMeals

I am really curious as to who eats back all their exercise calories??? And if you do, do you see positive results. if you don't what are your results?

Thanks,
Tameka

steffilily

I would say 95 percent of the time I eat back my exercise calories. I work out on purpose so I could eat more! I've been losing an average of 2-3 pounds a week since I joined 9 weeks ago. The other 5 percent of the time, I am just not hungry and also too tired to think about what to eat so I just go ahead to bed and sign off my food diary for the day.

fatboypup

I dont eat them back

steffilily

Forgot to add that I eat back enough to net 1200. I do sometimes go very close to my allowed net calories (this usually happens on weekends). Starting on MFP, my allowed calroies were 1540 and now it's 1320. I think another 25 pounds is when my net will stop and stay at 1200 until I reach my goal.

mytime60

When I first started I made sure I did. Now I make sure I eat at least my base calories and then my own rule of thumb is to try and eat at least half of my work out calories. I consistantly lost two pounds a week when I started; lately I have had days without excercising at all but also not eating my excercise calories. I have not had the weight loss I had before. So I now am trying to make sure I get my excercising in and if I still am not losing; I will go back to eating all my excercise calories.

sweetiepie31612

I don't eat back all of my calories. I don't think I could eat that much. I definitely try to eat as much as I can though. I work out a ton and need the energy. I usually have an extra 300 or so that I don't eat back. Anything more than that though and I definitely notice the lack of energy I have.

akaMrsmojo

I do most of the time. I get as close to my net as I can.

rileysowner

I don't, but my calories are not the ones MFP would come up with, but determined by another formula. I do eat back some of them, but rarely all. If I was using the MFP calories I would most certainly eat them back because their numbers are based on the assumption people are eating back calories.

BobbyDaniel

Since I usually exercise in the evenings I don't eat back all of my exercise calories since I would have to do a lot of eating late in the day.

jldeal

I do the elliptical at night after my kiddos go to bed and when I am done I usually sit down and enjoy some popcorn I have lost 48 lbs so far and haven't gone a week since I started without losing something. I personally think you need to eat something after you work out....whether it's an orange, apple, or popcorn. You burn off more than just calories when you work out and sometimes your body needs some extra nutrients when you are done.

Atlantique

At this point, I do not eat them back. Not because I think it's a bad idea, but because I don't trust the calorie counts for exercise on here. I try to eat what I THINK is the accurate exercise calorie count, or at least some of it.

As I know most don't read profiles when evaluating posts: I took this same 40 pounds off 27 years ago and kept it off for over 20 years. I was very active in that time. When I was in maintenance all those years, I most certainly DID eat exercise calories back. At first, it was pretty natural. But then I started running A LOT. Half marathons. I thought I was doing OK, but I was losing weight and didn't see it. Other people pointed it out to me, but I didn't believe it because in my head, I will always be the 'fat chick'. But eventually, my running suffered. So I had to start consciously counting exercise calories and eating them so I could keep running at the same performance level. It really wasn't about weight at that point-I just wasn't functioning as well because I was unwittingly underfeeding myself while demanding a hell of a lot of performance.

I understand why it's frightening to eat them back, and I can also see where it makes a lot of sense as I've been in both places.

Jerri56

you are supposed to eat them back or your body will go into "starvation mode" and store fat. Stay close to your goal calorie intake (1200 or whatever yours is) It is also good to OCCASIONALLY "binge" to kick start your metabolism. Just once in a while. But don't go overboard

MsQt

I never eat back my burned cals. I may go over my original food goal but I don't do it purposely. I still manage to lose at least a pound a week!

AmberLiscous

I only eat about half of my exercise calories back and in 3 months i have lost 25 pounds

SabrinaJL

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But I also have a lot of weight to lose and I set my goal to 1 lb a week, so I get a lot of cals already (1730). I try to make sure I net 1230 though because that's what it would have been had I selected the 2 lb a week loss. I'm having good results.

mishelnkiki

i usually burn at LEAST 1000 a day. i try to stay under my 2000 cal intake for the day. so far, its working. depends on how much i exercise. its actually becoming hard to eat as much the better i eat bc the things i eat now are lower in cals.

fatboypup

I think starvation mode is a myth unless you only eat like 500 cals a day for an entire month ....... if you have a few days you net under 1200 your not gonna shut down and stop losing :ohwell:

missyjmet

yes, i do eat back my exercise calories. after my workouts, i'm starving. I usually eat good stuff (lots of protein and some carbs), if i don't the next days workout is horrible. i have no energy. I am not trying to lose much weight, between 3 and 5 pounds. I tend to look at my eating as how to fuel my next workout.

realme56

I think starvation mode is a myth unless you only eat like 500 cals a day for an entire month ....... if you have a few days you net under 1200 your not gonna shut down and stop losing :ohwell:

I agree that starvation mode is not an immediate thing. I am usually under the recommended calories, I get close at times but do not usually eat back all my calories. I think if you do it 3-4 days a week though you will be in trouble. Plus we are here because we eat and do not expend enough calories so you must find your own balance.

Exercise and food calories are, at best, calculations and not absolute.

surv8r

I don't...

I have lost weight every week since I started (Feb 16, 2011).

MeekMeals

Thanks!! I try to stay at my target cals of 1600! But sometimes I dont even hit that!

kittyinaz

I don't normally. But there are some days when I eat more, so even if I eat under 1200 one day, I may make it up a day or two later by eating 1600 or so. It hasn't affected my weight loss in anyway and I'm losing around 3 pounds each week.