to those who DON'T eat back their exercise calories

sculptcha

I don't eat mine back. I burn around 700-900 calories a day. I've only been at it a month so far, and I've been steadily losing two pounds a week. I figure once I hit a plateau, I'll start eating them and see if that helps, but so far I seem to be losing at a healthy rate and I feel good. (I do go over 1200 once in a while, if I'm especially hungry)

lindaswelker

I agree that (like me) if you have more weight to lose, then eating them back may not work. I try not to touch mine, I eat around 1200 calories a day. I am 202 pounds and when I exercise I can burn 800+ in one hour depending on what I do. If I'm not hungry, then I don't touch those extra calories. But, there have been days that I am starving, then I will. Last week I lost NO weight but lost 4 inches.....this week I lost 1 pound and 3 1/4 inches. So, I guess it is working , just losing more inches than weight right now .

Don't worry what people might say......do what feels right to YOU and eat only when you are hungry. I have read all the other posts on this & stressed, "Oh my Gosh, I'm not eating enough" and at that time my husband told me "THAT EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT & what works for them might not work for me".

Hope you find what works for you .

NoAdditives

well who knows really but my opinion and what I do is:

I try to eat at least 1200,as that's what this says we must do. Although my mom's says she is only allowed 1200, so that's weird one calorie to little,god help you, one to much shame on you, really?

Then I add 1/3 of what i burn off, burn 1000 = must eat 1500 at least.

Were did you two see that you had to eat all of it back? obviously that would make you lose nothing as you burned nothing.

That last part would be true only if MFP had you eating at your BMR rate, but it doesn't. MFP sets you up with a calorie deficit so that essentially, exercise is optional. You can still lose weight without exercise because we're eating 250-1000 calories less than our body needs for normal daily function.

msmith101

When I started this I was on an 800 calorie a day plan per doctors orders... I started at 343 lbs. and by the time the dr said I could increase my calories if I wanted to, it was 4 months later and I had gotten down to 268 lbs. - its been 10 months now and I am only at 232 lbs right now. But I increased my calories to 1200 per day. Sometimes I eat back my exercise calories and sometimes I don't. I have found that for me I need to mix it up. Go for a while under my calories and then go for a while eating most, or even occasionally, more than my exercise calories back. Sometime I exercise 7 days a week and sometimes I take a couple days off. I have also had some personal issues the last several months that have messed me up some and have halted my progress losing as well as getting pretty sick for about a month, but now I am finally back on the down trend, meaning, losing again... I think every person is different and you probably just have to play with it and see what works best for you, for your body.
What ever you do, the key is not to give up. If you have a rough day and things don't go as planned , don't beat yourself and say "the Hell with it" and quit, that was always my mistake int he past. Just pick your self up and start again tomorrow, because there is always tomorrow, and tomorrow can be better if you let, if you make it..
Just don't stress about it and do what feels best and works best for you..
Good Luck and I know you can do it, what ever your goal it, you can do it... :flowerforyou:

natskedat

I'm not entering into this discussion to comment on eating back exercise calories. However, to those who think that you can't have a 2000-2500 calorie a day diet without eating crap, please look at my food diary. I maintain my weight with somewhere between 2100-2400 calories on days I don't do hard exercise. I eat more on those days and the day after.

That's all!

Staci64

Honestly, I hardly never eat my exercise calories. I eat 1200 cal a day and usually burn 1000ish doing zumba and weights. on my zumba days (5 out of 7) I end up somewhere around 1600. I am pretty much vegetarian so the things I eat are very low in calories.
A typical day for me is slim fast choc royale shake (mixed with one scoop slim fast powder, 2 cups skim milk, 2 scoops benefiber and crushed ice) I put it in the freezer when I get to work, wait about 3 hrs and then eat it with a spoon--seriously it takes me until I leave to eat it cause its frozen and oh so yummy. I eat a yogurt or banana round 10am, then for lunch usually fruit (cantelope & watermelon) and air-popped popcorn (60 cal for a entire bag). If its a zumba day I eat celery w/ PB for the protein. then for dinner usually cereal & milk. Here come the calories.....I love, love, love candy. I snack on candy all day. usually the candy ends up making up about 4-500 calories of my day-I don't care, its totally worth it to me. Since I started doing the zumba & weights and watching the calorie intake I've lost 16lb--that took about 5 months.

I'm glad the extra calories are there-it pushes me to go to the gym-one of my posts I said I don't like being gone 13 hr a day and going to the gym everyday, but I love to eat and as long as I love to eat, to the gym I will have to go. Its a vicious cycle.

I'm in a crash zone right now-easter threw my schedule off-didn't get to gym sat or sun, then monday had really bad headache (probably due to the easter candy), and went to gym tue, but not wed--had to work over, then caught my sons bad cold-its in my sinuses and has been for 3 days-my head is freakin splitting open, so haven't been to gym since like last thursday---got on scale this morning out of curiosity (and to keep myself under control) I gained 5lb--in one wk, really?? no exercise and a couple crash days was all it took.

Do I have crash days, Hell ya I do. I have days where I eat ice cream for dinner and drink reg pop, but those days I just don't log and start over the next day. I think letting myself crash every now and then is what keeps me 'on a diet'. If you go forever and don't give in to some of the cravings day you'll say screw it, I've tried, it wasn't working, I'm just gonna go back to the way I was.

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. Thats one of my favorite quotes!! lol

casey12105

Most of the time I don't, and sometimes I do on days like today where my stomach feels like a bottomless pit and I've felt hungry all day long lol. Haven't had any problems losing weight, my net is usually really low I only go by total food calories and try to keep it anywhere from 12-1400. Of course, I have over 100lbs to lose so there's that to take into consideration.

sb1023

i agree with alot of these posts- the truth is I think it works differently for everyone, just like everything else. my advice would be to try either one for a week or two and see how you respond. I was eating my calories back at first, and it wasn't working for me. But that's just me. I have read lots and lots of posts on here from people who eat back their calories and it works really well for them. I wish it was true for me cause I would love the idea of earning more than my 1200 calories!! the truth is i do let myself have a little more than my usual 1200 on days when i work out really hard, but i can't say i eat back all my calories. just find what works for you- i think a lot of it has to do with our individual metabolisms. best of luck!

LuckyLeprechaun

I do not only because my Nutritionist tells me not too.
I also have alot of weight to lose - By that I mean 150+ more to go.

Not to single you out, but you're a perfect example!!! Mind if I use this info to share something?

When a person is at the beginning of their journey, and has a ways to go, creating a BIG deficit isn't such a problem, the body has enough fat to spare and it is willing to allow this kind of deficit. (Just like the people on the Biggest Loser). However, as you get closer and closer to your goal, the kinds of deficits that once could easily be made up by your body going to the fat reserves are a much bigger percentage of your total intake. What I mean is, your body had no problem with giving up the first layers of fat, but as we get leaner, it starts to go...hey....am I starving here? If your deficits are very large, and you have <50 lbs to lose, it becomes harder and harder to lose weight because your body is struggling to hold onto the reserves. After all, you've trained it to expect low calories coming in. So eating back your exercise calories becomes more important the closer to your goal you get.

Hope that was helpful...:flowerforyou:

kdouglas11

I am in the same boat as you I don't have any answer yet but there is no way I can eat 2500 calories a day I am eating between 1000-1300 calories a day..please do not jump down my throat about the 1000 but I believe in giving myself a 200 calorie bump for bad measuring extra seasonings etc that I might not realize is in my food....I am guessing if I weighed 130 and I wasn't burning 1000ish calories a day it would be easier to eat back the calories. I keep reading all of the debates but honestly I think if you have a good chunk to lose like I do that we shouldn't be eating back all of those calories again just my opinion. I am also curious to hear what others have to say though

I rarely eat 1000 calories... but I'm trying to bump up to 1300 and having a hard time... like I've eaten 950 and it's 8 pm at night...don't know...but I think I'm going to make some popcorn... and call it a night!

kaveril422

I don't eat most of mine i eat about a third max and it does me no harm, the weight is falling off me:happy: . mind the starvation mode people don't get you for this post though you know what they are like lol

I don't eat mine. When I did I put on weight...

cobarlo14

I do not only because my Nutritionist tells me not too.
I also have alot of weight to lose - By that I mean 150+ more to go.

Not to single you out, but you're a perfect example!!! Mind if I use this info to share something?

When a person is at the beginning of their journey, and has a ways to go, creating a BIG deficit isn't such a problem, the body has enough fat to spare and it is willing to allow this kind of deficit. (Just like the people on the Biggest Loser). However, as you get closer and closer to your goal, the kinds of deficits that once could easily be made up by your body going to the fat reserves are a much bigger percentage of your total intake. What I mean is, your body had no problem with giving up the first layers of fat, but as we get leaner, it starts to go...hey....am I starving here? If your deficits are very large, and you have <50 lbs to lose, it becomes harder and harder to lose weight because your body is struggling to hold onto the reserves. After all, you've trained it to expect low calories coming in. So eating back your exercise calories becomes more important the closer to your goal you get.

Hope that was helpful...:flowerforyou:

Very Helpful!!! This time I dont mind being singled out, so I probably shouldn't have said anything - I guess. Sorry...

_eislek_

I don't eat mine back and every day whether I work out or not I try to stay at or below 1000. I've only been doing this for two weeks but I haven't hit a wall yet.

breezymom81

I started out not eating them back, lost 3 lbs each week. Then I tried eating them and felt bad, it was too much food for me! I was feeling sick and my weight slowed down so now I am back to not eating them and that's what works for me. If I know I am going to eat a big meal at a gathering or something I will work out a bit more and eat some of them

BigBoneSista

I eat between 1200 and 1700 calories a day. It depends on how I feel. On days I exercise I'm normally between 1400-1700. The days I don't I'm somewhere close to 1200/1300 whether slightly under or over either number. I don't monitor the number perse. I allow my body to determine how much I eat. On the days I strength train I'm usually hungrier so I tend to eat more.

I also have a nutritionist that monitors my diary. She likes my choices and feels I have an handle on it.

seabuckaroo

I have stopped eating my exercise cals....

LindseyC87

Im working with a nurtitionalist and personal trainer and they DO NOT want me to eat back my excersise calories. That want me at between 1100-1200 calories a day no matter how much i work out. If I am feeling way hungry then to eat antoerh 100 or so.. I burn alot of calories, a day. Personally- as long as it work for me, im gonna follow it. They are the professionals.

BigBoneSista

I am in the same boat as you I don't have any answer yet but there is no way I can eat 2500 calories a day I am eating between 1000-1300 calories a day..please do not jump down my throat about the 1000 but I believe in giving myself a 200 calorie bump for bad measuring extra seasonings etc that I might not realize is in my food....I am guessing if I weighed 130 and I wasn't burning 1000ish calories a day it would be easier to eat back the calories. I keep reading all of the debates but honestly I think if you have a good chunk to lose like I do that we shouldn't be eating back all of those calories again just my opinion. I am also curious to hear what others have to say though

I rarely eat 1000 calories... but I'm trying to bump up to 1300 and having a hard time... like I've eaten 950 and it's 8 pm at night...don't know...but I think I'm going to make some popcorn... and call it a night!

If you haven't already add some extra virgin olive oil to your daily intake. 2tbsps is 120 calories and it can be use marinate meats, to make salad dressings and to sautee veggies. Also you can add a serving of nuts to get some added calories. These two options aren't really invasive so you shouldn't feel like you are over feeding yourself.

Glucocorticoid

This whole concept of "eating back exercise calories" is irrelevant because you DON'T KNOW exactly how many calories you have "burned" with exercise. Take those calorie trackers with a grain of salt.

There is no point in even discussing this, it is an irrelevancy. Set an appropriate deficit, hit your calorie/macronutrient targets.

As far as exercise goes, all of this depends greatly on the intensity, volume, and frequency of your training regime.

Pebble321

Honestly, I hardly never eat my exercise calories. I eat 1200 cal a day and usually burn 1000ish doing zumba and weights. on my zumba days (5 out of 7) I end up somewhere around 1600. I am pretty much vegetarian so the things I eat are very low in calories.
A typical day for me is slim fast choc royale shake (mixed with one scoop slim fast powder, 2 cups skim milk, 2 scoops benefiber and crushed ice) I put it in the freezer when I get to work, wait about 3 hrs and then eat it with a spoon--seriously it takes me until I leave to eat it cause its frozen and oh so yummy. I eat a yogurt or banana round 10am, then for lunch usually fruit (cantelope & watermelon) and air-popped popcorn (60 cal for a entire bag). If its a zumba day I eat celery w/ PB for the protein. then for dinner usually cereal & milk. Here come the calories.....I love, love, love candy. I snack on candy all day. usually the candy ends up making up about 4-500 calories of my day-I don't care, its totally worth it to me. Since I started doing the zumba & weights and watching the calorie intake I've lost 16lb--that took about 5 months.
.......
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. Thats one of my favorite quotes!! lol

I agree with people who are saying that you have to find what works for you and your body. I had no desire to go to a really low calorie diet and am happily losing weight on 1500ish net calories a day. I eat most of my exercise calories but I don't force myself to eat them all if I'm not hungry and I know I've had a day of good nutrition and given my body enough good fuel to work out on.

I love this quote "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got.", thanks for posting it, it is a great reminder that we need to change habits to get results.

And I love the idea of the frozen shake, sounds like a great way to have dessert for lunch and get some nutrition at the same time!

I did want to comment though that if you are vegetarian or cutting out major food groups like meat, veggies or grains to make sure that you see your doctor regularly to check that you aren't missing out on vital nutrients. I think one of the downfalls of a low calorie diet is that it can be hard to get all the nutrients you need. I used to be vegetarian and ended up so lethargic and run down. My doctor tested for all kind of stuff and one of the factors was being deficient in Vitamin B12. I ended up having to have injections every week for about 3 months which was not at all fun!

Good luck all, however you choose to do it, I hope you find a path to long lasting weight loss and a healthier body!