Exercise calories - to eat back ALL or NOT to eat back all??

jude666

Walking to and from work to the station (just started this week) I am burning 406 calories alone... (wore my HRM to work out exact number). I am also trying to do JM's "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism" DVD, which burns just under 600 calories! I started the DVD Sunday night, did it again on Tuesday and I am planning on doing it again tonight. I am doing it every other night at the moment, the nights in between i'm taking my dog for a long walk by the lake - this still burns 300-400 calories.

My Question to all my lovley MFP chums is... do YOU eat ALL of your calories back religously or do you just eat some, do you aim for half for example? I would love to know what success people have had (or unsuccess even) just by keepong your eye on the exercise calories. I know that there are ways of getting through the calories (friend suggested i try smoothies - which I definitely will try). Does anyone use whey protein shakes just to make up the calories? Does anyone have any tips they can share. I do get the whole eating exercise calories back / starvation mode etc. etc. etc. but i want to know whether or not on the days I am not making up ALL the calories will this have a knock on effect on me shedding the pounds.

I am not weighing myself at the moment... the reason for this is I started to do the 30DS a little while back, got halfway through L2.... was getting loads of compliments from workmates saying how slim I was looking etc. etc. so when I stepped on the scale..... NOTHING!! It hadn't budged, not even by one pound! I cannot tell you how gutted I was... so much so I completely fell off my exercise wagon and just got a bit disheartened with it all. SOOOOOO this time round i am not weighing myself, i'm much happier that way and i am purely judging it all on how I feel in my clothes.... my jeans in particular :-)

I'd love to hear what you all do so I can compare...

wheelieblade

I only eat some back, depends on what my net is showing at and how much I burn off, not managing to burn much so I don't see the point

morganadk2_deleted

Are you eating to enough?

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


This is just a part of it! please read the link above


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677



Good luck on your journey

mddorrell

I never eat the extra calories. For me, that would defeat one of the main reasons to exercise!

erickirb

Walking to and from work to the station (just started this week) I am burning 406 calories alone... (wore my HRM to work out exact number). I am also trying to do JM's "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism" DVD, which burns just under 600 calories! I started the DVD Sunday night, did it again on Tuesday and I am planning on doing it again tonight. I am doing it every other night at the moment, the nights in between i'm taking my dog for a long walk by the lake - this still burns 300-400 calories.

My Question to all my lovley MFP chums is... do YOU eat ALL of your calories back religously or do you just eat some, do you aim for half for example? I would love to know what success people have had (or unsuccess even) just by keepong your eye on the exercise calories. I know that there are ways of getting through the calories (friend suggested i try smoothies - which I definitely will try). Does anyone use whey protein shakes just to make up the calories? Does anyone have any tips they can share. I do get the whole eating exercise calories back / starvation mode etc. etc. etc. but i want to know whether or not on the days I am not making up ALL the calories will this have a knock on effect on me shedding the pounds.

I am not weighing myself at the moment... the reason for this is I started to do the 30DS a little while back, got halfway through L2.... was getting loads of compliments from workmates saying how slim I was looking etc. etc. so when I stepped on the scale..... NOTHING!! It hadn't budged, not even by one pound! I cannot tell you how gutted I was... so much so I completely fell off my exercise wagon and just got a bit disheartened with it all. SOOOOOO this time round i am not weighing myself, i'm much happier that way and i am purely judging it all on how I feel in my clothes.... my jeans in particular :-)

I'd love to hear what you all do so I can compare...

even though you used your HRM you will have to back out the calories you would have spent had you not walked or worked out (maintenance calories). To get the amount to back out go to your goals page and look for calories burned from normal daily activity. Take that number and divide by 24 to get cals burned per our then divide by 60 to get maintenance cals /minute.

So if your maintenance is 2000 caloires you would have to back out 1.39 (2000/24/60) calories for every minute you workout. So if you burned 400 calories in 60 minutes you would only enter 317 (400 -(1.39*60))into MFP otherwise you would be double counting the maintenance caloires for that time period.

The only way to meet your weekly weight loss goal (caloric deficit) is to eat all the exercise calories, after backing out maintenance as suggested above.

jagianotti

when I eat back all my exercise calories I gain, Im older than you too, so that probably matters also....hard to burn calories when you hit a "certain age."

erickirb

I never eat the extra calories. For me, that would defeat one of the main reasons to exercise!

with only 20 lbs to go you should be eating them, or you risk losing a higher % muscle while losing weight than you would if you did eat them.

rebbecarose

My rule is that if I am hungry I eat. Usually this means eating back most of my exercise calories. I have found much better success sticking with a diet if I'm not starving by the end of the day. The trick for me is finding low-cal foods that will keep me full throughout the day.

leebluejay

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

r3webster

Hey

I eat the full allowance if I'm hungry. If not then I don't eat it all. Eating a restricted amount of calories will mean you will loose weight anyway and with the exercise its an extra bonus measure but you cant live by calories, enjoy your life, enjoy your food and eat if your body tells you you're hungry!

Celo24

I never eat the extra calories. For me, that would defeat one of the main reasons to exercise!

Then you don't understand how MFP works. MFP already builds in a deficit. You need to eat those calories so that your body gets the fuel and nutrients that it needs on a daily basis.

erickirb

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

No, you will probably not put muscle on in a caloric surplus, unless you are very new to strength training. Gaining muscle is even difficult in a caloric surplus, and as a woman you don't produce much testosterone which helps build muscle.

spirited_angel

I realised i wasnt eatting enough and my body had gone into starvation mode so i put a bit of weight on!!I then started using this site and was told a warning i wasnt eatting enough so i now aim to eat about 80% of my exercise calores back!sometimes i eat more sometimes less it just depends to be honest but i never eat them all!!I started doing that 3 weeks ago the first week i put on just over 2lb n thought im not having this im gonna back to not eatting much but my hubby and mfp friends told me to give it a few weeks as hwat had happened was i was eatting more so my body was keeping hold of it and once it realised i was gonna carry on eatting enough it would start to change!!Low and behold they were rightb and last week i lost 5lb and 1 inch!!I havent weighed this week yet so dont know how i have done on my 3rd week but hopefully will be good!

picturesing

Ohhh - just hate the stupid scale sometimes - I haven't "lost" according to the scale for a month, BUT my body is feeling so different, cloths are looser too! Was having a pity party about the scale yesterday and my awesome MFPs reminded me to stay the hell of the scale - they are right. Logging your cals and exercise and the way you feel is all you need!
On my workout days I will eat a "heartier" breakfast - meaning more protein and complex carbs,,,,,,nothing worse than getting to the end of the day and have 800 cals to eat so near to bed time. I'm adding protein shakes this week - getting one of those "personal blenders" where you blend in your cup - makes perfect sence!!! And will make it easier for my on-the-go days! I hope this will help me get closer to eating back most of my workout cals. I try to come close - usually don't - but I try.
Much luck to you :drinker:
You are def on the right track!!!!

Gennawest

here is my PERSONAL experience with exercise calories and blah blah blah. I have never (well with the exception of one time) ate back my calories. Granted, when I started on this "journey" if you will, I was severly obese so I think it was easier for me to lose weight. Without EVER eating my calories back, I have lost 63 lbs in 5 and a half months. I work out about 5-6 times a week, including cardio kickboxing, zumba, running, elliptical (which I now hate), and toning and step classes. I have lost over 10% of my BMI. I think I started out at 39.9% and now I am at 29.9%. I am no longer obese.

jude666

Are you eating to enough?

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


This is just a part of it! please read the link above


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677



Good luck on your journey

Thanks so much for that link - what a great blog! I used to be a lot bigger (when I was 17 I was 13 stone (182lbs) i'm now 11 stone (154 lbs) but would like to weight 9.5-10 stone(133-140 lbs). I stick to the 1200 MFP gives me but am trying to eat most of my exercise calories back as I know how important it is. I am wondering whether I need to up my initial calorie goal, only a little, that might make all the difference. This time round is soooooo much harder to lose weight. The first time I lost the weight MFP didn't exist, i didn't use a proper plan as such (just Mum's genius advice) and the weight fell off me in no time (I did go swimming quite a bit this was my main exercise but that is all). Thanks again x

knewbill72

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound. Muscle is more dense than fat...

nichole325

I was going to go buy a scale today...I've only been doing MFP and excersicing regularly (I switch it up between ZUMBA for Wii, P90X, some kickboxing DVDs, Michael Jackson for Wii and some of my own excersing methods) for two weeks...I HATE scales...my boyfriend keeps telling me I should buy one and every time I tell him..."as long as I FEEL better about myself, that's what matters to me right now." I do feel a little better after 2 weeks but I don't plan on hopping on the scale for another two weeks or so...we will see!

Good luck!

LemonCitron

Your current exercise routine is VERY similar to mine. Except I drive to work.

But when I get home I do my BFBM video which for me burns 450-500 calories. And then I try to go for a walk with my dogs after dinner which burns 200-300 cals depending on how long we go for.

I have been changing up my working out and eating for about 4 months now and I find the best way for me is to not eat all of my exercise calories back. I will only eat about half. But then there are some days when I'm a little piggy and I'll go over, and that's okay too.

I've been doing this new, don't eat all your exercise calories back routine for 1 1/2 weeks so not that long but I've already lost 2.4 lbs and I haven't weighed in for the 2nd week yet.

Referring to what that girl said above with the BMI, mine is 23.7 so that falls into the 'tricky' category. Basically you might have to try out a few different things to see what is going to work for you. When this not eating back my calories stops working I'm going to be changing it up again too.

I also started out with 30DS and I loved those work outs but yeah, they were not burning enough calories, which BFBM surely does. I used to do her No More Trouble Zones DVD too, which I prefer to BFBM but I pulled my shoulder a couple months ago and I didn't heal it properly and now I'm trying to fix it and weights do not help...

On a different note, how do you like BFBM? It kicks my *kitten*. Circuit 6, OMG, those standing mountain climbers, KILL ME. LOL.

EDIT: My calorie goal is set to 1400 calories not the 1200 MFP suggests. 1200 is just too low for me.

Gennawest

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

No, you will probably not put muscle on in a caloric surplus, unless you are very new to strength training. Gaining muscle is even difficult in a caloric surplus, and as a woman you don't produce much testosterone which helps build muscle.

I dont understand why people say muscle weighs more than fat. Maybe it may take up more space then fat, but 5 pounds is five pounds. That is like saying what weighs more 5 pounds of cotton balls, or a 5 pound brick? Hello.... they weigh the same they are both five pounds!

beckajw

Walking to and from work to the station (just started this week) I am burning 406 calories alone... (wore my HRM to work out exact number). I am also trying to do JM's "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism" DVD, which burns just under 600 calories! I started the DVD Sunday night, did it again on Tuesday and I am planning on doing it again tonight. I am doing it every other night at the moment, the nights in between i'm taking my dog for a long walk by the lake - this still burns 300-400 calories.

My Question to all my lovley MFP chums is... do YOU eat ALL of your calories back religously or do you just eat some, do you aim for half for example? I would love to know what success people have had (or unsuccess even) just by keepong your eye on the exercise calories. I know that there are ways of getting through the calories (friend suggested i try smoothies - which I definitely will try). Does anyone use whey protein shakes just to make up the calories? Does anyone have any tips they can share. I do get the whole eating exercise calories back / starvation mode etc. etc. etc. but i want to know whether or not on the days I am not making up ALL the calories will this have a knock on effect on me shedding the pounds.

I am not weighing myself at the moment... the reason for this is I started to do the 30DS a little while back, got halfway through L2.... was getting loads of compliments from workmates saying how slim I was looking etc. etc. so when I stepped on the scale..... NOTHING!! It hadn't budged, not even by one pound! I cannot tell you how gutted I was... so much so I completely fell off my exercise wagon and just got a bit disheartened with it all. SOOOOOO this time round i am not weighing myself, i'm much happier that way and i am purely judging it all on how I feel in my clothes.... my jeans in particular :-)

I'd love to hear what you all do so I can compare...

By the end of the week, I eat most of my exercise calories back. However, I don't eat them all back on the day I earn them. As far as I can tell, there is no scientific proof that you have to eat them only on the day you earn them. So, I save them and treat myself.

Also, I don't think it's necessary to eat all of your exercise calories back because the HRM generally counts your basal rate in determining how many calories you burned (but this depends on your HRM). You should subtract that basal rate out to determine how many calories you actually burned, if you want to be really accurrate. It doesn't hurt to eat them all back, but you shouldn't feel obligated to, is what I'm trying to say.

I agree with you about not using the scale. Sometimes intense exercises will burn the fat but at the same time build a little muscle (shouldn't be enough to make you gain, but can make the scale not move). That doesn't mean you aren't getting healthier. I focus more on measurements than the scale because I'm doing a heavy weight routine right now.

SHBoss1673

http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

iheartralphie

EAT BACK THE MAJORITY OF THEM OR YOU WILL NOT LOSE ANY MORE WEIGHT!!!! I know this from experience!! This was the only thing that helped me start losing again...I was working my butt off, burning almost 1000 cal a day, but nothing. Even gained 2 back. Until I took everyones suggestion and started eating those calories back. then I lost 3 lbs that first week and went back to losing. Slowly, but steady.

sam363

My rule is that if I am hungry I eat. Usually this means eating back most of my exercise calories. I have found much better success sticking with a diet if I'm not starving by the end of the day. The trick for me is finding low-cal foods that will keep me full throughout the day.

Completely agree! I usually eat most of mine back because otherwise I will be starving. It's all in the choices. Normally the days that I work out I will eat a pb & banana sandwich and extra grapes. If you are finding that you are not losing weight then eat them back.

beckajw

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound. Muscle is more dense than fat...

A cubic inch of muscle does weigh more than a cubic inch of fat. The post didn't say that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. It's clearly talking about volume.

erickirb

As far as your weight goes, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, even if you burned a lot of fat and lost weight in that area, you may have put on muscle mass. That's a good thing. You should try measuring your thighs, waist, arms, neck, and hips every few weeks to see if you are really making progress. That should help. As far as my exercise calories--if I'm hungry, and I feel like I need more food, I eat all of the calories I earn. If I don't feel hungry, I don't. It's really a judgment call, but don't eat just to eat.

Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound. Muscle is more dense than fat...

Yes muscle does weigh more than fat. When you compare something by weight, volume should be kept constant, if you are measuring volume then weight should be kept constant. You are trying to compare 2 things and having 2 variables, you need to keep something constant or it is not a fair comparison. Because muscle is more dense, Earth's gravitational force caused muscle to be heavier. the poster never once said the 1 lb of muscle weighs more than 1 lb of fat, so why are you putting words into their mouth.

If you use your logic, you would argue that carrots and butter have the same caloric content becuse 100 cals of carrots = 100 cals of butter. Would you make that argument? Carrots have less calories because they are less calorie dense, just like fat vs. muscle when it comes to weight.

TS65

EVERY time I see someone post their results for 30DS, they are AMAZING. BUT... I notice there's never much weight loss - only inches! Hop back on, but this time, take your measurements. Put the scale in the closet and go by how your clothes fit, your measurements and the compliments you get. :flowerforyou:

Would you rather be a hard size 6 weighing 130 or a soft jiggly size 10 weighing 130 lbs?

veggievixen

Thanks for this, I had the same question. I set my activity level at "light" one up from sedentary to avoid the doing the math every time I logged calories out. My job burns a lot, but the workload varies from day to day. I don't sit down much, meal times and 20-40 minutes of e-mail/internet time a day. Does that sound appropriate, should I just do the math, or would sedentary give me a more accurate picture? I've been hitting the 1.5lb/week goal so far, so it seems like I'm on the right track.

BudWII

Depending on when we exercise and how close we are to bed time (3hrs out) depends on how much of our burned off calories we eat back. We keep a schedule for our eating, but definitely do the shake after workouts. We eat our required calories for the day, but if we don't feel hungry, we skip that part of the daily plan. We have lost 401lbs each since January 17, 2011 and have had many pig out days (Superbowl, BBQs, dinners out and family get togethers). Weight loss doesn't mean dieting or deprivation, it just means getting up from the food trough and putting that shovel down everyday. Just make sure that you don't put your body into starvation mode or you will not lose weight.

We don't do DIETS.

BudWII and Robbin

AbbyCar

I have not read all of the replies to your question, but here is what I've learned from my own experience. I was eating my calories back, but not losing as fast as I would like (~1/2 pound per week maybe), so I decided just to eat my 1200 calories. I lost a pound the first week and then went back to my 1/2 pound per week. I found that I was very tired at the end of the day and not nearly as strong in my workouts. I believe I also lost some muscle during this time. So...for me, I eat back most of my calories. I was told by a trainer that this was acceptable since MFP already gives you a deficit in calories. I have way more energy to get through my workouts and am not falling asleep on the couch at 9:30pm. I also think that this makes me feel less like I'm on a "diet" and allows me to concentrate more on become stronger and building endurance.

thrld

Okay, here's another question -- when do I have to eat back my calories?

I usually work out at night, and am not very hungry after. So do I eat back the calories the next day? Or should I eat them back the lunchtime before excercise. Is there a ideal time span in which I should eat them back (within 12 hours? 24 hours?)

Thanks!