true or false

shanel_h

Does eating back you exercise earned calories really help you lose weight faster then not eating them back?
So far I have not done it and have been losing but if it will truly help I will like to start to. thanks for your feedback

CuteAndCurvy83

some people say yes others say no, the only thing you need to watch for is "starvation mode" check out the stickies or search "should i eat my exercise calories?" and it'll give you all the fancy shmancy sciency info lol

joehempel

Here's my thoughts on it.

Why are you going to eat back what you worked so hard to take off. BUT you have to eat every few hours.

You start the day with an empty tank, so you eat breakfast...it gets a bit more full....you eat a few hours later, your filling up the gas tank...throughout the day you are burning, you workout you are burning, you eat to re-fuel. At the end of the day, you go to bed, and while asleep you are still burning.

You end up being very hungry in the morning, but you eat...and get energy, and go for the day!

Eating some back I think is fine...I try to eat 1800 or less BEFORE exercise. My goal here is 1500 roughly for 2lbs a week. So because I find that 1500 is really too low I eat some of the calories back.

taem

Hi,

I think the problem with dieting is that once you are finished with it, meaning you reached your goal. What do you do next? Go back and eat the way you did before? If that is the case, I would eat back the calories and lose weight gradually.

Some people, (like me) decided to not only lose weight but to change eating habits after the diet so that the eating will help maintain the weight along with moderate exercise. Once balance between eating and exercise is achieved, you are good as well.

So I suggest you think about what your end game is and act appropriately.

Good health to you.

NikkisNewStart

Try it out and see if it works for you instead of asking how it worked for others. Everyone is different... try it out and see.

juliapurpletoes

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

read this and all the links within it. (eating back the calories always works but you must be accurate with your food entries and your exercise calories....get a heart rate monitor and weigh your foods)

best of luck

mamagooskie

For me eating my exercize calories works. I eat according to hunger though, so sometimes I eat em all and sometimes not so much. It's all about finding out what works for you though. Just try it and see how it goes, sometimes the body needs change and it can help get out of a plateau or just boost weight loss in general.

LauraMarie37

Why are you going to eat back what you worked so hard to take off. BUT you have to eat every few hours.

People are very passionate about this topic here.

With the above quote, the problem is that his question is like saying, "If you are trying to lose weight, why eat at all?" Obviously, you eat because your body needs fuel for everything it does - breathing, thinking, moving, circulating blood, etc. The reason you eat back your exercise calories is the same - because you need a certain number of calories each day for all of the things I just listed, and if you exercise but don't eat those calories back, you will go too far under that number you need.

For example, let's say MFP is giving you 1500 calories a day. That is ALREADY a deficit for what you need to maintain your current weight. That deficit is the reason you lose weight.

You could do nothing and eat 1500 calories a day and lose weight.

You could eat 2000 calories and burn 500 calories (2000-500=1500) and STILL be at 1500 calories for the day, so you would lose the exact same amount of weight.

If you ate 1500 and burned 500 (1500-500=1000), you would be at a higher deficit - cutting into those calories your body needs for breathing, thinking, moving, circulating blood, etc that we already talked about. And, since you're exercising, your body has the added burden of repairing those muscles and lubrictaing those joints so that you can get better at exercising.

Of course, everyone is different - but that's the reasoning behind eating back your calories, and it's worked extremely well for many people on here (espeically people who had previously reached a plateau).

TK421NotAtPost

Does eating back you exercise earned calories really help you lose weight faster then not eating them back?
So far I have not done it and have been losing but if it will truly help I will like to start to. thanks for your feedback

Not in the short-term. But a sustained, large caloric deficit combined with a full exercise regimen will eventually lead to some bad things.

I think the advice to slightly adjust your caloric intake upward on training days is a pretty good idea if you want to develop eating habits you can permanently ingrain in your daily life-style. For me this is very simple as I tend to just sandwich my workouts with some extra protein and carbs.

I'm not sure how closely you want to track and control your calorie intake, I wouldn't worry too much about consciously trying to "eat your exercise calories". Just avoid the sustained, large calorie deficits.

StevLL

There are so many factors, but the best thing to do is experiment and see how your body responds. I tried diiferent ways and for me I found that eating the way I am supposed to for my goal weight as an active person and occasionally eating my excercise cals back to zig-zag has been the best for me. Now that being said I am morbidly obese so I will lose a at first no matter what. My most consistent weight loss has been since practicing to eat healthy at my goal weight and in doing so I hope to change my habits completely to ensure I'm creating a lasting lifestyle change. When I do eat my calories back I only eat about half of them.

ChantalGG

I am not eating back my calories this week. Just testing it out, started it today. Reason why is i was playing with the settings and it told me i could still lose 1 lb with out working on the same amount of calories it gives me. When i added the exercise back it told me to eat it all back so it brings me to the same amount of a deficit. If i lose more than a lb i will know why. I havnt been losing lately.