Eating exercise calories?

Janie5605

Im not convinced I'm burning as many calories as MFP says I am...so heres my question...should i stick to my original calorie goal and take whatever calories i burn as a bonus? or should i eat some of them? I've had enough trouble eating my goal calorie intake anyway I'm not sure I could boost it much.

zml_mom

I have wondered this lately to,
i usually never eat them back and have a hard time even eating 1200 a day

JeanWalker109

I say stick with your original feeling. If you have those "exercise calories" and then you feel hungrier than normal - I see them there as sort of a back-up. I don't know how others feel. That's just me. However, I don't really go off that. I try to stay within my "normal" range. It's really a personal choice, though.

I hope that you find what works best for you & congratulations on the weight lost thus far. *high five*

Jean

aippolito1

You should eat some of them until you can get a HRM and have a more accurate view of what you're really burning.

AnitaRC

Hi Janie - I wouldn't eat them - however if I was planning to attend a special event - I would make sure to excersice to give me some added calories without guilt or derailing my plan.

MissDwood

ladies there are several responses to your answer...try typing "eating back exercise calories" into the search under the message boards

funkyspunky871

If you're following MFP estimations, I would only eat half of them back. Otherwise, you run the risk of over-eating because for most, the estimations are too high. Get yourself a HRM asap though, and you'll be able to eat the correct amount of calories. As for boosting your intake, try higher calorie foods like peanut butter, nuts, bread, pasta, cereal, avocado, granola, beef, and eggs.

x3vanessaxo

I'm SO glad you asked this, im having the same problem. If your supposed to burn more calories than u consume in order to lose weight, then why would u eat ur exercise calories? especially if you just worked your @$$ off in the gym! lol

dragonfly__

I eat them back if I am hungry and if I am not I don't.

akpow

I say stick with your original feeling. If you have those "exercise calories" and then you feel hungrier than normal - I see them there as sort of a back-up. I don't know how others feel. That's just me. However, I don't really go off that. I try to stay within my "normal" range. It's really a personal choice, though.

I hope that you find what works best for you & congratulations on the weight lost thus far. *high five*

Jean

I agree with this...I only use exercise calories if I need them. I usually don't eat them back and it's working well for me.

kr3851

I eat some back - depending on how hungry I am. Some days I don't feel I need them, other days I can't get enough food!! Overall I think I eat about half back over the course of the week.

lauristewart

I do not usually eat them back. I do have a HRM so I know how much I burned. If I am more hungry than normal, I might eat some, but usually I do not. I eat only the calories allowed during that day. I zig zag my calories so there are some days I have more food than others.

corgifan

I pay attention to how I'm feeling. As a rule, you should never, ever dip below 1,200 calories in a day. That's even more important if you're exercising. Otherwise, just listen to your body. Don't eat just because MFP thinks you should. If you're focusing on eating healthy, fresh foods you'll probably be fine either way.

You could try getting a HRM if you're really wanting to nail down how much you're burning. Do keep in mind though, that you should also be fairly precise with what you're eating. It's easy to underestimate bites and nibbles if you don't measure- especially if those bites and nibble are calorie dense foods that add up quickly (ie a nibble of a grape won't have much of an effect, but that tablespoon of cookie dough will.)

agrabau

I have been wondering the same thing! I am actually going to buy a HRM tomorrow so I can get a better idea of my actual calorie burn during exercise. That way I will definitely know where I am at. I usually eat about half of my exercise calories back to prevent myself from feeling deprived or hungry which helps me stay on track!

rdunke

You should eat some of them until you can get a HRM and have a more accurate view of what you're really burning.

And after you get an accurate view of calories burned using the HRM - don't forget to deduct your normal calorie burn ( non exercise) during the same amount of time. Then when entering your calories in MFP reduce the minutes exercised to match the calories burned as determined using a HRM.

Hirundo

I don't plan to eat them but if i'm hungry for a little extra or if i feel for a beer or a drink then i know i have the calories remaining for it ... I can indulge myself a bit without feeling too guilty !

Though , i'd try to not eat more than half of them ...

And, honnestly, most of the time, i don't eat them, i go to sleep lol ...

taso42_DELETED

I'm SO glad you asked this, im having the same problem. If your supposed to burn more calories than u consume in order to lose weight, then why would u eat ur exercise calories? especially if you just worked your @$$ off in the gym! lol

Because the calorie deficit is already factored in from the outset lol omg jfc

mandeiko

I refuse to eat my calories back. I worked hard to burn the fat, why put it back. :P That's just my thought about it.

Getting_Fit_4_Life

I was struggling with this issue several weeks ago too. I started at 1200 calories daily, but then I would workout and burn about 400 calories daily. I thought I was doing fine by not eating back the calories. Well, I was losing weight initially, but then after about 3 weeks, I stopped losing and I actually gained 5 pounds back. I was frustrated because I felt like I was really eating well and working out like a mad woman. I didn't see the point in eating back my calories. But since I wasn't losing weight as before, I decided to give myself about 2 weeks to see what would happen if I upped my calories. I increased my caloried to 1350 and ate back SOME of my workout calories and to my amazement, I started losing weight again. I actually lost 3.6 pounds this week. I am still somewhat nervous about increasing my calories too much, but at least now I make sure that I don't go below 1200 calores NET. I understand that what works for me may not work for someone else, but I am so pleasantly suprise that this is working for me right now. I think you have to see what works for you too.

If you plan to eat all of your exercise calories, I would suggest you invest in a HRM. I find that my HRM is more accurate for me.

funkyspunky871

You should eat some of them until you can get a HRM and have a more accurate view of what you're really burning.

And after you get an accurate view of calories burned using the HRM - don't forget to deduct your normal calorie burn ( non exercise) during the same amount of time. Then when entering your calories in MFP reduce the minutes exercised to match the calories burned as determined using a HRM.

Uh, no. MFP takes into account the calories you burn during normal daily activity (which is why you specify if you're sedentary, lightly active, active, etc.). No need to subtract anything from your exercise calories.

mandeiko

I was struggling with this issue several weeks ago too. I started at 1200 calories daily, but then I would workout and burn about 400 calories daily. I thought I was doing fine by not eating back the calories. Well, I was losing weight initially, but then after about 3 weeks, I stopped losing and I actually gained 5 pounds back. I was frustrated because I felt like I was really eating well and working out like a mad woman. I didn't see the point in eating back my calories. But since I wasn't losing weight as before, I decided to give myself about 2 weeks to see what would happen if I upped my calories. I increased my caloried to 1350 and ate back SOME of my workout calories and to my amazement, I started losing weight again. I actually lost 3.6 pounds this week. I am still somewhat nervous about increasing my calories too much, but at least now I make sure that I don't go below 1200 calores NET. I understand that what works for me may not work for someone else, but I am so pleasantly suprise that this is working for me right now. I think you have to see what works for you too.

If you plan to eat all of your exercise calories, I would suggest you invest in a HRM. I find that my HRM is more accurate for me.

This is good to know!!

jeepgirl001

Sometimes I use up some of my bonus calories because I do a bootcamp two nights a week and afterwards I need to replenish nutrients back into my body such as oatmeal with fruit, poached egg on multigrain bread or a smoothie. I use up some of my extra bonus calories doing this but not all of them. If you go to www.weightwatchers.ca there was an article about what to eat before and after a workout. Hope this helps.

Nswilk

I can understand your dilemma here. If you are working out you need to eat the extra calories so you do starve your body and never loose the weight. Then again, if your calories are wrong you do not want eat extra calories that you are not burning. I guess what I would do is make sure I definitely eat the recommended calories for some time without exercise amount. Then see how hungry you are and if you are loosing weight. If you are then you are getting enough calories, but if seem to stop loosing or am to hungry step up the calories in small increments until you get results again.

theprettyone1010

I bought a Heart Rate Monitor because MFP was saying that I was burning 500 calories from a 30 minute Turbo Jam workout. I knew that sounded like more fiction than fact. I actually burn around 330 calories from a 30 minute workout, so I strongly suggest buying a heart rate monitor that counts calories burned for you!

Also, I usually work out in the morning before breakfast or in the evening before dinner.You're supposed to eat back at least 50% of the calories you burn so that your metabolism stays up for longer and you actually retain all of the burned calories that you worked for. So I suggest working out before a meal so that you don't have to "eat exercise calories" but just eat what you normally would and stay within your food calorie goals.