In vs. Out

WWhitaker

How many of you only eat at least 1200 calories a day and do NOT eat back your exercise calories and have had more success than when you do eat back your exercise calories? I know it's the MFP cardinal sin to not eat back your exercise calories, but I've heard many people have more success by only eating 1200 calories, working out and that's it. I'm curious to hear what more of you have been through.

dez_yaoichan

it just depends on your body. i don't eat ALL my cals back (unless i've really snacked) but i make sure i have no less 1200 net at the end of the day. for me, that's what works.

on the other hand, one of my friends eat none of them back and can only eat 1100. if she eats any more, she'll gain 5 pounds in a week.

LittleMissAlx

Most of the time I didn't eat mine back, or if I did, it was only some of them. Worked for me, but everyone is different and you just have to find what works for you.

Loko_Ino

It is not just an MFP cardinal rule..it is also not healthy. If you only eat 1200 cals and then exercise to burn off 600 cals you only have 600 cals for fuel for in your body for the entire day...that will kick your body into starvation mode. You will become malnourished over time.

deerussell

Well I'm not sure, but I do not "eat back" my workout credits and I still have to eat even less than 1200 to loose.

melsinct

I am 5'7" and I starved myself (hello, 2 month long plateau) by only eating 1200. I am now eating 1700/day and still losing. My needs are very different from a woman who is 5'0" who may gain if she eats over 1200.

No blanket statement will ring true for everyone. Trial and error, but start off with the MFP numbers and tweak it from there.

jbinga

I thought this was a great post from the other day. It really encouraged me to not feel bad about not eating my exercise calories back every day. After experimenting, I'm losing more weight not eating them...for now at least.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/295140-my-hopefully-interesting-experience-with-exercise-calories?hl=exercise+calories

mislmar

I never eat back my exercise calories and I am on 1200 calories a day. I have been losing pretty steady now and have lost 24lbs in about 3 months. I haven't ever tried eating back the calories though I am afraid that I would gain weight if I did

ShellyLee

My calories are set at 1400 or something like that, but essentially I don't try to eat back my exercise calories. If I happen to use them ok.. if not also ok lol.

sleepytexan

People with a lot to lose / high body fat percentage, and/or people who are new exercisers or count things like doing laundry as exercise will have success without eating their exercise calories.

People with not much to lose, who have healthy - athletic body fat percentage and who exercise a lot will not be able lose weight without refueling their lean muscle mass.

The smaller and more fit you are, the more difficult it is to drop weight.

blessings.

brit49

It depends on the person I try to eat has close to exercise calories about 3 times a week if I do more than that the scale doesn't move.

WWhitaker

Thanks for all the encouragement! I never understood having to eat back the calories anyway because I thought you were supposed to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I wasn't eating my exercise calories back when I first started here and that's when I lost my first 8 lbs. Ever since I started eating back my exercise calories, I've been fluctuating and not losing. So I'm really going to try this despite what a lot of people think about going into starvation mode. ) Lots of love, everyone

WWhitaker

People with a lot to lose / high body fat percentage, and/or people who are new exercisers or count things like doing laundry as exercise will have success without eating their exercise calories.

People with not much to lose, who have healthy - athletic body fat percentage and who exercise a lot will not be able lose weight without refueling their lean muscle mass.

The smaller and more fit you are, the more difficult it is to drop weight.

blessings.

That's a great explanation! See, Sleepy, this is why we're MFP friends! )

Maggie_Pie1

I've only just started using myfitnesspal, I was using sparkpeople.com before this. So, coming to myfitnesspal is the first I've ever heard of 'exercise calories' and 'net calories'.

Anyway - I'm sticking to targeting between 1200-1300, and I'm not eating back exercise calories. I haven't hit a plateau yet. Once I notice the scale start to slow and heading towards a plateau, I'll eat gradually start eating some exercise calories back until it starts moving again. This is what makes sense to me. There are days when I've worked out harder than others, or felt extremely hungry even after my 1200 calories, and I went ahead and ate beyond my targeted 1200 -1300 calorie range, but it doesn't happen very often.

I'm trying to be in a mode where I listen to what my body tells me, and if I feel OK and content after 1200-1300 calories + exercising, then I'm not going to give my body an excuse to eat more than what I feel I need. I'd been doing that for 30 years (making excuses to eat even when I wasn't hungry), and I'm done doing that.

Amyding115

Regardless if i have exercise credit or not, I try to stay under by about 200 hundred calories. Much easier to do with the exercise calories to credit but I continue to lose eating as much as 1600 a day, and I'm 5'1". So the best advice is just to see what works for you, what you're comfortable with, and what (most importantly) isn't a struggle to maintain. Better to go slow than try to do it fast and fall off.