Who does not eat back exercise calories???
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Has anyone seen this thread it explains it very well here :flowerforyou: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
I eat about 50 - 75% of my workout cals and have a treat day on a Fri which is my weigh in day and it works
I fell off the wagon due to RL getting in the way but I have managed to nearly be back to where I was before I fell off :bigsmile:
In order to workout in a healthy way you really need to fuel your body with enough food I'm exactly halfway to where I want to reach with my goal :drinker: so I know it's working for me :drinker:
Editing to add I use a Polar HRM not the MFP calories guide :bigsmile:0 -
By the way, my RD says under 150 pounds, a person should shoot for only 1/2 to 1 1/2 pounds of weight loss per week. I'm right where I should be. Sometimes I go up a half pound, sometimes down 2, but I always average about what my RD says. When I was fluctuating in calories with exercise, my weight loss was much slower, like a pound off per every 3 weeks or so. It's coming off nicely, now that I maintain a consitent calorie level.
But hire a good sports nutrtion RD. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it.0 -
By the way, my RD says under 150 pounds, a person should shoot for only 1/2 to 1 1/2 pounds of weight loss per week. I'm right where I should be. Sometimes I go up a half pound, sometimes down 2, but I always average about what my RD says. When I was fluctuating in calories with exercise, my weight loss was much slower, like a pound off per every 3 weeks or so. It's coming off nicely, now that I maintain a consitent calorie level.
But hire a good sports nutrtion RD. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it.
I woudl like to say, it's awesome that you found what works for you. Keep it up. Do you mind if I ask how they calculated your calories?0 -
During the week I try not to eat them, but I make up for it on the weekends! :drinker:0
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One size doesn't fit all, but math generally doesn't lie. Have you ever look around this forum (and please dont' take this as sacastic) about how many plateau or I don't understand why I am not losing weight threads there are? Do you know what ever single one has in common? You guessed it, they all involve not eating enough.
That's an absurd statement. Really, come on. Every single thread where someone isn't losing weight is because they're eating too LITTLE huh?
You really don't understand how metabolic slowdown works if you believe that's true.0 -
I really think it all depends on where you are in your weight loss. I didn't eat mine back for a long time and lost a lot of weight. And then I stopped. And then I gained a few back. I had to start eating more to lose once I got down closer to my goal. So those who aren't right now...probably will down the road. it is just a matter of where you are on your journey. :-)
Agreed...seems like the people who are most insistent that you should eat them are at their goal weight and in better shape then many of the people on here. Its easier to say "eat, eat, eat" when you don't still need to lose a bunch of weight. People who are just getting on track are thinking how eating a lot (and eating when you weren't even hungry) is what got them here in the first place!
I am not necessarily close to my goal weight (37 LBS left to go, but I could probably go lower and will reevaluate when I get there) and I almost always eat all of my exercise calories and have been doing so from day 1 (Jan 3rd of this year).
As you can see, it has not hindered my weight loss.0 -
One size doesn't fit all, but math generally doesn't lie. Have you ever look around this forum (and please dont' take this as sacastic) about how many plateau or I don't understand why I am not losing weight threads there are? Do you know what ever single one has in common? You guessed it, they all involve not eating enough.
That's an absurd statement. Really, come on. Every single thread where someone isn't losing weight is because they're eating too LITTLE huh?
You really don't understand how metabolic slowdown works if you believe that's true.
I am sorry you feel that way. And ok, not every one is not eating enough, it's about 90%. Others are due to other factors such as under estimating/over estimate calories, over estimating// underestimating calories burn, or process/sodium filled foods. But seriously, I will say, I am not a doctor, but have spend a lot of time researching and analyzing data. I look at things from a scientific and mathematical stand point. Every person I have helped, has lost weight, so obviously something is working. So if you would like to post some research to further educate me so I dont' spread misinformation, I would highly encourage it.0 -
I have a funny approach.
I set mine to lightly active (have no car) and log all my exercise. I am set to lose 1lb a week. This gives me 1700. During the week I exercise heaps, and don’t eat them all back, but don’t tend to net below 1200. I thought I was at times, and still losing and not hungry but it was because I was underestimating my portion sizes (I have scales now!).
So Mon-Thurs I tend to net 1200 (2lb loss), I am happy with this, I prob eat 1800-2000 which seems like heaps of food but I get a bit of a bigger loss.
Fridays and Saturdays I exercise, but mostly eat them all back, netting 1700 (1lb loss) unless it’s a big night out.
Sunday is my day off exercising. I’m starving and try my best to just eat 1700.
Hoping no one is going to tell me it’s really terrible as I like this approach and it allows me to feel like a human, have a life but still lose at least 1lb a week!0 -
@psulemon
Sorry, I left off part of your quote, but you asked, "I woudl like to say, it's awesome that you found what works for you. Keep it up. Do you mind if I ask how they calculated your calories?
[/quote]
Not sure exactly what you mean, but I'll take a shot at answering your question. I met a couple times with her. (actually I met with two of them, to verify) She talked to me about my habits, and took into account my starting weight, my activity level, how many times and what times of day I exercise (like I said, it's very different every day) and my overall activity level. This is similar to the questions MFP asks. But she was also able to look at they TYPES of exercise I do, and the fact that I'm usually at sea level. I have learned when to refuel, when to have low glycemic carbs, when to have high glycemic carbs etc., how much protien etc.
Then she helped me with my habits that I knew were inhibiting me. What she didn't help me find was a tracking system. My sister found that for me here.
Did I answer your question at all?0 -
WUD YOU MIND SHARING HOW YOU SHEDDED THE WEIGHT?0
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I try not to eat them. I only really concentrate on my gross intake not my net. Exercise is just a bonus
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I'm really short so i only get 1250 per day without excercise. I excercise so that i can get another small meal in or i start to obsess about how little i can eat. I "spend" them more dearly once i've worked for them i opt for a low cal vegetarian sandwhich, apple chips, and a skinny cow dessert vs. one 1/4 cup of ice cream.0
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I generally don't, except for on nights I want ice cream or to go out drinking. Lost 40 pounds so far, so I think it's working.0
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For the life of me I can't understand why this topic is so controversial. If what you're doing is comfortable and works for you then keep doing it. The end.0
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I don’t eat exercise calories back.
Consuming exercise calories on purpose doesn’t make any sense to me.
My logic: I don't create calorie deficit to waste it by eating additional calories.
I lost 46 pounds in 2010 and 21 this year.0 -
very interesting topic, love it!
Bump0 -
There are two sayings I live by, muscle burns fat and food is fuel.
IF I could start all over in my weight loss, I would live by this statement. I would typically eat my cals back (sometimes all, sometimes a little, sometimes none).
When I got towards the end of my weight loss, I decided, "OK, time to start adding muscle". So I upped my cals to maintenance and started lifting while still doing cardio 2-3 times a week. After that I was losing faster than I ever had before, while eating tons, and starting to see lots of definition. The results have been so wonderful, that I'm addicted to lifting now and I can get up to 3000 cals a day w/out gaining! (and sometimes losing).
Of course, since then, I've really learned alot more about caloric intake and how it effects MY body. I won't preach to everyone, but I'm a big believer in lifting and lifting hard while maintaining lots of good fuel for my body and sticking to cardio to assist in burning fat. I'm a fan of the lemon guy...
And does PSU mean Penn State?0 -
Hey everyone..
Who doesn't eat their exercise calories back? Can you tell me how you have done on that generally as far as weight loss and how you feel?
Thanks!
It actually worked for me & at the same time felt safer because honestly I can't rely on how MFP calculates the calories burned vs calories in the foods that I'm taking in. Its not 100% accurate & I observed that MFP calculates the calories burned very generously compared to what we actually burn. If I'm going to do what the others say aka eat back your exercise calories, there might be a tendency that I overestimate my calories burned & at the same time underestimate my calorie intake.0 -
For the life of me I can't understand why this topic is so controversial. If what you're doing is comfortable and works for you then keep doing it. The end.
Because some people keep on pushing others to eat back all exercise calories. It doesn't matter if you eat it back or no, the bottomline here is that if YOU EAT MORE THAN YOU BURN, YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT. BURN MORE THAN YOU EAT AND YOU WILL LOSE THE WEIGHT. Our body cannot tell a difference between the essential & exercise calories, PERIOD. Its up to you to eat it or not. As long as you take in more than you burn, don't be surprised if you're not losing anything.
Geez, you know what I never heard of a thing called "exercise calories" before. I only encountered it here but in real life, exercise calories are counted as calorie deficits.0 -
One size doesn't fit all, but math generally doesn't lie. Have you ever look around this forum (and please dont' take this as sacastic) about how many plateau or I don't understand why I am not losing weight threads there are? Do you know what ever single one has in common? You guessed it, they all involve not eating enough.
That's an absurd statement. Really, come on. Every single thread where someone isn't losing weight is because they're eating too LITTLE huh?
You really don't understand how metabolic slowdown works if you believe that's true.
I agree. Let's face it, some of us underestimate our food intake while overestimating our exercise OR it could be exercising too much or eating too little below 1200 calories but majority of us do underestimate our food. Sometimes we forget to include the extra mayo or butter in our sandwich fillings, the candy that we munched or the several "taste tests" of the food that we are cooking or the leftover food of our kids. That all counts as calories too!0 -
Good morning! As promised, I'm reporting my discussion with my nutritionist yesterday. We spoke specifically about me, and it doesn't mean everyone should do what she instructed me to do!
I am 26 years old, 5'6 and weigh 215. I started at 239 in June and have lost 24lbs very quickly. I started exercising at the end of July (swimming, elliptical, kickboxing) for 1-1.5 hours 6 days a week, with 1 day of rest. I had my calories set at 1600 per day, and if I felt hungry for any reason at all, I allowed myself to eat a few hundred extra calories. I didn't often feel hungry, however, and kept it at 1600, being sure I hit the 1600 every day. I have been pretty tired lately, though, probably due to waking up early for exercise before work (get up at 5AM every day), exercise my body is adjusting to, and probably eating too few calories.
Yesterday, my nutritionist advised that I should up my regular calorie goal to 1800, which will "account" for "eating back" SOME of my exercise calories. She still said that if I feel tired or hungry, I should eat a bit more if I want, but it's not necessary.
To summarize: increasing calories to 1800, continuing workout schedule, and eating a few extra calories if I find myself hungry or tired on a day of a hard workout. Do whatever works for you, though!!!0 -
Good morning! As promised, I'm reporting my discussion with my nutritionist yesterday. We spoke specifically about me, and it doesn't mean everyone should do what she instructed me to do!
I am 26 years old, 5'6 and weigh 215. I started at 239 in June and have lost 24lbs very quickly. I started exercising at the end of July (swimming, elliptical, kickboxing) for 1-1.5 hours 6 days a week, with 1 day of rest. I had my calories set at 1600 per day, and if I felt hungry for any reason at all, I allowed myself to eat a few hundred extra calories. I didn't often feel hungry, however, and kept it at 1600, being sure I hit the 1600 every day. I have been pretty tired lately, though, probably due to waking up early for exercise before work (get up at 5AM every day), exercise my body is adjusting to, and probably eating too few calories.
Yesterday, my nutritionist advised that I should up my regular calorie goal to 1800, which will "account" for "eating back" SOME of my exercise calories. She still said that if I feel tired or hungry, I should eat a bit more if I want, but it's not necessary.
To summarize: increasing calories to 1800, continuing workout schedule, and eating a few extra calories if I find myself hungry or tired on a day of a hard workout. Do whatever works for you, though!!!
Sounds like great advice, and I wish those on 1200-1300 cal diets that don't eat their exercise calories would do (up their activity level and not eat exercise calories, or keep your intake at 1200-1300 and eat your exercise calories).
Nice abs by the way.
This is almost exactly what I mentioned she would suggest, in my post yesterday. Most likely she based your intake on TDEE (which includes planned exercise calories) then created a deficit from that number. This puts you in almost the same place MFP would put you in if you followed their set up and inputted your goal and ate most of your exercise calories.0 -
I sometimes eat them all back, sometimes don't eat any back. Usually some point in between.
Enjoying reading everyone's responses!
(Um edited to add have only been doing this for 2 weeks! In the past when I dieted I never ate more than 1300 calories and it took ages to lose weight-even though I exercise 6-7 times a week. Have already lost 1kg in 8 days so this is working well!)0 -
I don’t eat exercise calories back.
Consuming exercise calories on purpose doesn’t make any sense to me.
My logic: I don't create calorie deficit to waste it by eating additional calories.
I lost 46 pounds in 2010 and 21 this year.
Agreed, thank you.0 -
I don’t eat exercise calories back.
Consuming exercise calories on purpose doesn’t make any sense to me.
My logic: I don't create calorie deficit to waste it by eating additional calories.
I lost 46 pounds in 2010 and 21 this year.
Agreed, thank you.
The person you quoted doesn't seem to understand that you are still in a deficit if you eat 100% of your cals, this is the deficit to lose your goal amount of weight. If you were eating maintenance cals and wanted to lose weight you should not eat the exercise cals and let the exercise be your deficit, but that is not how MFP works, MFP gives you a deficit without exercise, if you exercise you increase that deficit and a too large of a deficit can have numerous negative side effects.0 -
Let's just all agree to disagree and put an end to a thread that is discussed far too often with the same result.0
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2nd that motion…..
knowledge = knowledge
knowledge + application = wisdom
wisdom + consistent application = results
We can all get knowledge from others, and their experience, however, you have to put it in motion, learn what works on you, adapt, and repeat until you get the results.0 -
I do bike touring, so go on fairly long rides, sometimes for days at a stretch of about 80 - 100 km/day. training runs are about 20km daily in the form of commuting to and from work with some detours to make up the mileage, with one long ride during the weekend of 60-70 km. On ordinary days i eat some of those calories back, but in moderation. However, during long rides, in this kind of endurance scenario, you need to eat lots of calories just to be able to complete the ride and keep functioning. And you need to that over the course of the day. Even so, I try to stay within a sensible limit, but I don't think I eat them all back. I do try to keep blood sugars fairly low and under control, being well aware that my muscles need glucose first. I've been at my goal weight for 3 months now, and maintaining. I do try to not let my daily calories get out of control though.I don’t eat exercise calories back.
Consuming exercise calories on purpose doesn’t make any sense to me.
My logic: I don't create calorie deficit to waste it by eating additional calories.
I lost 46 pounds in 2010 and 21 this year.0 -
As a general rule I never eat them back (occasionally I do if I'm out for dinner or fancy a treat or w/e) I've lost 34lbs. so far, no plateauing, and it's working for me, I personally don't feel like I *could* eat my exercise calories back to continue loosing and I'm generally sticking at a 2lb loss each week, but I'll re-evaluate when I'm maintaining obviously. I don't have any negative 'side effects' from it either, occasionally I feel more tired than normal, but I'll eat enough to perk myself up after it, what it boils down to is what works for you I guess, as an individual.0
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So when I first started losing weight I didn't eat back my exercise calories at all. I got stuck at 135lbs forever despite a substantial daily calorie deficit and 6x a week cardio.
The I joined MFP, learned about eating more (and strength training) and the last 11lbs have come off really quickly. I think especially as you get closer to your goal weight its important to eat more, the last 10 or 20 lbs are HARD to lose and then you have to maintain.
I still lose about a half to a full lb a week and I feel like I eat more now then I did when I was fat, which is awesome!0
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