NOT eating back calories?

TahanyE

I've tried the whole "eat back burned calories" thing. I've been working out 5days a week for 4 weeks with no results. Actually I've gained. So today I ate what I wanted. I ended up eating about 1250 calories. But after exercise I only netted about half that. Now that it's bedtime I'm wondering how much damage I've done not eating enough calories.

cupcakethefatclown

I'm guessing you'll live...

Sidesteal

You're not going to do damage in the short term by not getting enough calories. Long term you could have hormonal issues, and it's generally not a good idea to run large deficits over long periods of time. (Lean mass loss, binging, etc).

AshleyAmmerman

You do not have to eat back your calories. If you haven't lost anything then you either need to stop eating back your calories or change up your workouts. I may gave a plan/idea that could help you. Feel free to request ne and send me a message.

SafireBleu

I rarely eat back exercise calories. I've survived. I think as long as you eat your calories you'll be fine not eating back your exercise calories sometimes.

jakejacobsen

if it wasn't working why are you worried about it. I don't eat them all back and have been losing I did however need to increase what I ate and slow down the work outs Shake it up and find what works

AZTrailRunner

So if I eat 1800 calories a day, and burn 1200 during exercise, the 600 remaining is enough for refueling my muscles, and feeding my brain? Curious theory.

Mybabie

I agree with change it up. I don't always eat back all my cals.

TRIMoses59

I do not eat back my burned calories. I tried and could not eat all of the calories. I tried half and still it was to much for me. I try and eat the calories I am allowed and be done with that. I walk 3 1/2 to 4 miles a day and do floor exercises like 200 crunches, 100 reverse crunches leg lift etc. At least I know the calories are there if I travel or eat a little over on the holiday. I will make it through the holidays. I think you will be very successful. I had the same question about this topic as you did and everyone was helpful in there response. Feel free to add me as a friend!

Megan2Project

I don't often eat back my exercise cals, unless I feel like I'm hungry or having "one of those days". I've been losing steadily.

I fully intend to eat back my exercise cals eventually, but I'm anticipating that won't be needed for me until I'm under 200lbs. I usually look at my average over the week. Some weeks I'm under all week, sometimes half the week, my calories fluctuate daily.

From what I have read, the heavier you are, the less likely you are to go into starvation mode. Also the MFP database can significantly over estimate calories burned through exercise so if I did plan on eating them back I would either get a HRM to accurately record calories burned, or only eat back half. Play with it and find where your happy place is!

sleepytexan

I've tried the whole "eat back burned calories" thing. I've been working out 5days a week for 4 weeks with no results. Actually I've gained. So today I ate what I wanted. I ended up eating about 1250 calories. But after exercise I only netted about half that. Now that it's bedtime I'm wondering how much damage I've done not eating enough calories.

no worries for 1 day.

are you taking your measurements? I was on a scale plateau for over 3 months, but lost many inches during that time. If not for my measuring tape, I would have really been bummed.

Edit: are you new to working out, or is this 5 day/week schedule new? If so, that would explain a weight gain. I'd be willing to bet you've lost inches though. chin up and keep on!

love22step

Some days, if you exercise a lot, you just can't eat that much! I've stopped worrying about it. I like to stay under the max, and some days I'm within 100 net calories. Some days, I'm several hundred under, but if I've eaten at least 1000 actual food calories during the day, I may have an extra snack if I'm hungry, or just let it go if I'm not hungry. If or when I plateau, which will probably happen as I get closer to my goal, I'll have to reevaluate and try something different. This is a learning experience, my timetable isn't set in stone, and I'm enjoying myself on this quest, so I'll make adjustments, as necessary, and press on toward the mark! Have fun with this, and don't let it stress you out! I hear stress makes you fat. :-)

wolfchild59

When I first started working out, I wasn't eating back my calories. I hadn't found this board yet and didn't know that that was what MFP apparently expected people to do. (I downloaded the app via my phone and never logged on to the site for nearly a year after joinging)

After I found this forum because a google search I was doing turned up a result with a link to a thread hear and I started cruising around. I saw all the posts about eating back exercise calories and how it was neccesary and all the scare propaganda on starvation mode and started eating back my exercise calories. I stopped losing weight. Then I started gaining. So I ate less of my exercise calories and I stopped gaining or losing. So I tried some different plateau busters that people talked about. I gained again (slower, but gained).

So I sat down with my six months of BodyMedia Fit data, my year and a half of MFP data and pumped everything into a spreadsheet. Then I found every different formula for calculating BMR, TDEE and all that jazz and put all of my info into every formula. I took each one and found the average for each of them.

What I found is that my activity level here was set too low, so I changed it to Lightly Active from Sedentary andm based on all the numbers, I stopped eating my exercise calories. At most, if I have a more active than normal day, I'll dip into them for 100-200 calories, but only if needed. And I've been back to steadily losing 1-2 pounds a week just like I was last year before I found the MFP boards and all the talk of eating back my exercise calories.

Mind you, I don't net at low as 600. My base calories aren't 1200, so I'm not netting in the triple digits, I tend to still fall into four digits. Also, if you're going by machine calories, definitely don't eat back that many. I was thankful that by the time I started eating mine back I'd gotten a Polar FT4 HRM because I discovered that the machines were giving me way higher burns (like, hundreds higher) than my HRM did.

My caveat is that nothing works for everyone, if it did, wight loss would be super easy. This particular thing works for me, just like low carb didn't work for me and I lose better with my carbs around 40-45% daily. But I had to find these things out by trial and error and that's really the only way that anyone can discover what works for them. I just like to give my personal successes (and failures) as examples of just that. Anything you do or try will have supporters and people that tell you what you're doing is wrong. But just stick with whatever you try and give anything new at the very mininum, a month, to see what effect it's having on your loss journey, don't expect instant feedback from your body.

Good luck and hope that all goes well for you!

Lagazz123

great post. thank u

meerkat70

You do not have to eat back your calories. If you haven't lost anything then you either need to stop eating back your calories or change up your workouts. I may gave a plan/idea that could help you. Feel free to request ne and send me a message.

Is that how you lost those two pounds?

xSophia19

When i eat my excercise cals back i maintain my weight, which is something i dont want!!

Soo from last monday i thought id try something i little different, i upped my cals to 1400 (from 1300) and i havent eaten any of my excercise cals back what so ever. And 6 days onwards, my scales loved me for it! Ive lost 3.8lbs!!

Soo give this a go for a week and see how you get on

meerkat70

How are you calculating your exercise calories? I know that the gym machines underestimate my heart rate, that MFP overestimates my calorie burn, and my HRM got broken so isn't much use to me.... My point is, I think probably aiming to eat some but not all is likely the most sensible way to manage things. Or even better, learn to understand when your body is hungry (not just fancying) and eat to that. I definitely don't eat the same amount every day. Some days I definitely need more than others. Also, remember that your needs will change as you progress, and that this isn't always predictable - so sometimes you will need to adjust the exercise, or the intake, and listening to your body is the only way to make those adjustments. As someone already noted, there aren't really any hard and fast rules. People do respond differently to diet and exercise, and it is important to work out what does work for you, but also to be flexible with that, as what works for you will change over time.

Lovely_Lady234

You should eat AT LEAST 800 neto calories.
It would probably be great if you eat about 1400 calories and burn 200-max 400 everyday.
If you eat 1000 neto calories, (1400- 400 by exercising) you'll be losing a pound in a week, but a pound of pure fat.

l00zrr

I didn't even realize what the "You've earned an extra 4838564863 Calories from exersizing" thing meant until I read this post LOL.
Obviously, it's not hurting me TOO much.

duffydog1

Hi - if I eat back my exercise calories I don't loose weight - it's as simple as that. We are all different. Ideally, it would be a simple solution of calories in / calories out, but you have to allow for the fact that the calories on the food and the exercise logs are not always 100% accurate, but more importantly, each persons metabolic rate is different.
I don't work out as often as you, but I do run about 4 times per week. Also during the ski season, I ski downhill for up to 5 hours per day 5 or 6 days per week and I ski cross country several mornings per week.
I have an underactive thyroid - and despite the exercise and being outdoors all day in freezing temperatures, my metabolic rate stays low ( I know as I have all my TSH checked with regular blood work and they hardly vary from summer to winter even though in winter I am much more active.)
for me to loose weight I really need to be taking only 1000 cals per day and exercising ( please note I am not advocating eating only 1000 cals per day - I am saying it is the only way personally I loose weight).
the problem for me is that I cannot stick to that for long as I get soooo tired which is a side effect of the thyroid thing - exacerbated by not enough calories. So I eat a little more if I feel I really need to. Weight loss for me will probably be very slow, but - I will get there!

TahanyE

I guess I will try not eating back and see how that goes. I haven't seen results with eating back so I need to try something new. Plus eating better is going to make a big difference.

sasgal

thanks for the post

fit4mom

I don't lose if I eat over. I have to start out eating no more than 1000 on a regular basis to see a change. When I get to 120 I can up it to 1200. Otherwise all I do is gain. For quite a few on here eating lots works. It only ever made me gain, or not lose, even with exercise. In the past on plateaus I quit working out for a couple of day and it kickstarted the weightloss again. This doesn't work for everyone, but it's the only way I could lose all my weight post pregnancies. Many blessings and may you see results soon whatever you choose.:flowerforyou:

fallenangelloves

I usually eat mine back and have now for 11 months... I'm losing just fine. I just found I needed to shake up my workouts a little and not just do the same thing every day. I also measure myself. Usually when I don't see a loss for awhile it's after I changed up my strength training and I've started noticing more muscle definition.

Before you deny yourself food and make this experience not enjoyable, you might want to keep track of your measurements first!

LJGmom

Hi - if I eat back my exercise calories I don't loose weight - it's as simple as that. We are all different. Ideally, it would be a simple solution of calories in / calories out, but you have to allow for the fact that the calories on the food and the exercise logs are not always 100% accurate, but more importantly, each persons metabolic rate is different.
I don't work out as often as you, but I do run about 4 times per week. Also during the ski season, I ski downhill for up to 5 hours per day 5 or 6 days per week and I ski cross country several mornings per week.
I have an underactive thyroid - and despite the exercise and being outdoors all day in freezing temperatures, my metabolic rate stays low ( I know as I have all my TSH checked with regular blood work and they hardly vary from summer to winter even though in winter I am much more active.)
for me to loose weight I really need to be taking only 1000 cals per day and exercising ( please note I am not advocating eating only 1000 cals per day - I am saying it is the only way personally I loose weight).
the problem for me is that I cannot stick to that for long as I get soooo tired which is a side effect of the thyroid thing - exacerbated






by not enough calories. So I eat a little more if I feel I really need to. Weight loss for me will probably be very slow, but - I will get


there!


Ask your dr to add t3 to your current medication. I am finally losing on it. It was a hard adjustment and I felt weird at first, but I feel great now.

PlunderBunneh

Every person is different. I don't always eat back, but I do aim for the guidelines set for me by my nutritionist. For every 30 minutes of heavy working out, allow an additional 200 calories. I have a slow resting metabolic rate, so my normal is set to 1300. On a normal day, I eat between 1300 and 1600, with workouts ranging from 30 minutes to 70 minutes.
I try not to eat to hit a certain calorie goal, but if I'm over I will avoid eating more, although I find I don't usually want to. My body needs fuel. If I don't feed it, my workout is quite challenging the next day. Same goes if I overfeed it with crappy food.
Good luck!!

paniologal

Sometimes I eat negative net calories... I've lost lots of weight. If I ate back my calories, I would be huge.

fit4mom

Sometimes I eat negative net calories... I've lost lots of weight. If I ate back my calories, I would be huge.

You and me both. If we could give our extra calories away we could single handedly cure hunger. (Cure:blushing: as if it's a disease. LOL)

thankyou4thevenom

I've tried the whole "eat back burned calories" thing. I've been working out 5days a week for 4 weeks with no results. Actually I've gained. So today I ate what I wanted. I ended up eating about 1250 calories. But after exercise I only netted about half that. Now that it's bedtime I'm wondering how much damage I've done not eating enough calories.

Who's exercise calories are you eating? MFP's exercise calories are always way off for me. They always tell me I burn about 3x as much as I do.

asyouseefit

I've tried the whole "eat back burned calories" thing. I've been working out 5days a week for 4 weeks with no results. Actually I've gained. So today I ate what I wanted. I ended up eating about 1250 calories. But after exercise I only netted about half that. Now that it's bedtime I'm wondering how much damage I've done not eating enough calories.

Who's exercise calories are you eating? MFP's exercise calories are always way off for me. They always tell me I burn about 3x as much as I do.

This. A lot of people here overestimate their exercise caloric burn. There's no wonder eating all of these calories back doesnt work for them!

aussie_nic_getting_fit

if i eat back my exercise calories, I also gain weight, i think ever persons body is different and we need to trial heaps of weightloss strategies to find what works as indivuals