do you eat back the calories you burn?

RBXChas

this has probably been asked a million times but i'm new to MFP. i am trying to lose 20 pounds by staying under my 1,200 calorie a day goal. when i workout (cardio and a little strenght training) should i eat back the calories i burn? thanks!

Yes, you should, but it can be hard to do depending on how much you burn. I fully admit to not always eating them back because I feel like I am force-feeding myself sometimes, and I want to eat what I call "quality calories." If I burn 200 working out, I'm not going to eat back 200 calories in potato chips, you know?

Also keep in mind that the general sentiment is that MFP burn estimates run a bit high. A lot of people suggest getting a good heart rate monitor and using that. I am buying one anyhow for spinning, and so once I get it, I will be using it for all my workouts.

But just FYI, this topic is very controversial here on MFP. It's like asking whether you should vote Democrat or Republican.

CMmrsfloyd

this has probably been asked a million times but i'm new to MFP. i am trying to lose 20 pounds by staying under my 1,200 calorie a day goal. when i workout (cardio and a little strenght training) should i eat back the calories i burn? thanks!

Yes, you should, but it can be hard to do depending on how much you burn. I fully admit to not always eating them back because I feel like I am force-feeding myself sometimes, and I want to eat what I call "quality calories." If I burn 200 working out, I'm not going to eat back 200 calories in potato chips, you know?

Also keep in mind that the general sentiment is that MFP burn estimates run a bit high. A lot of people suggest getting a good heart rate monitor and using that. I am buying one anyhow for spinning, and so once I get it, I will be using it for all my workouts.

But just FYI, this topic is very controversial here on MFP. It's like asking whether you should vote Democrat or Republican.

HRMs are definitely a helpful tool if you plan to eat all or most of your exercise calories. It's amazing how different your 'actual' (re: more accurate) burn is from MFP estimates. If I didn't have an HRM and had to go by MFP calorie burn estimates, I'd be much more skeptical about eating all the calories it said I burned.

pinkpumpedupkickz

yes and this is why:

Here is how it works, in a simplified manner:

You tell MFP: I want to lose 1lb per week.

MFP says: Okay, you need to eat X calories per day in order to lose 1lb/week, without exercise.

You do what MFP says, but then you decide to exercise and you burn an additional 400 calories. MFP then says "Hey, I told you to eat X per day to lose 1lb/week without exercise. You exercised, now you're going to lose it too fast and that's not ideal. Now I want you to eat X+400".

YES! Best explanation I've heard so far.

adiesilver

this has probably been asked a million times but i'm new to MFP. i am trying to lose 20 pounds by staying under my 1,200 calorie a day goal. when i workout (cardio and a little strenght training) should i eat back the calories i burn? thanks!

Yes, you should, but it can be hard to do depending on how much you burn. I fully admit to not always eating them back because I feel like I am force-feeding myself sometimes, and I want to eat what I call "quality calories." If I burn 200 working out, I'm not going to eat back 200 calories in potato chips, you know?

Also keep in mind that the general sentiment is that MFP burn estimates run a bit high. A lot of people suggest getting a good heart rate monitor and using that. I am buying one anyhow for spinning, and so once I get it, I will be using it for all my workouts.

But just FYI, this topic is very controversial here on MFP. It's like asking whether you should vote Democrat or Republican.

I've noticed that about the tracker! MFP's estimate seems to be at least 200 cals high for each workout I've entered thus far. I have an HRM but I can't find the chest strap. Must get on that. Glad I'm not the only one who has this issue!

lawmama_

SOME.

But not all, if you're looking to speed up your weight loss. I probably burn about 300 calories on the days that I do my cardio workouts, but then only eat back about 100-200 of those calories.

twinmom01

it depends....

simple answer no?

first off - 1200 calories should be a MINIMUM of what you should eat every day....do not eat less....your body needs these calories to subsist

As far as eating back your exercise calories it really depends on what your diet is - i.e. whole and clean vs. lots of processed food - and your body type - are you more muscular or more fat to burn. Someone who has more fat to burn then you don't want to eat back a lot of your exercise calories whereas someone who is more muscular would want to eat back a lot of thier exercise calories.

I had the opportunity to meet Bob Harper about a year ago and I asked him this specific question and his response was if you are eating a good healthy diet and mantaining a good daily calorie basis then you don't need to eat back your exercise calories if your goal is fat burning and weight loss.

Now that being said - if you have a large amount of fat to burn in the beginning then you probably don't want to eat back your exercise calories because the goal is calorie deficit which leads to weight loss - but as you begin loosing weight and burning off fat and using your muscles more and more you may find it is adventagous to eat back some of your exercise calories....

BUT you have to listen and know your body - you also have to figure out what your actual calorie burn is when exercising - I have a HRM and found time and time again when exercising I burn about 10 calories/minute when I am in the moment...so 50 minutes on an ellipitical I burn about 450 caloriesbut when I plug in 50 minutes on the ellipitcal in MFP it tells me I burned almost 600 calories...