Who is having more weightloss success by eating thier exerci

Jamiew3kids

im ready to try something else.. Also what should my net calories be at the end of the day for success?
My daily calorie goal is 1290 and i always meet that and I burn over 500 calories a day with exercise but im stuck and getting frustraded.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I can't tell if you're saying you do or do not eat back your exercise calories. I have more success when I eat most of them back.

Jamiew3kids

I usally dont eat them back.

erickirb

Here is a guide to proper caloric deficits, with everyone of these it is assumed you will be eating your exercise calories. If you don't want to eat them, then change your activity level to active or very active, depending on how much you workout.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

This may not give you fastest weight loss but it will be safer and help ensure that you are losing mostly fat, a too large deficit will lead to a loss of a large % lean muscle. Do you just want to lose weight, or do you want to lose fat?

If you don't eat them and only eat 1290, that would be like eating 790 and not working out (1290-500) as your goal on MFP is a net goal. Other institutions and professionals tell you not to eat them as they included exercise in setting your original calorie goal see the example of what I am talking about below:

Most trainer/doctors/nutritionists set your intake based on BMR + daily activity level + amount of planned exercise. Most professionals will tell you not to eat your exercise calories back because they added it into your TDEE, whereas MFP ignores exercise and only accounts for it when you perform it. Either way should get you to the same place (MFP sets your calorie goal based on BMR and daily activity level only)

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1750 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 12,250 (1750*7) almost the same number of cals for the week. The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1750/day above.

Think of it this way, your day to day requirements are like a tank of gas. if you use a tank of gas/week going to and from work, if you go on any extra trips or errands you will need to add more gas in order to have enough gas to get to work. So if you need 1200 for day to day stuff (you will lose weight with 1200 cals and no exercise), then when you do extra (workout) you need to put more calories in your body.

for more info please see:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/457-unofficial-mfp-faq

Teliooo

I eat half mine back most times nand have lost 25 pounds so far. I always try to at least hit my net even when not exercising, as I am already in a 500 deficit and do not want any more. I also changed my settings o taht my sodium is at 1500 and I am on 40% carbs, 30 protein and 30% fat. I also recently started making sure that I hit my fat content or get close to it. That seemed to boost my weightloss as well as cutting the sodium but that may not apply to you.

CMmrsfloyd

I eat mine and I've lost 30 lbs in 6 months. I also get my calorie burn estimate from a quality HRM with a chest strap so I can feel comfortable in eating those cals. If I had to go by MFP estimates, I'd be nervous about eating them all. But as it is I can eat them confidently and enjoy the additional nutritional value. :-)

athensguy

I'm new (a little over a week of tracking now), but I've been eating my exercise calories back and I have lost a couple of pounds. I think maybe the goal is a little low for me. I indicated in the settings that I want to lose 1lb per week.

toddlyons

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

Answer: Yes.

Read the threads.

jennabellaxoxo

I never used to eat any activity calories that I had earned, now I do and I am at my lowest weight/smallest measurements ever...at the holidays none the less! Try it and see if it works but give it a month, you may gain slightly at first...GL!

jennabellaxoxo

whoops duplicate post!

CMmrsfloyd

I'm new (a little over a week of tracking now), but I've been eating my exercise calories back and I have lost a couple of pounds. I think maybe the goal is a little low for me. I indicated in the settings that I want to lose 1lb per week.

Sometimes in the beginning you drop some water weight. Not sure of your exact circumstances, but this comes up a lot in the threads about the quick loss in the beginning. Also the activity level you set is basically a best guess, so it may be just slightly off from reality.

determined2lose89

If I'm really hungry after my workout (it's always late evening) I will make a high protein snack <200 calories.

carriedavis77

I eat most of mine back... usually end up with a deficit of about 500 calories for the day. This is of course built on my own profile though... so everyones is gonna be different. I find the days I put in a hard exercise I'm MORE hungry... the body needs fuel to put out energy to keep up in my circuit training classes.

mysteria_

I don't eat mine back, and I am slowly but surely losing. I am on the smaller side to begin with though, so this may not work well for everyone.

carriedavis77

Wow... great post Eric! Thanks for sharing!

erickirb

I don't eat mine back, and I am slowly but surely losing. I am on the smaller side to begin with though, so this may not work well for everyone.

.

The less you have to lose the more important it is to eat them, otherwise a large portion of any loss will be from lean muscle. See my response from above.

bjfmade

I eat mine and I've lost 30 lbs in 6 months. I also get my calorie burn estimate from a quality HRM with a chest strap so I can feel comfortable in eating those cals. If I had to go by MFP estimates, I'd be nervous about eating them all. But as it is I can eat them confidently and enjoy the additional nutritional value. :-)

Definitely better to buy and HRM!

soccer8s

I've only been eating about 1/2 of mine back...and not seeing results....but part of that is that I eat them at like 8pm....maybe I should start eating them before I work out??? that seems backwards, but it would be worth a try i guess....

mysteria_

I don't eat mine back, and I am slowly but surely losing. I am on the smaller side to begin with though, so this may not work well for everyone.

.

The less you have to lose the more important it is to eat them, otherwise a large portion of any loss will be from lean muscle. See my response from above.

Thanks but it seems to be working fine for me.

neanderthin

I don't know what exercise calories are......I work from a TDEE standpoint.

skylark94

I use my goal calories (1,600) as my absolute minimum, then use the exercise calories as a cushion if I need them. I usually end up eating about 1/2 of my exercise calories.

joeygirl84

I never eat them back... 83 lbs lost so far.

CoryIda

^^^Raises hand^^^
I always ate at least a decent chunk of my exercise calories, since the deficit is already built into your goals while you are losing on MFP>

erickirb

I never eat them back... 83 lbs lost so far.

The more you have to lose the less important it is, but now that you don't have much left to lose you may want to start eating at least some of them, otherwise you will start to lose more and more muscle along with the last bit of fat.

MaraDiaz

I'm steady on two pounds a week now and I usually eat all of my exercise calories. Would I lose more per week if I didn't? I'm sure I would, but I'd also burn out a lot faster and be more likely to quit.

mommamuscles

First off, I want to say, you're doing wonderfully!
This issue is very controversial, I know, but here is my story...
I started MFP about a year ago and so far have lost 99 pounds. When I first started my journey I was desperate to lose weight and delighted in seeing that little alert that said I was eating too few calories.
I have always worked out very hard, starting with boot camp, running, weight lifting and kickboxing classes. On the average I burn about 1000 calories per day. I had remarkable success very early on, and was dropping weight like crazy, which was very motivating to me. Then it backfired on me. My hair started falling out in huge chunks and my skin was flaking off. I was weak and lethargic...but not really hungry. I had started reading alot of stuff about fueling your body for workouts then and I knew I was eating too little, but really afraid to eat more for fear my weight loss would stop. Then it happened, I hit a plateau. That lasted for THREE MONTHS. It drove me crazy!!!!!
Finally something clicked in me and I decided to start eating back some of my exercise calories. I have found that when I eat all of them, I sometimes hit plateaus, sometimes not. Ultimately I think you have to keep your body guessing. I have found the best plan for me is to cycle my calories. I usually do eat at least some of my exercise calories.
Recently I found a way to set up your MFP called the Olivia method. If you search for it on the forums there is a ton of info. I cant tell if it is right for you, but my advice to you is to make sure you keep your body out of starvation mode. I wish you lots of success in the future!

CoryIda

I never eat them back... 83 lbs lost so far.

The more you have to lose the less important it is, but now that you don't have much left to lose you may want to start eating at least some of them, otherwise you will start to lose more and more muscle along with the last bit of fat.

I would just like to add to this person's assertion that, as an "exercise calorie consumer" throughout my 125 pound journey, I managed to maintain almost all of my muscle (went from 141 pound lean body mass to 133 pounds lean body mass, which means that out of 125 pounds, only 8 of what I lost was muscle)... Just in case you needed some "evidence" that he is right.

jenniet04

In my opinion, MFP is flawed in this calculation. The minimum amount of calories you should be eating everyday is your BMR, you can calculate this under the Tools. If you are exercising, you should be eating back at least half of them. You need to fuel your body for it to work properly.

erickirb

I never eat them back... 83 lbs lost so far.

The more you have to lose the less important it is, but now that you don't have much left to lose you may want to start eating at least some of them, otherwise you will start to lose more and more muscle along with the last bit of fat.

I would just like to add to this person's assertion that, as an "exercise calorie consumer" throughout my 125 pound journey, I managed to maintain almost all of my muscle (went from 141 pound lean body mass to 133 pounds lean body mass, which means that out of 125 pounds, only 8 of what I lost was muscle)... Just in case you needed some "evidence" that he is right.

that is excellent, that is 15.6lbs of fat to every lb of muscle lost. I have seen some people with 1:1 (HCG diet) and others in the 3:1 range (no strength training), most people that do it correctly are in the 7:1 to 10:1 range, so 15+:1 is amazing. great work.

erickirb

In my opinion, MFP is flawed in this calculation. The minimum amount of calories you should be eating everyday is your BMR, you can calculate this under the Tools. If you are exercising, you should be eating back at least half of them. You need to fuel your body for it to work properly.

Good point, if you pick the proper weekly weight loss goal you should not be below your BMR, unless you have a lot to lose.

smbakke77

im ready to try something else.. Also what should my net calories be at the end of the day for success?
My daily calorie goal is 1290 and i always meet that and I burn over 500 calories a day with exercise but im stuck and getting frustraded.

I have consulted with a doctor who specializes in weight management and obesity and she tells me that it defeats the purpose of burning those calories exercising to then eat them back.