Why you should eat your exercise calories

Elizabeth_C34

X2!!

Like i told someone before, your body needs fuel, when you excercise you burn the fuel, you need to eat to refuel your body!! yall going to force your body into starvation mode thinking you doing a good thing, your body will retain the fat, i bet the ones who don't eat back the calories or atleast most of it hardly lose any weight or lose weight it at a slow rate and not consistant.

"Refueling after a workout" and "eating back all your exercise calories" are not the same thing. #1 usually requires a lot less food than #2.

There is no single correct answer, primarily because the body's response to a calorie deficit changes as one's body composition changes.

A beginner who is large, heavy and has a high percentage of body fat can sustain a high calorie deficit with little or no adverse effects--in my experience, as long as they eat enough food (I'm talking 1400-1800 calories per day, not 1200). These people will not go into "starvation mode" (and neither will most people).

The type of exercise program can make a difference as well.

And lastly, as someone else noted, calculating exercise calorie burn -- yes even with a sacred HRM -- is a pretty rough estimate. If you reflexively eat back all exercise calories, there is a pretty good chance you could overeat, resulting in slower loss than necessary.

If someone is over 200 lbs with a body fat over 30% for males or 35% for females, most registered dietitians will put them on a calorie-restricted food plan of 1400-1600 calories/day with no allowance for exercise (really heavy people might be put as high as 2000 cal/day).

As one approaches one's "ideal" body fat level, then keeping a smaller deficit becomes necessary. But there is no hard and fast rule that says that beginners MUST eat back all exercise calories.

Very good post.

MaximalLife

I sometimes leave a little cushion too. But this is more consistently. If you stall later I would suggest trying to eat them all back :]

@Duelltolose I would try to eat them back and see if it helps! It did for me :]

Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week. That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up. Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories. Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be? In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more. Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Be efficient. Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

Beezil

I sometimes leave a little cushion too. But this is more consistently. If you stall later I would suggest trying to eat them all back :]

@Duelltolose I would try to eat them back and see if it helps! It did for me :]

Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week. That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up. Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories. Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be? In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more. Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Be efficient. Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

dvcab

this was a post from heaven this morning i had been good (under my calories) and gymed an extra day as i was going out for tea. But no weight loss i am over my 1/2 way to goal and thought it funny that over christmas with limited exercise and more eating i lost 1k so thank you next week im going to eat all my exercise calories and see if that helps as the article states menopause doesnt help blahhh am so over that (night sweats etc) so thanks again:drinker: :happy:

Pinkerbell1481

I dont even try to understand it. I am going by what my trainer wants me to do. Eating 4-6 times a day, smaller portions, and my excercise. I eat about 1600 to 2000 calories a day right now and thats eating better foods and im still trying to get to where i need to be on my better foods list for my trainer. There is NO WAY IN HELL id be able to eat back over 1500 calories a day plus what i already eat from what i burn. You do what works for you. Everyone is different.

selfantigen

Thanks, gonna check this out.

keeponkickin

100% agree with eating back your exercise calories. I didn't do this at first when I was VERY over weight and I got away with it. As the weight dropped and now that I am close to goal (lost 111 pounds so far) my weight loss kept plateauing, stalling out and it was very frustrating. I got good, sound advice about eating more calories and it went against everything I always heard about dieting. Now mind you, I don't log exercise calories as "cleaning house" and I only count the exercise calories where my heart rate is up for an extended period of time and I'm sweating. Like magic, the weight is starting to fall again and I don't feel hungry.

Dashal

I posted this a while ago, but I have been seeing more and more new members asking whether or not they should be eating them back.

Short answer: YES!

Here is why: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

MFP has already created a deficit for you. When you don't eat your exercise calories back you are creating an even larger deficit which can cause you to stop losing. I strongly suggest you to read the link I provided for details!

That article doesn't actually say you need to eat your calories back. What it's saying is choosing a large calorie deficit and also exercising will not help you lose weight, let alone see it fall off.

I get nervous when I see people saying you have to eat your exercise calories back - it opens the door to abuse. To eat my calories back I'd either be eating the crap I cut out in the first place or be sick by the quantity. Also as correctly pointed out by others - MFP is never exact and you should allow margins of error, so why not have it under and be a good one?

If I've eaten 1800 calories and still have 500 spare due to exercise, I won't eat it back if I'm full and content. It's all about moderation and listening to your body

Quasita

My problem right now is my calorie burn is so high due to my weight that there's no way I can eat them back. I'm just trying to keep myself from being too low. I think it depends on where you are at for ground zero. I highly doubt my doctor (or my stomach) would suggest I eat the 2000+ calories back from my workouts today.

FearAnLoathing

I don't get why you should eat your exercise calories - what's the point of exercising when you are suppose to burn what you're eating if you're eating your deficent then it's like you're back at square one.... eat fewer clalories and exercise more.

There ought to be a ripping out your hair emoticon....

Read the article- then you'll get it.

here you go

andrejjorje

Yes you can diet without exercising. The same author has a book called "The rapid fat loss handbook" a modified PSMF version where he preaches very little sport or not at all.

kymdarnell

I think that has been my problem. Only lost 5lbs since Nov 30th and I work out 5-6x a week. I am trying that now..

yep same here with me - i just have to get my 'brain' around the fact that it is ok to eat back my exercise calories

Samerah12

Some days with my workouts and playing tennis I am burning 1000 calories a day...
So your telling me that I should be eating 1000 more calories ...thats alot of food to be eating...

ESPECIALLY when you burn a whole lot more you need to eat more. I burn over 1000 almost every long run (so once a week when my head is in the game) and I always eat them back.

Most weekends I drive to Kansas City and back and I buy one tank of gas. Some weekends I drive to the Ozarks and back and I need 2 tanks. To insist that my car drive twice the distance on the same amount of fuel would be delusional. Your body is more complicated than a car but it still applies.

Samerah12

I don't get why you should eat your exercise calories - what's the point of exercising when you are suppose to burn what you're eating if you're eating your deficent then it's like you're back at square one.... eat fewer clalories and exercise more.

There ought to be a ripping out your hair emoticon....

Read the article- then you'll get it.

here you go

Aw, he's a cutie too! thanks.

EmilyLStuart

can I just say...I am so confused!

I've never purposely ate back my calories...but now wondering if I should. I will have to do more research before I go there. :ohwell:



Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

CanuckTracy

me too...I have lost 10 lbs from Sep to now but am exercising and watching (now more with MFP) what I eat and really not losing..up and down, but know that I have been eating way less....I will TRY to do this now too

AmandaCaswell1982

When I was alot heavier I lost even eating 1000-1200 cals a day. Then I stopped losing. I upped my workouts like CRAZY and started to eat 1500-2000 cals a day and *poof* weight loss of 1-2 lbs (or more) a week CONSISTENTLY. I love it because I'm never hungry and feel great!

I now workout to eat those extra calories ~

Mbuhler

Ok, ok, ok... a little fired up here so here goes and will try to address all the issues I saw coming up in the posts (I have a degree in nutrition, just never pursued my registered dietitian status, took a different turn in my healthcare career so no credentials, these are just my opinions based on my learning and understanding). Some of these points may have been stated in other posts...
1. The information coming from this website is coming from one person who is selling some books - number one rule of research is to back up your information with multiple sources. This individual has much to gain - he has an online store and is affiliated with a number of companies who also sell product. This is not always a bad thing but something to be aware of. In addition, no where on his site does he state what his credentials are to be giving us this information nor does he state how current the information is and does not provide us with links as to what research studies his information is coming from. The bottom clearly states that this site is a blog and it his opinion based on his knowledge. This article was written based on the info in ONE case study - not even a randomized control study which is the better standard.
2. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. I think someone else stated the 500 calorie rule... if you cut back by 250 calories and burn 250 calories a day, you would have a 500 calorie deficit. 1 pound is 3500 calories divided by a 500 calorie deficit per day = 1 lb lost per week. Now we all know, everyone's metabolism and make-up is different and we all must find the "magic" number that works for us. MFP calculates your basic calorie needs based on your general activity level (sedentary, lightly active, active, and very active). In addition, you can edit your profile to reflect whether you want to lose 0.5 to 2lbs per week and MFP will build that calorie deficit into your overall calorie goal for the day. If you exercise, if gives you an additional deficit - this is where someone was talking that the weight loss deficit is built in and you could "eat" the calories back but still be under your calorie goal if your calories are reduced to allow you to lose weight each week. Confusing, I know.
3. No one should eat less than 1200 calories - your metabolism will slow down and conserve because it doesn't know when it's next meal will come - it will try to hang onto every last piece it can. Your metabolism will also slow down when you have large gaps of time between meals (same concept). Instead, you should be eating ~6 smaller meals throughout the day so that your engine stays revved. Lastly, our bodies don't adhere to our 24 hour clock when it comes to intake and output... Most of us can say that if you burned 1200 calories hiking and couldn't eat them all back, you are probably going to find that you will be hungrier the next day and will eat some of them back anyways. Over a couple days, you still usually end up evening out.
4. Exercise is always better than just diet alone - not only do we burn calories exercising, we also burn calories AFTER exercise especially with weight training. Then, the more muscle we put on, the more we rev our metabolism. Also, if needed, those extra calories let us potentially eat more food and if we pick healthy choices, we gain better health through vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein - sometimes it's nice to use those extra calories for a treat but if you are going to eat those calories back, you should make the healthiest choices possible to get the most benefit. In addition, we strengthen our immune systems, our lungs, our heart, improve circulation, reduce cholesterol, stimulate the digestive system....
5. Lastly, our bodies need to recover. Eating some of those "extra" calories back is good if you are eating in the 30-90min window after ex's - a healthy snack of combined protein and carb will help replenish our stores and make them more efficient for the next time we exercise while giving our muscles key nutrition to repair and become stronger. There are some studies that show that a glass of chocolate milk has nice ratio of carb/fat/protein that our bodies can use quickly to repenish after exercise. This too will help keep your metabolism elevated because all too often, we don't eat after exercise until much later to our next meal which again, slows down the engine. This is where you can "eat back" some of those "extra" calories.

So, in a nutshell, if you have MFP set to already give you a calorie deficit, you can probably eat back some of your exercise calories. Choose healthy snacks, eat 6x's a day if you can, eat 30min post exercise to have some of those extra calories and don't go overboard. MFP calorie burn calculations are an estimate, everybody is different and you have to play with those numbers to find out what works best for you. Sorry so long and if I have upset anyone, it was not my intent. Knowledge is power.

avk9802

I was just thinking about this today.

Thanks!

IronSmasher

Really? A magic window to eat back calories?