Do you eat your exercise calories back?

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  • aninyang
    aninyang Posts: 3
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    Lol! sometimes I am tempted to but not often. You know how that snickers @ 200- something calories is just calling your name in the store. That may be a time where I do the opposite and work off that moment of snicker weakness.:blushing:
  • SusanMcAvoy
    SusanMcAvoy Posts: 445 Member
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    I consider it a failure for me if I eat all my exercise calories back. I do eat some of them because I am usually hungry but try not to eat most of them. All my life I have been taught to exercise and eat less to lose weight. Why would that change now? I have never agreed with eating the exercise calories back on a regular basis. It seems so counter productive.
  • jgoatgirl
    jgoatgirl Posts: 21 Member
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    I think of my exercise deficit as "overdraft protection". I try really hard not to go over but we all have "those days".
  • johnlms
    johnlms Posts: 15
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    I eat mine back focusing on protein and potassium after a good workout... typically. It just works for me when staying "around" the number they give for net calories consumed. (Taking into account caloric intake for the day and any activity outside of the "norm".. aka exercise, cleaning house, etc.)

    I'm 4 lbs from my goal weight currently and have lost right at 50lbs so far. (I started tracking on MFP about 10lbs in)
  • Twinsmama75
    Twinsmama75 Posts: 76 Member
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    Hahahaha....snickers!

    I probably need to redo my whole MFP thing b/c when I signed up last Jan. I was nursing, so I added in 500 calories...it's all screwed up at this point since I'm not nursing. I'll have to figure out how to recalculate how many calories I should be eating.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    my home > settings > update diet and fitness profile.
  • MrsLawsonNavyBrat2B
    MrsLawsonNavyBrat2B Posts: 170
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    Thanks to those who answered my question! I am new to MFP (at least to the exercise part of it & the topics) and appreciate the responses.

    Sorry to those who were annoyed that I asked a question that apparently is asked a lot...you really didn't need to waste your time responding though. Seriously, go find something to do with yourself.

    ^^ i have been on here for a few months now and didnt know there was a way to search and see if a topic had been asked before so I just thought i would let you know that i love your responce to what was said.

    I personally do not eat back my calories bc i am afraid to eat them and gain weight. HOWEVER it is very important to eat your net calories so that your body does not try to hold onto the weight. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU... feel free to add
  • pixiexxgirl
    pixiexxgirl Posts: 141
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    I eat close to 1110 a day, though I try to get the full 1200 a day, then I burn anywhere from 500-600, and I normally dont eat them back, but when I do I only eat back half of them


    Whenever I log at the end of the day it tells me that if i keep it up I'll lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks
    So it seems to work for me.
  • davejlee
    davejlee Posts: 43 Member
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    I am new here but I really don't understand "eating your calories back". Why would you expend energy working out to just "eat it back"? This has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard!

    If you are on a calorie restricted diet less than 1000 calories per day (and that is still low) you are on a very unhealthy diet. You may lose weight but you will not keep it off! Yoyo dieting is very dangerous, especially if you are already overweight. You have to find an eating plan that you can live with for the rest of your life.


    You answered your own question. e.g. if you eat 1500 calories a day, and exercise to burn off 500 calories, you have a net of 1000 calories. So it would be the same as having a 1000 calories per day diet (with no exercise) which you already acknowledged as unhealthy.

    Also, every exercise program should include strength training. Eating adequately while lifting is a must.

    The only problem with eating back exercise calories, and why I eat about 85%, is due to inaccuracies when it comes to measuring calories burned for a given workout. There is a tendency to overestimate.
  • elcieloesazul
    elcieloesazul Posts: 448 Member
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    I do. If not all, then some. I find that on the weeks I eat 1,400-1,600+ net calories consistently vs. weeks when I only eat 1,200 every day, I lose twice as much weight. Yes, you CAN eat "more" and lose more. This is because your body has worked off some of the calories, meaning your body has a deficit on top of a deficit, if you don't eat some or all back. Look at it this way: exercise calories = room for dessert :wink:
  • NaturalFatty
    NaturalFatty Posts: 3 Member
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    I think it depends on if you are trying to hold your body weight at a certain poundage. If you are trying to lose weight, you would want to keep those calories burned, OFF. It just all depends on how you are using MFP, and what results you are looking for.
  • vypeters
    vypeters Posts: 475 Member
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    No, I don't.

    I've read for months (even before I actually signed up here) that not eating them back would cause me to go into starvation mode and not lose weight...so far, not true. And for me, so far has been a pretty long far. That said, I make sure that my eating includes some protein and carbs an hour or so before exercise and protein after - I just don't add a bunch of calories to do it.
  • ShapingAgnes
    ShapingAgnes Posts: 45 Member
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    I am normally exercising because I have surpassed my calorie intake. So normally I consume all my exercise calories, sometimes when I am feeling SPUNKY...Ill excersise a little more so I can have calories left over.
  • Melyssaks
    Melyssaks Posts: 69 Member
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    I really like the option of the program letting you eat more calories when you work out. Sometimes I find it impossible to eat only 1200 calories if you actually eat 3 full meals a day. So a lot of times I may eat an extra 200 or 300 calories and then work out for 30-60 minutes to burn it off. So I use the exercise feature more as a punishment for my food cravings. I just started the program a couple days ago so I'm not sure if that's a successful plan but we'll see :)

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