Everyone's been talking about eating back exercise calories.

alphabettie

My question might be a little different, I didn't really see an answer. I know you're supposed to be eating your exercise calories back, but being under your calorie goal is supposed to be a good thing, no?

So in that case, say you have 1700 allotted calories for the day. You decide to eat 2000 cals worth of food but burn off 400 cals exercising, leaving your net cals at 1600. Is this good? Should you be eating all of your exercise calories back, or is there a ratio that I don't know about?

SarahMorganP

I eat at least 1/2 my exercise calories back most days, just because I don't have a HRM so my calories burned might be over what I really burn.

MB_Positif

If you are in the range you are speaking of, you are in decent shape. Sometimes I eat all of them back (and then some, haha), but most of the time I still leave about 100 on the table. I don't stress too much about it. You can try to look at the numbers in terms of a whole week because some days you might be over a little and under a little. Good luck!

Pebble321

The calorie goal that MFP assigns you (based on the info you put in) is the number you should eat in a day. MFP has already subtracted calories to create a calorie deficit so if you don't eat all your calories you are making that deficit larger.

Having said that I wouldn't get too stressed about being 100 or so cals either way - all the food and exercise numbers we enter are estimates anyway so it doesn't hurt to have a little buffer under or over.

And to answer your second question - if you are entering your food and exercise calories accurately (as close as you can get, bearing in mind that they are all estimates!) then yes, you should eat all your exercise calories.
People often suggest that you only eat part of them because they aren't sure how accurate they are.
I've always eaten most of mine and it's worked fine for me!

marekdds

I eat a good portion of my exercise calories back, but I leave some as a buffer zone. In case the machines aren't right or the calories eaten are off.

chrisc16

As long as your total (real) caloric intake is at least 1200 for the day, your OK. Cardio burns calories, and strengthens your metabolic system.

badr0mance

i typically do also eat a lot of mine back!

Pebbles536

First if you can afford it get a HRM. I just got a Polar FT4 $69. at Big 5 sporting goods. Look around you'll find a deal in your area. Big reason for a HRM is it tells you how many calories (if you by a model that does) you burn during a work out. MFP grossly over estimates calories burned.


www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

Basically the reason MFP has you eat exercise calories is because it is already set up for you to lose weight (at a healthy rate) by just by staying under your food goals. If you don't eat at least some of your exercise calories you may not be getting enough fuel for your work outs and may lose too quickly (Unhealthy rate).


I hope this helps. (but as with anything consult your Doc and follow their guide lines)

therealangd

In the scenario you described that would be fine.

sbouchlas

i think it depends how fast you want to loose....lets say you want to loose weight according to what your designed program is well then as long as you stay within your caloric intake for the day you should be fine....3500 additinal calories is equal to approx. 1 lb. just dont starve yourself bc thats not good!

skygoddess86

I've said it before but, somedays thats the only reason I exercise, I want to eat more. But I like a buffer too most of the time even with using the Polar. And it is totally worth the money.

ambut

I think of my "calories remaining" as the spending money I have for the day, and I try to spend down to zero. Sometimes I go into the red, and sometimes I end up with a larger-than-usual deficit, but the website intends for you to get to zero because it accounts for your deficit in telling you how many calories you can eat. Whatever you choose to do, try to make sure you eat at least 1200 calories a day (not net calories, just straight up how many you eat) so that you don't starve yourself. A healthy body has a better metabolism than a starved one!

mallory3411

Do what works for you. If you find you aren't losing try eating more or less. Everyone is different and everyones body works and reacts differently.

MaximalLife

My question might be a little different, I didn't really see an answer. I know you're supposed to be eating your exercise calories back, but being under your calorie goal is supposed to be a good thing, no?

So in that case, say you have 1700 allotted calories for the day. You decide to eat 2000 cals worth of food but burn off 400 cals exercising, leaving your net cals at 1600. Is this good? Should you be eating all of your exercise calories back, or is there a ratio that I don't know about?

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.

alphabettie

Thanks for replying, everyone. I figured there was already a deficit that MFP put in, but I noticed when people update their food diaries, they get support from other members for being under their goal of the day. It just confused me a bit.

According to MFP, my daily allotted calorie intake is 1460. After exercising, I have 90 remaining for the day. If anything, I'm thinking of eating an apple before bed. I'll really be okay with a glass of water or something because I'm not that hungry; I ate about a half hour or so after working out.

stonea22

But what if you only get 1200 and then burn 500 in exercise. Should you eat all 1700? I am not concerned with speed of loss because I am short with just a little to lose to be in the top of my average weight range.

SarahMorganP

But what if you only get 1200 and then burn 500 in exercise. Should you eat all 1700? I am not concerned with speed of loss because I am short with just a little to lose to be in the top of my average weight range.

Yes you should eat all 1700.