....and tell me why I would want to eat back the calories?

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Replies

  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Snacks. :-) Calorie dense foods, fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc etc.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Then how exactly do you need to lose weight? Maybe you should actually put on some stats (height/weight/regular workout) so you can get some less general advice.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating.

    Bingo. Armed with this knowledge, you can plan ahead better now and distribute the calories throughout the day. After a while you should have a rough idea of your total daily energy expenditure. When you know your total energy expenditure and what sort of calorie deficit you're targeting, you can plan the meals so you don't end up with a ton of calories at the end of the day.

    Planning is the easy part. :)
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Snacks. :-) Calorie dense foods, fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc etc.
    ^this, also olive oil and avocado are good choices.
    and i always get bashed for this - but cheese, or other full fat dairy, or some bacon (reasonable amounts, of course). i refuse to cut anything out of my diet - i just limit the amount i eat. instead of cooking with butter every day, i use it occasionally. sometimes ill have cheese every day for a week, other times i dont eat it for 2 weeks. i just make sure to fit whatever i eat into my goals for the day.
  • laineyluma
    laineyluma Posts: 358 Member
    I eat them back.. It has worked for me. :flowerforyou:
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    because MFP ALREADY takes away 500-1000 calories BEFORE you see your diary! & more thanh a 1000 cal defecit is not a good thing. be smart.

    i set mine to maintain and create my own defecit, plus i have my bodymedia.
  • irjeffb
    irjeffb Posts: 275 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.

    Because 1+1=2
  • ChrisStoney
    ChrisStoney Posts: 479 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.


    8 ounces of chicken, with cheese and one ounce of almounds.... probably about 500 cals, might take 5-10 minutes to eat. yummm!
  • sexforjaffacakes
    sexforjaffacakes Posts: 1,001 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Just eat what you can, you don't need to force yourself to eat back everything. Aim for as much as you can - with calorie dense food like nuts oils etc, even a little dark chocolate would be okay. But If you feel stuffed you don't need to force it, some people only eat back half of their exercise calories, some people eat them all!

    Also, the approximate burned calories on this site can be quite over generous, so unless you use a heart rate monitor, I wouldnt eat every single exercise cal back because yeah as I said sometimes the site can give you too man exercise calories.

    But aye, on the whole, eating them back is good :D
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.

    You can lose weight on a VLCD. I've found the starvation mode people sling around to be unfounded. However, the long term success of a VLCD is what's in question for me. I have no scientific studies to back anything about VLCD being more likely to gain back weight, however the large majority of people who lose weight, gain it back eventually. Restricting one's self to an extreme tends to trigger reactance that eventually explodes into no longer being able to eat so little, and overdoing it big time.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,309 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.

    Do what works for you.

    The people who believe it, have found it works for them.

    I ate my exercise calories all through my 52 pound loss. It worked for me. I've kept it off for four years - (give or take ten here and there.) When I reached my goal, I was already eating exactly where I needed to be to avoid gaining after the "diet".

    Experiment. Learn how this site works. Other sites don't give you an automatic deficit off the top of your food, and then ask you to input your exercise. This site gives you the option to exercise or not on any given day.


    .
  • sullyboo
    sullyboo Posts: 256 Member
    I eat mine back most of the time, I'm maintaining now so some days I eat more some days I eat less!! Balances out in the end (I've been doing MFP for tha last year). On the eating back exercise calories argument that is a constant battle on the forum pages my view is quite simply energy in energy out ..... Simple really !! :wink:
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    I just worry for those people who are eating those few calories, & losing weight.. ... its not fat you are burning.. its mostly muscle, which you need lean muscle to keep your metabolsim high, if you dont have enough lean muscle, the weight will just creep back on or itll be harder to keep it off.
  • sullyboo
    sullyboo Posts: 256 Member
    I just worry for those people who are eating those few calories, & losing weight.. ... its not fat you are burning.. its mostly muscle, which you need lean muscle to keep your metabolsim high, if you dont have enough lean muscle, the weight will just creep back on or itll be harder to keep it off.



    You are so right !! But I think everyone does it at the start don't they ... Restricts calorie intact thinking they will lose weight quicke.
  • irjeffb
    irjeffb Posts: 275 Member
    I just worry for those people who are eating those few calories, & losing weight.. ... its not fat you are burning.. its mostly muscle, which you need lean muscle to keep your metabolsim high, if you dont have enough lean muscle, the weight will just creep back on or itll be harder to keep it off.
    Most of the exercise calories I burn are walking or on the elliptical at the gym. I can feel and visibly see the difference in my leg muscles. I find it very hard to believe that I'm burning an unhealthy amount of muscle as opposed to building it.
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    Yeah you'll always lose some.. But i mean if you drop 50 lbs in 3 mos... chances are good that is a lot of muscle.. atleast in the beginning when that does happen you rebuild it with resistance workouts..
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    you would possibly eat them because your workout was intense and made you hungry.
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    I just worry for those people who are eating those few calories, & losing weight.. ... its not fat you are burning.. its mostly muscle, which you need lean muscle to keep your metabolsim high, if you dont have enough lean muscle, the weight will just creep back on or itll be harder to keep it off.
    Most of the exercise calories I burn are walking or on the elliptical at the gym. I can feel and visibly see the difference in my leg muscles. I find it very hard to believe that I'm burning an unhealthy amount of muscle as opposed to building it.

    You cant really build a whole lot of muscle walking and whatnot... most of that is already there, naturally.. but whether you want to believe it or not, muscle will be burned away.
  • sickpetmom
    sickpetmom Posts: 5
    That info was really helpful and I can now understand how that works!!! Thanks

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