Eat back calories burned

lduncan0044

Just wondering who all eats the calories back they have burned through exercise?

rockerbabyy

i do. i dont always eat them back on the day of the exercise - sometimes i just cant... but i always even it out by the end of the week.

lduncan0044

i do. i dont always eat them back on the day of the exercise - sometimes i just cant... but i always even it out by the end of the week.

what is your average weight loss per week ( If you dont mind me asking) And how many calories to you consume in a day?

suzcain

I try really hard to do it because I want to lose the weight properly and not gain it back (58 lbs in 18 months so far. 13 to go. Woo hoo!). That being said, I'm still about 800 calories short today and I feel done - but I'm sure I'll make it up over the weekend because I'm planning on going out to eat.

lduncan0044

I try really hard to do it because I want to lose the weight properly and not gain it back (58 lbs in 18 months so far. 13 to go. Woo hoo!). That being said, I'm still about 800 calories short today and I feel done - but I'm sure I'll make it up over the weekend because I'm planning on going out to eat.

GREAT JOB!!!

hpynh2o

Not everyday.

Some days, after a typical 800 or so cals of exercise, I'm short by up to 500-600 cals.
But I do have one planned "cheat day" per week where I intentionally splurge by 10-30% of my caloric goals for the day.

It works for me.

Nuerra

I try not too, But the thing often tells me I am not eating anough calories, due to either eating 'good' food, and or doiing lots of exercise. I want to tone up and loose weight. lol

Pebble321

Hell yes, I don't see the point in depriving my body of nutrition unnecessarily.

I lost 20kg last year (about 46 pounds) and have since lost another 2 kg, although I'm pretty much maintaining at a healthy weight now. I've always eaten my exercise cals - not every single one, every day but they usually balance out over the week.

In Jan 2011, I set out to change to healthier eating habits and to find a strategy that would let me lose weight and then maintain that loss. A key part of this for me was about finding something that is sustainable. Like lots of others I've lost weight in the past but have never kept it off because I didn't set up good long term habits. Eating at a really big calorie deficit (which is the effect of not eating your exercise cals) was never going to be sustainable for me, so I didn't see the point in starting out this way.

Pebble321

Apologies, duplicate.

misfixit1

If you eat back what you lost what would be the point in losing them in the first place?

teagin2002

I try to

lduncan0044

If you eat back what you lost what would be the point in losing them in the first place?

I wondered the same thing, I guess its just to tone up and build muscle?

Wildy71

i am adding exercise so that i can have my snack and glass of wine at night. Today i was hungry toward bedtome, so i did a 15 minute run on the treadmill for 235 cals and with my other remaining i had a glass of red wine and 3 cheddar rice cakes witb a dollop of greek yogurt, salsa and franks redhot. yum. mfp has the deficit that is a safe max for me. if i increse that by exercising without compensating with extra calories, then my deficit is too big and not sustainable.

misfixit1

I know that your body needs a certain amount of calories to work properly. If I eat what this site tells me to. I will be eating 2135 calories a day. I have a hard time eating 1400. So my question would be. If burn 800. Calories from my workout. Why am I eating those back when it takes 3500 calories to lose one pound

lonaneomaflame

I try to, I seem to be about 200 or so below everyday though, I just get to the point where I don't want to eat and I'm not going to make myself eat either. I was over once because I was sick that day and didn't get out at all. But I've only been here for a week and havent weighed myself to see if losing weight yet.

You eat them back so that your body has enough energy to do everyday things. Exercising is to get you in shape not to make it like you have eaten nothing all day.

veganbaum

If you eat back what you lost what would be the point in losing them in the first place?

I wondered the same thing, I guess its just to tone up and build muscle?

To be fit. You already have a healthy deficit built into your daily calorie allowance, without exercise. Creating a bigger deficit is not necessarily better and does not necessarily mean you will lose weight faster. When you lose weight you should exercise (some sort of weight/resistance training along with cardio) in order to maintain your lean muscle mass. Maintaining as much muscle mass as you can when losing is a good thing because muscle burns more calories than fat (and you'll look better once you lose more weight than if you hadn't worked and maintained those muscles). If you lose weight very quickly you can lose lean muscle as well. Some will be lost with weight loss, but you want to minimize it. Losing weight more slowly while incorporating exercise (not just cardio) will help retain more lean muscle mass than losing weight quickly, so you should eat back at least some exercise cals (leaving some room for error) to keep your deficit healthy. At least, that's the way I understand it. Someone can correct me on the whole muscle thing if I'm wrong.

CyberEd312

MFP already builds in your deficit when you set up what you want to lose each week so any calories burned during exercise should be consumed to fuel you body for your workouts. My BMR is 2450 and I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week.. I consume 3200 calories a day (that is with eating my exercise calories back) and am still losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week after 31 months and 295 lbs. lost on this journey.....

lduncan0044

MFP already builds in your deficit when you set up what you want to lose each week so any calories burned during exercise should be consumed to fuel you body for your workouts. My BMR is 2450 and I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week.. I consume 3200 calories a day (that is with eating my exercise calories back) and am still losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week after 31 months and 295 lbs. lost on this journey.....

WOW! Congrats on your weight loss! That is amazing!

shapcomp

Hi...I just started MFP and I have the same question/concern. I exercise almost daily, alternating between five mile walks, 15 to 20 on stationery bike, or 20-25 on outdoor bike. I also do cardio three times a week. However, if I add the 400-600 calories to my daily goal of 1200, I am sure I won't lose. Case in point: last year I tried WW Points and completed 3000 miles on my bike, over which 1000 was in last quarter. You'd think the weight would fall off, but it didn't budge! Would love your feedback!

shapcomp

Whoops! I meant I do strength training three times a week! The other exercises are cardio!

rockerbabyy

Hi...I just started MFP and I have the same question/concern. I exercise almost daily, alternating between five mile walks, 15 to 20 on stationery bike, or 20-25 on outdoor bike. I also do cardio three times a week. However, if I add the 400-600 calories to my daily goal of 1200, I am sure I won't lose. Case in point: last year I tried WW Points and completed 3000 miles on my bike, over which 1000 was in last quarter. You'd think the weight would fall off, but it didn't budge! Would love your feedback!

if you are very accurate about the food you log (using a food scale) and the exercise you do (using a HRM or bodybugg, etc) then adding 400-600 to your 1200 will still net you 1200.. you should still lose the same as if you hadnt exercised and just ate 1200

shapcomp

Thanks. I was just reading another forum, and a heart rate monitor was recommended as being better than the MFP website. Do you agree?

rockerbabyy

Thanks. I was just reading another forum, and a heart rate monitor was recommended as being better than the MFP website. Do you agree?

i do. most will say they still arent 100% accurate, but they are closer than mfp. my hrm has given me numbers that are anywhere from 10-600 calories lower than mfp

pg1girl

MFP already builds in your deficit when you set up what you want to lose each week so any calories burned during exercise should be consumed to fuel you body for your workouts. My BMR is 2450 and I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week.. I consume 3200 calories a day (that is with eating my exercise calories back) and am still losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week after 31 months and 295 lbs. lost on this journey.....

That is amazing. Congrats!

Wildy71

wow Ed! That is a fantastic amount of progress. Nice going! keep it up

bigbeardiver

MFP already builds in your deficit when you set up what you want to lose each week so any calories burned during exercise should be consumed to fuel you body for your workouts. My BMR is 2450 and I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week.. I consume 3200 calories a day (that is with eating my exercise calories back) and am still losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week after 31 months and 295 lbs. lost on this journey.....

Congrats on your progress. Where does MFP build in the deficit? I set my goals 2,400 it shows me what I eat lets say 2,200 and says I have 200 left. If I work out and burn 1,000 calories it tells me I have earned 1,000 calories and now I have 1,200 calories left. The theory is to eat back 50-75% so 600-750 calories.

spottedlee

If you eat back what you lost what would be the point in losing them in the first place?

still hungry... overeat, therefore needs to burn to make up.

pukekolive

I am very heavy - 270lbs - and my HRM (Suunto M4) gives me calorie burns for exercise about 10-15% higher than MFP - the HRM knows my weight, my max heartrate and my actual heartrate during exercise so it is probably more accurate but I log the lower figure (i.e. MFP).

rockerbabyy

i do. i dont always eat them back on the day of the exercise - sometimes i just cant... but i always even it out by the end of the week.

what is your average weight loss per week ( If you dont mind me asking) And how many calories to you consume in a day?

sorry it took so long to get back to you, somehow i missed this question lol - last year when i was weighing in weekly i was losing 1-2 pounds a week. this month i started weight training so i decided not to weigh myself until feb so that the temp gains id possibly see from lifting didnt get me down.
on my non exercise days i eat close to my goal of 1520... lifting days are around 1700-1800 and on my cardio days its closer to 2200.

rockerbabyy

If you eat back what you lost what would be the point in losing them in the first place?

I wondered the same thing, I guess its just to tone up and build muscle?

when mfp sets up your goals, the deficit is already in place. so when you exercise you make that deficit bigger.. .its not necessarily a good thing.
most plans will tell you to eat (for example) 2000 calories and burn 500 a day. to net 1500 and lose a pound a week.
mfp says "ok- you want to lose a pound a week, eat 1500 calories." "OH! you burned 500 calories, great - you need to eat those too" you still eat the same number of calories either way, you still lose 1 lb a week. mfp just leaves room for you to either not exercise (if thats your choice) or if you randomly miss a day you wont mess up your loss for the week.

ginger_nut

I've noticed by just eating what I normally eat AND accounting for my normal exercise calorie deficit, I seem to almost hit my 1200 calorie goal on the head. So not sure if I will lose weight this way, since I haven't changed my eating habits. Apparently, I normally eat 1200 calories anyway...