Should I stop eating my exercise calories?

jordanlell

So this is a pretty common topic on here, and I'll probably get mixed responses, but here it goes.

I've been working out about 4-5 times a week, for the past 4 weeks, and I usually eat back most of my exercise cals. I'm starting to get really frustrated though, since in that time I haven't lost a single pound OR inch! I'm kind of at the point where the pounds don't bother me too much, since I'm already at a healthy weight, but I guess it's just kind of irritating that I haven't seen any change when I feel like I've been doing things right!

I'm not new here, either, I've been on this site for over a year now, and last year I lost about 35lbs. Over the month of December I lost focus and went back up from my lowest weight of 151lbs to 158lbs. I'm getting frustrated because I've already done it once before, but now that it's back I can't get it to come off!

So, my question is, should I be trying something different, such as not eating back my exercise cals, or should I just wait it out and see if it's just a temporary thing?

Maggie_Pie1

You'll probably have to experiment to find out.

You could be overestimating your exercise calories, underestimating your food calories, or a little of both.

If I were you, I would really take a look at what you are putting down for food calories. Are you weighing your portions? Are you not reporting little things, like ketchup, salad dressing, etc? How accurate do you think you are? Then look at your exercise calories - are you using HRM data? Or your BMR - have you adjusted that lately for your lower weight? Finally, think about water weight - is there any reason you could be retaining water? Higher sodium foods lately? TOM?

Hopefully one of these things will be the culprit.

lukeout007

You will get a hundred mixed responses...but here goes...My 2nd week of my healthy habits was also the first week I started exercising...and I've been exercising fairly hard. I ate right and exercised all week...i also ate back my exercise calories....and then come weigh in day I had lost .4 lbs. The next week I experimented...same exercise regimen...kept eating healthy...just didn't eat back my exercise cals...lost 2.2 lbs.

My guess is this is a habit that shouldn't be continued long term...but for me it's working right now.

Scorpioangel

This subject is so confusing I think too! Since I have beefed up my workout program I do eat some of my exercise calories back but not all of them unless it's the weekend

ZachyABaby

do what works for you. food and the way our bodies respond to it is far from universal.

hokiealum07

I never eat my exercise calories, I know I can't lose weight if I go over my 1200 calories a day. I use the extra calories burned during the week to have some drinks with friends on the weekends. I can't get away with much more than that.

Jasabell08

yeah stop eating the cals. . save em for the weekend so if your around people who don't count cals you can just eat a little something extra..

karadawn14

bump

lilsweetwright

I understand your situation. I have been stuck for two years, had thyroid tests, and everything. Nothing worked. I finally found a doctor who is helping me lose weight, and it is working. I lost 11 lbs so far with his help. I asked him about exercise and how much I should be doing. He said that exercise is good for helping maintain lean body mass, but if you are doing enough to increase your appetite so much you eat and then lose your calorie deficit, you defeat the purpose. My suggestion as far as exercise is to move as much as possible all day, but don't overwork yourself. Try to keep your calorie goal the same everyday, and don't eat what you presume to have burned. Think of your exercise as metabolic insurance rather than a little bit of calorie freedom. If your exercise is making you ravenous, then cut back a notch. Your body won't let you starve to death, and if your deficit is too great, you throw yourself into starvation mode. Also, remember plenty of protein to keep you satisfied. I hope this helps

CharMarieDavis

I think it's essential to just eat when you are hungry and to stop when you are full. If some days you eat back your excercise calories and some days you don't, that's fine. I don't think that burning 600 calories allows you to eat 600 more calories. The object of losing weight is to burn more than you eat. I think if you focus on just eating when you are hungry then you will be fine. Don't just eat b/c you burned that many calories and can eat them back.

jordanlell

I am concerned, though, about having too great of a deficit. As I said, I'm already in the "healthy" range, so I'm afraid that having too big of a deficit will cause me to lose more muscle than I'd like.

Maybe I could decrease my deficit to .5lb per week and stop eating exercise cals? Thoughts?

Stazed

Mfp has my daily cals set around 1500, when I told my PT I was eating that on average he said I needed to up by around 500 a day based on the way I was training. I like you am a healthy weight and would be happy enough to maintain around this but would like to lose a few inches if possible. Thinking I'll give it a go and see what happens. I know that mfp has already calculate a 500 cal deficit for me so I reckon this will give me an overall deficit if I continue training around 500 cals ( this will allow me to overestimate on exercise and underestimate on food and hopefully stay the same weight ish). Maybe, we'll see what happens!

SithZombie

I've had this conversation with several people in the gym, and all of them gave me the same piece of advice; "Don't eat back the calories, it's counter productive". =\ For as much as I'd love to take advantage of om nom noming the extra 500 calories or so that I burned, I'm sticking with the advice I was given. I'll probably up my calorie intake a bit more if/when I start working out harder!

Brandongood

Go to a gym and get your BMR tested and add 500 calories to your BMR to bulk up and 500 less than your BMR to lose weight.

JanetLM73

I think it depends on the person, I'm also new on here. I joined 2 weeks ago....I don't eat my exercise calories, I do 40 min of cardio 6 times a week and 40 min of strength training 5 days a week....I've lost 9 pounds since I joined and eat about 1500 calories.

G30Grrl

What kind of workouts are you doing? Cardio? Strength? A combination? For how long?

For me personally, I only lose if I do a combination of both. And I eat back at least half (sometimes all) of my exercise calories, because my 1200 NET cals per day already provides me with plenty of a deficit to lose weight. Besides, if I don't eat enough food to provide me with extra energy, my workouts will cause me to lose lean body mass rather than fat, and that is NOT the kind of weight-loss I want.

hottottie11

Depends if you were including your exercise into are activity settings (Sedentary not including exercise or Active including exercise).

Don't eat them if you already factored exercise into your activity level. Also don't confused this with "Exercise Goals" you set yourself for. MFP asks for activity level and exercise goals, but doesn't incorporate your exercise goals into your activity level.

aggie613

I agree with Brandon. If you can afford it, I would try to get your resting metabolic rate tested by a nutritionist. I did this last year when I couldn't get the last stubborn 5 lbs off, and it turned out I was burning about 300 extra cals/day than average people my age/height because I was exercising so often. The nutritionist had me start eating most of my calories.
Now, about 9 months later, I've had a LOT of major life changes that caused me to get out of my exercise routine and gain 15 lbs. I checked in with the nutritionist and this time around, I'm NOT supposed to eat my exercise calories, especially since I'm only fitting in about 3 workouts a week vs 5 or 6.
You've definitely received a lot of good advice on the thread, but everyone is built so differently that I think you should consult an expert. It cost me $85 for the RMR test and analysis, and $105 for the more recent food analyis and diet plan. I think both are well worth it!

sergetns73

I think it's essential to just eat when you are hungry and to stop when you are full. If some days you eat back your excercise calories and some days you don't, that's fine. I don't think that burning 600 calories allows you to eat 600 more calories. The object of losing weight is to burn more than you eat. I think if you focus on just eating when you are hungry then you will be fine. Don't just eat b/c you burned that many calories and can eat them back.

thank you for your taught, i have the same problem, i only eat 3 meals a day no snacks or junk food , i do that too not eat my calories lost while exercizing, i intake on water too as much as 2 lit a day , i only lost 3 lbs since 2 sundays ago , i am doing it right ?

MyaPapaya75

You have to find what works for you...I eat if Im hungry regardless of calories consumed via workout...but I try to stay within a range and stick with my workout routines

Calipalm

This is solely my opinion, and I didn't read what anyone else has suggested to you.
MFP tends to over estimate calories burned for certain exercises, sometimes its really off. So if you are eating your exercise calories back be cautious of how much your eating back. You may be eating back more then you actually burned. I typically don't eat my calories back, if i do i don't do more then 500 Calories. My diary is set at 1200 daily. So i typically burn around 500, and like i said i normally wont eat them back, unless I'm still hungry and even then i really try to not eat them back completely.

Really consider how much your burning in a day with exercise, because if your doing a lot of strenuous work, your body will need more fuel. Give your body what it needs, if you work extra hard and burn a lot then replenish your body! This is what i have been doing. I've decided its more important to listen to myself, my body and how its feeling versus doing exactly what others on here suggest. Because you will always come across people who have lost weight by consuming the workout calories back and those who have also lost weight by not.. and vice versa