Should I be 'eating back my calories'?

mikaela_b

I apologise if this topic has been covered before (and no doubt it has been). I have a daily calorie goal of 1200, and I'm eating around that number pretty much every day. My diet is balanced and healthy, and I do allow myself the occasional treat. I'm feeling really good, very energetic and motivated, and the weight is coming off nicely - I started losing weight before joining MFP which is my my ticker below doesn't reflect this! I've lost about 6.5lbs in three weeks so far.

But then, most days I'm burning an extra 250-500 calories through exercise which gives me that many calories in credit by the end of the day.

Should I be forcing myself to eat more, even though I'm not hungry?

melaniecheeks

It certainly has been covered, endlessly!

Some people do, some people dont. Since all our bodies are different, it can be a bit of trial and error to see what works for you.

blushkitten

your reply is very rude. I know you have a rude reply to this as well but this is a place to be supportive not a a place to be rude

GambinoGirl

I sometimes do and sometimes don't. It's up to you. You cant force yourself to eat though If you arent feeling hungry that day. 1200 is enough for me most of the time. I usually eat more on weekends so I save those calories for the weekends. lol

jmcadam2

I was wondering the same thing myself. I have a calorie budget of 1610 calories a day and if I work out, which I usually do about 5 times a week, I burn about 1000 calories per workout. At the end of the day I have about five to six hundred calories left over (having eaten some of my earned calories) but I don’t know if I should eat these remaining calories or not. When I complete my food diary for the day, my update always says I’ve come in under my calorie goal but it doesn’t say if that’s a good thing or not.

lottichapman

I apologise if this topic has been covered before (and no doubt it has been). I have a daily calorie goal of 1200, and I'm eating around that number pretty much every day. My diet is balanced and healthy, and I do allow myself the occasional treat. I'm feeling really good, very energetic and motivated, and the weight is coming off nicely - I started losing weight before joining MFP which is my my ticker below doesn't reflect this! I've lost about 6.5lbs in three weeks so far.

But then, most days I'm burning an extra 250-500 calories through exercise which gives me that many calories in credit by the end of the day.

Should I be forcing myself to eat more, even though I'm not hungry?

It really is up to you. If you are not hungry then don't force yourself to eat. You don't have to hit your total plus extras, so long as you don't go OVER your goal. I have finished under my calorie goal a few times. Just do what you feel comfortable, You've earned the extra calories through exercise, these are like a bonus, it's your choice honey, if you don't feel like eating the extra calories then don't, If you feel you can and you want to then have that little extra.

Emilia6909

Apologies for the "friendly" people on here !!

I think do what your body tells you. If you're happy just now and don't need the earned calories, then leave them. If you feel you're getting hungry, eat them! Every one is different and every day is going to be different. Just go with the flow.... You're doing GREAT!!!

heybales

I was wondering the same thing myself. I have a calorie budget of 1610 calories a day and if I work out, which I usually do about 5 times a week, I burn about 1000 calories per workout. At the end of the day I have about five to six hundred calories left over (having eaten some of my earned calories) but I don’t know if I should eat these remaining calories or not. When I complete my food diary for the day, my update always says I’ve come in under my calorie goal but it doesn’t say if that’s a good thing or not.

The reason it is giving you credit calories for your exercise is because your goal calories ALREADY has a deficit in it.
Now, you may have selected a weight loss goal amount that is really safe by itself, so the double deficit isn't so bad.
Then again, you may have selected an unrealistic aggressive goal, and double deficiting could start causing you problems.

If you see what your calculated BMR figure is, and you are constantly netting a good chunk of calories under that, please go look up what BMR means, because that is not good. BMR will just slow down.

lottichapman

I was wondering the same thing myself. I have a calorie budget of 1610 calories a day and if I work out, which I usually do about 5 times a week, I burn about 1000 calories per workout. At the end of the day I have about five to six hundred calories left over (having eaten some of my earned calories) but I don’t know if I should eat these remaining calories or not. When I complete my food diary for the day, my update always says I’ve come in under my calorie goal but it doesn’t say if that’s a good thing or not.

It depends on how far under your calorie goal you are! I was ill last week and barely ate and when I clicked my finish entry it came up on the same page (where it says if every day were like today you'd weigh xxlb in xx weeks) saying that I wasn't eating enough calories and that was not good as my body would enter starvation mode and burn calories slower.

hypersensitiveb

I have been eating them back, but I think I'm only going to start eating half of them back. Mainly because the numbers they give you for calories burned here seems on the very high end. I don't feel I'm really burning that many.

lottichapman

I have been eating them back, but I think I'm only going to start eating half of them back. Mainly because the numbers they give you for calories burned here seems on the very high end. I don't feel I'm really burning that many.

I bought my self a pedometer last week and it has a function where if you enter your weight, it will work out how many calories you've earned whilst out walking, I have found that the pedometer has worked out that I burned slightly less calories than what this site says. I entered mine onto the database and logged under 'school run' and the amount of calories burned doing that in 30 minutes (around 87 - 90) so now all I have to do is select the school run and say how long it took me. My pedometer measures distance too, you have to measure the length of you stride and enter that and it can easily work out how far you've walked.

jmcadam2

My goal is two pounds a week. Is that realistic or should I lower my goal to 1.5 or 1 pound a week?

jellymuffin

OP, I generally don't eat my calories back unless I am really hungry after training. I try to save then for if I want a bit of a treat at the weekend.

Don't force yourself to eat more if you don't want it, go with what your body is telling you xx

mikaela_b

This is my first day on this website and I'm still learning my way around. I apologise if I've caused offence.

jellymuffin

You haven't caused offence to anyone genuine on here OP, don't worry....some people just get pleasure out of being rude.

Am sure you will find everyone else to be really friendly and supportive xx

mikaela_b

Thank you jellymuffin - and I really like your idea about keeping the extra calories in credit for the weekend!

lottichapman

My goal is two pounds a week. Is that realistic or should I lower my goal to 1.5 or 1 pound a week?

I am aiming for 1lb a week, which is recommended. but if that is the goal you wish to set and you think you can reach it realistically then go for it!! I probably lose more than 1lb a week (my 1st week was 6, but I was really unwell for 3 days) and if you lose more then its even more encouraging. I only set myself 1lb a week because I have mobility issues and even find walking painful on my hips and knees (even though I do a lot of it to compensate not being able to do proper exercise)

Dreamin_Skinny

I consider it a bonus for the days that I have worked off a bunch of cals, so I def don't eat them back. I think it makes that deficit just that much larger, that losing weight would go that much faster.

garnislitton

I think your schedule is perfect. no need to add or remove anything.

Jwbrock3662

I agree with alot of responses. You should do what your body tells you is good for you.

With some exercises, you do want to eat back some if they take off too much because you want to make sure your body is receiving nutrients and replenishing your muscles.

If you do any vigorous weight exercises with strength training, it's sometimes a good idea to replenish your protein because your muscles need to rebuild.

You're doing a great job! As long as you don't go over and you feel healthy you will be fine. Keep it up!

Slinkybaz

With regards to the Search function, when you are new to the site you are just about figuring out how to get around without knowing how everything works. I certainly didn't notice the Search function until it was pointed out to me. I am like a lot of other people who just start using something without any instructions and learn as I go along.

It is good for the OP (which means Original Poster, the person who started the thread - as that could be new to them too) to learn that there is a Search function for future reference so that they can look up previous threads before deciding whether to put up a new one but the snarkiness against new users is often uncalled for. To be honest, I'm not bothered if there are 10 threads about this in a day. If I want to answer I will, if I don't I won't.

For my own answer on the question, and this is just about personal preference, I don't want my body to get used to too low calories so I have set myself up as 1500 cals per day and then I don't eat any exercise cals. So I already have an extra 300 per day in there really and I find 1500 works really well for me - 1200 is too low.

meerkat70

I apologise if this topic has been covered before (and no doubt it has been).

Then why not use the Search function since you're so certain?

Don't be rude. Just leave the thread alone if you're not going to be positive.

and lie/encourage more pointless previously covered posts? Silly culture, "if its not positive don't say it". How about correctional stuff/points to note.

You may notice most of the posters taking this position have 4 posts and joined in January. They've perhaps not yet had the opportunity to see this topic twenty times a day, for months on end... :-)
And isn't there a sticky too?


In seriousness, to answer the OP. Yes. You should eat your exercise calories. Or at very least a reasonable chunk of them. That's why the system is set up to encourage you to do so.

(And that's nearly a hundred pounds gone, in that there ticker down there, in case you don't do metric.... )

bizco

Yes.

lulabellewoowoo

IMHO, I eat my cardio calories, not my weight lifting calories. But I have my weight loss at 0.5 a week but have gained with weight training actually. And I also go by what my body says. For example, towards that TOM, I tend to be more liberal with eating my exercise calories if I'm feeling eat, even though my workouts might be a little less intense. But then other times during the month I will not eat all of them because I'm just not hungry. You have to work with your body and go by what your energy level and exercise training is. As you gain strength and endurance, you may find things change. Whatever happens, don't be discouraged. Take different opinions and try them out for I would say 2 weeks (to really give it a shot), maybe only weigh yourself once a week, and DEFINITELY buy a tape measure. only YOU know what feels right. The rest of us are figuring ourselves out as well.

Oh yeah, and WELCOME!!!!