Do you always eat the calories you earn??

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  • rpantusa
    rpantusa Posts: 267 Member
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    Each and every single last one of them... It helped me lose the 40 pounds I gained after I had my babies and now I've maintained that weight for almost a year... thank god it works for me... I can't imagine not eating the 3000-4000 calories I burn a week!!! I guess it's different for everyone...

    That's a lie, isn't it?
    Your diary is public and you don't eat your calories back.
    On Saturday you had only 2 meals and 1,201 calories left! on friday 626 cal, on Wednesday 1,574 cal and so on...

    WOW!!!! :noway: Thats pretty crappy. :explode: Glad to see your diary is private so nobody can see, and you are going to attack somebody like that. you should be ashamed, she knows what she is doing, and she does not have to explain to anybody her methods for each day! Keep doing what works for you, and dont let people like this bother you!
  • kandire
    kandire Posts: 87
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    I always log 100 calories less than what my HRM says I burned, even though I know I have tha 100 calories I don't like to see my # go into the red so I know every day I will at least save back those 100 I didn't log. Some days I am very hungry and start to get cranky if I don't eat back most of my exercise calories. I say listen to your body and if you are hungry then eat, if not then don't. Also I believe we exercise to be fit not skinny!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    This is why you should eat them back...

    First off, you should know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). That's the amount of calories your body needs just to keep all your organs functioning... your lungs breathing, your heart beating, your kidneys and liver filtering, your spleen doing... whatever it is spleens do. It's what you'd burn if you were completely at rest, as if you were in a coma. The second you wake up, the second you get out of bed, you burn more than that. Your BMR plus the amount of calories you burn in a normal day, is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

    You need to eat less than your TDEE to lose weight. If you go into your "goals" page - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals - it will tell you what your body burns from normal daily activity. As a lightly active, 5'5" 39 year old weighing 133#, my BMR is only 1,279, but my TDEE is 1730.

    Generally speaking... If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal (1000 calorie deficit). If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal (750 calorie deficit). If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal (500 calories). If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal (500-250). If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal (250).

    If I wanted to lose one pound a week (in theory... I know I can't lose that much now and it would put me below my BMR), I'd eat 1230. That's 500 calories less than 1730. If I exercise like I did Friday, burning about 400 calories, my TDEE for the day is 2130. If I only ate 1230, my calorie deficit for the day would no longer be 500 calories, it would be 900, and that's way, way, way too much.

    With too large of a calorie deficit, your body thinks, "Hey! What the hell are you doing to me?" It might decide to hold onto your fat. It might decide to slow down your other body functions as a way to preserve energy (ie, slow your metabolism). It might decide to use your muscle for fuel.

    That's what happened to me when I ate low calorie and didn't understand that increased activity demands increased calories. Years ago, at 130#, I was skinnyfat with a muffin top and backfat rolls, and wore a size 8. This time around, eating enough to preserve my muscle mass, I'm a little more than 130# (133# at last check) and in a size 2 or 4. And as you can tell by my photos, there's no backfat or muffin top. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/449570-mfp-mythbusters-losing-weight-fast-exercise-calories-girl
  • VoicelessRide
    VoicelessRide Posts: 395 Member
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    I find that the calorie consumption is only a general guide, everybody's different. It is just a starting point and then we can adjust from there after a few weeks,
  • simonesimmons
    simonesimmons Posts: 3
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    if you are allocated say 1300 calories per day and you eat 1300 then you exercise and earn another 300 that means you have only eaten 1000 cals. you have already stated how much you want to lose per week say 2lb so they have given you less calories to eat in order to do this. if you don't eat the proper amount of calories allocated, your body will go into starvation mode and you will not lose weight, it might work for the first few weeks but you will eventually hit a wall. eat as much of your exercise calories as you can but eat healthy. good luck with it :)
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
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    I love eating them back! I'm going on a 12 mile run today which should net me somewhere in the neighborhood of 1800 extra calories that I can eat. This gives me the chance once a week to eat something I normally cant during the week, like Super Bowl food, yeah. Go Patriots!! You dont have to eat them all back, listen to your body. If your hungry and you have the extra calories earned then eat them. If your not hungry and you feel good, then dont. I train a lot so I usually eat most of them.
  • AndreaDaPrincess
    AndreaDaPrincess Posts: 58 Member
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    I worry about eating them...........and then I worry about NOT eating them.....
  • Cathyvil
    Cathyvil Posts: 230 Member
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    I eat some of them daily but not all since I always have a splurge meal saturday nights and I make up the deficit that way. Others eat all, whole some people don't eat any. You have to find what works for you since we are all very different :)
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
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    No I don't - I don't see the point in doing the exercise then just eating the "free" calories back, feels like its defeating the object of trying to lose weight
  • spaceys
    spaceys Posts: 58
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    Yes, I always eat them, and it's getting me nowhere fast! Gonna work on changing that.
  • chachita7
    chachita7 Posts: 996 Member
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    NO I DO NOT!!!! IT IS A CHOICE THANG!!!!

    WEIGHT LOSS HAS BEEN CONSISTENT...THEREFORE, I'M NOT CHANGING IT.

    CONSISTENCY + COMMITMENT = RESULTS:flowerforyou:

    ^^^ what she said :) -- I have my calories set to more than those recommended by MFP so I do my best to not do so.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Exercise is for increased health and fitness. Your calorie deficit that MFP already includes in your calorie goal is what will make you lose weight.

    Increased activity (exercise) without increased calories makes your calorie deficit larger than it already is. If the deficit becomes too large, it will hamper your progress.
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    I did previously, but instead of worrying about getting the numbers I burned correct, I just include exercise into my tdee calculation and eat 1700-1800 everyday instead of 1200+exercise cals to lose 1 lb per week.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
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    Only on the weekends...especially this weekend....lol The rest of the time no....
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Never ever ever. They are not bonus calories. If you eat the calories you just burnt of what was the point of exercising? I am very strict- zero junk, never go over calories limit and exercise is a daily bonus not to be used.

    Because exercise has absolutely NOTHING to do with weight loss. Starving yourself, by exercising, and not properly refueling and replenishing your body by not eating back the extra calories burned is a great way to ruin your metabolism and ensure that you will gain back any weight you may lose.
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
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    No i dont. Mainly because i dont trust Mfp. The APP OVERESTIMATES calories burned. Secondly, because i wont be hungry. Today with my workout logged, MFP thinks i should eat 5000 calories. I will do no such. I wont even eat half of that. Part of this journey for me, ment listening to my body. I wont eat for the sake of eating, i will eat WHEN hungry.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    My Endo has given me a guideline to follow.

    You may receive a flood of responses, yea or nay. Then you will also receive responses from die-hards that say YOU HAVE TO EAT THEM BACK! Then there are those who just dont...

    What is the guideline that your Endo has given you to follow? That sounds like a reputable source.

    I wont share what she has recommended because, the medical advice was constructed only for me, and my individual medical circumstances. I have a metabolic disorder that they cant even put a name to it....Im pretty much a lab-rat and have become a medical study...

    This whole subject of should-you-or-shouldnt-you has been battled on MFP for so long that alot of people would rather believe in the first thing they read on the internet...

    THAT is wrong.

    What people SHOULD be doing is consulting with an Exercise Physiologist, Sports Medical Doctor, or a specialist who has the necessary nutritional/exercise-related education. Granted, finding a specialist with this is difficult as there arent many around, but I was fortunate to find one that did.
  • missQ79
    missQ79 Posts: 7 Member
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    I saw a great phrase on Pinterest. It said "you are not a dog, do not reward yourself with food". And that's a tough thing to do when you love food.

    Working out really reduces my appetite. And I find that I have to find food to eat. I think a happy medium is in order here. Eat about half back so your body can recover. If I don't eat, within the week, I turn into a carb-eating-psychotic. If you set your calories to what you want to lose and were honest about your activity level, you should still lose weight, even if you do eat it back. If your looking to drop a few pounds faster, then don't.
  • martyd_24
    martyd_24 Posts: 6 Member
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    I don't always eat back my calories, but usually end up eating some of them because it says I can. I do make sure that on days I will probably eat more (like today with the Super Bowl) that I exercise enough to make up for it. I have always hit my target weight loss (sometimes more) which is what you are supposed to be shooting for right? As long as you are hitting your target of responsible weight loss go for it.
  • CrazyAdventure
    CrazyAdventure Posts: 113 Member
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    Just want to preface this with the fact that I'm not an expert, doctor, etc....

    But for those saying that they don't eat back because they are trying to lose weight so it defeats the purpose...

    The point of working out is not just to burn the calories, but to have the many different perks of exercising. My understanding is that, over time, your metabolism starts working faster as it gets to used to exercising on a regular basis. But if you don't have any food/fuel for it to work with, I believe it can tear down your muscles and it drains your energy rather than boosting it. So it's not about 'getting to eat more food,' but giving your body more fuel so that next time, you can work harder and longer.

    Anyway, my thought is that it's not just about losing the weight, but feeling better physically and mentally. If exercising doesn't help you to do this, then there is less of a chance that you'll stick with it. If it drains all your energy for a day or two, why would you want to do it again?

    So to sum it all up, eat enough of the calories back to give you the energy you need to keep doing it.

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