Eat Back Your Calories?

TNoire

bigger you are more you burn easier to lose
smaller you are less you burn harder to lose

luvmybaby333

I don't cause it takes 3500 BURNED cals to lose 1lb
if your eating back what you burn whats the point?
calorie min for males 1800
females 1200

guess what

Ive lost 7lbs since Feb 3rd to today NOT eating my cals back
cause I want to LOSE the weight
not maintain it



I eat between 1200-1300 a day
I burn between 500 - 2500 sometimes more

I've seen you post this more than once... I'm thinking that you do not understand how the human body works, or how dieting works. You will BURN calories just existing every single day. You BURN calories sleeping. You BURN calories taking a piss. You BURN calories while stuffing your face. So when people say that it takes 3500 "burned" calories to lose a pound, they don't just mean the type of burn you get through exercising. (Heck, you could exercise and still gain weight, if you are eating more than you should. Exercise isn't some miraculous fat burner. It helps. It's good for you. You should do it whether you want to lose weight or not! But it isn't necessary for weight loss.) What they mean is that if you take in less calories than your body is using (through either normal daily activity, or accounting for additional exercise), then you will lose a pound per every 3500 calories you are in deficit. You can lose the weight without ever lifting a finger. All you have to do is eat less than your body BURNS. Which is pretty easy to do, since your body burns calories every second of every day.

ETA: I see you clearly you do know how dieting works, since you've lost quite a bit of weight. However, I also see that you gained weight back. This is common among people who create deficits that are too large to sustain. As soon as you start eating normally, or getting the slightest bit lax, then your body will pack on the pounds again. If you maintain a modest deficit, then your body maintains a higher metabolism. This is good news for people who do not want live for the rest of their as if they were on a "diet".

chattipatty2

I don't cause it takes 3500 BURNED cals to lose 1lb
if your eating back what you burn whats the point?
calorie min for males 1800
females 1200

guess what

Ive lost 7lbs since Feb 3rd to today NOT eating my cals back
cause I want to LOSE the weight
not maintain it

Do what you feel is right for you.

Eating back calories has some give depending on your body composition.

I eat mine back because my deficit is built into my profile and I'd rather my weight loss be as little lean mass as possible.

what do you mean your deficit is built into your profile? i may be missing something here

junyr

I don't cause it takes 3500 BURNED cals to lose 1lb
if your eating back what you burn whats the point?
calorie min for males 1800
females 1200

guess what

Ive lost 7lbs since Feb 3rd to today NOT eating my cals back
cause I want to LOSE the weight
not maintain it

Do what you feel is right for you.

Eating back calories has some give depending on your body composition.

I eat mine back because my deficit is built into my profile and I'd rather my weight loss be as little lean mass as possible.

what do you mean your deficit is built into your profile? i may be missing something here

When you create your profile on MPF it asks for your height, weight, gender and how much weight a week you want to lose. Based on that info it calculates your caloric need with the deficit built in to lose the weight WITHOUT EXERCISE CALCULATED IN.

This is why when you enter your exercise it has you eat the calories back. Even with 100% of your calories eaten back you still maintain the deficit to lose the weekly poundage that you stated you want to lose in the setup of your profile.

ShalisaClam

If you only were to eat 1200 calories, and then burn 1200 calories, you would take in no calories, and will eventually die. Thats no different than not working out and starving yourself, it FEELS different, but its not.

^^This

Nopedotjpeg

Thanks for bringing this question up so other people with the same question can see this and be informed. :flowerforyou:

MMarvelous

I don't eat back all of mine on the days I do strength training which is 4 days week. I usually have at least 300+ to over 500 calories remaining.

annavt09

Try less processed foods and more fresh fruits/veggies/meats. I think Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice meals are not good for you. It's not entirely about net calories; it's also about HEALTHY eating. Just my thoughts based on what's worked for me.

MrsKite

I've been looking through some of your food diaries...

Is no one concerned about the amount of sodium they are consuming?

MrsKite

Try less processed foods and more fresh fruits/veggies/meats. I think Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice meals are not good for you. It's not entirely about net calories; it's also about HEALTHY eating. Just my thoughts based on what's worked for me.

I try to eat more fresh food but at work it's hard

SassyCalyGirl

Reading through a few similar threads on here in recent days, I'd say a lot of people do not eat back their calories. I don't.

Yes, but there is a huge difference between what people SHOULD do versus what people actually do. To answer the question, yes you should eat back your exercise calories (50-75% of them if MFP is the one estimating it) or you should include that in your TDEE calculation. So a sedentary person who workouts 5-6 days a week (like myself) would be considered moderately to very active so you eat them throughout the day.



www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

everyone Should do what works for them personally-without judgement.

Fit_Canuck

I see a lot of people posting that we should eat back the calories we burn working out. I can burn 600 to 1500 calories a workout. That's a lot of calories to eat.

I'm looking at your food log and you are consistently 800calories low? MFP already factors in a deficit for you so you should be eating at a minimum what it's recommending a day.

Fit_Canuck

I've been looking through some of your food diaries...

Is no one concerned about the amount of sodium they are consuming?

Sodium is a concern but I tend to drink a lot of water and flush it out as much as possible. You can't avoid sodium, it's just part of life so I mitigate it as much as possible.

HauteP1nk

Some days I do...some days I don't. On days where I burn a lot of extra calories i definitely eat a bit more....

taso42

Reading through a few similar threads on here in recent days, I'd say a lot of people do not eat back their calories. I don't.

Yes, but there is a huge difference between what people SHOULD do versus what people actually do. To answer the question, yes you should eat back your exercise calories (50-75% of them if MFP is the one estimating it) or you should include that in your TDEE calculation. So a sedentary person who workouts 5-6 days a week (like myself) would be considered moderately to very active so you eat them throughout the day.



www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

everyone Should do what works for them personally-without judgement.

If I start snorting meth and find that my productivity as work goes up, I can argue that "meth works for me". But does that seem like a good approach? Would you be passing judgement if you advised me against it?

Elizabeth_C34

I've been looking through some of your food diaries...

Is no one concerned about the amount of sodium they are consuming?

Sodium is a concern also.

I keep mine below 1500mg per day whenever possible, but this has nothing to do with your original question. To answer that, I eat mine back, and I even upped my calorie limit to help me retain my lean mass as I go forward with my weight loss.

Rae6503

I've always eaten mine.

jnhu72

I don't eat mine back. Awhile I go I had a personal trainer that set my calories to 1800 regardless of exercise so I use that. I think a lot of people over estimate the amount they burn as well and I think if you don't have an accurate way (HR Moniter) to track them you could potentially over eat.

trishharrington1

Oh my. that's alot. I wouldn't eat that many exercise calories. I only eat back about 250-300 if I'm staying at or under 1200 or 1500. BTW. JMHO. I have found my strenuous workout shoot off my cartazole and I eat WWWAAAAAYYYYY more. If I may suggest scaling back your workout, you may be less hungry and actually lose more. I do admire that type of workout thought!

jnhu72

I've been looking through some of your food diaries...

Is no one concerned about the amount of sodium they are consuming?

Sodium is a concern also.

I keep mine below 1500mg per day whenever possible, but this has nothing to do with your original question.

I do try to watch sodium-I had high blood pressure and as long as I use no additional salt I can keep it low, but I still try not to eat to much salt.