Can you eat back your calories

mytjojo

I have not been able to find a clear answer on this. When I work out, can i eat back my calories?

HeidiRene

I just started this site but eating them back makes no sense to meet and I find it so frustrating b/c I SUCK at math and I find it confusing when I am looking at my food journal. How many damn calories do I have left? Haha!

suziecue66

Yes you can eat back your calories when you work out. I've just started but I want to create a bigger caloric deficit so don't eat back my calories. If I find that I am not losing or plateauing I will eat back some of my calories.

kimknerr

I agree that this tool on the site is difficult to understand. I actually don't use it because I feel like you do. If to loose weight I need to eat 1200 calories a day, then if I burn 200 more by exercising that should be a bonus and a way to loose more in a smaller amount of time. I guess for someone who just wants to focus on the 1.3 pounds a week they can loose from eating correctly this helps them see what they are burning from working out and gives them the chance to add it back in.

I say, what is the point in working your butt off if you are just going to turn around and put that energy back in your body. I think the site should give us a way to record our exercise without having to add it to our daily calorie goal.

BarbWhite09

I just started this site but eating them back makes no sense to meet and I find it so frustrating b/c I SUCK at math and I find it confusing when I am looking at my food journal. How many damn calories do I have left? Haha!

You shouldn't have to do any math...MFP tells you how many you have left...

cocolo89

When I eat all of them back, I maintain, but when I eat just a few back, I lose.

sexyminxinthemaking

i personally dont eat my exercise calories back
i gain weight if i do :sad:

skylark94

The key to lasting weight loss is not ultra low calories! This program is designed for you to eat your exercise calories, especially if your goal is set to 1,200.

I'll edit to add- My daily goal is set to 1,600. I generally will burn 300-700 per day and eat a total of 2,000, so I am not eating all of my exercise, but I am consuming at least 1,600. I'm only 1.4 pounds from goal, so I can safely say that method worked for me.

adriana_hackney

I think there are 2 different groups of people here. Some say you can and should and some say no. I eat about half of mine. As long as I Net 1200 calories then I don't sweat it. Some days I net more, but I try not to go under 1200 at any time. I'm fairly new so i'm still trying to figure it all out. So far I have had no problems losing weight. Sorry if that didn't help. Hopefully someone can give you an exact answer.

susannamarie

I say, what is the point in working your butt off if you are just going to turn around and put that energy back in your body. I think the site should give us a way to record our exercise without having to add it to our daily calorie goal.

Working out has other benefits than just increasing weight loss -- mfp plans it for you to have a constant loss/deficit instead of increasing depending on your exercise.

That being said, if you don't want to eat them, just enter your exercise at the very end of the day instead of as you do it.

albinogorilla

yes

Jenne1979

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

LMHinson15

Sorry to say... you aren't going to get a clear answer! There are people on both sides of the issue.

Theoretically "yes" you can eat back your calories and still maintain your desired calorie deficit and lose weight. But no you do not HAVE to eat them back.

My advice, do what feels best for a while (eating them or not) see if it works, if not... switch it up.

Personally, I use the exercise calories as a buffer. I almost never intentionally eat them all back, but sometimes I'm grateful to have the cushion between my intake goal and what I sometimes eat.

kimknerr

I know it has lots of great benefits but for my current goal - weight loss is the benefit I am focused on.

albinogorilla

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

by that logic you recommend if you eat 1200 calories, and you spent enough time working out to burn 1200 calories, which many of my friends do, you say dont eat anything else? That means you have a zero net calorie number for the day............if you burnt up all you ate, then what is left to run your vital organs, and replenish the tissues that are constantly dying and being replaced in your body?

suziecue66

There will always be two sides so that's why you have to do what works for YOU - not anyone else.

suziecue66

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

by that logic you recommend if you eat 1200 calories, and you spent enough time working out to burn 1200 calories, which many of my friends do, you say dont eat anything else? That means you have a zero net calorie number for the day............if you burnt up all you ate, then what is left to run your vital organs, and replenish the tissues that are constantly dying and being replaced in your body?

Most are not going to workout so hard that they are burning 1200 calories per day but I see your point.

sunshinekind919

I think this depends a lot on your height to begin with. I don't know how MFP takes into account the dietary needs for short girls, but at 5'2" 1200 calories is what I maintain on, meaning I do my best to eat less than the 1200 regardless of what I burn from exercise. Now, if I may impart a word of warning, I would not focus too much on the scale. If you are exercising and eating less, you may be gaining muscle as you burn fat. I saw my weight go up in the middle of losing my total so far because I had reached a point where I was gaining muscle. I use a tape measure as a way to track losses also. It doesn't take into account for bloating/water weight, but I feel it's a good way to check a gain on the scale.

albinogorilla

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

by that logic you recommend if you eat 1200 calories, and you spent enough time working out to burn 1200 calories, which many of my friends do, you say dont eat anything else? That means you have a zero net calorie number for the day............if you burnt up all you ate, then what is left to run your vital organs, and replenish the tissues that are constantly dying and being replaced in your body?

Most are not going to workout so hard that they are burning 1200 calories per day but I see your point.

it may be an extreme example........but i have seen people on here burning 1000+ in a day and only taking in 800 calories...........your body burns calories all the time.........not saying you have to eat back every single one, but your workouts will be more effective if you fuel them properly.

mytjojo

Holly Cats!!
Thanks for all of the input

HeidiRene

I just started this site but eating them back makes no sense to meet and I find it so frustrating b/c I SUCK at math and I find it confusing when I am looking at my food journal. How many damn calories do I have left? Haha!

You shouldn't have to do any math...MFP tells you how many you have left...

Thanks for trying to help but u misunderstood my comment. MFP tells u how much as if ur eating ur exercise calories back since I don't I have to do math. Thanks anyway! :-)

pinkstp

You can eat the calories back but I agree, it's a way to lose the weight quicker; what I've heard from nutritionists, etc., is that you should eat at least HALF of the calories you burn throughout the day (total). So if you burn 1800, then 900 should be your MINIMUM consumption, if not more.

Kelly50054

I do not, because for me it is defeating the purpose.

ElizabethRoad

I just started this site but eating them back makes no sense to meet and I find it so frustrating b/c I SUCK at math and I find it confusing when I am looking at my food journal. How many damn calories do I have left? Haha!

Why do you log your exercise?

itsjustdawn

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

by that logic you recommend if you eat 1200 calories, and you spent enough time working out to burn 1200 calories, which many of my friends do, you say dont eat anything else? That means you have a zero net calorie number for the day............if you burnt up all you ate, then what is left to run your vital organs, and replenish the tissues that are constantly dying and being replaced in your body?

AMEN!

itsjustdawn

You need to see what works for you. You're getting responses based on personal experience and "logic". Try eating some back, try eating all of them back, try eating none of them back... you're going to have to try it to see how your body reacts.

Jenne1979

Wouldn't it depend on your goal? (ie. building muscle or losing weight) I am not an expert by any means ( which is why I have 95 lbs to lose)

Jenne1979

I would say no. It makes no sense to me, you are burning calories which is good! You are supposed to burn more calories than you take in each day, through a combination of exercise and natural calorie burn. My advice, don't eat them!

by that logic you recommend if you eat 1200 calories, and you spent enough time working out to burn 1200 calories, which many of my friends do, you say dont eat anything else? That means you have a zero net calorie number for the day............if you burnt up all you ate, then what is left to run your vital organs, and replenish the tissues that are constantly dying and being replaced in your body?

I mean isn't that how weight loss works? You burn more than you take in and that is how stored fat gets burned up?? I am only saying this because it has been told to me by " fitness buffs" it could be false information. But it made complete sense to me?!

zwinning

I eat back some, but not all the calories. Some days after a workout (I am training for a half marathon) I am super hungry so I will eat all of my calories back. I always eat a light snack before a workout too, since it's a feels terrible if your blood sugar drops from working out too hard. The way I see it, for people who accurately and honestly record their food and exercise eating most or all of your calories back should still result in weight loss.

Also, excercising regularly boosts your metabolism, so those calories you eat back are burned much more efficiently.

modgirlrachel

FUUUUUUUU-

Read the MFP FAQ, Under 'net calories' in 'general' FAQ menu.


"Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising."


"YOU EARN MORE CALORIES TO EAT BY EXERCISING"

athaack

I wondered the same thing. I asked my trainer just the other day about this becuase I was confused by it as well. He told me that I could eat them back but I did't have to. He said to make sure your net calories is 1200 per day though. The reason it tells you to eat them back is because when you exercise you speed up your metabolism which burns more calories or something like that.