Question on eating back calories burned during exercise

riskiestlavonn

Hi,

I can't understand the concept of eating back calories that are burned during exercise. I have read many posts that say that you should, but I don't understand the logic. Does eating them back not - in some way - just cancel out the exercise?

Can someone please explain this to me in the simplest terms possible.

Thank you in advance :-)

kateparker1982

I had the same question! It makes no sense to me to eat back the calories you are eating. I cant wait for an answer!

_Nathan

Bump

neverstray

This website calculates how much you will need to eat WITHOUT working out, but still lose weight.

Other diets calculate how much you need to eat, INCLUDING working out.

MFP assumes you aren't going to work out, until you log that you worked out. So, you need to increase your calories to account for the working out. You will still lose the weight.

Most modern diets works this way. The old method of eat this much and workout that much is out the window. That's old school. New school is, the more you work, the more you get to eat. Even biggest loser talks about that concept.

DesertFlowersCanDance

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

read this ALL of it! it sounds glib but it is alot of links that explain why. Its a simple sciency kinda thing, but it does makes sense!

mes1119

The concept is that MFP already calculates a deficit for you of 500 calories based on your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) and that is your calorie goal. Exercise is viewed as a buffer to eat more food. Personally I only eat back half of mine and it has been working for me...

Pandorian

MFP's calorie goal (when you're using MFP and it's program not doing another program and just using MFP as your tracking base) includes your deficit to lose weight without lifting a finger in exercise. When you exercise you widen this deficit and thereby can eat back your exercise calories here.

Other places "do" the same but they give you higher initial calories and expect you to BUILD your deficit with exercise so there you wouldn't eat back your exercise.

IE My dietitian gave me 2400 calories and expected me to work 500 calories a day off in exercise
MFP gives me 1900 calories and if I exercise I can eat more... balances out to the same in the end... if I exercise 500 calories I can eat 2400 that day and still lose weight

angel79202

MFP already has you set in a deficit, so u can eat the exercise calories..people will argue both sides of the coin, some people eat them all, some eat some of them, some eat none..it's a big debate..what I suggest is see what works for you and go from there..experiment eating some of them..see how your weight loss does..keep in mind MFP can over-estimate those burns..good luck!

Showgirlbody

MFP gives you calories that are already set at a deficit to lose weight WITHOUT exercise. If you do exercise, you need to fuel it so that your net calories is not too low. Yes, it technically could be thought of as canceling out the exercise, but the exercise helps with the toning and muscle building that help you lose more fat. So, you can not exercise and eat what's given, or if you exercise, get a little more food. I don't usually eat them all because I'm not sure if MFP overestimated the amount of calories and I don't have a heart rate monitor to know exactly how much my body burns.

pastryari

MFP already creates a deficit for you when it calculates your food goals. When you burn exercise calories, you create an ADDITIONAL increased deficit. You don't want to have that large of a deficit.

Chesspupil

The purpose is to loose weight slowly... The trick is getting your calories burned right.

neverstray

The great thing about this method is that it totally encourges you to work out, because you get more calories. I love it.

Awake_Alive

When you input your information in MFP, they ask how many pounds you want to lose, and then they calculate how many calories you need each day to hit that goal. When you eat back your exercise calories, you will still lose because of the deficit that MFP has already figured out for you.

I don't eat back all my exercise calories, but I know that for me, if I don't eat at least some of them back, I really feel like crap because I don't have the fuel I need to keep going.

Hope this helps!

bert16

Here's the logic:

1 lb is equivalent to 3500 calories. When you set up your weight loss goals, it "builds in" a calorie deficit based on the estimation of your BMR; for example, if you set your goals to lose 1 lb/week, it builds in a 500 calorie/day deficit, so that by the end of the week, you'll have a 3500 calorie deficit.

When you exercise, you burn additional calories above and beyond the amount your body needs to just get you through a day. So, since your calorie goal is already set with the calorie deficit built in, some people eat back some/all of the additional calories burned through exercise. That would theoretically still leave you at the calorie deficit that was built in by MFP to achieve your weight loss goals and gives your body the fuel it needs to keep your metabolism going.

Whether or not that theory translates precisely like that into practice is a topic of great debate here on MFP! But hope that helps you understand the logic of those who eat back exercise calories. :flowerforyou:

Awake_Alive

Haha! We must have all been writing at the same time!

dolphin9803

I don't but that is me. From what I have read on here ppl will tell you that you should and ppl will say that you shouldn't. For me the weight comes off with not eating them back.Others say that they can't shed the weight unless they eat a certain amount in cals. My answer to this would be listen to your body. If you start to notice that your not shedding the weight with not eating them try eating half of them back and see what happens, then maybe try eating them all back. IMO it all depends on the body as to whether someone should eat them back or not. Hope that helps!

bert16

Haha! We must have all been writing at the same time!

Tee hee... we must've! When I started typing, there were no responses yet! I must be the slowest typer (or the most verbose)! :laugh:

EmDrake13

MFP determines your caloric intake based on the information you provided regarding what your goals are. For example, if you told MFP that you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will calculate the number of calories you should be consuming, at whatever your current weight is, to lose the 2lbs, strictly with diet alone. That number does NOT include exercise. When you exercise, your body needs more calories, or you will eventually collapse because you are not fueling your body to perform the exercise you're attempting. Therefore, the number of calories you should consume increases as you exercise. Believe me. I've lost 10 pounds since January. It works.

chattipatty2

Just eat em back. Unless your full and think if you eat anymore you may explode. :explode:

junyr

/popcorn

EmDrake13

Haha! We must have all been writing at the same time!

Tee hee... we must've! When I started typing, there were no responses yet! I must be the slowest typer (or the most verbose)! :laugh:

Me too! There were only 3 comments on this post when I started typing my response. I love how many different ways the information was worded...

MiloBloom83

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

Read these. Just keep following the links.

susannamarie

Adding:

So then, if your only motivation is to lose weight, why not just do it with caloric restriction alone? Consider the following hypothetical situation:

Let's say that your maintenance is 2500, and you want to lose 2 lbs/week. MFP will tell you to eat 1500 cal/day. You're eating 60% of your maintenance calories.

Now let's say that you add in a 500-calorie workout. Your maintenance for the day is now 3000. In order to have the same 1000 calorie deficit, you need to eat 2000 calories. So you're eating 67% of your maintenance calories.

For me, at least, it's a lot easier to stay under goal and not be hungry when eating a higher percentage of maintenance calories.

riskiestlavonn

Here's the logic:

1 lb is equivalent to 3500 calories. When you set up your weight loss goals, it "builds in" a calorie deficit based on the estimation of your BMR; for example, if you set your goals to lose 1 lb/week, it builds in a 500 calorie/day deficit, so that by the end of the week, you'll have a 3500 calorie deficit.

When you exercise, you burn additional calories above and beyond the amount your body needs to just get you through a day. So, since your calorie goal is already set with the calorie deficit built in, some people eat back some/all of the additional calories burned through exercise. That would theoretically still leave you at the calorie deficit that was built in by MFP to achieve your weight loss goals and gives your body the fuel it needs to keep your metabolism going.

Whether or not that theory translates precisely like that into practice is a topic of great debate here on MFP! But hope that helps you understand the logic of those who eat back exercise calories. :flowerforyou:

THIS is the one that makes the most sense to me. Thank you guys so much for answering my question. I feel like after this I will be less "afraid" to eat back at least some of the calories I burn (though I plan not to eat all of them).

riskiestlavonn

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

read this ALL of it! it sounds glib but it is alot of links that explain why. Its a simple sciency kinda thing, but it does makes sense!

This website just made my day.

iPlugs

When I go to the gym in the morning (I usually burn about 850 cal.) I am hungry ALL DAY LONG. So, I eat all day long. The nice thing is that when you're eating higher quality foods, you can get away with this without the calories piling up. I generally have a hard time eating back ALL the calories, but I try to eat back a significant amount so that I'll have fuel to finish up my day and to start off tomorrow.

ruffalicious

i don't usually eat all back, i try to eat atleast half of it.. is it ok? am i still need to lose more weight per week?

newcraft

I'm new to MFP but not weight loss, so I can't speak yet to how MFP is formulated, but the idea isn't so much that you eat every calorie burned, but that you don't create such a defecit that your body is thinking it needs to hold onto what it does take in. Many people find a light snack after an intense workout helps keep the panic mode down because it restores the quick-burning glucose you burned (you're still burning more calories even 1+ hours after a cardio session.) If you workout at 3, but don't eat until 7, you're likely going to feel hungrier by the time 7 rolls around and your body will be craving some of the quick energy it lost.

If you're truly working out intensely - just go with what you feel comfortable with, and if it's not affecting your scale weight, don't worry about it. If you're creating a constant large defecit or feeling *truly* hungry after a workout (not simply dehydrated) - eat a sensible snack. Many people find that's enough to get the scale moving again if they plateau when they're exercising daily.

dextertroy

Here we go again. I know people say there is a debate in whether you should or you shouldn't but for me the debate is pointless. It's akin to scientists and creationists debating whether the Earth is older than 5000 years old. Of course it is!

I'm sorry if I'm going to offend some people but it's basic science! Read the thread others have posted about newbies read this. It's scientific fact that your body needs those calories to function healthily and sustainably over the long term. The problem is that some people, unfortunatly go with the idea (without reading the facts) that eating a tiny amount of calories works. Of course it works for a while. I'm not going to go into it in detail as the thread posted several times on here explains all. It will however, stop working eventually as your metabolism slows to a snails pace to efficiently use this calories for thoughts, liver function, kidney function and keeping your heart beating etc. Like a car running with hardly any oil. It'll work but not for long and doing irrepairable damage.

So to everyone not eating exceed use calories and I mean none if them here. The diaries I see posted with 1007 remaining, 580 remaining, 768 remaing.....you are doing long term harm and you will plateau.

Also telling people to "see what works for you" is the same as saying the sun revolves around the earth and in fact the earth is flat. Please read the facts and accept the science. Whats the point if buying an ikea chest of drawers with assembly instructions then get home throw the instructions away and try and do it yourself? You'll end up with a half arsed job that you'll give up on.

Eat you exercise calories!!!!!!! That loud enough?

chattipatty2

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

read this ALL of it! it sounds glib but it is alot of links that explain why. Its a simple sciency kinda thing, but it does makes sense!

This website just made my day.

Just LMAO....