Do you eat your calories back?

JacksMom12

YEP (mostly) -and it has worked for me. I like that my body is used to losing on more calories, because when I am on maintenance my plan will be much more plesant for me than if my body was only used to getting a mere 1200 calories a day.

Pashen4fit

Ok this makes me feel a little better my calorie goal that mfp gave me was 1200 most of the time I eat 850-900 .......and I am usually not hungry, I eat 5 times a day but its usally low calories foods such as spinach, celery, cucumbers etc......

You have to be careful with this. If you consistently eat a considerable less than your caloric net goal your body can go into starvation mode.

Once a week it's OK to not eat your calories back but otherwise you should aim for about 100-200 calories under your net daily goal. This will accelerate your weight loss but protect you from starvation mode

Interesting.. I eat this way and am always scared my body is going to go into starvation mode. I am never hungry and sometimes find it hard to eat the 1400 calories I am supposed to let alone the calories I have earned from working out.

yesthistime

I've heard that you should, but I also heard that you shouldn't.

My daily goal is 1300 (MFP said it should be 1200 but I was staaaaaaaarving!) and I burned about 900 calories yesterday. If I didn't eat any of the calories back I would've died (okay, not really died). That being said - I didn't eat ALL of the calories back (but about 200...).

Thoughts? I'm curious to see what others have to say.

I like this strategy. Eat what you need to feel satisfied, and let the rest go.

stuffinmuffin

this confuses me. i thought to lose weight, you have to burn more then you take in, so if i were to eat the calories i burnt off i wouldnt lose the weight. i try not to eat them back, but if im hungry i will have a snack, but i dont eat them all back

Your body burns calories all day long just keeping you alive. There is a certain amount it uses even if you were in a coma in the hospital. Actually rolling out of bed in the morning and going about your daily activities means you burn even more. MFP calculates an estimation of what your body uses during the course of a normal day based on your height, weight, age, gender, and the activity level you programmed in. If MFP calculated that your body uses about 2200 calories per day through normal activity and you tell it you want to lose 1 lb per week, it does the math for you and tells you to eat 1700 per day to lose that 1 lb per week. That puts you eating 500 per day less than what your body burns through normal activity and thus you expect to lose about 1 lb per week since 3500 calories make up a lb of fat. The 500 is your 'deficit'. If you eat your 1700 as directed by MFP and then you exercise and burn an additional 500 calories, you have now made your deficit even larger (1000 now since you ate 500 less than your body uses AND you burned off an extra 500). So MFP says 'wait, you want to lose 1 lb per week, so you need to keep your deficit at about 500, so now that you've burned 500 extra calories through exercise, you need to eat that back to keep your deficit the same as you requested.' Basically MFP does the work for you, if it tells you to eat a certain amount, you're supposed to be eating it (or at least close to it). There may be exceptions if you have a LARGE amount of weight to lose, or if you're very close to goal and trying to get there just a bit faster, or if you are not confident in the calorie burn being listed (for example if you have to rely on MFP or machine estimates rather than a device that's generally considered to be more accurate, like a heartrate monitor or bodybugg/bodymediafit armband).

^^^^^^

THIS!!!!! Every time. I've just come back from holiday (I've been maintaining for 4-5 months) and to shift the pound I gained I am on my BMR cals 1277 plus all the exercise cals I can get! I ate over 2000 calories today. : ) This is still a deficit for me because in maintenance I need to eat 1650 cals PLUS exercise not to lose weight.

Raina27

Okay if I get 2590 calories to eat to begin with and everyday I usually eat 1400-1700 then I go workout and burn 1000 calories how in the world am I supposed to eat 3500 calories??!!! That's a whole pound yet im still supposed to lose weight?! I dont think so!! Can somebody help me with this because im not understanding now!! *Lost*

SassyCalyGirl

I've heard that you should, but I also heard that you shouldn't.

My daily goal is 1300 (MFP said it should be 1200 but I was staaaaaaaarving!) and I burned about 900 calories yesterday. If I didn't eat any of the calories back I would've died (okay, not really died). That being said - I didn't eat ALL of the calories back (but about 200...).

Thoughts? I'm curious to see what others have to say.

I like this strategy. Eat what you need to feel satisfied, and let the rest go.

what's important is that it is working for YOU!

Riverofbeauty

I think it's important to at least net your BMR everyday (what your body needs to function, if you were doing nothing).

There is a great group here, which might help you out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

CMmrsfloyd

Okay if I get 2590 calories to eat to begin with and everyday I usually eat 1400-1700 then I go workout and burn 1000 calories how in the world am I supposed to eat 3500 calories??!!! That's a whole pound yet im still supposed to lose weight?! I dont think so!! Can somebody help me with this because im not understanding now!! *Lost*

You've got a lot going on here that's making it harder for you to do what we're talking about - you have over 100 lbs to lose, this means your body uses more calories during the day than a lot of us that are closer to our goal weights already and you burn more calories during your workouts than smaller people who already have lower calorie goals than you. (it takes more calories for say a 250 lb body to maintain that weight than for a 150 lb body to maintain that weight, and also generally it takes more energy to move a 250 lb body than a 150 lb body so heavier people often get really large exercise calorie burns compared to smaller people.) So you're starting out with a higher number and then your bigger calorie burns are making it even larger. Mathematically, yes, you should be able to eat that amount and still lose weight. But practically speaking, since you have a good deal of weight to lose you might be able to just eat lower than your MFP goals and start out losing the weight faster than the MFP recommendation for awhile. Do you have your profile set to 1 lb per week or 2 lbs per week? MFP automatically shows this little 'recommended' comment next to the 1 lb per week goal regardless of your starting weight, if you set your goal to 1 lb per week b/c of that, go back in and change your goal to 2 lbs per week which will drop your daily calorie goal a bit lower. Also, if you're entering your workouts and having to go by the numbers MFP gives you, I can't blame you for not eating all of that back, a lot of people have found MFP really overestimates calorie burn when they compare to their heartrate monitors.

kazzamcamille

I didn't understand this either, it seemed crazy to me! Well, I ate 1200 plus some exercise calories for the fist 2 months and only lost 6 lbs. Yes 6lbs is pretty good over that period of time but I wasn't losing consistently and was pretty hungry. Everyone told me to up my calories and eat my exercise calories back because the way to lose weight is to eat and keep your metabolism up. I am now experimenting with my calories. I keep upping them and losing MORE!! I love it. I try to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my metabolism going. Try not to eat after 7. When you exercise and don't eat at least half back you are going to starve your body and make it store fat and fluids (causes 0- minimum weight loss) When you fuel your body with the healthy foods with the right amount of calories your body thinks oh well I'm going to get fed every 2 hours or so , so I don't need this extra weight, and it is going to drop right off of you. You can private message me if you need to! Good luck

FORIANN

I am so confused how this is a topic that people don't get.

MyaPapaya75

I personally dont think anyone should eat them back unless they have a very accurate count of the calories burned the MFP database is usually way off...I just eat when Im hungry some days I eat more and some days I eat less it just depends on me.

Raina27

Yes I do have alot to lose so that's why my cals are so high and yes it is already set at 2lbs a week! I have been working out really hard trying to hit 1000cals burned a day but that may be too much so Im gonna scale back a bit on that! Wont be weighing myself until April 1st so I hope to see a big loss by then!! Will just continue to eat my 1400-1700 calories a day!! Thanks

DoingitWell

I try not to. But I'm not used to the eating the claroeis back thingy yet.

SeaStar

I will eat some back, but never all... I'm sure someone will or already has gone into the whole net cal thing, the fact that even though you burned 300 calories running for 30 minutes etc. your body would still burn 80 calories in that time in normal activity, so you've really earned 220 calories. I don't worry too much about it, just do my best to not eat them all back. If I am hungry, I don't deprive myself though, I just munch on lots of veggies and some fruit to satisfy the hunger.

susannamarie

Okay if I get 2590 calories to eat to begin with and everyday I usually eat 1400-1700 then I go workout and burn 1000 calories how in the world am I supposed to eat 3500 calories??!!! That's a whole pound yet im still supposed to lose weight?! I dont think so!! Can somebody help me with this because im not understanding now!! *Lost*

2950 IS a pretty high number. When you entered your goals to set up your profile, did you enter sedentary, lightly, moderately active? If you entered something other than sedentary (which I think you might have done), then your activity calories were already taken into account in your daily goal, and you shouldn't eat them back.

irisheyez718

Yes, I eat my exercise calories back.

b0t23

If you feel that your calories burned estimate is accurate, eat all of the calories back.
Especially if you are on a 500+ calorie deficit.

I have done so for the 6 months I have been using MFP and I have lost 35 pounds, tons of inches, and I feel strong.
If you lose too fast by creating too big of a deficit you will burn all of your muscle along with the body fat and you will be weak and "skinny fat". This could lead to possibly over-doing it and slipping back into old habits. Once the weight comes off, you want to feel GOOD, HEALTHY, and strong.

Cardio and calories should be your main focus at first. I rewarded myself by eating the exercise calories back.
I then started added pushups, crunches, yoga, and more, to start rebuilding muscle and burning more body fat.

b0t23

Also, the slower you lose weight, the less stretch marks, loose skin, you will have...

I lost 20 pounds in the first 2 months and this was a bit too much. but hey, stretch marks are our badges of honor or something right?

coraliethomas

I dont usually... however, If I feel hungry, its nice to know I have those calories there. I have a hard enough time getting to the 1200 with all the wholegrains and veggies Im eating. I just really dont feel hungry at the end of the day (no, no diet pills either).

PinkEarthMama

Yes, yes I do.

I am expecting my body to do a whole lot of work. Therefore, it needs a whole lot of fuel.