Do You Eat Your Exercise Calories?

katkins3

I've been at 1200 calories for almost a year now and I eat most of my calories back. I know I would have become bored and discouraged long ago if I couldn't bump my calories up with exercise. At first only exercised to get those extra calories, but over time, I came to enjoy exercise for itself, (especially Jazzercise).

skybird455

each person is different. If you track responsibly you will know if you SHOULD eat your calories back or not. If your losing consistently and have no side affects you dont have to eat them back. when you stop losing it is time for a reset or to eat a bit more. I didnt eat them back for weeks and lost consistently, when the scale stopped moving I started eating more (on 1200 cal too) and it is moving again. Watch the signs of YOUR body, and remember everyone is different! Also pay attention to the WEEKLY calorie intake more than daily. Some days you will be hungrier than others, if your not hungry dont eat them back. The zigzag approach is the best way to keep your body in line and to AVOID a plateau.

tryinghard71

I have lost 7 inches in my waist eating them back. I really think it comes down to your activity level. I am not on here to say my way is the only way. I am only saying for me if I did not eat them back I would pass out trying to do a whole hour of an intense workout. I work out 6 days a week and try to burn 400-600 a session. Trying to build muscle as well. So if I am not giving my body enough nutrients I will lose muscle. So that is why I think it is about how active you are. But this is just saying this works for me.

gxm17

I do.

They're my most delicious calories.

This!

Fit_Forever25

I do not eat all of them but I always try to be under my calorie goal which is 1300 even if I burn 800 or 500
If you eat all of what you have burn then how would you lose thats what I feel and its working for me pretty well
Eat only when u feel hungry .. if you eat more then burn more I always try to be under 2000 to 3000 calorie deficit for my weekly goal

mfpcopine

i eat most of them back, and gain weight doing it.

So do I. Because despite my best efforts (including measuring), I am probably underestimating my calories consumed and MFP and Fitbit overestimate my calories burned. I usually try to ignore the calorie bonus granted by MFP based on my Fitbit info, but occasionally I forget. If I did that every day I would surely gain weight.

I understand your point, but then why did you get a FB? My FB keeps me in check...especially since I think my HRM is a little too kind in the cals burned dept. Just a little confused on your point..not trying to be rude at all...so please don't take it that way.

Someone gave me my FB. I view it as a really fun toy that provides some feedback. I rely on NO gadget for a calories burned estimate. Not my heart rate monitor, not the panel on cardio machines. They're always inaccurate, and it's not surprising, because there are too many factors to consider and the assumptions are probably based on subjects who differ from me. (Like men.)

As 85% of weight loss is calorie reduction, all I focus on is calories. I would drive myself crazy trying to reconcile the differences between my various gadgets and figuring out if they really apply to me. (Plus, I'm injured at the moment.) It's difficult enough trying to be semi-accurate logging the food I eat, and 25% of the time it's even not in the database.

I do whatever exercise I can and consider any calories burned to be icing on the cake. Exercise is very important for health, but it's not the critical factor for weight loss. I personally have always seen a pretty direct relationship between calories eaten and weight loss. This business of eating one's calories back could really set a person back if their assumptions are wrong.

When I'm better and can move around more if I see that my weight is dropping like crazy (not gonna happen :grumble: ), guess what I'll do? I'll eat more.

I understand that people want to go about weight loss in a healthy way, but I often think that they are overcomplicating the problem.

charityheckler

I am just starting back out, which means it's time to shrink my stomach back. That being said sticking to 1200 calories can be hard, sometimes I eat them and sometimes I don't. If I am hungry, I will try to eat as little of them as possible but enough to curb the cravings. I like to think that on occasion those calories are for that well deserved sweet tooth fix.

Now as unhealthy as it may sound I have already lost 5lbs in a week of getting back on track. This naturally won't be everyone, but it is definitely working for me.

LondonEliza

Yes... nothing tastes as good as exercise cals feel

jacksonpt

*sigh*

These threads are getting really tiresome.

There is a reason, actual logic and science behind whether or not you should be eating them back. Do people realize that??? It's not just because someone else does or doesn't and they had success.


here's the deal...

To lose weight you need to be in a healthy caloric deficit. There are 2 ways to accomplish that:

1) Set your daily caloric intake at a deficit
This is what most people do, and is how MFP is designed to work. You figure out your daily caloric need then set your calorie goal lower than that. For example.. if your daily caloric need is 1800, you might set your daily calorie goal to 1400. That puts you in a caloric deficit and you will start to lose weight*. When you exercise you burn additional calories. These burned calories are not accounted for in your daily need or the calorie goal you set based on that need. So exercising increases that caloric deficit. The thing to watch here is how big that deficit gets. Every body responds differently, but the larger the deficit the worse it is for your body (the assumption is that the larger the deficit gets the harder it is to properly fuel your body). And this is why people recommend eating back exercise calories.

2) Use exercise to create the deficit
With this method you set your daily caloric intake to equal your daily caloric need. Then you exercise and burn calories. Those burned calories are not accounted for when you set your daily goal equal to your daily need, and thus you end up in a deficit. The size of that deficit is dependent on your workouts. You burn 75cals walking the dog and your deficit is 75 cals. You burn 500 cals running and the deficit is 500.



*This is VERY simiplified and makes A LOT of assumptions, but is good enough for this conversation.



As with everything, there is some variance here. Every body resonds differently to diet, exercise, nutrition, etc. so there is some trial and error required to find your body's "sweet spot". Pick one of the above methods, do it for a couple of months and see what happens. Then you can make a couple of subtle changes here and there, do that for a month or two and see if you body responds better or worse. But always start with one of the above methods, then go from there.

One of the biggest problems I see is people mixing elements/strategies from different programs. They want to use MFP's calorie calculations with weight watcher's zero point foods combined with what they heard from their coworker's brother's personal trainer. It doesn't work that way. Unless you really understand the ins and outs of nutrition and exercise (and if you did we wouldn't be having this conversation), you need to pick ONE method and do it. Don't mix them up, don't do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Pick one, commit to one.

sjiphone

I try not to, but if I do I don't beat myself up over it. Either way, on 1200 a day weight loss is going to happen. Exercising helps it along. Eating back those exercise calories is up to you. Just do what works for you.

erickirb

No, I bank the deficit. Brings the weight down faster if you don't eat the deficit.

And a large % of that extra loss comes from lean muscle, not fat.

erickirb

I try not to, but if I do I don't beat myself up over it. Either way, on 1200 a day weight loss is going to happen. Exercising helps it along. Eating back those exercise calories is up to you. Just do what works for you.

I disagree. If you are eating 1700 or so, eating them back could be a choice, but on only 1200 cals you need to eat them, as 1200 cals on its own is barely enough fuel for someone trying to lose weight laying in bed all day. the more we move, the more fuel we need.

charityheckler

Basically, it's simple, try it and see what works best for you. Each program created was done so by research and attempts. As said before no one is the same and we all respond differently. The only way to know is to try it.

rockinright

If it's more than ~100 or so, yes.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Here's a great website specifically for this question, it's actually my favorite one:

http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

mandylooo

What Jacksonpt said.

Not eating back your exercise calories means you don't understand how MFP is set up. It won't help you in the long run.

trimom10

Yes, I do eat my exercise calories. When I joined MFP I put in that I wanted to lose one pound per week, but I set my activity level to sedentary, since I sit at a desk for most of the day. MFP set my daily calories to 1,200. I workout every day, sometimes it's just yoga, but other times it may be an 80 minute run and I use a HRM to calc my calories burned. I usually try to eat all of my alloted calories. The system has been working for me (joined in January 2012).

rachylouise87

all depends on height and weight to start with. my cal goal is 1200 i exercise 1-2 times a day burning 150-400 cals per session but i bank these calories. i used to eat them back but it wasnt accurate enough to do so. nobody truely knows how many cals they are burning 100%. i am also 5ft so for me to keep at a steady weight i would have to consume 1700 per day which to some people would be considered a diet and deficit. my deficit is 500 with calorie reduction and exercise is a bonus. so even when i dont have time to exercise.. (10 hour shift days) then i know i have still created a deficit. really active people on their feet all day should obviously consume more but i am mostly sedentary and have an office job so i dont need to eat that much more. but i do workout 5-7 days per week

mfpcopine

*sigh*

These threads are getting really tiresome.

There is a reason, actual logic and science behind whether or not you should be eating them back. Do people realize that??? It's not just because someone else does or doesn't and they had success.

To make it equally simple, I'm not confident of the accuracy of Fitbit's and MFP's data and assumptions. For 30 days, I did follow MFP's suggestions, including eating back exercise calories assigned by Fitbit because I often forgot to subtract them out. I didn't lose weight.