Do You Eat Your Exercise Calories?

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  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    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
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    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
    charityheckler Posts: 25 Member
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    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
    rockinright Posts: 241
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    If it's more than ~100 or so, yes.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Here's a great website specifically for this question, it's actually my favorite one:

    http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
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    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
    trimom10 Posts: 388 Member
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    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
    rachylouise87 Posts: 367 Member
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    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
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    *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.

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