Should I eat my burned calories?

tball1383

Because your body is like a car, the further the car drives the more fuel it needs. The more you workout the more food you need. Your body burns way more calories on days you workout so in turn you should eat back at least half of those calories. You should always have a NET of 1200 minimum.

I agree. 1200 minimum or your body thinks it is starving! I currently am having the issue of losing my last 5 pounds so I am trying to only eat about half of the calories I burn per day. I also have cheat days (FUN days I like to call them). Over 3 months I have lost 20 pounds (5'3 currently 125 pounds) by exercising with TurboFire 6 days a week and using a 1200 calorie deficit (total - exercise). I am pretty sure now my metabolism is in full gear because even when I don't exercise and eat too many calories I don't gain weight. It is hard work for sure so good luck!

channa007

You likely need a lot more than at least 1200 colries a day. Use MFP to calculate your BMR. Your BMR is the number of calories your body needs to function at total rest (to keep your heart beating, to breathe, etc.). If you are eating less calories than your BMR, you may lose weight at first, but eventually you WILL enter starvation mode, and you will hit a serious weight loss plateau. On top of that, it won't be fat you are losing, but a lot of lean muscle mass as well. It's not healthy to deny yourself the calories your body needs to function.

My BMR is 1560 cal/day, and MFP had me eating at 1350. I have found it impossible over the last several months to move past 163 pounds. In fact I actually started to gain a little weight back. Now that I'm eating at least my BMR every day, things are starting to settle back down for me, and I feel much better. Plus I'm no longer in starvation mode, so my body isn't panicking and holding onto fat.

So to answer your question, you do not need to eat back exercise calories, UNLESS the amount of exercise you do takes your total net calories for the day below your BMR. As long as you're eating your BMR, you will lose weight and will do so in a healthy way.

As for the TDEE-15% arguments, this likely will work as well, but it's a lot less complicated to just eat your BMR. Eating BMR also let's you burn more calories per day than TDEE-15%.

Good answer! Yes eat under BMR and if you plateau then you need to re-evaluate, eat more/less calories and up your workout.

Meaganandcheese

I don't always eat them the day I earn them, but at some point during the week, almost always. I wear an HRM so I know exact numbers with confidence.

sabrinalg

Find what works for you. I personally don't eat back my exercise calories, but they are there if I should go over on my calories and even with that I don't eat them all back. I have tried eating back my exercise calories, and when I do I don't lose. So, find what works for you because everybody is different.

smor27

I only eat back calories if I am not going to have the initial base calories. 1600 for a guy. If I fall below that but not by that much I don't eat them back. I found that f I do eat them back every time I am more in a maintenance mode and do not lose any weight.

myfitnessnmhoy

oh my goodness i cant cope with this i am scared of ruining it and adding more weight by eating back calories that are too overestimated...on the other hand i dont want my metabolism to slow down or my body to store fat through not eating enough calories! either way i dont trust computer generated guesses to make the right choice for me...our bodies are all so different! i understand the frustration a person who suffers from anorexia feels. so much to think about ! i have started thinking about these things all the time so worried about what i do !

You relax and accept that the estimates are probably pretty good. If the estimates are wrong, your weight loss may be briefly delayed while you and your body get on speaking terms and you can learn to listen to what it is telling you. In the meantime, start drinking plenty of water and get your macros (carbs, fats, proteins) in balance. Eat what the site recommends, including exercise calories.

Before getting all worked up about it not working, going off and trying all sorts of things and getting confused - keep it simple and try using the site the way it was designed to be used. There's a lot of good science behind the site being designed the way it is.

fernanda78

I agree with yes and no. My main treat from exercise is to be able to have more flexibility. I sometimes used them..I sometimes don't. I feel better and less tempted (mentally especially during those crazy craving moments).. to have extra calories to play with. That's just my opinion. :blushing:

ShellyShuey

THIS -- must use an HRM.

Kebby83

I knew a rachelEwok once.

dgillary

LOL at all the experts on here. Go burn 1500 cals a workout and don't eat them back, see how long you last! Hint YOU WON'T.

prtybrwneyescd

I eat most of them back and I continue to lose weight each week... I'm down 28 pounds in less than 4 months. I'm in a healthy BMI range now and just trying to shed my last belly fat... I highly recommend that you eat what you burn. You are already starting at a several hundred per day calorie deficit. Why would you want to be hungry? Why would you want your body to run on fumes all the time? It is not necessary. Eat a balanced diet, and don't deprive yourself treats. That way you are more likely to stick with it... This should be a new way of life, not a quick fix.

Sooooo very true! Thank you.

HMK3

Webona293

I just went to that site LMAO!!

BeantownSooner

If you search this topic, it's been answered many times.

If you have read through how MFP is set up when you started your account, you would have noticed that MFP already creates a deficit for you, regardless of exercise. Which means that even if you don't exercise you will lose weight. When you exercise, you further increase that deficit, possibly to an unhealthy level. This is why MFP tells you to eat your exercise calories back. Think of food as fuel. Your body needs fuel.

^^^^^^^^^^THIS! You can lose weight by JUST sticking to your allotted calories...Look at your NET calories for the day....Let's say you eat 1200 calories and burn 600 exercising...Your body is only getting the 600 you didn't burn off...that is NOT ENOUGH. Please Please watch your NET calorie intake for that is the important number.

Yeah but what if you have 2 - 25 pound tires of fat around your belly? Does your body just ignore that fuel source?

JacksMom12

Way back when I was your age we never even THOUGHT about eating back exercise calories. We lost weight. We didn't starve to death and we didn't die horribly malnourished. Sometimes I think everything has to be so over thought. Eat less. Exercise. Lose weight. Pretty simple.

And lose all my muscle along the way? Be cranky and hungry? Ew, no thanks I'll do it my way. Eat 2000 calories, train like a beast, look awesome. The end.

SeannyB

Way back when I was your age we never even THOUGHT about eating back exercise calories. We lost weight. We didn't starve to death and we didn't die horribly malnourished. Sometimes I think everything has to be so over thought. Eat less. Exercise. Lose weight. Pretty simple.

And lose all my muscle along the way? Be cranky and hungry? Ew, no thanks I'll do it my way. Eat 2000 calories, train like a beast, look awesome. The end.

Thank you! So true. Reading through these comments I was so shocked that people are exercising over their deficit and NOT eating ANY of their calories back. Good luck getting fat again because you won't be happy keeping that up forever.

jkcrawford

Way back when I was your age we never even THOUGHT about eating back exercise calories. We lost weight. We didn't starve to death and we didn't die horribly malnourished. Sometimes I think everything has to be so over thought. Eat less. Exercise. Lose weight. Pretty simple.

^^^^^This

underwater77

Listen to your body. I am usually famished on my big workout days - there is no way I would be able to not eat at least some of the calories back. The bottom line is and always will be - burn more than you eat. Period.

samkomissarov

I use it like a safety net. If i dont feel like eating them back I dont. If im neutral about it i dont. If im hungry than I do. It gives you room to be flexible.

best answer yet

trobbin88

I look forward to eating them back.