How much should i eat back

savageman69

Currently i dont have a hrm and for the time being (laidoff) i wont be getting one for a bit....recently i figured out that this site set me up to eat way to little calories, this has caused me to stop weight loss and level out...since i upped my calories but i still have a hard time wanting to eat my exercise calories back.....Not that i dont want to eat because i love eating lol hence why im here lol. However ive heard that it always over estimates here so im worried ill over eat and just waist the cardio.

Here are my stats....started 223lbs and currently 179 but still have high body fat % so i do about 60 mins cardio about 5 times a week...either stationary bike or walk 4mph pace. I also lift weights (heavy) 3-4 times a week and try and get as much protein i can in my calorie goal.

So should i just keep my 1950 calorie goal or eat some of the exercise cals back? .....oh and im a 27yr old male

jfan175

If your calorie goal is set for a 1-2lb per week weight loss, yes you should eat your exercise calories. You might want to adjust for a more modest loss. The closer you get to your goal fat%, the slower it will come off. I'm assuming you don't have much more to go, so these last few lbs. will be the slowest.

MissMaryMac33

If you don't have an HRM and you're using MFP or guessing, I would eat about half back - but you definitely want to eat some of them back since your original calorie goal already includes a deficit. (assuming you did it right anyway)

stum_ble

I don't eat my calories back at all. People usually overestimate how many calories they've burned off (often by a lot), even when using a HRM/other gadget.

Maurice1966

I'm on about the same net and I eat them all back, and then some. The weight (fat) will come off. I'm not even doing as much cardio as you, mainly lifting and light cardio (50-60% MHR) post lifting.

savageman69

Okay thank you...do you think i should make it 1/2 pound a week loss goal and just not eat back any?....I have it set to 1lb a week loss and im worried that i will over eat because i have no way to actually gauge how many calories i burn right now im guessing. Just want to melt body fat but as i dont really care to do cardio i dont want to undo the work by eating all the calories back and not actually burnt that much.

savageman69

according to scoobys site my bmr is 1907 and my tdee is 2288 so im thinking 1950 plus cardio should put me where i want to be...but i may be wrong any advice is all i could ask for, i realize that this last 10-15lbs of body fat is going to take along time i just want to be sure im setup to do it is all thanks