do you eat exercise calories as well?

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  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    NO. Why? Exercise is your daily deficit. If you are on a weight loss, why would you give it up?

    Exactly! It seems that the people that say "eat them back" complain about not losing weight, and those that take them as a deficit have nice weight loss numbers.

    "Eat them back". I have no complaints about my pace of weight loss. When I don't eat them back, I stop losing weight after a brief but glorious period of faster loss.

    For someone new, my opinion is that it makes sense for them to try the site out the way the people who designed it intended to be used. A way that has worked for a whole lot of people.

    But we're each adults and we get to choose how we experiment. Most of the "help! not losing weight!" posts I've seen are either the result of depending on MFP's fanciful calorie calculations and eating at maintenance, or not eating enough and having plateaued.
  • MessyLittlePanda
    MessyLittlePanda Posts: 213 Member
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    Depends on the exercise you do IMO....I'm training for bike races therefore fuelling my muscles properly is important. I am trying to drop body fat/excess weight also but cannot do this at the expense of lean muscle which is strength and stamina. So yes, I do try to eat the exercise calories, but it's actually a struggle on training days to eat as much as I should be. I try and even it out over the week, if you are doing vigorous cardio such as running/cycling or a high intensity sport like kickboxing then the next day you also need to feed the muscles.

    fueling your workouts properly = better workout = more lean muscle = more calorie burn.

    2 hours before - carbohydrate rich snack like a banana, couple of oatcakes, or skimmed milk with a teaspoon of Nesquik

    after - eat a meal with protein in within 2 hours

    you don't have to go crazy but knowing the right things to eat if you are going to use exercise to help your weight loss is important as long term this will help you build fitness and stamina and be able to do more exercise.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I eat back some of them. But not all...due to my exercise schedule, some days MFP has me slated to eat close to 3,000 calories! No way am I going to eat that in one day.
  • amclaws25
    amclaws25 Posts: 128 Member
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    No, I'm always so full, especially after increasing calories to 1700. I might eat like 100 of them on occasion.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    NO. Why? Exercise is your daily deficit. If you are on a weight loss, why would you give it up?

    Exactly! It seems that the people that say "eat them back" complain about not losing weight, and those that take them as a deficit have nice weight loss numbers.

    MFP calculates a deficit in the amount of calories it gives you. By not eating your exercise calories back you are not consuming or (netting) the proper amount of calories. Example - you eat 1200 calories. you exercise and burn 400. You are only netting 800 calories for the day which is too low, not healthy, not sustainable. And eating too few calories can actually result in slow weight loss or a plateau. It is important to fuel your body and work outs!!!
  • Brittany3914
    Brittany3914 Posts: 258 Member
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    I don't eat back a certain percentage, I just listen to my body most of the time. If I'm hungry, I'll eat them all or most of them. If I'm not as hungry, I'll eat SOME of them back. I try to at least net 1200 always, though.
  • Baileys83
    Baileys83 Posts: 152 Member
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    Perhaps it's best to try one way and if that doesn't work for you, try another? We all function differently and I don't believe there is a right or wrong way - this site is merely a guide, I am a keen zig-zag calorie counter, 1200 for a few days, then drop in a couple of 1600 to confuse the body - it worked great last time I was on here but I personally don't eat my exercise calories :smile:
  • mg234080
    mg234080 Posts: 29
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    I try not to eat them because my goal is to lose weight. Plus, if I ever go over on my allowed calories (before exercise) then I know I have some wiggle room.
  • Shrinking_Moody
    Shrinking_Moody Posts: 270 Member
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    Absolutely - I tend to have a few hundred left hanging around - but I do eat them back. I also work out harder if I have a special dinner planned :tongue:
  • sjohnson1961
    sjohnson1961 Posts: 7
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    i do dip into them a little but try to leave the bulk of them alone
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    Yep, eat them all back.
  • dzvinka82
    dzvinka82 Posts: 33
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    I aim not to eat my exercise calories, however, on occasion, if I am still hungry, I will eat them.
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
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    I try not to.
  • ash8184
    ash8184 Posts: 701 Member
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    No, but truth is that I don't want to. Any time I want to put something "extra" in my mouth, I remember how much work/effort/sweat it took to get those calories off :)
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
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    Yes, MFP already factory in your weight loss deficit in your daily goals.
    Too high a deficit, and you will fail miserably like most people do.
    Good Luck to you!
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    one of the biggest motivators to work out? nightly ice cream treat.
  • aross1185
    aross1185 Posts: 1
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    yes! If I dont eat enough I GAIN weight.. and since i'm still pretty heavy and workout everyday i usually have to eat at least 2,000 calories a day
  • recoiljpr
    recoiljpr Posts: 292
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    No, but truth is that I don't want to. Any time I want to put something "extra" in my mouth, I remember how much work/effort/sweat it took to get those calories off :)

    Exactly my stance. I do not eat back calories. Especially for my calorie burn level, I would be eating an extra 700+ calories a day. To me personally, that just doesn't make any sense.
  • angelalf1979
    angelalf1979 Posts: 244 Member
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    wow, this is a new refreshing topic :indifferent:

    I sense the sarcasm and some of us just started here. These things can be confusing. And unless you have a solid answer that backs up your knowledge, then why even respond? Have some respect for newbies. I think its a very valid and important question to have clarified if you want to be healthier and lose weight.
  • turquoise_elephant
    turquoise_elephant Posts: 83 Member
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    NO. Why? Exercise is your daily deficit. If you are on a weight loss, why would you give it up?

    This is what I thought too. Surely if you're trying to lose weight, you're trying to create a deficit so why eat some of that deficit back?! It doesn't make sense to me, and I've never understood it when other people on MFP talk about eating back their calories. If someone could explain, that would be much appreciated :)

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