Eat back all of your exercise calories or you WILL DIE.

Bonny619

81 pounds lost over the last 1 1/2 years and I do NOT eat back my exercise calories. Just adding input from someone who has lost a significant amount of weight and has kept it off and is still losing.

half_moon

Wow. Yeah, so. Not even sure how to handle this thread right now. Slowly backing away from the MFP community.... Slow, slow, cautious steps....

FitasBarbie

If i'm hungry I eat them back. If I'm not hungry I don't. Listen to your body.

^ Exactly!

vnsaroja

Impressive

taso42

not sure if these folks defy the laws of thermodynamics, or just bad at logging...

Okay well normally I don't even look at these kinds of threads but....the topic got me interested. Anyways I have condition that causes me to be insulin resistant so I GAIN weight at about 1500 calories if I'm not exercising, long story. Point being that sometimes I eat them back and sometimes I don't, but everyone has a different metabolism and their body reacts to food different ways. I can actually stay at 1200-1300 calories and gain weight if I am eating the wrong food (not junk food just stuff that spikes my blood sugar, like potatoes and corn). So everyone has to listen to their own body and what it tells them. Basic suggestion, don't starve yourself. If you are really hungry eat a little more that day!

I have never eaten my exercise calories back. If I did I'd be eating well over 4,000 calories a day and sure as heck would NOT have lost any of the weight I've lost. Especially since I burn over 2,000 calories in exercise alone each day. However, there is no reason for people to get their panties in a bunch and jump on others just because they do things differently. Some of us work with doctors and/or nutritionists. Just because MFP has recommendations, does not MAKE THEM RULES!! There is a reason you are able to alter your goals and nutritional intake levels. I highly advise that everyone check in with their doctors, especially those that are attempting to lose weight, to make sure that you are doing what is healthy for YOUR body.

DangerDiv

Now if one eats all their exercise calories back than how is someone loosing weight?
I am doing Jamie Easons lifefit plan and I sure a daisy don't eat all my exercise calories.
Lost 9 pounds so far, and with her eating plan, even with less calories your body does not have time to get starving.

omg, i just wanted to respond to you, 'cos i am in LOVE with those damn turkey meatloaf muffins. have you been eating 'em? SOOOOOO good. i eat them alllllll the time. so good.

joslin2005

You don't have to eat them back if you don't want to.

Let me explain where the thinking comes from though....

If your TDEE is 2300 and you want to lose 2lbs a week your deficit is 1000 calories.
MFP sets you at 1300.
You're already in a deficit so eating exercise cals back keeps you at that 1000 calorie deficit.

That's all it is.

This..... For some, not eating the exercise calories will put their body into starvation mode. If your body thinks it's starving, then it will hold onto everything you eat resulting in no weight loss. Your metabolism will also slow down.

jessicae1aine

Despite the fact that SOME people will lose weight successfully on 1200 calories - and even less if they don't eat back their exercise calories - you can do serious damage to your body. Do it long enough, and you can do PERMANENT damage to your body.

Your body, almost guaranteed, requires more than 1200 calories to keep it's basic functions working all the time at a healthy level. Eating too few calories can do damage to your liver, your kidneys, even your brain. If it continues long enough it can be irreversible damage. You should look up (on somewhere OTHER than here) your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, the rate at which your body burns calories at rest) and eat at least that many calories, because that is the bare minimum that you need.

No one on here is "trying to act like they know it all" and no one on here wants to tell you do something that would harm you. We're all here to HELP one another, including keeping each other healthy and redirecting bad decisions, no matter how well-intentioned those decisions are.

I'm guessing that you probably aren't going to listen, based on the "do I HAVE to listen or can I just eat as few calories as possible" attitude in your original post, but if you really want to know the truth, there it is for you. For what it's worth, I do know what I'm talking about - I'm working with a nutritionist.

Sarauk2sf

Now if one eats all their exercise calories back than how is someone loosing weight?
I am doing Jamie Easons lifefit plan and I sure a daisy don't eat all my exercise calories.
Lost 9 pounds so far, and with her eating plan, even with less calories your body does not have time to get starving.

Haha that's what I was thinking!! Just seems like an excuse to eat more and not gain weight-- which would happen, but I want to lose!! I eat every two hours a day. I just get some "tiffs" sometimes. HATAS GON HATE.

So what exactly was the purpose of you post other than to start the same old sh*tstorm about this same old topic? It is pretty obvious you already have your mind made up - so what were you trying to achieve.

And what the h*ll is wrong with using exercise as an excuse to eat more.....sounds like a pretty damn good reason to me. Well, that and the cardiovascular improvement of cardio and body composition improvements of strength training. Who exactly is the 'hata' here? If done properly (using reasonable estimates and tracking) people will lose weight because there is already a deficit built into the base number.

JillyBean819

I found eating that low works for about 12 weeks before a plateau. But protein is a HUGE consideration if you're lifting and eating at such an extreme deficit.

I agree. From past experience, I found that eating about 1200 plus cardio wasn't bad but when I started lifting weights I felt like poop (teeth were sensitive, fatigue) likely bc I want eating enough calories/protein.

chocl8girl

If i'm hungry I eat them back. If I'm not hungry I don't. Listen to your body.

THIS.

MustangCindy67

I watched Etreme weightloss last evening and the lady ate 1500 calories a day for her 355 lbs body and also exercised at a 3500 deficit......wow..... she survived....goes to show you dont have to eat your calories back....I think each person is different and should do what works for them.... main thing is to lose, feel healthy and be energised.....

belgerian

Read this topic http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science from what I understand true starvation mode will not even set in until you hit about 6 percent BF. As you eat less your BMR will slow down but this can be offset by excercise. I ate about 1600 Cal a day my minumum never ate back any excercise caloires and I am doing GREAT run 8 miles a day 5-6 days a week a longer on the weekends spend most of my work day on my feet moving. I do eat closer to 2200 cal now my minimum maintaince cal but I do not eal all my excercise Cal back. THis has woked wonderful for me for the last 2 years. Get informed so you can make the best decision for yourself.

belgerian

The main thing is that eating back exercise calories preserves lean muscle. If you don't you'll still lose weight but a portion of it will be lean muscle. Not everyone cares about having lean muscle, sure, a lot only care about fitting into the next dress size down or the number on the scale. But for those of us who are concerned with lean muscle, yes, it's necessary.

Whenever you losse it will be a portion of muscle just like when you gain a portion of it will be fat becouse to gain muscle you need to eat a surplus and that surplus is stored ast fat.

dosmundos

Now if one eats all their exercise calories back than how is someone loosing weight?
I am doing Jamie Easons lifefit plan and I sure a daisy don't eat all my exercise calories.
Lost 9 pounds so far, and with her eating plan, even with less calories your body does not have time to get starving.

Haha that's what I was thinking!! Just seems like an excuse to eat more and not gain weight-- which would happen, but I want to lose!! I eat every two hours a day. I just get some "tiffs" sometimes. HATAS GON HATE.

So what exactly was the purpose of you post other than to start the same old sh*tstorm about this same old topic? It is pretty obvious you already have your mind made up - so what were you trying to achieve.

And what the h*ll is wrong with using exercise as an excuse to eat more.....sounds like a pretty damn good reason to me. Well, that and the cardiovascular improvement of cardio and body composition improvements of strength training. Who exactly is the 'hata' here? If done properly (using reasonable estimates and tracking) people will lose weight because there is already a deficit built into the base number.

Since you asked about the purpose of my post. I was only answering the original post. I did not know that the answers have to be in sinc with the majority of the people.

mjsunshine16

Everyone's body is different, do what works for you!

dosmundos

omg, i just wanted to respond to you, 'cos i am in LOVE with those damn turkey meatloaf muffins. have you been eating 'em? SOOOOOO good. i eat them alllllll the time. so good.

Yes, I like them too.

CynthiaAnnGA

My husband diets this way, he saves his calories for 1 cheat day a week & still is able to lose. I find if I eat on a cheat day, it makes me less able to stay on track, so I don't go off even for a day. I have to eat all through the day so I won't feel hungry, so I cook a big pot of veg. stirfry & eat on that all day & then eat a healthy supper. I don't deny myself a few glasses of red wine a day either. I guess that would be my cheat! Everyone is different, so what works for you, do it!

Marla64

What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?

It is a legitimate concern-- I joined MFP in July of '08. Eating 1200 calories with moderate exercise, never eating back calories, by June of '09 I'd lost 46 pounds. Determined to hit my goal of 50 pounds, I went on a full court press-- cut out all crap, and went on a diet of basically rice cakes, sugarfree peanut butter and greens. I began training for a half marathon, and didn't eat back my calories because I wanted those last rascally pounds off. I was on a mission.

By the end of September, my weight started creeping back up. My eating never changed, so I upped the exercise. Still crept up. I then tried a veggie juice fast-- four days of nothing but vegetable juice. Still training for the half, and adding Insanity into the mix-- by June of '10 I was up 20 pounds. By Christmas, I'd gained back nearly all of it.

My eating never changed. I was a faithful calorie counter. I never wanted to be fat again, so I'd totally changed my eating. As I tried to figure out what happened, along the way, I read about starvation mode. Keeping up the long-term cell deprivation hurt me. I didn't have any more fat to burn-- I began burning muscle, and my body's self-preservation kicked in. The lady on here who lost 100 pounds on 1200 calories still had some to give-- I didn't.

Nearly three years later, and with the help of some T3 hormones, my body seems to have finally forgiven me and is healing. I've taken 15 of the gain back off, and am working on eating sensibly, and religiously eat back all my calories.

I know everyone's story is different-- and what works for some, doesn't work for all. But there is a simple principle of credits and debits-- you see it in your bank account. You spend more than you deposit, you overdraw your account. Not so different with your calories. You burn more than you ingest, problems over time will occur-- for me, it was a year and a half of sustained deprivation.

Food for thought-- it is real. It does happen. It gets overblown here, for sure, but be wise about your choices.

Phoenix59

I watched Etreme weightloss last evening and the lady ate 1500 calories a day for her 355 lbs body and also exercised at a 3500 deficit......wow..... she survived....goes to show you dont have to eat your calories back....I think each person is different and should do what works for them.... main thing is to lose, feel healthy and be energised.....

You're talking about a morbidly obese individual, not someone who only has 10-20 lbs. to lose. Someone that overweight can eat at a huge deficit without the consequences being discussed here. No one is saying you won't lose weight eating 1200 calories or less, but after some time a body will suffer the effects of eating so little. IMO, if you want to lose weight at the expense of your long-term health, have at it. Fortunately, I love food and I love exercising, so I get the best of both worlds, thankyouverymuch.

UoNDancer

What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?

It's just how MFP is set up. Do what works for you, but if you start forums like this, be prepared for people who are hard core MFP that say, you joined, now follow the rules for best results.

Where are these 'rules' for best success or what are they??

taso42

Where are these 'rules' for best success or what are they??

eat a balanced, sustainable diet at a moderate calorie deficit
exercise

piesbd

What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?

It is a legitimate concern-- I joined MFP in July of '08. Eating 1200 calories with moderate exercise, never eating back calories, by June of '09 I'd lost 46 pounds. Determined to hit my goal of 50 pounds, I went on a full court press-- cut out all crap, and went on a diet of basically rice cakes, sugarfree peanut butter and greens. I began training for a half marathon, and didn't eat back my calories because I wanted those last rascally pounds off. I was on a mission.

By the end of September, my weight started creeping back up. My eating never changed, so I upped the exercise. Still crept up. I then tried a veggie juice fast-- four days of nothing but vegetable juice. Still training for the half, and adding Insanity into the mix-- by June of '10 I was up 20 pounds. By Christmas, I'd gained back nearly all of it.

My eating never changed. I was a faithful calorie counter. I never wanted to be fat again, so I'd totally changed my eating. As I tried to figure out what happened, along the way, I read about starvation mode. Keeping up the long-term cell deprivation hurt me. I didn't have any more fat to burn-- I began burning muscle, and my body's self-preservation kicked in. The lady on here who lost 100 pounds on 1200 calories still had some to give-- I didn't.

Nearly three years later, and with the help of some T3 hormones, my body seems to have finally forgiven me and is healing. I've taken 15 of the gain back off, and am working on eating sensibly, and religiously eat back all my calories.

I know everyone's story is different-- and what works for some, doesn't work for all. But there is a simple principle of credits and debits-- you see it in your bank account. You spend more than you deposit, you overdraw your account. Not so different with your calories. You burn more than you ingest, problems over time will occur-- for me, it was a year and a half of sustained deprivation.

Food for thought-- it is real. It does happen. It gets overblown here, for sure, but be wise about your choices.

I could have written your post... but mine involved WW, training for a century, and a 30lb gain instead of 20.... after 2 years, I am finally able to take the weight back off, slowly, ever so slowly.

Be careful what you do to your body.... it will forgive you in time, but you may not like to process to get there.

myfitnessnmhoy

What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?

It's the way the site was built to be used, so when someone new asks I generally recommend they use the site as it was meant to be used before starting to fudge numbers. Then, if it doesn't work, you experiment and find what works for you.

I've also got a long track record with trying to starve myself into quick weight loss, and after 30 years I'd like to think that hard-earned experience might be useful. Especially to someone who is already looking at significant adjustments to their caloric intake and a huge lifestyle change.

However, different things work for different folks. If you don't want to eat them back, don't. But if someone asks, based on my own 30+ year experience trying to lose weight on too high a deficit, and all the sweat and tears and emotional and physical impact it's had on me over that 30+ years, I'm going to try and direct them toward what's finally working for me - eating at a defined deficit for weight loss, and working out to be more fit (which means eating enough to replace the "extra" burn, rather than using it to try and accelerate my weight loss).

marie_cressman

i don't eat back all of mine. some people do. i was eating 1,600 calories a day. i think i have set for me to lose 1lb a week which i'm pretty happy with. even set at that and eating 1,600 calories a day i was losing some weeks 1-2lbs a week until i hit this recent plateau. i went to a nutritionist and was told to up my calorie intake to 1775-1800 a day because i'm doing p90x (and to be honest i'm not following the nutrition plan because... it says i should eat 2,400 calories a day and i feel like that is a lot since i'm trying to lose weight). since eating the 1,800 calories, i've already started losing again. you do need to base it on your body. if you're eating healthy and frequently and getting enough of everything you need and not running out of energy or feeling like you're starving, you're probably fine. i have a hard time getting up to the 1,800 calories so i drink a protein shake with skim milk. it keeps my energy levels high without feeling like i'm stuffing my face when i'm not really hungry.

raerae514

I wouldn't be so black and white about it.

"Eat back your exercise calories or you will starve" that's just silly.

A lot of people here have a higher calorie allowance than us. From what I can tell, 1200 is the bare minimum anyone should eat in a day. If I log out with about 200 calories leftover I get a warning saying that eating this little could cause me to be malnourished.

I love eating. Obviously. So if I can go on my elliptical for 30 minutes and win back 300 calories, I am very well going to eat back those calories, *especially* after working out. I've lost a little over a pound a week so far, so it's working for me. Maybe it wouldn't work for everyone.

But imagine this: Your daily calorie goal is 1200. Then you jump rope for an hour and burn 1200 calories. Wouldn't that be like having no calories at all for the whole day? Probably not something you want to do every day.

Like someone said earlier, if you're hungry, eat them back, if you're not hungry then don't eat them back. But I mean if you're netting only 500 calories a day then I'm pretty sure that is considered starving.

Marla64

What is this business about starvation mode? I find myself wrapped up in these "debates" with people telling me that eating 1200 and not eating back my calories from exercise will make me starve. Not everybody eats their calories back, and they are fine. Is this just another example of people thinking they know everything and they know it best, or is this a legitimate concern?

It is a legitimate concern-- I joined MFP in July of '08. Eating 1200 calories with moderate exercise, never eating back calories, by June of '09 I'd lost 46 pounds. Determined to hit my goal of 50 pounds, I went on a full court press-- cut out all crap, and went on a diet of basically rice cakes, sugarfree peanut butter and greens. I began training for a half marathon, and didn't eat back my calories because I wanted those last rascally pounds off. I was on a mission.

By the end of September, my weight started creeping back up. My eating never changed, so I upped the exercise. Still crept up. I then tried a veggie juice fast-- four days of nothing but vegetable juice. Still training for the half, and adding Insanity into the mix-- by June of '10 I was up 20 pounds. By Christmas, I'd gained back nearly all of it.

My eating never changed. I was a faithful calorie counter. I never wanted to be fat again, so I'd totally changed my eating. As I tried to figure out what happened, along the way, I read about starvation mode. Keeping up the long-term cell deprivation hurt me. I didn't have any more fat to burn-- I began burning muscle, and my body's self-preservation kicked in. The lady on here who lost 100 pounds on 1200 calories still had some to give-- I didn't.

Nearly three years later, and with the help of some T3 hormones, my body seems to have finally forgiven me and is healing. I've taken 15 of the gain back off, and am working on eating sensibly, and religiously eat back all my calories.

I know everyone's story is different-- and what works for some, doesn't work for all. But there is a simple principle of credits and debits-- you see it in your bank account. You spend more than you deposit, you overdraw your account. Not so different with your calories. You burn more than you ingest, problems over time will occur-- for me, it was a year and a half of sustained deprivation.

Food for thought-- it is real. It does happen. It gets overblown here, for sure, but be wise about your choices.

I could have written your post... but mine involved WW, training for a century, and a 30lb gain instead of 20.... after 2 years, I am finally able to take the weight back off, slowly, ever so slowly.

Be careful what you do to your body.... it will forgive you in time, but you may not like to process to get there.

Oh, no-- I didn't gain only 20. That was just along the way....I started at 210 and got down to 164....when all was said and done as the weight piled back on, I was back up to 205. I'd gained almost all of it back.

To say I was devastated was an understatement. I cried for a year....but, while I came close, I never gave up. I started eating sensibly, and the funny thing was....realizing I was starving myself, I did some calculations about how many calories I would need to maintain with the current exercise I was doing. The number was 2300. That freaked me out. But, I did agree to start eating 2100....and I didn't gain an ounce. In fact, I finally started losing.

The body is an amazing thing. It most definitely lets you know when it's not happy.

I'm now 191....on my way back. I'll never again be so stupid.

Anayalata

Oh, no-- I didn't gain only 20. That was just along the way....I started at 210 and got down to 164....when all was said and done as the weight piled back on, I was back up to 205. I'd gained almost all of it back.

To say I was devastated was an understatement. I cried for a year....but, while I came close, I never gave up. I started eating sensibly, and the funny thing was....realizing I was starving myself, I did some calculations about how many calories I would need to maintain with the current exercise I was doing. The number was 2300. That freaked me out. But, I did agree to start eating 2100....and I didn't gain an ounce. In fact, I finally started losing.

The body is an amazing thing. It most definitely lets you know when it's not happy.

I'm now 191....on my way back. I'll never again be so stupid.

You give me faith in people.

Kaedemoon267

This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. I eat around 1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.

taso42

This has been one of the things I get confused about most trying to lose weight. My BMR is 1300, so I eat around 900-1200 calories a day (I am 4 foot 11 so thats not too low for me) and exercise off 500 calories a day. It works for me and I do eat a LOT. if I burn more I eat more, but always keep that 500 calorie deficit.

that's a lot more than 500 calorie deficit. calorie deficit is relative to your TDEE, not BMR.


igiveup