For those of you who don't eat exercise cals back
Replies
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The very obvious answer would be to not log the exercise at all since you're rendering it pointless.
For those of you not eating back calories because the only reason you burned them was to create a larger deficit than is healthy, why do you bother eating?
THIS0 -
I just don't pay attention to the total calories it says I can eat and just keep an eye on the number actually consumed compared to the baseline calories allowed before exercise. It doesn't confuse me in the slightest. Since my baseline is 1200 according to FP and I usually get enough from exercise to allow 1500-1700, I just make sure my actual consumption falls somewhere between 1200 and 1400. Usually on the lower end unless it's a special occasion like a birthday or something in which case I just watch what I eat the rest of the day to save room in my calorie limit for the cake (or pie or cookies....or as my son reminded me today, save room for the s'mores on the Fourth!
) ) But I pre-plan what I am going to eat and exercise each day the day before so I know more or less that it is going to balance and pretty much stick to it with only occasional minor variations. But that way, if I underplan the calories and something unexpected comes up, I haven't necessarily totally blown it for the day. 0 -
Please reconsider this statement. I have checked the calories burned on MFP against the calorie counts on the machines at the gym, and the count is nearly the same. I also wear a Fitbit to triple check, and the calories burned all seem to line up correctly.0
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I log my exercise but don't eat them back. I feel that if I'm eating back the calories I've burned, why did I burn them in the first place.
^^^^ this
This is my thought, too!0 -
I don't eat back. I either don't log...or I only put 1 cal burned and make up a stupid thing i did like "10 cals burned...plugged my phone into charge". My friends either think I'm witty or annoying! More than likely annoying.
If I see that I have cals to eat I will eat them. No questions about it.0 -
The very obvious answer would be to not log the exercise at all since you're rendering it pointless.
For those of you not eating back calories because the only reason you burned them was to create a larger deficit than is healthy, why do you bother eating?
My thoughts exactly! I've lost the recommended 1 lb. per week and ALWAYS eat back my exercise calories because that is what my body NEEDS. Slow and steady weight loss is the HEALTHY way to go.
thats the same way with me. i always make sure i hit 1200 a day no matter what. that includes the calories i have burnt. i did this and lost almost 20lbs between christmas and v-day..then i got pregnant and gained some back lol0 -
I have a fitbit and HRM to help me calculate calories burned, but don't eat them back. I did override MFP for my calories and sodium to match my BMR and the sodium my doctor would like to to stick to. I try to eat as close to BMR as possible, but sometimes it's not possible. (Unless I hit the 6 boxes of girl scout cookies on my dresser that I keep forgetting to give away.)0
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I think everyone needs to decide if they are on a "diet", or if they are changing their lifestyle. If your goal is simply to lose weight, than not eating back exercise calories makes sense, in the very short term. In the long term though, it's sure fire failure.
Look, I'm in he same boat as everyone else. I had yo-yo dieted myself over the years all the way to 180 lbs. I knew how to diet, I did NOT know how to change my lifestyle. This time, I got smart, got a trainer, and went to see a nutritionist and what I learned is this- When you're exercising, your body needs fuel, and you aren't giving it, it'll get rid of lean muscle as well as fat. Even worse, if you're eating to little, it will store the fat, and just burn the muscle, completely defeating the purpose.
My goal this time is to change my lifestyle and get fit. It's not easy, but its worth it.0 -
Because I'm eating at a calorie level that takes into account my daily activity, including exercise, I just change the "calories burned" to 1 when I log my exercise. I like to log it, because I like looking back at what I was doing when, when I started specific programs, etc.
This is what I do also. Strength has separate logging, but with cardio you have to put at least 1 calorie in the calories section to be able to log the activity.
People are totally missing the point of this post - its not a 'should I eat them back' debate (well it was not supposed to be)...and dear me we have enough of those...but how do people deal with eating to a goal that is a cut from TDEE (that includes exercise).0 -
One last thing- Any trainer or nutritionist will tell you that 1200 calories is barely enough to sustain the average sized person if all they did was lay in bed all day. So, if you're exercising at all, its simply not enough fuel. You're not only at a calories deficit, you're at a nutritional deficit as well.0
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I consume around 1200 calories a day and do not eat my exercise calories back. I log everything. It's working for me. When I get to a point when I want to maintain, I will raise my caloric intake and eat the exercise calories back. Simple enough.
I'm 5'4" and burn around 400 - 600 calories a day with one rest day a week.0 -
I log exercise and strenuous activity calories which I consider to be over and above normal daily activity. I would never dream of eating back all the calories that I burn up. I just don't need that much food. I have been able to lose weight at will and maintain with no real effort by keeping the macros in a range. Not bragging just encouraging others to do the same. If you are trying to lose weight, why on earth would you eat them all back. If your goals are different, like building muscle, of course a different approach is needed.0
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So they are manipulating the calculations by making their settings for their activity higher? At the risk of sounding dense, what is TDEE?
This is a good thread explaining it:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr0 -
Are there any examples of women on this site who have lost a large amount of weight (over 50 pounds) at 2 pounds a week, and who also exercise a lot (at least 5 days a week) by eating all their exercise calories back? All the success stories I'm seeing are men...men already have a higher metabolism and greater muscle density than women from the jump, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it, or women who either didn't have much to lose and/or did not exercise much thus did not have much to eat back. I don't know, I know I can't /won't eat all my exercise calories back, so my other option is to cut down my exercise. Which I'm not going to do. Hmmmmmm. I really feel like that's what this site is encouraging me to do, cut back my exercise.0
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^^^^^^^^I log my exercise but don't eat them back. I feel that if I'm eating back the calories I've burned, why did I burn them in the first place.
NOT This
Because MFP already builds in your deficit.
Do what you want, but why make life harder than it has to be? No offense, and I wish you folks all the best in reaching your goals.
Losing weight is hard enough as it is. When you make it even harder, what's the pay off?
High deficits stifle metabolism, and then where are you?
I enjoy eating. And I EAT WELL :drinker:
I usually eat close to 3000 calories per day and still lose a pound per week. Again, do as you please, but as for me?
COUNT ME OUT!
I eat back all exercise calories, because the MFP plan expects you to. You are supposed to.
Read this to learn more.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Follow the recommendations on this site for safe, steady and lasting results.
You could lose weight faster, but what kind of weight would it be?
Muscle! And that stifles metabolism.
No, eat right, exercise - both cardio and resistance, lose weight in such a way that maintains health and preserves lean body mass which burns more calories at rest.
Good luck to you.:flowerforyou:
All Is Possible!
THANK YOU, person who's lost 76lbs...people should trust you.
I've lost 78lbs and don't generally eat exercise calories (not into starving myself, so wouldn't bother me to eat them if I'm hungry either). Does that make me an expert? LMAO0 -
I've seen a lot of woman who state that they eat back their workout calories and have been VERY successful. Which is why I eat back mine.
I hope they see this and respond!0 -
Are there any examples of women on this site who have lost a large amount of weight (over 50 pounds) at 2 pounds a week, and who also exercise a lot (at least 5 days a week) by eating all their exercise calories back? All the success stories I'm seeing are men...men already have a higher metabolism and greater muscle density than women from the jump, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it, or women who either didn't have much to lose and/or did not exercise much thus did not have much to eat back. I don't know, I know I can't /won't eat all my exercise calories back, so my other option is to cut down my exercise. Which I'm not going to do. Hmmmmmm. I really feel like that's what this site is encouraging me to do, cut back my exercise.
I know if I eat my calories from exercise back (netting about 1800 a day) I will not lose weight. I am short, so maybe this is why. I just know that eating it back doesn't work for everybody.
I found this on the LiveStrong website:
"Net Calories Used
To calculate calories burnt during a specific activity, use a free calculator such as the Calories Burned Estimator on the Health Status Website. This calculator tells you how many calories you burned based on the activity you did, the time spent and your weight. To determine net calories, subtract the calories you burned from the calories you took in. If you get a negative number, you burned more calories than you took in and you will lose weight."0 -
No, but MFP recommends it, and it's more fun than not, so laugh it up.
^^^^^^^^I log my exercise but don't eat them back. I feel that if I'm eating back the calories I've burned, why did I burn them in the first place.
NOT This
Because MFP already builds in your deficit.
Do what you want, but why make life harder than it has to be? No offense, and I wish you folks all the best in reaching your goals.
Losing weight is hard enough as it is. When you make it even harder, what's the pay off?
High deficits stifle metabolism, and then where are you?
I enjoy eating. And I EAT WELL :drinker:
I usually eat close to 3000 calories per day and still lose a pound per week. Again, do as you please, but as for me?
COUNT ME OUT!
I eat back all exercise calories, because the MFP plan expects you to. You are supposed to.
Read this to learn more.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Follow the recommendations on this site for safe, steady and lasting results.
You could lose weight faster, but what kind of weight would it be?
Muscle! And that stifles metabolism.
No, eat right, exercise - both cardio and resistance, lose weight in such a way that maintains health and preserves lean body mass which burns more calories at rest.
Good luck to you.:flowerforyou:
All Is Possible!
THANK YOU, person who's lost 76lbs...people should trust you.
I've lost 78lbs and don't generally eat exercise calories (not into starving myself, so wouldn't bother me to eat them if I'm hungry either). Does that make me an expert? LMAO
I am the one eating better which means the final bite and last laugh belongs to me :laugh: :laugh:
For those on the fence, answer for yourself.
Which looks more fun?0 -
I don't eat them back any more (although I added an extra 300 calories to my daily intake to make up for it) I just want the same amount each day consistently, not to actually eat less.
To answer the question, I don't log it at all. I have a routine, I know what I do on certain days. I keep track of sets and reps (including how my workout went) all in my blog. There's no need to log it here, it would just confuse me.
This is me. I track my lifting in a lifting log and I've got my calories set to sustain exercise + daily activity.0 -
I think everyone needs to decide if they are on a "diet", or if they are changing their lifestyle. If your goal is simply to lose weight, than not eating back exercise calories makes sense, in the very short term. In the long term though, it's sure fire failure.
Look, I'm in he same boat as everyone else. I had yo-yo dieted myself over the years all the way to 180 lbs. I knew how to diet, I did NOT know how to change my lifestyle. This time, I got smart, got a trainer, and went to see a nutritionist and what I learned is this- When you're exercising, your body needs fuel, and you aren't giving it, it'll get rid of lean muscle as well as fat. Even worse, if you're eating to little, it will store the fat, and just burn the muscle, completely defeating the purpose.
My goal this time is to change my lifestyle and get fit. It's not easy, but its worth it.
Well said. Am I looking to lose weight? Yes, of course but I am looking to lose it in a way that is sustainable and not a short term solution. I want to look better and feel better and I want to push myself harder on my runs and for ME - eating back my workout calories is the way to go for ME. That being said I burn anywhere in the area of 300 and my calorie goal for each day is 1350 so figure I end up eating about 1650 (ish). Now if I was burning somewhere around 1,000 calories in a workout I can see some difficulty in eating that back (but I've never tried so I'm just speculating).
I have my activity level set at sedentry because I have a desk job - I was told this is what I wanted it set on even because that is what my day looks like with the exception of my runs. Does this sound right / wrong to anyone?
I see a lot of people posting that eating back workout cals is for those who are looking to maintain their weight (specifically in reference to the way MFP sets up a standard goal for users) and I don't understand where that information is coming from. If there is a legitimate source - I would love to see it.
P.S. I typically do not use the MFP calorie burn suggestions. I have GPS type app on my phone and I use that for now until I get my Polar in a few months.0 -
The very obvious answer would be to not log the exercise at all since you're rendering it pointless.
For those of you not eating back calories because the only reason you burned them was to create a larger deficit than is healthy, why do you bother eating?
I do not eat the calories back because I use the tracker to keep track of the calories I eat, but I am not a slave to the program. I eat based on how I am feeling and what is going on that day and when I am tracking my calories, I try to hit a range between 1200 and 1700 a day. If I exercise more, I tend to be more hungry, so I eat a LITTLE more. I think that the calories burned are WAY higher in this program than what is really burnt. It has taken me a year to lose 52 pounds, and I am 10 days and 3 pounds away from my birthday goal. It is working for me.
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No, but MFP recommends it, and it's more fun than not, so laugh it up.
^^^^^^^^I log my exercise but don't eat them back. I feel that if I'm eating back the calories I've burned, why did I burn them in the first place.
NOT This
Because MFP already builds in your deficit.
Do what you want, but why make life harder than it has to be? No offense, and I wish you folks all the best in reaching your goals.
Losing weight is hard enough as it is. When you make it even harder, what's the pay off?
High deficits stifle metabolism, and then where are you?
I enjoy eating. And I EAT WELL :drinker:
I usually eat close to 3000 calories per day and still lose a pound per week. Again, do as you please, but as for me?
COUNT ME OUT!
I eat back all exercise calories, because the MFP plan expects you to. You are supposed to.
Read this to learn more.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Follow the recommendations on this site for safe, steady and lasting results.
You could lose weight faster, but what kind of weight would it be?
Muscle! And that stifles metabolism.
No, eat right, exercise - both cardio and resistance, lose weight in such a way that maintains health and preserves lean body mass which burns more calories at rest.
Good luck to you.:flowerforyou:
All Is Possible!
THANK YOU, person who's lost 76lbs...people should trust you.
I've lost 78lbs and don't generally eat exercise calories (not into starving myself, so wouldn't bother me to eat them if I'm hungry either). Does that make me an expert? LMAO
I am the one eating better which means the final bite and last laugh belongs to me :laugh: :laugh:
For those on the fence, answer for yourself.
Which looks more fun?
But that's just the thing, it doesn't look like fun to me to eat 3,000 calories in a day. It just doesn't. I feel very full eating 1800-1900 calories a day! Seriously. The way I'm eating now, lots of fresh veggies and fruit, lots of lean meat, some grains, some dairy, 3,000 calories of that would be A LOT of food. And I'm not about to go back to junk food or other easy to eat foods just to get calories in. I'm considering adding nuts back into my diet, but they are so fatty and one of my trigger foods.0 -
I eat mine back, because I actually want to lose weight....and not pass out.0
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Why is everyone so stuck on one pound a week? You can lose 2 pounds a week safely...why wouldn't you double your weightloss in the same amount of time? My doctor wants me to lose 2 pounds a week, and approved my exercise plan. She is also someone who lost over 100 pounds in a year (103 to be exact) and has kept it off for the past 7 years. So I don't think losing 2 pounds a week is any 'short term' solution that is bound to fail.0
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I log at the end of the day. I wish MFP had an option to add in the exercise calories instead of doing it automatically.
And I'm get pretty tired of the outright mocking and nastiness toward those of us who need a larger deficit to lose weight. I see it all over MFP all the time.0 -
This just seems way more complicated than it is. I log everything and keep it accurate.0
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No, but MFP recommends it, and it's more fun than not, so laugh it up.
^^^^^^^^I log my exercise but don't eat them back. I feel that if I'm eating back the calories I've burned, why did I burn them in the first place.
NOT This
Because MFP already builds in your deficit.
Do what you want, but why make life harder than it has to be? No offense, and I wish you folks all the best in reaching your goals.
Losing weight is hard enough as it is. When you make it even harder, what's the pay off?
High deficits stifle metabolism, and then where are you?
I enjoy eating. And I EAT WELL :drinker:
I usually eat close to 3000 calories per day and still lose a pound per week. Again, do as you please, but as for me?
COUNT ME OUT!
I eat back all exercise calories, because the MFP plan expects you to. You are supposed to.
Read this to learn more.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Follow the recommendations on this site for safe, steady and lasting results.
You could lose weight faster, but what kind of weight would it be?
Muscle! And that stifles metabolism.
No, eat right, exercise - both cardio and resistance, lose weight in such a way that maintains health and preserves lean body mass which burns more calories at rest.
Good luck to you.:flowerforyou:
All Is Possible!
THANK YOU, person who's lost 76lbs...people should trust you.
I've lost 78lbs and don't generally eat exercise calories (not into starving myself, so wouldn't bother me to eat them if I'm hungry either). Does that make me an expert? LMAO
I am the one eating better which means the final bite and last laugh belongs to me :laugh: :laugh:
For those on the fence, answer for yourself.
Which looks more fun?
But that's just the thing, it doesn't look like fun to me to eat 3,000 calories in a day. It just doesn't. I feel very full eating 1800-1900 calories a day! Seriously. The way I'm eating now, lots of fresh veggies and fruit, lots of lean meat, some grains, some dairy, 3,000 calories of that would be A LOT of food. And I'm not about to go back to junk food or other easy to eat foods just to get calories in. I'm considering adding nuts back into my diet, but they are so fatty and one of my trigger foods.
I have to agree, I couldn't eat 3000 calories and if I did I would GAIN weight. I'm only an expert on me. If that works for you and you can pile away that much food and still lose weight... Good for you! I'm not starving (as I pointed out originally) so why would I eat just for the sake of eating to hit someone else's idea of what works for them? If I was hungry, I would eat them, but as a rule I am not so I don't. I just think it's comical that so many people think that a "big loss" makes you an expert on anything other than yourself.0 -
Why is everyone so stuck on one pound a week? You can lose 2 pounds a week safely...why wouldn't you double your weightloss in the same amount of time? My doctor wants me to lose 2 pounds a week, and approved my exercise plan. She is also someone who lost over 100 pounds in a year (103 to be exact) and has kept it off for the past 7 years. So I don't think losing 2 pounds a week is any 'short term' solution that is bound to fail.
I agree.0 -
how about this. if the calories are available, you just eat if your hungry and not eat if you arent.
if they arent available, then SUFFER
people get too hung up on where the calories come from (daily intake or excercise).0 -
I don't eat back my exercise calories much either. I have my baseline calorie goal set really low for my activity level and on days when I don't exercise I keep them in that range. On days when I am active I am much under that range so I figure I pretty much even out. I've been at the same weight for quite some time and think it's a good range for me. If I'm hungry, I'll eat more but mostly I feel pretty good.0
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