Why you shouldn't eat back excercise calories.

vim_n_vigor

There's alot of debate among people here as to whether you should or shoul not eat bac excercise calories. Let me offer you an explanation as to why you should not eat back excercise calories, and hopefully this will put the topic to a rest.

When you set up your goals for myfitnesspal it asks you what your activity level is, based on your activity level it roughly calculates what your daily energy (calorie) expenditure is. From this you select what your weight loss goal is, let's say you want to lose 1 pound of fat a week. It then subtracts 500 calories (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories (1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories)) daily. So at this point the amount of calories that you consume already takes into account your activity level because you would have had to choose it when setting up your profile. So if you are now consuming an extra 700 calories that you "earned" from excercise you are in fact just consuming an extra 700 calories, and are consuming 200 calories above your goal so you will very slowly gain weight instead of losing weight.

Now if you are planning on gaining weight as some do, for weightlifting, powerlifting or even body building purposes then it would be ok to eat back calories as your goals differ from simply cutting fat. For everybody else, eating back excercise calories is counter-intuitive to your weight loss efforts and should be avoided.

You may say, I feel sapped after a workout... well plan your daily calories in such a way that you can afford a protein shake after your workout and you'll feel 100% better.

I hope this helps people understand and clarifies the "excercise calories" fiasco.

This is soooo wrong........

Kayleighpaul1985

I let my Fitbit do the work and just eat 750 less than my TDEE!

x

jbcharles

what is a fit bit?

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Why you shouldn't believe things you read on the internet...

THIS POST

mama2shi

and hopefully this will put the topic to a rest.

I laughed when I read this part...nothing is ever put to rest in here

stormieweather

If you set up MFP to INCLUDE fitness related exercises, then no, you would not eat back your exercise calories.

But this is not how MFP is designed.

The instructions tell you to select your normal daily activity level. This is not assumed to include working out, as working out may be sporadic or random or highly variable or nonexistent. MFP allows everyone to lose weight, even those that do not exercise.

So when you actually do go work out, you need to eat more because you burned more.

Simple.

If you prefer not to utilize MFP this way, just increase your activity level to encompass your workouts, and do not log/eat back your exercise calories.

megleo818

You are correct, if you put that you exercise 4-5 times a week, don't add them. I sit at work all day so I selected Sedentary and I eat some of my exercise calories, especially if it is a high burn and I am hungry.

^^ Me too! Except I generally eat back all my exercise calories. What can I say? I like to eat... which is why I run, so I can eat more! :laugh:

This and this!

UpEarly

Yeah... I 100% disagree with the OP.

I ate my exercise calories and easily lost the 52 pounds I wanted to lose, plus an extra 11 pounds after my goal.

WaterBunnie

I have to question why so many people opt to be members of this site but then blatantly disregard the system it promotes! If you don't like the way it works why not find a program you do agree with?

I'm set up as sedentary to lose 2lbs a week but often exercise around 1,000 extra calories away meaning that my deficit would effectively then be set to lose 4lbs a week on those days which is way beyond safe recommendations for continued weight loss.

Bobby_Clerici

ABSURD!
MFP is set up for those plugged into this system to eat back exercise calories.
If you want to go set up your own system and website, be my guest.:laugh: :laugh:
Here is how MFP is set up.
MFP suggests a daily net calorie intake to result in 1 lb of weight loss per week.
1 pound equals 3500 calories.
3500 divided by 7 days equals 500 calories per day. Our MFP daily number already has that 500 calories subtracted.
When we exercise, that green number goes up, because MFP expects us to eat back your exercise calories to keep your net daily calorie intake steady; that's how MFP works. Read this to learn more.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
And This:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Just follow the MFP recommendations for healthy, steady and lasting results.
And if you are on some other program, do whatever.
I suspect most who go their own way will die fat.
Do what works and what's fun.

averrill1980

So after reading what you had to say about not eating your calories back, I went and reevaluated what i had down for exercise level all concerned i might have sabotaging myself to lose weight. after i changed everything and updated. i saw this directly from myfitnesspal.

*Net calories consumed = total calories consumed - exercise calories burned. So the more you exercise, the more you can eat!

So i disagree with your statement above.

juliemarie911

I have a fit bit and it tracks the calories I burn each day... Then it adjusts my mfp calorie intake based on how many calories I've burned and how many I am projected to burn. So I do eat more, but only if I earn it!

I want a fit bit so bad! But the are so expensive!

Bobby_Clerici

There's alot of debate among people here as to whether you should or shoul not eat bac excercise calories. Let me offer you an explanation as to why you should not eat back excercise calories, and hopefully this will put the topic to a rest.

When you set up your goals for myfitnesspal it asks you what your activity level is, based on your activity level it roughly calculates what your daily energy (calorie) expenditure is. From this you select what your weight loss goal is, let's say you want to lose 1 pound of fat a week. It then subtracts 500 calories (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories (1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories)) daily. So at this point the amount of calories that you consume already takes into account your activity level because you would have had to choose it when setting up your profile. So if you are now consuming an extra 700 calories that you "earned" from excercise you are in fact just consuming an extra 700 calories, and are consuming 200 calories above your goal so you will very slowly gain weight instead of losing weight.

Now if you are planning on gaining weight as some do, for weightlifting, powerlifting or even body building purposes then it would be ok to eat back calories as your goals differ from simply cutting fat. For everybody else, eating back excercise calories is counter-intuitive to your weight loss efforts and should be avoided.

You may say, I feel sapped after a workout... well plan your daily calories in such a way that you can afford a protein shake after your workout and you'll feel 100% better.

I hope this helps people understand and clarifies the "excercise calories" fiasco.

I disagree. As MFP tells you to ignore exercise when picking your activity level. In other words base your activity level on your non exercise related activity and log and eat exercise cals separately.

This is a great way of doing it as if you are using TDEE it assumes each week you are doing the same amount of exercise, whereas with MFP you only eat based on the work you did do, not what you planed on doing.

When all else fails, read the instructions.
Failing that is probably what got most of us fat, and that is why most here will die fat.
Just follow the directions - simple....
It just never ends....:laugh:

crmcmanus

There's alot of debate among people here as to whether you should or shoul not eat bac excercise calories. Let me offer you an explanation as to why you should not eat back excercise calories, and hopefully this will put the topic to a rest.

When you set up your goals for myfitnesspal it asks you what your activity level is, based on your activity level it roughly calculates what your daily energy (calorie) expenditure is. From this you select what your weight loss goal is, let's say you want to lose 1 pound of fat a week. It then subtracts 500 calories (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories (1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories)) daily. So at this point the amount of calories that you consume already takes into account your activity level because you would have had to choose it when setting up your profile. So if you are now consuming an extra 700 calories that you "earned" from excercise you are in fact just consuming an extra 700 calories, and are consuming 200 calories above your goal so you will very slowly gain weight instead of losing weight.

Now if you are planning on gaining weight as some do, for weightlifting, powerlifting or even body building purposes then it would be ok to eat back calories as your goals differ from simply cutting fat. For everybody else, eating back excercise calories is counter-intuitive to your weight loss efforts and should be avoided.

You may say, I feel sapped after a workout... well plan your daily calories in such a way that you can afford a protein shake after your workout and you'll feel 100% better.

I hope this helps people understand and clarifies the "excercise calories" fiasco.

If you burn 700 calories through exercise, then how can you say that you're consuming an "extra" 700 calories? They are not extra, if you've burned 700 calories through exercise. You are only replacing the calories that you spent during exercise. You have to eat more if you exercise. If you don't, you can do more damage to your body in the long run. You don't have to eat all of your exercise calories, but you need to eat something if your body tells you that it's hungry.

The simple solution: If you exercise and you are hungry... EAT!

loadsandloads

obviously OP did not accomplish putting this whole discussion to rest. We all have our own opinions and do what works for us. We are here to support each other and don't need to critique unless asked.

To each their own as long as it's healthy and works.....

carld256

I disagree. As MFP tells you to ignore exercise when picking your activity level. In other words base your activity level on your non exercise related activity and log and eat exercise cals separately.

Exactly. It's not hard or confusing at all if you follow what MFP sets up for you. It only gets confusing when people needlessly complicate things.

heybales

There's alot of debate among people here as to whether you should or shoul not eat bac excercise calories. Let me offer you an explanation as to why you should not eat back excercise calories, and hopefully this will put the topic to a rest.

When you set up your goals for myfitnesspal it asks you what your activity level is, based on your activity level it roughly calculates what your daily energy (calorie) expenditure is. From this you select what your weight loss goal is, let's say you want to lose 1 pound of fat a week. It then subtracts 500 calories (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories (1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories)) daily. So at this point the amount of calories that you consume already takes into account your activity level because you would have had to choose it when setting up your profile. So if you are now consuming an extra 700 calories that you "earned" from excercise you are in fact just consuming an extra 700 calories, and are consuming 200 calories above your goal so you will very slowly gain weight instead of losing weight.

Now if you are planning on gaining weight as some do, for weightlifting, powerlifting or even body building purposes then it would be ok to eat back calories as your goals differ from simply cutting fat. For everybody else, eating back excercise calories is counter-intuitive to your weight loss efforts and should be avoided.

You may say, I feel sapped after a workout... well plan your daily calories in such a way that you can afford a protein shake after your workout and you'll feel 100% better.

I hope this helps people understand and clarifies the "excercise calories" fiasco.

Except you do realize of course that absolutely nothing with MFP's descriptions of Activity levels have anything to do with exercise?
Might reread them very carefully.

And in fact, compared to other TDEE estimator's based on including exercise, the multiplier used is far less.
Here's the chart of differences.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/548314-losing-weight-in-maintenance?page=1#posts-7744322

Nope, you got it wrong actually.

MFP method:
BMR
Times activity multiplier with no exercise included
Equals Daily maintenance calories
Minus deficit 250 to 1000
Equals Daily goal
Plus any exercise actually done/logged
Equals new Daily goal

Other methods:
BMR
Times activity multiplier with planned exercise included
Equals TDEE
Minus deficit 250 to 1000 or %
Equals Daily goal

If you actually exercise what is planned, both methods work out the same on avg weekly basis.

The MyFitnessPal is pal because it doesn't have you eat what you haven't done yet.

Depends on what is more an incentive for you, getting to eat more by exercising, or exercising because you had it planned and are eating it anyway.

jzaz903

Question!
My setting says 1200 cals no matter what I pick (ie seditary or active).... So If I want to lose fast do I eat back my exercise cals??? I am confused about what my body can handle w/o going into "starvation mode" and holding onto fat and/or dropping my metabolisim! I don't want to plateu!

i'll assume you're hoping that someone replies to you.
you're quite close to your goal. you should not have it set to lose 2lb a week. no, you won't lose it "fast", but you'll lose it right and healthily.
set your activity level to whatever your regular activity is. set MFP to lose 1/2 pound a week, since you're about 20lb from your goal. eat (most of, MFP and cardio machines at a gym tend to overextimate... at least 50%) your exercise calories. start weight training.

Articeluvsmemphis

*smacks head into wall repeatedly*

Pedal_Pusher

It's quite simple really. Burn more calories than you consume and you'll lose weight. I don't know where the confusion is.