Why you shouldn't eat back excercise calories.

EClutchey

Ditto!! :laugh:

Shannon2714

This is another one of those things that people want to think they are the end-all-be-all of information on a subject. Something like this is subjective and individual based on every single person. I eat back my exercise calories, and I have been losing between half a pound and a pound and a half every day. EVERYONE'S BODY IS DIFFERENT.

Katanthus

This is completely false. You explained it correctly, but your conclusion is wrong.

MFP says I need to eat 1500 calories a day to lose 1lb. That is my "TDEE-500" for lightly active. If I work out and burn 500 calories. That means after all is said and done by body is getting 1000 calories to live on for the day. My body needs atleast 1300 for my BMR. That is NOT healthy to have 1000 calorie deficit for most people. now if I eat back those 500 calories I am consuming 2000 calories, but my body burn 2500 that day, If my math is correct (and it is) I would still lose 1lb in a week.

Thanks.

Agreed. IF you selected your activity level when you set your account up...and ONLY selected your NON exercise activity level, then you need to eat back SOME of your exercise calories, or you will be running on empty. The body NEEDS fuel to function. The key, I think is setting the CORRECT non exercise activity level in MFP.

Crochetluvr

Most people select "sedentary" as their fitness level yet they workout 5-7days a week...these people should be eating more than the allotted 1200.

The rule is that ANYONE that has a desk job (versus say a factory job where you are on your feet 8/9 hrs/day) is considered sedentary. Even those that workout EVERY day.

Thank you for confirming something I already suspected.

Lala20112

Iam usully not mean,so Iam not going to break my record ) But telling people they are going to die fat!!! Iam glad Iam not your mfp!!

bethmillerwilson

I think the confusion comes in when people decide how active to make their profile. If you set it to light or sedentary, you eat back your calories. If you set it higher, you either do not eat them back or it's a crap shoot as to how much to eat back.

Bobby_Clerici

I'm not really going to argue with anyone here, if you are seeing success there's no reason to change what you're doing.

What I wrote still applies, it may not apply if you work out once or twice a week but if you choose a lifestyle other than sedentary it applies. And you will be more successful.

I'm not bashing mfp, so there is no reason to bash me. Mfp is a great tool for logging, and will aid people with their weight loss.

Peace out.

When you come on MFP and preach another, less effective program, don't be surprised when somebody calls a spade a spade.
MFP has a system, and if anybody has something better, let's see it work for YOU first.
That might be a good start.
The fruit of anybody's philosophy is their results. SHOW ME THE FRUIT!
And then we'll talk about your superior health and fitness system.
We'll get rich!

NannersBalletLegs

Nevermind. Someone already answered my original question. Why can't you delete your own posts on here? Sheesh.

taso42

Unfortunately, you've misunderstood an important point. MFP, unlike basically any other calorie counting calculator, takes exercise out of the daily activity calculation (tries to anyway). Try it yourself, go compare the MFP numbers with what comes out of regular Harris-Benedict calculators. You'll find the MFP number comes in lower. And that's why, "exercise calories" should be "eaten back", assuming everything has been tracked accurately.

ETA: My activity level is set to "very active". I "eat back exercise calories". I lose weight consistently. Even though my job and home life is sedentary. Be careful with the sedentary setting. I don't think anyone should use it unless they are bedridden or in a coma.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Just don't post it on a site using the exact opposite logic (logic that works for most of its successful users) and posture it as fact. Eh?

Onesnap

The rule is that ANYONE that has a desk job (versus say a factory job where you are on your feet 8/9 hrs/day) is considered sedentary. Even those that workout EVERY day.

This is quite true. Unless you are spending a significant amount of your typical day on your feet (at least several hours), you are sedentary. One hour of exercise a day, even if it's every single day, doesn't change that fact. Your 1 hour of exercise is still but 1/24th of your day. A lot of people overestimate their activity level. This is exactly the reason why I am "sedentary", set a calorie deficit from my sedentary TDEE, and eat my exercise calories back.

Thank you for replying!

waskier

My exercise routines vary between 500 and 2,000 calories per day. I eat back my exercise calories and am down 56 lbs.

'nuf said!

Ljkshs

Thanks. I have always wondered about that...

sizzle92

I don't always eat them ALL back, but if I didn't eat some of them back, I would die. I burn between 400-1000 calories per workout. Some days even when I eat them back I'm only netting like 800-1000 calories.

Bobby_Clerici

My exercise routines vary between 500 and 2,000 calories per day. I eat back my exercise calories and am down 56 lbs.

'nuf said!

Same here - down 76 lbs -- :drinker:

Yanicka1

Nothing like having a newbie tell us how it is done. We obviously have no idea what we are talking about

markymarrkk

That's totally over generalizing. Some people as myself chose to track our own exercise and activities and SHOULD eat back exercise calories:

I set my shtt as "Sedentary"... It is Waaaay more accurate to track your calorie expending activities than to let MFP estimate it for you.

if you're setting your MFP calories to account for your activity level than *DON'T log your exercise, simple

ginique

I set my activity level at sedentary precisely so that I could have the freedom to eat back my exercise calories whenever I feel the need. But yes, if you are setting your activity level above sedentary, then you should not eat back your exercise calories since you've already added them into your TDEE equation.

KCoolBeanz

My exercise routines vary between 500 and 2,000 calories per day. I eat back my exercise calories and am down 56 lbs.

'nuf said!

Agreed!

emmymae22

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.

Completely agree!

McBully4

My exercise routines vary between 500 and 2,000 calories per day. I eat back my exercise calories and am down 56 lbs.

'nuf said!

Same here - down 76 lbs -- :drinker:

45lbs & I eat back every single calorie

aristel

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.

this

Vailara

From what I can work out there are two basic ways to do it:

1. Set your activity level to what it normally is without "extra" exercise (taking into account whether you have an active job or not, etc.). Then add in any exercise above and beyond that. Then eat back those exercise calories.

2. Set your activity level to include your average amount of "extra" exercise. (For instance, if you have sedentary job, but cycle to work and go to the gym in the evenings you might count yourself as active). You don't need to log any exercise and you don't need to eat back any extra calories because they are included in your daily calorie allowance.

In both cases YOU ARE EATING BACK YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES. The difference is whether you're logging them individually or going by an estimate of daily activity.

Now, the activity descriptions imply that you should do the first option, as they are about the type of work you do, rather than how much physical activity you do outside of work. I'm not saying that the first option is the correct way to do it, but it's the one that seems most obvious, and the one that I have chosen. I have described myself as sedentary, so I log my exercise and add those calories to the allowance for a sedentary person. I eat back those calories (not necessarily within the same 24 hours as the exercise).

If we really weren't supposed to eat back exercise calories then that would mean that EVERYBODY should set their activity at sedentary. Those calories that are added for being active are exercise calories.

PaveGurl

Eh, I have to join the dissenters. When I set my energy expenditure to "sedentary" to reflect my desk-driving job, it set my calories at 1200 - which is less than my BMR, as calculated across ANY iteration. If I let my caloric intake be what MFP sets and refused to eat back my exercise calories, I'd be in a bad way pretty fast, sometimes netting negative intake for the day.

I set my targets based on my own research - I think it's an overgeneralisation to assume everyone uses MFP the same way. I use it to a) keep up with what I'm putting into my system b) track macros and trends, and c) provide myself support from others. Sure, I want to lose, but the main reason I'm here instead of somewhere else is the calorie DB.

Most of my day involves sitting on my tuchis, but when I work out - and I do, anywhere from three to seven times a week, at an hour or more each time - I need the calories to increase my strength and lifting goals. I'm losing weight - very slowly, but at an acceptable pace for my needs and goals - but more importantly, I'm losing inches (this morning, I realised I was 3" past the last hole on a belt I'd not worn in a while). So I think the OP's assertion that eating my calories back is an epic fail is kinda an epic fail unto itself. Sorry, bro.

halejr23

Absolutely wrong conclusion. If you do not eat back your exercise calories you calorie deficit is not the 500 (or whatever) for the day. It is 500 PLUS whatever you burned exercising. Anyone who follows this "logic" is creating an unhealthy deficit that can lead to plateaus, fat storage and low energy.

Legoeggo

bump

EmCarroll1990

The line that gets me is saying something along the lines that if I eat my exercise calories, I'll gain weight. Funny, considering I eat them and am now sitting at my GW. Thanks for coming out though.

heybales

Why you can't really setup MFP to include exercise, unless you workout infrequently or few hrs per week.

So you can see where you rate in the activity levels normally given by MPF or other sites. This table may of course help in nailing a better estimated TDEE.

MFP activity levels and multiplier and description (doesn't include exercise)
Sedentary_____ 1.25 __ Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active___ 1.35 __ Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. nurse, salesman)
Active________ 1.45 __ Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active_____ 1.55 __ Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

TDEE activity levels and multiplier and description (does include exercise) most other calculators use.
Sedentary_____ 1.2 ___ little or no exercise, desk job
Lightly active___ 1.375 _ light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
Mod. active____ 1.55 __ moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk
Very active_____ 1.725 _ hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk
Extra Active____ 1.9 ___ hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.

sandrajune72

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?

^Exactly this!^

clintbritt3

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 do agree somewhat but when you set up your MFP acct you shouldn't include your exercise in your activity level, your exercise should be considered EXTRA activity on top of what you do for normal daily activity, that being said you should eat back most of your exercise calories to fuel or refuel your body after a workout....