Eating Back Calories Burned?

kkindb2

I am on a 1200 calorie diet and have been for nearly two whole weeks now. At the start of the diet, I made it my goal to go to an exercise class 3-4 times a week and run at least 1-2 days a week. I have been logging my exercises, but I find that I am also allowing myself to eat those calories back. Is this a bad idea? I haven't weighed myself yet, I am waiting for the 2-week mark (this Wednesday). But lets say I do a zumba class and burn 300 calories, I then allow myself to eat within the 1500 calorie mark. Should I avoid doing this?

76pounds

I think it depends. If you're hungry, go ahead and eat. If I'm STARVING then I'll allow myself to eat back those calories burned. It's not a bad idea

diannethegeek

You should really eat at least some of your extra exercise calories. And while you're snacking take a look through these threads: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

GeemaQ

This is answer I got just this morning from an MFP PERSON"
I had asked about the nutrient requirements changing from set goals..(ie..protien)
Here is my answer, including about eat back calories.


NUTRIENT GOALS
Hi Suzanne,

Thank you for getting back in touch with me. The program is designed to allow you to eat back you calories you have burned during exercise. What this means is you can go out burn 200 calories and then we award you 200 more calories to eat for the day. The reason you can do this is because we set your initial daily goal to have you at a "caloric deficit" to promote weight loss. When you exercise you are burning even more calories and we recommend you eat them back in order to have enough calories for the day. Calories, proteins, and carbs are set as a ratio of each other and therefore if one changes, they all do. I assure you that you can reach your protein goal, but if you are finding it hard to meet this goal we do have a very active user database that would be more then happy to help recommend some techniques for upping your protein. Below are some instructions to access the forums. 

Once you're logged into the site, click the tab labeled "Community." You should see a list of our main public forums (such as Introduce Yourself, Success Stories, Food and Nutrition, etc.)

Click any one of these main forums to see the list of topics that have been posted in that forum. Once you're looking at the topics, there should be a "New Topic" button towards the top right. This will let you start a brand new thread.

Or, if you click any of the existing topics, you'll then see a "reply" button in the top right.

These two tools should let you start new topics, or respond to any existing topic that interests you.

I wish you the best on your continued weight management and fitness goals! Please let me know if you have any further questions, I would be happy to answer. 

kkindb2

Thank you all, very helpful!

LoraleiDean

I work out on an elliptical 5 days/week. I find I become hungrier doing this, so I eat the burned off calories.
The calculator has already reduced your calories for weight loss, and exercising builds muscles, which burn more fat and faster, so you're not putting yourself behind by eating them.

iLoveMyPitbull1225

What I understand is that 1200 is what MFP has generated for you INCLUDING a calorie deficit already. So, therefore if you burn an extra 300 calories, that just adds to your deficit. You dont want to eat too little because that slows down your metabolism, or so i have read.. What I do is eat back about half of my excersise cals, especially if I am not hungry I wont eat them all back.

JidGod

People look at this from all different angles constantly but from a logical standpoint, it is entirely up to you depending on the pace you want to go with your loss. If you want to really go for it then I suggest only eating a few back whilst making sure your body doesn't go into starvation mode. If your body is telling you that the energy is required, then eat something nourishing and don't fight it because this can make you gain. On the other hand if you want to take the loss steady, eating them back as long as it's nutritious food, will more often than not still get you to your MFP weekly goal (Losing 1lb/kg ect...) If however, it doesn't seem to do good for you, just adjust it and only eat half back or a quarter and so on until you are happy with the rate of your loss.
Hope that helps

sengseng74

I agree with JidGod. This is one of the oldest questions on MyFitnessPal, and people can sometimes get pretty heated about it! I've tried both over time, and I lose faster when I don't eat back my exercise calories. But! You definitely have to spread out and eat 1200-1500 calories per day to avoid having your body go into starvation mode.

Like JidGod said, it's all about the rate in which you want to lose weight. At first I liked the idea of eating back my exercise calories. But after a couple weeks went by, I realized my weight loss stopped. A few members pointed out that if I exercised away 3500 calories over a week and ate it all back, what's the point of exercising to lose weight? You'd simply maintain your weight, although you'd be in better shape! :-) So it's up to you and your fitness goals.

Good luck!
Steve

susannamarie

A few members pointed out that if I exercised away 3500 calories over a week and ate it all back, what's the point of exercising to lose weight? You'd simply maintain your weight, although you'd be in better shape! :-)

You wouldn't maintain your weight, unless you have your calories set to maintenance already.

Assuming you have an accurate measure of calories input (which requires measuring/weighing) and exercise calories output (which may require either experimentation over time or a HRM), eating the exercise calories will maintain the same deficit as MFP set for you in the beginning.

If you *want* to not eat them to increase your deficit, and you feel fine doing so, feel free. But eating them back wouldn't cause you to stop losing weight when you're eating at a deficit.

kkindb2

Thank you all!! Greatly appreciated

rward007

If you already have a caloric deficit daily, then I would just do whatever feels right. If you're hungry and you have some extra calories, eat up. If a couple weeks go by and you're not seeing the losses you expect, adjust accordingly.

Everyone is different and there is a wealth of research on it, so if you're concerned about going into starvation mode, I'd read up and draw conclusions based on your own metobolism and the research you do. I personally think that people over estimate the risk of that happening.