Do you eat your exercise calories or leave them alone?

ASalner

I just started using MFP to track my calories and exercise but I don't like how it adds your exercise into your calories available for eating. I would think you should just eat your calories (mine are 1250 per day) and leave the exercise cals alone. What do you think?

Thanks!

half_moon

I, unlike most people on this forum, do not think it necessary. Eat if you're hungry! I end up eating like 80 - 100 back after intense workouts. My goal is 1200/day.

runfatmanrun

I on the othe hand feel I have earned them so they are mine to eat, and I do.

tadpole242

I’d eat my work out calories back so I net at least 1200, which can be hard if your workout calories are around the 1350 mark. It means I eat 2600 to net 1250. Saying that I don’t eat them all back, as that would mean eating 3400 calories on my exercising days

Tari_D

I eat mine back MFP has already built in a deficit of calories for you to lose weight, you don't want to overdo it or your body will not have enough to keep itself going and so could end up holding on to more fat rather than burning it. Exercise is a good way to get fitter and earn some more calories to eat without compromising your goals.

Acidique

I do not eat them back, as per instruction from a personal trainer. Everyone is different though, and it depends on how big your daily deficit is and how much your are exercising.

sawjaw23

I exercise so that I CAN eat (and drink!) I definitely eat my hard earned exercise calories, but always aim for an overall deficit at the end of the day.

lostwisdom

I'm on 1200 a day, and eat back around 50-75% of my exercise calories usually. Although right now I'm leaving them alone as much as possible, due to having friends to stay the rest of the week and know I'll be eating a little extra then!

danwood2

It depends on the day and how hungry I am. If I do a lot of working out and get a large portion of calories back - I normally always try to get to 1200 in my calories eaten (not my net)... if I have a big workout day and I have already eaten the 1200, I will snack if i get hungry or get another meal all together.

marie_cressman

I don't eat mine, but I do make a habit of eating 1700-1800 cals a day. I burn 600-1000 calories during my hour or so workouts on a regular basis. The 1700-1800 was recommended to me by my dietician I started seeing recently after being stuck on a plateau for 6 months of eating 1600 and not getting anywhere as far as weight loss. You do what works for you. If you're hungry, eat. If you aren't, don't. Don't force food down your throat because you can.

ElizabethRoad

The idea of eating your exercise calories is so that you eat less than you burn, but still get enough nutrition to be healthy. If you're eating 1200 and burning off 500, you aren't leaving a lot of fuel for your body.

sthrnchick

I do not eat back my exercise cals....I started changing the cals burned to 42 cals on almost every workout...I think many of the workouts here are WAY off in the cals burned...IMO....changing the cals burned to a small # accomplishes 2 things... 1. I can track what I have been doing and adjust if things are not progressing the way I want and 2. I do not see HUGE green cals waiting for me to eat at the end of the day. I try to eat between 1500-1600 cals everyday, regardless of what my workout was.

luvhandles74

I eat them...because I can and because I'm hungry when I exercise. Still getting some nice results so I'm on the right track! Plus I LOVE food!

now_or_never12

I do! I used to eat about 1/2 of them when I was using MFP estimates however now I have a heart rate monitor so I use those numbers.

I don't eat them all back if I'm not hungry though but I try to eat enough to net my calorie goal.

TeaBea

The closer you are to goal ... the more important it is too eat them back.

I eat EVERY single exercise calorie back because: I am close to goal (15 lbs) - I use a heart rate monitor (calories are not overstated ... like MFP "estimations") and MOST IMPORTANTLY - I want to lose fat and not muscle.

As previously stated ... the calorie deficit if "built in" already. By not eating enough to FUEL your workouts ... you risk losing muscle tissue along with fat. I want the scale to move .... but I want to keep the good stuff too.

LorinaLynn

I ate them from the beginning, lost the weight as predicted, and have kept it off for over a year now, all the while eating way more than I ever thought possible while "dieting."

On the other hand, what happened when I didn't eat enough: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/494091-i-just-don-t-care-anymore

MtnKat

Nope. Mine are already figured into my calorie goals.

I eat 1900 cals every day, whether I work out or not. I just make sure I bust *kitten* when I work out so that I can justify having an active lifestyle.

It comes out to about the same if I used MFP's method....1200 cals + exercise cals or my TDEE - 20%. For me it's a mental thing...I did not like having to workout so that I could eat more. On non workout days I would feel so deprived.

NoMoreJellyRolls

I dont eat them back. My calories goal, per MFP is 1900. I usually burn 1000-1500 calories a day, but If i go over my 1900 then oh well I have the exercise calories to back me up. I also burn the calories at 5am so I burn the calories from the day before.

MB_Positif

Like LorinaLynn, I have been eating them since the beginning and haven't had any trouble losing weight or keeping it off. They're mine to enjoy so why should I "leave them alone?" Poor lonely exercise calories!

beckajw

I eat them. But to each his own--it's a personal choice, despite what you may hear on these boards.

Owlie45

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. If I'm still hungry I do.