Do you eat your workout calories?

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Replies

  • ipiddock
    ipiddock Posts: 97 Member
    There's no science to this - just what I do. I am working on a calorie deficit model from my BMR. On days where I exercise I eat my full BMR. That usually works out at eating half my exercise calories back. A simple model which seems to work for me.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    I try not to eat after 6PM and since I go to the gym in the evening, I dont "eat the workout calories". But I know if I really wanted to, I can eat a snack :)

    You don't have to eat them *after* exercising. If you *know* you're going to work out, and have a general idea of the number of calories you'll burn, you can eat them throughout the day.
  • sunshinesquared
    sunshinesquared Posts: 2,733 Member
    bumping for later reading
  • wewon
    wewon Posts: 838 Member
    I simply do my best to eat my maintenance everyday calories and my exercise calories are simply what I 'lose'.

    I'm losing weight and still end up with a net loss in calories at the end of the week.
  • melissast21
    melissast21 Posts: 4
    Question- for 10 months I ate about 1200 calories a day and burned 500 calories a day M-F never eating my Calories back and consistently lost weight. The last 4 months have been harder to lose, a nutritionist told me to eat 1400 calories a day & not to eat calories back. On the weekends I splurge a little with wine & dinner so maintain my calories but seem to be bouncing back from 110-115 pounds. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? Although I'm eating more on weekends I thought neting 600-800 calories during the wk would help?
    Any suggestions
  • MurphysLawTD
    MurphysLawTD Posts: 310 Member
    MFP tends to overestimate on the number of calories burned, so I'll usually eat some of them back, but definitely not ALL. :)

    Totallly unrelated, but your default photo is gorgeous!! Looks like something out of a bridal magazine!
  • lmeasterling
    lmeasterling Posts: 139 Member
    @carpetm - Thank you! It's one of my personal favorites! :)

    *edited to correct grammatical error*
  • ThomasFMendiola
    ThomasFMendiola Posts: 38 Member
    Not intentionally, but if I am hungry I eat something.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Question- for 10 months I ate about 1200 calories a day and burned 500 calories a day M-F never eating my Calories back and consistently lost weight. The last 4 months have been harder to lose, a nutritionist told me to eat 1400 calories a day & not to eat calories back. On the weekends I splurge a little with wine & dinner so maintain my calories but seem to be bouncing back from 110-115 pounds. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? Although I'm eating more on weekends I thought neting 600-800 calories during the wk would help?
    Any suggestions

    You may have damaged your metabolism by under eating for so long. I would suggest eating maintenance calories for 3-4 weeks (maybe longer) to reset your metabolism. Most likely you will gain a few lbs, but once you level off you could again go into a slight deficit (250-500 cals/day) to lose that weight slowly without hurting yourself.
  • LauraLJ85
    LauraLJ85 Posts: 10 Member
    I try not to eat my workout calories. I prefer to keep my calorie intake at 1200 but sometimes I go over a few calories (between 50 - 100). As a previous poster stated, as long as you're eating at least 1200 calories a day, it may be better to not eat your workout calories if you're trying to lose weight.
  • melissast21
    melissast21 Posts: 4
    Thanks for your response but you don't think maintaining my calories on the weekend is enough?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Thanks for your response but you don't think maintaining my calories on the weekend is enough?

    If you are still in a weekly deficit and still not losing it doesn't appeared to have worked. That being said do you weigh all your solids, and measure liquids consumed? If not you are more than likely eat more than you think you are, maybe much more, and therefore possibly not in the deficit you think you are in.

    Another possibility could be a thyroid or other hormonal issue. or
    you may have less lean muscle mass than MFP predicts when estimating BMR which means your deficit would be smaller than you calculate it to be.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    typically, no
  • redredy9
    redredy9 Posts: 706 Member
    I just started MFP last week and am still figuring out what works for me. I am eating some of my exercise calories back if I am hungry. I am also in training for a marathon so some days I earn 1000+ - can I "save" some of those and eat them on a non-workout day?

    Its seems that if I don't exercise - the MFP goal is way too low and I am starving. If I exercise I am usually under the MFP goal (which includes adding back exercise calories).

    Yesterday my run got rained out and I had already eaten most of the exercise calories I had anticipated earning for a total of 2000 calories consumed instead of the 1350 MFP set as my goal.

    Should I try to stay within the 1350 MFP goal better on my rest days?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Most of the time I do. MFP already takes a 500 calorie deficit off.

    Wait, what?? So I have a 500 cal leeway? So if what was "set" for me was 1,200 but I work out 4+x a week and there's a 500 cal defecit...I should be taking in much more, correct?

    I just HATE when the number turns red!!! LOL

    MFP does NOT assume anyone will exercise. In your initial set up you stated "I want to lose XX pounds per week" MFP gives you the numbers to accomplish that .... or 1200 in your case ... which is the minimum MFP will give anyone.

    When you ADD exercise into the equation .... (think of exercise / activity as calories out) ...... you increase the deficit. So it's like 1200 calories eaten LESS 500 calories burned. That's 700 net calories per day.

    Your body needs 1200 calories (most women) just for basic bodily function: heart, lungs, kidneys. The problem with too large a deficit, your weight loss will stall, and your body may burn muscle as well as fat.
  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
    You should do a search for topics. I see you are new to MFP so you possibly didn't know. This is an oft-repeated forum and there is a wealth of knowledge, disagreements, and responses to this subject. For me, the answer is if I'm hungry. If I'm not hungry I don't force myself to eat.
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
    I just factored the workout calories into my "activity level" and did not eat them back. Then again, I rarely got close to my goal calories, usually netting way less. I can't afford to eat the healthy foods I do at twice the volume I do, and I have no desire to put crap into my body to make up for a fabricated "deficit"
  • Adsnwfld
    Adsnwfld Posts: 262 Member
    I eat back some. I mostly make sure I'm over 1500 calories for the day and just go from there. If I'm real hungery I'll eat back more. In around 65 days I've dropped about 40 lbs ... So it works for me, experiment a bit and see where you are
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
    I eat them back on most days, but save them a couple of days so that on the weekend when I go out to eat (we have a family dinner every Sunday) I have "extra calories" to use. It seems to work well for me.
  • catembi
    catembi Posts: 2
    It hadn't occurred to me NOT to eat them... h'mmm... could explain why my weight loss has tailed off. Might try not eating them for a couple of weeks & see what happens.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    yes. it's complicated, sorta (but not really)

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • MikeInAZ
    MikeInAZ Posts: 483 Member
    I used to. But I wasn't losing much. So I stopped eating it all back, maybe about 1/2 of it. Then the weight started dropping!
  • Sexy5Footer
    Sexy5Footer Posts: 10
    I have eaten my exercise calories back and I've still lost, but no doubt I could lose mored if I don't. There have been weeks when I've done EVERYTHING right and I still didn't lose anything. For some people they won't lose if they eat their calories back, some people will. everyone's weight loss journey is different, so no 2 people will lose or even gain weight the same. Maybe you should experiment one week of eating your calories back and then experiment one week of not eating them back and see how it works for you. But I am almost more than confident that even if you eat them back, you'll still lose weight because you'll never burn the exact same amount of calories every single day, which means you'll always have different calorie targets everyday, so your body won;t get used to one particular intake amount. When your bnody can't predict what's going on, I've found that yuou'll always lose the weight. And of coarse don't forget to track your foods. I wish you the best of luck.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    Yes I do! Why on Earth would I pass up a perfectly legitimate excuse to eat more!?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I try not to eat after 6PM and since I go to the gym in the evening, I dont "eat the workout calories". But I know if I really wanted to, I can eat a snack :)

    The "eating back your calories" does not have to be directly after your workout, it can be sometime before.

    I workout after work. On days when I know I "will be doing" cardio.... I add calories to my lunch (and sometimes dinner).

    Keeping lean muscle mass is the most important factor for me ...... my health goes backwards if I lose the same % of fat as muscle. Healthy weight is more than just 1 number on a scale.
  • BobOki
    BobOki Posts: 245 Member
    Yes, omm num num.
  • izzydino
    izzydino Posts: 254 Member
    yup! I eat most of them. Sometimes more sometimes less. Down 68 lbs, no regrets :)
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
    It has always amazed me how convinced people are that their way is the only way...ever. It's like yelling at a beaker because the liquid turned blue when it wasn't supposed to. You can not, ever, argue with results. Short answer, what works for you works for YOU, and ONLY YOU.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    You will definitely need to eat back enough so that your net is not below 1200 calories. So enjoy them!

    I dont and its not a problem. If I'm hungry then I may but for the most part no but everyone is different
  • tflores
    tflores Posts: 21 Member
    Depends on my day. Some days I go over on my calories so I need the exercise to stay under. It actually motivates me to work out. I haven't had a problem with it so far, but I only get 1200 calories to lose 2 pounds a week so this help me not feel like I am always "dieting".

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