Do you eat your workout calories?

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  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    yes. it's complicated, sorta (but not really)

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • MikeInAZ
    MikeInAZ Posts: 483 Member
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    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
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    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
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    Yes I do! Why on Earth would I pass up a perfectly legitimate excuse to eat more!?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    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
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    Yes, omm num num.
  • izzydino
    izzydino Posts: 254 Member
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    yup! I eat most of them. Sometimes more sometimes less. Down 68 lbs, no regrets :)
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
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    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
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    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
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    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".
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
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    Yes - but I have my activity level set at sedentary so I add in exercise daily and then eat those calories back to NET 1200-1400.

    And yes, indeedy, I lost weight this way.
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
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    Yup always have and always lost weight. =)
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    Yes I do! I gobble them all up and this helps me stay on track to losing weight!
  • renkatrun
    renkatrun Posts: 111 Member
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    I just realized today that eating back has been my problem. The estimates that come up in MFP when I log my runs overestimate calories burned by quite a bit (sometimes double). I was eating those calories - I stopped. Now the weight is coming off.
  • huron81
    huron81 Posts: 9
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    I don't eat them very often. I use some once or twice a week, but I never use anything but the same day & I try to never zero for the day. My personal situation is that I need to lose the weight and also learn portion control. If I kept adding food to my allowed calories I'm afraid I'll never learn to be satisfied with appropriate portions.

    Additionally, I just don't totally trust the activity calories to be accurate.
  • allywood90
    allywood90 Posts: 6 Member
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    I rarely eat them. I try and take in as close to 1200 calories as possible. Sometimes I am a little over, sometimes little under. So far, I have lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks, which may seem too rapid, but I feel great!
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    thank you for whoever posted this and the responses. its been 2 weeks and i have stopped seeing changes, i am NOT going to be eating my workout calories.!
    And you will keep plateauing because you aren't eating enough and slowing down your metabolism. Have fun.

    Not true, they just want to scare you into eating their way instead of your way. You do what you have to do for you. Your body is not their body, but people really don't get that concept.
  • tvanhooser
    tvanhooser Posts: 326 Member
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    Some of them sometimes but not always and never all of them. I've done some research and experimentation and if I eat over 1400 or so, I stop losing weight. I put my goal weight into the calculator (and several others I found online) to see what my maintenance calorie level will be once I get there.....and I can't see that eating more calories than my maintenance will be at that point as the way to weight LOSS! I eat well, I feel full, not tired, sluggish or sick and most weeks I'm losing weight. I'm going to experiment with this whole lowering sodium to reduce water retention though cause I've kind of gotten stagnant (plateau -- and no I don't want to hear any advice about eating more to stimulate the metabolism. Tried that, doesn't work for me. So no unasked for advice or opinion please, with all due respect!). So I changed my settings to show me sodium levels and most days I'm under but it looks like I've had more high sodium days than usual in the last few weeks that I've been stuck so I figure it's worth a shot to try it out. If it works, so much the better. If not, time for new experiment. I need to head on over to my diary to inspect it for which foods are causing the spike. So enjoy your weekend everyone!
  • Lainerbee
    Lainerbee Posts: 7
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    Sorry Im jumping in so late, I just started. What does eat your workout calories mean? Wouldnt you just burn what you ate for the day rather then burning already exsisting?
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    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.

    Your body won't start burning muscle until your body fat is below 5%, so don't worry about that

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