I'm sure it's been asked/answered but inquiring minds.....

jillebean60

Am I wrong in thinking that I shouldn't eat the extra 'exercise calories' I accumulated? Kind of defeats the purpose of reducing intake and increasing output? What say you?

pastryari

No, because MFP already creates a deficit for you when it gives you your calorie goal. You will lose weight if you exercise or not. If you eat back your exercise calories, you are still in a deficit.

GauchoMark

as far as losing weight goes, creating a calorie deficit is the single most important thing. This can be done by eating less, exercising more, or both. What you are suggesting is both, and that is OK as long as your deficit is not too big for too long.

If your calorie deficit is too large for a long period of time, it just isn't healthy and your energy level will go down and you will probably have terrible cravings and start wanting to binge. I would shoot for a routine that is moderate and sustainable so you stay satisfied and healthy during your weight loss. It isn't a race.

You will have a lot of "eat more to lose" and "starvation mode" comments. I'm still on the fence about those, but I do know I eat back most of my cardio calories and don't count strength training and I feel much better than when I didn't. I actually have the energy to work out more and my recovery is quicker.

AFitJamie

If you don't mind a 'cut and paste, answer I replied to another thread on this topic...


This makes its rounds every few days - So people regularly discuss this... In my experience here you will find 2 camps of people generally (and of course a few out in their own field playing their own game )


camp one: Target what MFP tells you since when it determines your target calories to create your deficit, it does so essentially ignoring additional exercise... so you should eat back your exercise calories... the reason some suggest a portion (50% to 75% - whatever) is that many people find MFP data overestimates the calories burned for a lot of cardio exercise. The example here is that you consume your target 1300 calories (just a fictional example) and go do a great long workout and burn 750 calories... you have only provided your body 550 calories for the day (what they call "net" calories) and that will be too significant a deficit if you do it continually - It may cause you to lose more muscle mass than desired and a lot of other adaptations your body makes when on a very low calorie diet.. (and LOTS of noise here about your body magically turning on some "starvation mode" where you will automatically defy all rules of energy in the universe and your body will lock away all fat and you will magically exist on nothing and never lose an ounce... Don't get me wrong....Very low cal eating is not healthy and isn't recommended for a variety of reasons - slow and steady wins this race, but there is a lot of bad information when people start talking extremes and what happens to your body and plateau's etc...)

Camp two: Ignore the MFP approach (Despite the fact this is the MFP site...) and incorporate your workouts in determining your Total Daily Energy Expenditure - build your target from this number (deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 Lb a week, 750 for 1.5, etc) and do your workouts and eat your food and since you have already incorporated the workouts in your calorie target, don't eat them back...

then there are other approaches like eating the calorie target that will be your maintenance at the body weight you want, etc.... but that isn't exactly on topic..


My suggestion - If you are following MFP, and I think most people will be quite successful doing so, then DO eat back your exercise calories - best to get a Heart Rate Monitor to help you estimate calories burnt from cardio more accurately, but barring that, use the estimates MFP gives you conservatively and target 50-75% of what it says you burn...

mamagooskie

yes you should eat them. exercize does more than just burn calories, it creates muscle and builds up your cardiovascular health (those are the real benefits) the deficit MFP creates will be what helps you lose the weight. If you don't have a HRM (heart rate monitor) and are using MFP estimates to log your workouts you may only want to eat 50-75% of the calories logged.

I eat all my exercize calories as often as possible and it served me well......I lost almost 150lbs in 16 months and have kept it off by eating all my calories as well.

jillebean60

The extra energy/less wanting to binge factor is big and makes a lot of sense! Thanks for the input

Brandicaloriecountess

Am I wrong in thinking that I shouldn't eat the extra 'exercise calories' I accumulated? Kind of defeats the purpose of reducing intake and increasing output? What say you?

Yes, you are wrong

jillebean60

Thanks for the 'food for thought'! Lot of sense in eating back a portion (but not all) of exercise cals. I'm finding that for me, the exercising is motivation to keep me on track with the thought process that if I'm going to put forth the effort, I'm not going to undo it by making poor eating choices.

gdbadass

this is good to know. i've been wondering this myself.

alexis831

Am I wrong in thinking that I shouldn't eat the extra 'exercise calories' I accumulated? Kind of defeats the purpose of reducing intake and increasing output? What say you?

Yes, you are wrong

She isn't wrong... I don't usually eat mine back. For a while I did eat at max half back but that is it. It's a personal choice! Take all of the info in and make the best choice for you!

Oh and my energy was through the roof from the morning exercises so I was ok. If u r low on energy u can always add some more carbs into ur diet too.

WickedGarden

see what works for you.

I tried eating back my calories, ALL of them, for 6 weeks, and started gaining weight. (after I had LOST weight, I gained it all back)

I tried eating my TDEE minus 500, for a month and didn't lose.

Currently, I am pretty much ignoring calorie minimums and eating what my body craves, I just make sure I don't go over my TDEE (which is fairly high) Just started this in the last week or so, I will see how it goes.

the 'magical formula' isn't that easy for all of us.