I tried eating back my exercise cals and it's bs!

magerum

It's all about the math. The laws of thermodynamics apply to everyone, period. The case, more than likely, is you're not actually tracking your intake and exercise acurately. People tend to under estimate their intake and over estimate their exercise. Establish controls using food scales and the best HRM you can afford. Add in exercise controls (same measured distance for walking/running, same machines etc) and it will absolutley work.

Just because you failed to pull it off don't discount it or dismiss it for other people. You're not a unique snowflake. Establish your controls, dont use guesses, stick with and it will work. Or just give up and have fun starving and being misserable. It's up to you.

Good luck.

CVAB

I feel people make weight loss so complicated when it's not.
Hungry? Eat. Don't eat crap. Exercise often.

FlaxMilk

Maybe not a club but there is a group:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2584-eating-1200-1300-calories-per-day

Would be great if it were more active

BrianSharpe

Eating back you exercise calories can work......

if your calorie burn estimate is reasonably accurate

if your calorie intake is accurate (keeping in mind that nutrition labels can be off by as much as 20% on some classes of products)

if you set your MFP activity level as sedentary

if your BMR is reasonably close to what the calculators estimate

Lots of "ifs". stick with what works for you.

jenmsu83

I'm not about to slam anyone or get snippy but I am honestly curious. For those that eat 1200 a day and never eat exercise cals - aren't you HUNGRY? I eat anywhere from 1700-2100 calories a day (depending on exercise) and there are days I am still hungry eating that much...

If you get hungry do you just ignore it? Or is 1200 cals worth of food really enough for you to feel satisfied?

I figure it makes sense to eat as much as possible while losing weight so that you can eat more in maintenance mode and not feel deprived.

FlaxMilk

When I feel hungry, I eat more. It's not going to kill me. Generally, though, I am satisfied. I'll gradually increase once I hit goal until I find maintenance and then keep an eye on it. To be honest, I am hungrier the times when I eat more.

MaraDiaz

Right there with you. But there are several possible reasons for it:

A recent study shows that even good heart rate monitors can be wildly innaccurate, especially for women. So that could be an issue, along with innaccurate estimates given by websites such as MFP, that, after all, can only estimate. These websites and HRMs are the best info we have to work with, but they can be wrong. And if they're overestimating your calorie burn, you're overeating when you eat those calories back.

Not measuring food with a scale, measuring cups, and spoons can cause accidental over-intake.

Also, it could be you. If you can afford to get your metabolism checked, by all means, go do it just in case! (I would if I could, losing so slow on so few calories drives me nuts!)

StevenDweeb

It's all about the math. The laws of thermodynamics apply to everyone, period. The case, more than likely, is you're not actually tracking your intake and exercise acurately. People tend to under estimate their intake and over estimate their exercise. Establish controls using food scales and the best HRM you can afford. Add in exercise controls (same measured distance for walking/running, same machines etc) and it will absolutley work.

Just because you failed to pull it off don't discount it or dismiss it for other people. You're not a unique snowflake. Establish your controls, dont use guesses, stick with and it will work. Or just give up and have fun starving and being misserable. It's up to you.

Good luck.

++
Especially on the exercise front. There are too many variables that impact the 'real' number of calories burned. I've found that by comparing specific routes/times/speed/distance what my body "feels" is maximum effort may not be close to reality. That leads me to believe that it is easy for people to far over-estimate their caloric burn. At the same time, it's human nature to fudge on what we are actually eating. I know there are plenty of days where I have a couple of chips or a cookie that I never remember to add to MFP

nataliexxxx

Are you logging your exercise calories correct because sometimes it overestimates on here? I dont eat mine back either though I dont see the point in doing all the work just to eat the calories back, do what works for you:)

MsLilly200

I'm not about to slam anyone or get snippy but I am honestly curious. For those that eat 1200 a day and never eat exercise cals - aren't you HUNGRY?

No actually... When I eat well, without junk food and candy and crap, I tend to not be able to reach 1200 kcal... I think my stomach must be tiny...

My breakfast is usually 200-ish kcal, then lunch and dinner is between 300 and 500...

It's when I'm being an idiot and eat 2 candybars in stead of a meal that I get hungry... Cause 2 candybars are not very filling for 400 plus kcal.
But whenever I do that I tend to just declare it a cheat day and as long as I'm under 1600 kcal at least I won't gain weight.

meerkat70

Erm did everyone notice the post on page 1 pointing out that this entire thread is BS?

The OP's diary suggests that for the past 2 weeks at least, she's not gone over 1300 cals. Most days she's hovering around 1100 - 1200. She eats minimal veg, and a lot of processed food.

I don't think the reason it 'didn't work' is a huge mystery, really....

I call troll, follderoll.

MissTomGettingThin

So for several weeks I tried to switch it up by increasing my cals and eating back my exercise cals. Absolutely DID NOT work! I am no back to sticking at 1200 cals whether I work out or not and almost immediately noticed the scale going down! I knew eating more to lose weight sounded too good to be true. Here's what works: eat less, move more. Period.

Depends what you eat and how you balance it all out.
I starved for months.

No longer! :O)

lilpoindexter

Eating "back" exercise calories is a phenomenon that only happens on myfitnesspal. If you aren't hungry, why on earth would you eat them back? Assuming you are trying to lose weight, eating back exercise calories doesn't make sense.

TheRealParisLove

I'm not about to slam anyone or get snippy but I am honestly curious. For those that eat 1200 a day and never eat exercise cals - aren't you HUNGRY? I eat anywhere from 1700-2100 calories a day (depending on exercise) and there are days I am still hungry eating that much...

If you get hungry do you just ignore it? Or is 1200 cals worth of food really enough for you to feel satisfied?

I figure it makes sense to eat as much as possible while losing weight so that you can eat more in maintenance mode and not feel deprived.

Nope. Yesterday, I wasn't in the least bit hungry, but ate my dinner anyway because it was getting late and I like to have 2-3 hours between eating and sleeping.

When I first started I was hungry all the time, but I increased the amount fiber in my diet and that seems to keep me really full all day. I try to eat 25-35 grams of fiber a day.

I have also stopped logging *all* my exercise. I live in an apartment with a very active dog. I must walk the dog 3-4 times a day for about 30 minutes each walk. I used to log those walks, but I see the walks now as part of my daily chores like laundry or vacuuming, so I stopped logging my dog walks unless the walk was particularly long. This has forced me to go above and beyond my usual workouts to get back some of those exercise calories.

meerkat70

and if you go back to mid July most of her logged intake is well under a thousand cals.

Let's not feed the troll, eh, people?

berlynn_j

It depends on what you eat also. Do what works for you. It won't be long before everyone starts slamming you on here. Ignore them. I hit the ignore button on a few people on another thread so I can't even see the hateful comments towards me. lol.

Everyone is different. Age affects people too. Make good food choices and move more. Can't go wrong with that.

There is an ignore button? Seriously? Do tell. I try to state opinions in a nice way, hey people ask for them, and always try to be supportive, yet there is ALWAYS some hate-filled monger that just absolutely has to slam someone and get nasty about it every time. So don't tease. If there really is an ignore button PLEASE tell me how to use it.

And I agree with what others have said. To each their own. I eat between 1200 and 1300 a day (sometimes less because I do suffer from migraines and a few other conditions and you will not get me to eat on those days, I'm sick as a dog, so there are days I only net 500, I can't help it). I never eat back exercise calories. It works for me. It may not work for others. You do what works for you .

wiltl

If it works for you and you are doing it in a healthy way, and don't feel deprived or sick then its probably what works for you. I tried keeping really low calories (1200 - 1300) at the beginning but started seeing that my hair was getting dry, nails breaking easier, energy level was non existent. I was eating better than I had before, but it just wasn't enough. So, yeah I have been trying the "eat more (but less than what I normally burn/TDEE) and weigh less. Its been working well and I don't feel like I did before.

I went from eating the MFP recommended plus exercise cals (net 1350) to changing my activity level and half exercise calls (1470) to using 30% under TDEE, not eating back exercise cals and keeping a range of 1690 to 1900 gross. Some days I eat a little less, some days I eat a little more. I log my exercise cals as based on my HRM. Its just to ensure that I've been meeting goals and seeing my progression in strength, endurance and cardiovascular health. I did use helloitsdan's roadmap 2.0 to find my goal range, and so far so good. I do love me some numbers and formulas and seeing the data in front of me, though.

So, if you feel good and don't see other health changes, and if you do then see what a doctor has to say. Heck, even if you see good health changes still go to the doctor to make sure that all is well.

LaurenAOK

"It didn't work in my particular case, so it must be completely invalid for everyone!"

^Logic right there.

donna_glasgow

I started eating about 1400 a day (i don't eat back exercise cals) and I'm losing less than I was on 1000-1200 cals a day ..... Im not a big foody anyway I struggle to reach my goals daily and have to put so much thought into getting in the extra 200-400 cals ......so I may go back to 1000 - 1200 again then I don't feel like a slave to food

docktorfokse

People who say "I NEVER add anyone who eats less than 1200 calories" are usually the same ones who would get offended if I said "Don't add me if you can't squat at least your bodyweight for five reps."