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

2456

Replies

  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    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
    MissTomGettingThin Posts: 776 Member
    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
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
    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
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    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
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    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
    berlynn_j Posts: 299 Member

    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
    wiltl Posts: 188 Member
    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
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    "It didn't work in my particular case, so it must be completely invalid for everyone!"

    ^Logic right there.
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
    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
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
    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."
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
    I'm sorry that it didn't work for you, and glad you've found what does. I guess I'm really lucky that it does work for me, because there's no way I could have stuck to it this long eating so low.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    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.

    Hard to call BS on something you didn't even do, isn't it? Maybe if the OP actually DID eat back their exercise calories they would have seen it work. No way to tell though.

    I have personally found that if I eat too low that I stall out on weight loss. As soon as I re-up my calories, I start losing again. But, apparently that is BS...
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    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.

    Nope. Fitbit's program works the same way, as does Lose It. I'm sure there are more too, but those are the ones I know of anyway.
  • I always eat mine back, and the scale is moving for me..... sounds like you are used to starving your body so when you added more food into it it decided to keep it because you had been lacking for so long. I NEVER feel like I'm restricted or on a diet, so I've stuck with it for 6 months and have lost 40lbs.... and no looking back. In the end you have to do what you THINK will work for you, but it sound like you will probably end up gaining it all back because 1200 is not healthy let alone on the days you workout.... stay safe.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    You just didn't do it right.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    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.

    Nope. Fitbit's program works the same way, as does Lose It. I'm sure there are more too, but those are the ones I know of anyway.
    I'd never heard of it til I joined here.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
    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.

    No that's not true. Weight Watchers gives you more points for exercise completed (points is their equivilant of calories).

    I believe everyone has to do what works for them. I have to eat my exercise calories back... otherwise I feel like I am starving and in a couple of days I will go on a binge. I don't necessarily eat them to the last calorie but I eat when I'm hungry and I like the greater variety of foods I have with more calories to work with. Today, with my exercise - which was an extended cardio session... I can eat 3200 calories. I probably won't but its nice to have the cushion. And it works for me.... I've lost a lot of weight.

    Blanket statements that a particular method is bs is the real bs. Gotta be tolerant of everyone's choices and realize we all are individuals.
  • MissTomGettingThin
    MissTomGettingThin Posts: 776 Member
    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.

    FACE PALM!
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
    Whatever works for you... A lot of people swear by the opposite. Everyone is different. I personally try not to eat back all my exercise calories but on high calorie burn days (like right now I'm doing insanity) I am STARVING all day if I don't eat back some of them. I get really dizzy and tired. I just try to watch my hunger and just eat until satisfied and not full. Then I usually end up around 1400 calories ish.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I tried eating back my exercise calories and it WORKED! 80 lbs gone!

    So it works FOR SOME PEOPLE.
  • BlueJean4114
    BlueJean4114 Posts: 594 Member
    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.

    it's been the same for me, too.
    I could be wrong, but I think the other way, "eat back calories" is maybe more geared for ppl who are lifting weights, body builders, atheletes, etc, who have primary goal of adding muscle, bulking up, gaining strength, etc.
  • revncarmichael
    revncarmichael Posts: 15 Member
    My boot camp instructor says the samething. I find once in a while to go down to 1200 is ok, for a day. But I do the best and feel th best right between 1400 and 1500. Anything less and I tend to feel hungry and eat!!!!! Glad this is working for you!
  • Kimminer77
    Kimminer77 Posts: 39 Member
    It worked for me! I wasn't losing anymore, but doing intense workouts, so I went from 1600 to 1900 calories and dropped 3lbs right away. I was surprised, but it worked for me!
  • Hi I'm Kathy, I agree with you, eat less, move more. Its the moving more thats hard for me. I have tumors in my spine, so i have back pain. I am going to try something i thought i would let u know about, Its called Green Coffee Bean Extract, from Dr. Oz. They say u can lose 7 pounds in a week, by taking this, and you dont have to change a thing, (diet or exercise). I know it sounds to good to be true, but its worth a try. Because if i get some weight off, then i will feel like moving more. right? So good luck to you.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    May I suggest you educate yourself. Eating 1000 calories and burning 600 during exercise is not going to help you in any way. That's a net of 400 calories. How are you supposed to fuel yourself properly on 400 calories over 24 hrs. You need food to survive. I so sorry to be blunt but I'm worried about your health. Keep this pattern up and I shudder to think of what could happen to you.

    DO this.
    1.Find your maintenance caloric level.
    2. deduct your weekly deficit and divide that by 7 (3500 cal = 1 lb)
    3. Exercise and eat that to maintain the weight loss you calculated above or don't eat for additional loss. But
    never, go below 50% or your maintenance or 1200 net calories unless you are under a Dr. Supervision.
  • ShaunaLaNee
    ShaunaLaNee Posts: 188 Member
    I AGREE, Lets say you burn 300 calories in an hour by MFP standards ( they over estimate) so you eat them back? Um what??

    Your body may have already burned 100 of those ALONE naturally and the 300 is really 200...so you have just OVER ATE by 200 calories, congrats:)

    My doctor laughed at me when I said "I'm eating back my exercise calories,and my trainer said it was the quote "dumbest thing I've ever heard"
  • YoYo1951
    YoYo1951 Posts: 370
    Bump for later. I eat most of my exercise calories back, and I am glad to have the variety I get with more than 1200 calories a day. Sometime, it is just not enough!
  • EthelF1
    EthelF1 Posts: 3
    I would have to agree with every one who said that's just silly. And it is you proved it to yourself. The purpose is to excerise&eat less that's now you loose weight.I don't know why they even have that on the page you earned an extera what ever you excerised But sadly enough I have a friend who was doing the same thing and started to gain it back.She's came to her senses now .Personally I stay between 1200-1500 per day and excerise every day. So far I am 22 down in 65 days.:glasses:
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    May I suggest you educate yourself. Eating 1000 calories and burning 600 during exercise is not going to help you in any way. That's a net of 400 calories. How are you supposed to fuel yourself properly on 400 calories over 24 hrs. You need food to survive. I so sorry to be blunt but I'm worried about your health. Keep this pattern up and I shudder to think of what could happen to you.

    DO this.
    1.Find your maintenance caloric level.
    2. deduct your weekly deficit and divide that by 7 (3500 cal = 1 lb)
    3. Exercise and eat that to maintain the weight loss you calculated above or don't eat for additional loss. But
    never, go below 50% or your maintenance or 1200 net calories unless you are under a Dr. Supervision.

    But math is hard!
  • BlueJean4114
    BlueJean4114 Posts: 594 Member
    Hi I'm Kathy, I agree with you, eat less, move more. Its the moving more thats hard for me. I have tumors in my spine, so i have back pain. I am going to try something i thought i would let u know about, Its called Green Coffee Bean Extract, from Dr. Oz. They say u can lose 7 pounds in a week, by taking this, and you dont have to change a thing, (diet or exercise). I know it sounds to good to be true, but its worth a try. Because if i get some weight off, then i will feel like moving more. right? So good luck to you.

    don't fall for gimmicks. save your money.
    x7M5C.jpg








    even those limited by a restriction on their activity tolerance, CAN lose weight.

    1mpOz.png