Eating back exercise calories?

ironanimal

My response to another poster who recently asked the same question:

Well, the system is designed so that your weightloss calorie deficit is built in to your Goal figure. By exercising, you increase the deficit further and you're credited more calories to restore it to the original deficit.

However, MFP grossly overestimates your calorie burns for a lot of exercises, so unless you're using a HRM or similar, I would say eat back between 50-75% of your exercise calories.

If your deficit is too high, you exceed your body's maximum potential for fat metabolism as a fuel and the energy deficit must be made up elsewhere - from your FFM (Fat Free Mass), which includes bones, muscles, connective tissues and organs. So, if your only goal is weightloss, go crazy, burn all you want and disregard eating exercise calories. If your goal is FAT loss, keep the deficit reasonable.

waldo56

i totally agree with this statement. i had lost 88 lbs and got stuck in a plateau, so i started my fitness pal. i'm 5'2", weigh 140 and it's giving me 1200 cal a day to lose 2 lbs a week. this doesn't work for me. the only way i lose weight is if i go under the 1200 calories. the easiest way to do that without starving myself is to exercise and not eat the calories burned. you definitely have to listen to your body and see what the scale is telling you. not everyone is the same, so you have to do what works for you. keep up the good work and don't ever give up!

2 lb a week is a terrible goal unless you have 40-50 lbs+ to lose.

It is too fast. You'll lose muscle mass and be prone to stalls and plateaus.

1 lb a week is much more appropriate for people within 10-20 lb of their goal weight.

carriec0303

thanks for the input. having a hard time determining just how many calories I can have to lose weight at a healthy rate. every site you go to is different. for example mfp says 1200 cal but that seems low.

carriec0303

actually when I change my weight loss goal to 1 lb per week it says 1360. that seems more appropriate.

TeaBea

thanks for the input. having a hard time determining just how many calories I can have to lose weight at a healthy rate. every site you go to is different. for example mfp says 1200 cal but that seems low.

This thread is from 2012 (?!?)

Anyway......MFP gave you 1200 calories based upon "I want to lose XX pounds per week" AND 1200 is the absolute LOWEST MFP will give you. You will see losts of threads about eating 1200 and NOT eating exercise calories back.....that's one approach.....it's not necessarily a healthy approach.

Keep in mind losing weight quickly will result in fat+muscle loss.......instead of moslty fat loss......the choice is yours.

erickirb

thanks for the input. having a hard time determining just how many calories I can have to lose weight at a healthy rate. every site you go to is different. for example mfp says 1200 cal but that seems low.

It wold be your 1360 plus eating back what you burn from exercise.

OP: if you don't like the idea of eating back exercise calories, then include your planned exercise in your calorie goal by using a TDEE calculator. that way you eat the same amount everyday instead of more on days you exercise and less on days you don't.

A TDEE calculator should give you a number higher than MFP when you don't add exercise, and lower than days when you add in exercise, assuming you set up your weekly weight loss goal appropriately on MFP.

cwolfman13

Okay i see that this is a very common question on here, but i have a question.
Okay, so my Daily Calorie goal is 1290, which is fine for me! But about the whole eating exercise calories back thing.... i just started tracking my calorie intake about two and a half weeks ago, and up to now i have not been eating back my exercise calories. i'm so confused on all this so i just need a little input! am i supposed to make sure my net calories is at least 1200 calories of what?

If you set up your activity level correctly, you do NOT include any estimate of your exercise activity in your activity level. MFP gives calculates your theoretical NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)...the calories your body would require to maintain just doing your day to day hum drum...getting up...driving to work...walking around, etc. From there, MFP takes a cut for weight loss based on your stated goals.

With this method, as you can see...your EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is not accounted for anywhere. It has to be accounted for somewhere...so MFP accounts for it on the back end of the formula when you log it....then you get the exercise calories back. And really...do you think MFP is just trying to trick you?

Other calculators incorporate an estimate of your exercise calories required up front in your activity level and thus would just gross your daily calories...MFP does it on the *kitten* end and you NET calories with MFP. An example using my numbers (I'm maintaining)

MFP's NET calorie goal to maintain my weight = 2,350. On average I burn around 400 - 500 calories 6 days per week with exercise...so I would gross around 2700 - 2800 calories to maintain.

As per trial and error and the TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator I use, my TDEE is roughly 2750 calories.

The only difference between MFP and the calculator I use is that I add exercise after the fact with MFP...and with the TDEE calculator I use, that activity is accounted for in my activity level.

stt43

When you put all of your details into MFP it gives you a target number of calories to eat in order to lose the weight you desire (e.g. if you want to lose 2lbs per week, and your body needs 2500 calories to do it's daily stuff, then MFP will tell you to eat 1500).
If you exercise and don't eat them back then you are increasing this deficit further (e.g. if you did 400 calories worth of exercise, but didn't log it, rather than being in a 1000 calorie deficit you could now be in a 1400 calorie deficit).
If you log your exercise then MFP will tell you to eat them to keep your deficit the same (e.g it would now tell you to eat 1900 calories that day. You would still be in the same 1000 calorie deficit that you were before, but you will be able to eat more, leading to less hunger, more nutrients, and generally feeling better).
Therefore, yes, you should eat back your exercise calories (though it's up to you what you do), and if you are worried about accuracy, either get a heart-rate monitor, or work out how inaccurate you are being by how your weight changes.

stt43

thanks for the input. having a hard time determining just how many calories I can have to lose weight at a healthy rate. every site you go to is different. for example mfp says 1200 cal but that seems low.

This thread is from 2012 (?!?)

Anyway......MFP gave you 1200 calories based upon "I want to lose XX pounds per week" AND 1200 is the absolute LOWEST MFP will give you. You will see losts of threads about eating 1200 and NOT eating exercise calories back.....that's one approach.....it's not necessarily a healthy approach.

Keep in mind losing weight quickly will result in fat+muscle loss.......instead of moslty fat loss......the choice is yours.

Oh, only just realised it was from 2012.
Retro.

bajoyba

I personally do not think you should eat your calories back from exercise if you are trying to lose. I mean if you are maintaining or just have a few lbs to lose, then I guess it is ok a lot of the time. I figure I am defeating the purpose.

No. If you are following the MFP program and going by the calorie goal they assign for you, you should absolutely be eating those exercise calories back. It's not defeating the purpose, it's exactly how the program is designed to work.

When you input your stats and goals into MFP, it uses that information to calculate the calories you would need to eat every day in order to reach your ultimate weight goal, which means that your calorie goal already includes the deficit you need. If you exercise and don't eat any of those exercise calories back, you're creating a larger deficit than necessary, which can be counterproductive.

At 1290 calories a day, you're already at the low end when it comes to calorie intake. It's important that you not only ensure you're getting enough fuel but that you're meeting your nutritional requirements as well (protein, fat, and carbs). Adding exercise on top of that 1290 and not eating anything back is asking your body to perform better while giving it less fuel.

I ate them back, and it worked out fine.

If you're unsure about what your body's actual caloric and nutritional requirements are, give this a read.: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

ETA: Haha, okay it's from 2012. But I'll leave it up for the noobs.