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MyFitnessPal Community

Gym and Eating Back Calories Lost? I'm Very Confused!!

browneyedgurl08

Heyy guys, so I've heard some things around eating back the calories you've lost at the gym but I'm unsure if its true or not? I was wondering do i then eat dinner before going to the gym or go to the gym and eat dinner after? I'm so confused bout this. Please Help and Thank You very much!

x

Sorry if this in the wrong section, it wont let me delete the other topic already posted.

Replies

mirandamayhem

I am one of those that will eat some of the calories back if i'm genuinely hungry. I'm currently on the 1200 calorie thing, so if I exercise and feel hungry afterwards, i listen to that. But not all the time.
Someone else will be along to help at some point I'm sure!

browneyedgurl08

thank you for your help.

anjukins

hee hee... so... some people say you must absolutely eat all your calories back or you'll force your body into starvation mode... others will say it's codswallop and you should just eat your baseline recommended calories regardless of exercise. i fall in the middle. i eat when i'm hungry. novel idea, i know...

browneyedgurl08

lol, love the meme

thanks i was just confused bout the whole eating back thing, but its good to hear everyones ideas on what they think about it and stuff, so thank you

anjukins

yeah, totally. as with everything related to heath and diet, you're going to get passionate voices on every end of every possible issue. i'm trying to stick with eating my 1200 cals, exercising when i can, and eating healthy snacks after exercise if i feel like i need it (ie if i'm hungry to distraction, or shaky, etc.). i find that even with moderate daily exercise, i never feel like crap when i've eaten between 1100 and 1300 calories in a day. i firmly believe that that is an excellent target caloric goal for me.

browneyedgurl08

okay cool, well by looking at your weightloss to go you've done amazing so far

ironanimal

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.

browneyedgurl08

thanks ironaminal for that information, means alot.

geebusuk

'Starvation mode' doesn't really come about until you're at 5% of so bodyfat I believe.
However you may well still reduce your metabolism more and may burn some muscle.

For me, I managed to eat considerably below a total deficit and still lose weight while putting on a little muscle.
But not everyone's the same.

RawrWolfie

I don't believe in the eating back exercise calories thing, unless your within 5 pounds of your goal...Otherwise you just ran 3 miles to "Afford" to eat a brownie or something it doesnt make sense

Wabbit05

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/680246-tdee-bmr-what-they-are-and-what-to-do-with-them

Read this!

BamaBreezeNSaltAire

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

Take a look at this link above. It will send you to other links to read. Good luck!

CyberEd312

I don't believe in the eating back exercise calories thing, unless your within 5 pounds of your goal...Otherwise you just ran 3 miles to "Afford" to eat a brownie or something it doesnt make sense

Or you could eat your exercise calories back to fuel your body since your deficit has already been built into your calorie goals and then you can go from

This:

To This:

OP if you are going to eat back your exercise calories (as I do) I would invest in a hear rate monitor (I have a Polar FT60) I eat back 85% of my calories burned and leave 15% to error.... Best of Luck!!

ChappyEight

Please read this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/710742--starvation-mode-exercise-calories-dillema

It will answer all your questions.

ChappyEight

I don't believe in the eating back exercise calories thing, unless your within 5 pounds of your goal...Otherwise you just ran 3 miles to "Afford" to eat a brownie or something it doesnt make sense

Or, it could be that I just ran three miles to "afford" to eat more protein, veggies, and fruits to fuel my body for the day. MFP already has you in a caloric deficit so you don't need additional deficit.

Lose weight in the kitchen, get strong/fit working out.

BamaBreezeNSaltAire

I don't believe in the eating back exercise calories thing, unless your within 5 pounds of your goal...Otherwise you just ran 3 miles to "Afford" to eat a brownie or something it doesnt make sense

Or you could eat your exercise calories back to fuel your body since your deficit has already been built into your calorie goals and then you can go from

This:

To This:

OP if you are going to eat back your exercise calories (as I do) I would invest in a hear rate monitor (I have a Polar FT60) I eat back 85% of my calories burned and leave 15% to error.... Best of Luck!!

You are an inspiration!! Very nice work sir!!!

myfitnessnmhoy

I don't believe in the eating back exercise calories thing, unless your within 5 pounds of your goal...Otherwise you just ran 3 miles to "Afford" to eat a brownie or something it doesnt make sense

I bicycled two hours in hilly terrain yesterday so I could get to and from work. As a side effect, I could "afford" a double-sized breakfast, an extra few ounces of nuts at lunch, two extra helpings of lean grilled chicken and an extra cup of eggplant-and-summer-squash stirfry at supper. Not doing so would have increased my deficit by 1,200 calories, and I would have basically ended up with a day equivalent to not riding my bicycle and eating about 300 calories. A deficit that steep is not going to help me lose fat. I'll lose weight quickly, but very little of it will be fat.

If you choose to eat back your exercise calories, ideally you don't snarf absolute crap to meet a caloric goal. You increase the portions on the healthy foods you would normally be eating, or eat other additional foods in proportions to meet the fat, carbohydrate, and protein goals that have been adjusted to accommodate the exercise calories, not to mention the extra vitamins and minerals your body needs.

That absolutely does not mean that you CAN'T do a workout every now and again to earn a piece of cake or such - earning a treat with a workout is fine on occasion.

But the overall idea is that you are already eating at a deficit, and increasing that deficit beyond the optimum fat loss zone will mean that your body will go for energy somewhere, and if you aren't giving your body enough protein (in particular) it ain't gonna be body fat that your body cannibalizes protein from. It's gonna be muscles and organs and bone. And you aren't going to like the results when you're done.

MFP has defined its optimum fat loss zone to about 2 pounds a week which is a 1,000-calorie deficit per day, and that's for people who are very overweight. For those of us very close to normal BMI levels, they recommend an even slower pace.

Your body, your choice. But don't assume that everyone out there is "eating back their exercise calories" in empty fluff.

myfitnessnmhoy

I was wondering do i then eat dinner before going to the gym or go to the gym and eat dinner after?

Setting aside the whole "SHOULD I eat back my calories", which you can decide to do or not, based on what you feel is right, I'll attempt to address the question if "WHEN should I eat them back?"

The answer is "whenever you normally eat or have the opportunity to eat". That can actually be before the exercise.

For example, when I commute to work on my bicycle (which is about a 1,200 calorie burn), I'll plan my meals for the entire day accordingly. I'll make a larger portion of breakfast and lunch to pack in my pannier bag so I'll have eaten at least an extra 400-500 calories for the day by suppertime. Then I'll have a larger supper and/or supplement my supper with some good quality protein and fat (peanut butter, cheese, etc) to try to get my DAILY calories about right by the end of the day.

It's not at all unusual for me to make a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich with a big glass of milk for an 8PM snack if I have a few hundred calories left.

But don't obsess terribly about it, either. Some days, you'll be under. Some days, you'll go over. Try to make it so your weekly average is about right with your goals, and it'll be fine.

geebusuk

I'll lose weight quickly, but very little of it will be fat.

For me, it was fat that was lost; doing a fair bit of heavy lifting (moving car parts) etc and not eating much.

Upping my calorie intake to 1600 from 1300 I've tried to mostly up the protein and am now noticing a bit more strength along with still losing some weight.

Everyone's different, so it's worth considering trying different options to see what works for you.