"Eating back" Exercise Calories - Simple breakdown

marc8686

So on the days I do my long workouts (1000 calories) I need to make sure I do actually eat the 2490? That seems like a lot, but I have burned a lot so I guess that makes sense. What you are saying is only having a day with 490 net calories would cause this plateau? I'm all for eating more, lol!!

just thought of another good example of this. consider a vehicle with a full tank of gas, as you drive it the gas level goes down, the more you drive it the more room there is in the tank for more gas. Picture the tank being on full as your daily caloric goal and every time you eat youre putting gas in your tank, every time you exercise you're "driving around" burning gas. the more you drive around (exercise) the more room you have in your tank for more gas (calories). the more you drive around the more food you need to eat to make sure your tank is full at the end of the day

DLKeeble

read later....

Petefry1

Marc thanks so much for this explanation mate. Makes it all much clearer. I have spent my bus ride to work working out my BMR and used the Harris Benedict Formula to work out my cals. Setting a deficit of 750 for just over a half kilo a week loss gets me to 1788. Readjusted my MFP settings in line with the HBF and got a goal of 1830. Very close!
How does the Fitbit adjustment fit in with all this? Can you really get full calorie credit for it, or isn't that activity level taken into account with the MFP and HBF activity settings anyway?

ChristineEaton7210

Bump to read later........I'm dizzy

marc8686

Marc thanks so much for this explanation mate. Makes it all much clearer. I have spent my bus ride to work working out my BMR and used the Harris Benedict Formula to work out my cals. Setting a deficit of 750 for just over a half kilo a week loss gets me to 1788. Readjusted my MFP settings in line with the HBF and got a goal of 1830. Very close!
How does the Fitbit adjustment fit in with all this? Can you really get full calorie credit for it, or isn't that activity level taken into account with the MFP and HBF activity settings anyway?

glad to help. would be hard to include fitbit in all this as i am suggesting not including your exercise regimen in your daily activity level (sedentary, lightly active, active, very active, etc). I only suggest including your job, home life, etc. if you are a call center rep that sits down 10 hours a day but you work out 6 days a week, i suggest setting your lifestyle as sedentary and just logging your exercise manually. if you work construction, then maybe your lifestyle is moderately active, still log your personal exercise regimen separately. the important thing is dont count the same activities twice. dont say you're "lightly active" because you have a sedentary job and you go jogging twice a week in the morning........just put it at sedentary and log your jog manually otherwise the jog is calculated into your lifestyle AND you are logging it a second time manually. also make sure you arent just deducting your daily deficit goal from your BMR, be sure to calculate your lifestyle type also. for a sedentary lifestyle add about 20% calories to your BMR and then subtract your 1,000 or 500 calorie deficit. the list of lifestyle activity percentages are on this thread somewhere.

i dont use the hbf i use the miflin st jeor equation. theres a post somewhere on this thread where that formula is listed. the hbf lists my bmr as 3300 calories and my daily burn at almost 4,000 calories! the st jeor equation lists my bmr at about 2750 and my daily burn at 3300, so you can see theres a big difference. my body seems to feel right getting to 2300 for a 1,000 calorie deficit, and sometimes even 2300 can be a challenge to reach without eating junk food so i question the HBF accuracy, it WAYYYY overestimates what i need to keep going.

Petefry1

Thanks mate!

Snooozie

Thanks very much for the explanation.. I am relatively new to this site and like others, I'm getting confused about all the different opinions and thoughts on what's right and what's wrong.. I THOUGHT i had been doing it right since I started about 8 weeks ago; using the recommended daily calories and exercising every day, then eating back the burned calories.. but recently read something else about not doing it that way and instead eating now for who you want to be.. and not logging your calories.. and I admit because I'm getting frustrated at not losing much weight this way I am considering trying it.. and I'm eating WELL much more now .. lots of fresh veggies and fruit and upping my fibre and eating more protein, and watching my sugar...(with the occasional slip back to old habits.. but I can absolutely say I'm eating much better choices now... but I think I actually GAINED weight the past few days, which should be impossible considering prior to starting this, I ate crap and like a pig and didn't move at all unless it was from the couch to the fridge.. so I'm getting a little frustrated... one says do this, another says do that... so I appreciate the clarity with which you've explained and it makes sense.. but I'm still a little lost in the calculations.. anyway all of this was just to say thanks for putting eveyrthing so clearly.. I'll keep trying to figure it out but much appreciated.

NanaDino4

finally someone who thinks like me

marc8686

Thanks mate!

no problem. all feel free to friend me also......sometimes i suck at following my own advice. You know how parents sometimes say "do as a i say, not as i do"? haha. sometimes i have my lazy days where i just dont feel like cooking and end up 500 short on my calories. unfortunately as humans.....knowing what you SHOULD do doesnt always necessarily mean you do it haha.

marc8686

Thanks very much for the explanation.. I am relatively new to this site and like others, I'm getting confused about all the different opinions and thoughts on what's right and what's wrong.. I THOUGHT i had been doing it right since I started about 8 weeks ago; using the recommended daily calories and exercising every day, then eating back the burned calories.. but recently read something else about not doing it that way and instead eating now for who you want to be.. and not logging your calories.. and I admit because I'm getting frustrated at not losing much weight this way I am considering trying it.. and I'm eating WELL much more now .. lots of fresh veggies and fruit and upping my fibre and eating more protein, and watching my sugar...(with the occasional slip back to old habits.. but I can absolutely say I'm eating much better choices now... but I think I actually GAINED weight the past few days, which should be impossible considering prior to starting this, I ate crap and like a pig and didn't move at all unless it was from the couch to the fridge.. so I'm getting a little frustrated... one says do this, another says do that... so I appreciate the clarity with which you've explained and it makes sense.. but I'm still a little lost in the calculations.. anyway all of this was just to say thanks for putting eveyrthing so clearly.. I'll keep trying to figure it out but much appreciated.

no problem at all, i know it can be extremely frustrating! there are so many variables that could be off (caloric intake, tracking, carb/fat/protein ratios, exercise intensity, exercise regularity, etc etc etc) its hard to pinpoint what is wrong when youre not getting the results you need. i STRONGLY recommend looking into an option like in the articles in the link somebody posted on MFP some time ago about genetic testing. I did it through Interleukin Genetics, an Inherent Health weight loss test. i now know 100% without a shadow of a doubt i need to be on a low fat high carb diet (55%/25%/20%) and exact eating plans if i choose to use them and recommended supplements, etc etc etc. and i need to exercise 3-4 days per week with activities at a MET value between 3 and 6METs for a total of 7.5METs of exercise per week. this takes a lot of the guesswork out of play. heres the link to the original thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/327932-genes-point-to-best-diets

Sparkle3131

Very interesting! And since my math skills SUCK, I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I am a 26 yr. old female, currently weigh 256 pounds, am 5'2.5" and I'd say my daily life activity is fairly light....I have a part time job in fast food, so I'm on my feet moving around 4-5 hours a day about 5 days a week, but my evening job is sitting constantly. I would like to lose 2 pounds a week and MFP says I need to eat 1570 cals a day. Does that seem right? And if I exercise about 500 cals day, I get to eat over 2000 cals??? That would be nice lol, but it's scary!

marc8686

Very interesting! And since my math skills SUCK, I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I am a 26 yr. old female, currently weigh 256 pounds, am 5'2.5" and I'd say my daily life activity is fairly light....I have a part time job in fast food, so I'm on my feet moving around 4-5 hours a day about 5 days a week, but my evening job is sitting constantly. I would like to lose 2 pounds a week and MFP says I need to eat 1570 cals a day. Does that seem right? And if I exercise about 500 cals day, I get to eat over 2000 cals??? That would be nice lol, but it's scary!

im not sure the activity level of this part time job. it sounds like if its multiple hours a day 5 days a week it might be enough to bump you into the lightly active category. but considering a sedentary lifestyle your daily caloric burn would fall at about 2250-2300 a day that you use just moving around. if your lifestyle were lightly active it would bump it to 2550-2600 calories. you need to research sedentary vs lightly active and determine which one your life fits best. so to lose 2 lb per week you deduct 1,000 calories from that number and get as close to that goal as you can each day. twenty calories over or under doesnt matter.................500 calories over or under does matter. and yes, if your goal is 1300 calories and you do a 500 calorie exercise, you need to eat a total of 1800 calories to make up for that. and make sure youre getting most of your calories from good sources not pizza and candy.

Sparkle3131

Mmmmmmm pizzaaaaaa....sorry, lost my train of thought! I don't like candy, so that's good (except chocolate...nmmmmm).

Anyways, back to the thread -- I am not sedentary, I'm the one above that. So my MFP cals are pretty spot on. Which is good, because when I have a good workout, I'm sooo hungry and I want something like cheese or eggs so eating a slice of whole grain toast with a hard boiled egg isn't terrible! Phew! That's a relief! I too wanted to not eat my cals back because I thought that was just gonna "beat the system". It's hard to mentally not want to do that. So many people say that it's all a numbers game -- whatever deficit you have is how much you'll lose always.

purplekty

But what if your to full to eat anything else? I understand what your saying but somedays I get full off of just getting my water intake in...you know that rule of drinking 8oz before every meal......thanks

marc8686

on the days where you do 1,000 calories in exercise or something crazy like that, you will probably have to sneak snacks in and maybe an extra meal.........try not to sit down and eat a 1900 calorie dinner lol. if you get within a few hundred calories of your day goal and youre just too full to wrap it up i wouldnt worry about it. its more of a rule of consistency and flexibility not an iron fist. being a few hundred calories short on one day isnt going to hurt you. being hundreds of calories short every day for weeks or months on end could hurt you. i have plenty of days where i dont get all the way to my 2300, but i know if i do it too much it can come back and bite me. as you get healthier and exercise more your appetite should start to go up. so regularly having 1,000 calorie-burn workouts should cause an increase in appetite.

Nefetete

Do I collect interest when calories are left in the bank?

:bigsmile: priceless

ahiddenlink

Thanks for the topic! I just want to make sure that I have this reasonably straight. I'm working more towards getting in shape then I am necessarily about losing weight, though I'm certainly trying to do that too. I have my caloric goals set at 1300 but I exercise 6 days a week with 3 being about an hour and 3 being closer to 2. My burn for the shorter days is close to 1000 where as my longer days are probably closer to 1600.

Especially on the bigger burn days I have a hard time eating to my calorie count, I get close, sometimes I get there and sometimes over (if bad food entices me). Should I be concerned about that, I'd be having a terribly hard time trying to feed myself almost 3000 calories without resorting to fast food. My lighters days/day off tend to let me hit the mark or go slightly over.

Is there anything I should be attempting to adjust? I've not been on a big decline, but it's moving in the right direction, though this week I added running so that's kind of kept me on a weight balance as my legs are definitely feeling the extra burn. Thanks!

deksgrl

1,300 calories is too low for a man. Unless you are very short and weigh about 130 pounds.

marc8686

Thanks for the topic! I just want to make sure that I have this reasonably straight. I'm working more towards getting in shape then I am necessarily about losing weight, though I'm certainly trying to do that too. I have my caloric goals set at 1300 but I exercise 6 days a week with 3 being about an hour and 3 being closer to 2. My burn for the shorter days is close to 1000 where as my longer days are probably closer to 1600.

Especially on the bigger burn days I have a hard time eating to my calorie count, I get close, sometimes I get there and sometimes over (if bad food entices me). Should I be concerned about that, I'd be having a terribly hard time trying to feed myself almost 3000 calories without resorting to fast food. My lighters days/day off tend to let me hit the mark or go slightly over.

Is there anything I should be attempting to adjust? I've not been on a big decline, but it's moving in the right direction, though this week I added running so that's kind of kept me on a weight balance as my legs are definitely feeling the extra burn. Thanks!

first, id have to question your 1300 calorie goal. this seems VERY low for most guys. posted in this thread somewhere is the equation to get your proper goal.
1) your lifestyle setting (sedentary, lightly active, etc) should be set to what your life is like without your exercise regimen.
2) you need to be hitting your caloric net goal for the day including food you eat AND exercise. so if your goal is 1500 and you do 1,000 calorie burn workout, thats now 2500 calories to eat. shouldnt be an issue if you start early in the day.

next, to keep it in perspective, 350 calories is a tenth of a pound.....so if you go over by 100 calories its literally less than a third of a tenth of a pound..........so no need to feel really bad about that. and i know how hard eating 3,000 calories a day can be, i only have to do a 700 calorie workout to need it, my goal is 2300 a day. the trick for me is to know in advance at the beginning of the day that its going to be a big day for exercise. this way i can start the trend to a big caloric intake early. a big breakfast a good sized snack and a large lunch usually can knock out a large amount of calories, plenty of snacks throughout the day, eating an early enough dinner allows time afterwards for a small snack before it gets too terribly late. and like ive said in previous posts, under-eating a few times here and there wont really hurt you, doing it consistently is what will catch up with you

ericaavin

This is a great thread, thank you!