Do you eat back your exercise calories?

kareinlib

I made a post about net calories a while ago, but now I'm just wondering - do you eat back your exercise calories?

My calorie goal is 1200 a day, and I eat that, but when I exercise every day my net calories are somewhere between 800 and 900 calories. I'm worrying this is too little and that I need to eat them back.

I've found two sorts of people on this site and they're split down the middle - those who eat back their exercise calories and say that they hit a plateau when they didn't, and those who have had great weight loss results not eating them back and never hit a plateau.

I really don't want to end up having to get myself out of a plateau!

I guess everyone's body is just different, but I figured I'd do this as somewhat of a poll so I could get as many opinions as possible on making my decision to eat back those calories or not.

morenaguapa

I don't and I won't. I read all the posts and everything but I don't excercise that hard to just eat more. Besides, I'm not even sure that my activity level is correct--the description is very vague.

laurielegg

For me, it vairies. I have gotten to a point that I try to only eat them if I am truly hungry. Why eat if you are not hungry? If you are hungry, you should eat even if it puts you a little over your daily goal of intake. Our bodies can go into starvation mode if it feels as though it isn't getting enough calories. However, ever person is different and you need to take the time to observe and "listen" to what yours is telling you :-) I think it is extremely helpful to log everything that goes into your mouth esp in the beginning so you can see how things affect you. Some people can consume high carbs while others have to have fewer carbs even when they are eating the same caloric intake... If you do hit a plateau you can go back to your log and note if there have been any dietary changes that you may not have noticed otherwise.

kareinlib

I don't and I won't. I read all the posts and everything but I don't excercise that hard to just eat more. Besides, I'm not even sure that my activity level is correct--the description is very vague.

That's how I see it! It worries me to see a lot of people eating back their exercise calories because it makes me feel like my exercise is going to waste.

Jenvan78

I say do what works for you. My cals remaining is over 900 and I will eat more because I think that is too much of a deficit...I worked out this morning and may even do more tonight.

wellbert

No. And I won't, until I see some scientific research/study done that proves it. (IE: Two people ate at a 500 calorie deficit from baseline, one did exercise + ate an additional 500 calories, the other did no exercise, and ate no calories.) *

Whoever responds with 'thermodynamics' gets a slap.


*I'll eat my exercise calories when I want to gain weight/strength/athletic ability.

AmyBoogie

I eat some back but I'm not likely to eat them all.

Calorie burn is a little too complicated for pat calculations that we have here on MFP. It all matters what you weigh and your gender as well as the exercise you did. If you had a heart rate monitor, it would be more accurate and then you would know for sure.

sleepytexan

I eat them all; sometimes I go over in a day; sometimes a bit under, but I try to reconcile within 24-48 hours bc that's what works best for my energy level.

I exercise a lot, because my job is teaching dance and fitness (specifically, spin). I teach about 20 hours a week, and outside of that, I also go road cycling, paddleboarding, and I enjoy lifting heavy objects and putting them back down

I eat A LOT of calories, and I burn a lot of calories.

Anyway, here's an old post of mine which may interest you:

---

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

MassiveDelta

No because I eat at TDEE level or slightly below... I dont eat at a deficit. I do this because Im tricking myself mentally into eating back my exercise calories.

2hobbit1

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

If you follow the road-map your deficit and your exercise id built in. You only have to worry about you calorie target and ignore the net. Your net will vary depending on whether it is a workout day or a rest day. This way your deficit never gets too large so you tend to get fewer plateaus.

morenaguapa

No one is talking about consuming 700 calories. I am talking about eating the goal calories-not starving myself.

megsmom2

I eat all or most of them back. Its how this program is designed to work, its healthy, its practical, and it gives me lots of leeway of what I want to eat.....and I'm losing weight doing it. Why WOULDNT I do it?

Rawr1978

I eat them, but only because I get way too hungry. This is only day 3 of my diet, i went from eating a LOT, to sticking to 1200/day. It's an adjustment, and it'll take a few days. I did go for an extra walk so i can have a snack in a bit.
Otherwise, once a couple more days pass and im out of junk cravings, i wont be eating my exercise calories. It just does not work for me.

sleepytexan

No one is talking about consuming 700 calories. I am talking about eating the goal calories-not starving myself.

If you eat 1200 and exercise 500, you consume 700 calories, net. If you eat 2000 calories and exercise 1300, you are netting 700. People may not realize they're doing it.

I had a period of a few years where I was netting fewer than 500 calories a day; sometimes even negative calories. I didn't realize it at the time bc I did not count calories or exercise then.

ObtainingBalance

Net at 900 or 800 is pretty low. How hungry are you at that net?

Sometimes MFP overestimates or underestimates exercise. It can't be 100% accurate because we don't know your heart rate during the activity.

So a net of 900 could really be 1,000. Or 800 could really be 700.

Listen to hunger some, eat a clean and filling diet... drink a lot of water. And aim for a minimal net of 1,000.

Some people eat back half their exercise calories, if you do heavy workouts I recomend eating atleast some.

I used to get to nets of 400 while eating around 1,300 - 1,400 that day... I was starving at the end of the day, and I had no clue I was supposed to eat them back. I thought I had to create my own deficit. Reality : MFP already calculated your deficit. Keep your net around the goal they gave you, or a little lower. But don't go under 1,000 for nets.

Good luck. You got this!

Sidenote: If you aren't highly overweight or obese, 1lb loss per week is pretty reasonable.

MFPBONNIE

The only time I eat back my calories is when I want something good and bad. If I eat 1200 calories and burn 300, and want two big cookies thats 300 calories, I just tell myself I'm eating back those calories. But basically no I will not purposely eat back those calories I worked so hard to burn. I've never done it in my life except when I joined this site, and I gained 7 pounds. Not saying that will happen, MY body just did that cause that doesnt work for ME.

LorinaLynn

I always did. Well, now I'm not, because I'm including my exercise into my calorie goal, but either way, I'm eating 1800-2000 calories a day.

You'll lose weight eating just 1200. But you probably won't get the body composition you like that way.

davert123

I read this post every other week (I started to look here for the same answer a few monrhs ago). This is what the guys at MFP say. After researching it they are going with the vast majority of scientiic research so you should listen to them -)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Takarameri

I have my calorie goal set to around my BMR (using a calculation that includes body fat percentage) and use a HRM to manually enter my exercise calories so that I can eat them back. I want to lose the weight but I also don't want to damage my metabolism by eating less than what my body *needs* to run.

springseternal

I have days when I don't eat any back, and days when I eat them all. On average, I found that eating back about half works best for me. It keeps me from getting too hungry or feel deprived.

MFPBONNIE

Not many people are familiar with TDEE, I just heard about it from a MFP friend a few weeks ago.