Do you eat back your exercise calories?

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  • funkkygirl
    funkkygirl Posts: 6
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    I don't get the system thing. Some times I get minus numbers.. Does that mean I went over my calories? I tend to over eat sometimes.
  • MFPBONNIE
    MFPBONNIE Posts: 94 Member
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    At 63 I really dont think I'll ever get the body composition I want!
  • kareinlib
    kareinlib Posts: 98
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    I don't get the system thing. Some times I get minus numbers.. Does that mean I went over?

    Yep, if you get negative, red numbers, that means you overshot your calorie goal by that amount.
  • Sheilav330
    Sheilav330 Posts: 57
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    no i don't and it's worked for me
  • kellygirl5538
    kellygirl5538 Posts: 597 Member
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    I have lost weight two different time in my life...this time I am not eating my calories back!
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    I ignore exercise calories so the exercise log is just to track time spent exercising for me. Exercise calories are highly over rated. You can't exercise away eating too much food. I learned this the hard way most of my life running marathon after marathon (and lifting) and not being able to lose weight and in fact continued to gain year after year. And I don't pig out, binge, snack mindlessly, eat out of boredom, etc, but the portion sizes are too big for a small person like me. (Well I wasn't small when I weighed over 170 lbs at 51'0"!)

    Anyway I found what worked for me was separating out the two things:

    Eat less to lose weight
    Exercise to maintain or build lean body mass
    end of story.

    I found just ignoring all the complicated stuff everyone throws at us is the key. Day in and day out focus on two things. Eat lless, move more, stay within calorie budget (either weekly or daily). You can eat low one day and high the next, whatever you want. Well, it did work for me. I am the fittest, leanest, strongest, and most muscular I've ever been in my life at age 51 and I'm healthy and don't get sick and have long endurance.

    If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for women over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I am a living breathing example of that. I went from obese to now under 12% BF and I've maintained for one year and built muscle the whole time. You don't BUILD muscle in starvation mode, so I proved everyone wrong.
  • kareinlib
    kareinlib Posts: 98
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    Ohh, thank you very much to those that mentioned that MFP already calculates in the deficit, because that wasn't something I'd thought about.
  • MFPBONNIE
    MFPBONNIE Posts: 94 Member
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    californiagirl - yes you make a lot of sense. its so simple that way
  • jpenson
    jpenson Posts: 4
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    Well, I do eat my calories allowance (1,200) and even when i go hiking and to the gym... i just eat 1,200. If, and only IF I feel hungry...then I might eat some more...but never eat all of them back. Otherwise, I feel like I just wasted my time doing my workout.
    So far, so good... I been losing pounds and not gaining anything back.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I love this post every time it comes around - everyone gives opinion but no facts lol Sorry I'm tired and gurmpy because I need to go to bed but really have a read of this instead of peoples opinion, a lot of which is based on wishful thinking whereas our bodies work on the laws of physics and biochemistry. A shame but true. (If I was the other way it would be great, I do have a small tummy, I do have a big.... err 6 pack)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • Perfectdiamonds1
    Perfectdiamonds1 Posts: 347 Member
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    No,I dont eat mine back. But if I'm hungry I will eat maybe half but generally no I do not
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    I don't, not because I don't want to, but because it's so flipping hard for me to eat THAT MUCH good food. I'm trying to eat very clean food with very specific macro splits, and it's just too hard to do it. I have tried and ended up feeling disgusting. I say see what works for you; listen to your body and be willing to try different approaches till something clicks.
  • LaloFitness
    LaloFitness Posts: 4
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    I know for me personally, I can get lost in a plethora of advice and so whenever possible I try to "simplify and personalize".

    So for my two cents...

    With confidence in sound nutritional and exercise basics and already diligently tracking my progress on MFP, I listen to a combination of my scale, tape measure, mirror, the fit of my clothes, and how I feel. And then I make adjustments as needed, up or down. And if I do eat them back, I make sure to consider the macro-nutrient ratio and timing.

    This is my best non-answer answer.

    :embarassed:
  • ExcelWithMel
    ExcelWithMel Posts: 192 Member
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    I do - but not because they're there. Because I'm hungry. I also realized I burn X number of calories just sitting around, so when I use my HRM and log activity, it's not really 200 calories burned, its more like 125 since I would have burned 75 just watching TV. Because of that, I reduced my daily target calorie intake by 200 daily for that buffer and it evens out without me doing math every day.
  • WestCoastPhoenix
    WestCoastPhoenix Posts: 802 Member
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    I have always ate them back...period. Most people that don't, do not understand that MFP has a deficit already built in....or some say they tried and it "doesn't work", ie they gain. Key is...you should be weighing/measuring your food accurately and wearing a HRM to accurately track your burns if you are going to eat them back, otherwise you're just guessing at everything.
  • WestCoastPhoenix
    WestCoastPhoenix Posts: 802 Member
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    I don't, not because I don't want to, but because it's so flipping hard for me to eat THAT MUCH good food. I'm trying to eat very clean food with very specific macro splits, and it's just too hard to do it. I have tried and ended up feeling disgusting. I say see what works for you; listen to your body and be willing to try different approaches till something clicks.

    Clean eating is 100% not required for weight loss.
  • waronmyfat
    waronmyfat Posts: 322 Member
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    i never eat back my calories.... im losing weight fine and building lean muscle.... I eat 1200 calories a day but with my supplements it pushes me up to 1500 ish but thats what I'm staying at I find this is working great for me:) If and when I hit a plateau then I will change it up and get it to move again
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
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    Yup always have and always will. When I was eating 1200 calories I didn't lose a single pound. When I upped my calories AND ate back my exercise the weight started coming right off!!! I work hard so I can eat so yes I eat back my calories ;)
  • cls_333
    cls_333 Posts: 206 Member
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    Don't listen to anyone that eats under 1200 calories a day net (unless they're an unusually small 80 or 90 lb adult & look healthy). I eat every single one back, and you should too!
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Yup always have and always will. When I was eating 1200 calories I didn't lose a single pound. When I upped my calories AND ate back my exercise the weight started coming right off!!! I work hard so I can eat so yes I eat back my calories ;)

    I can't tick a like button so <LIKE>

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