Do I or don't I eat back exercise calories?

moosegt35

No - your maintenance caloric amount is calculated including your activity level. Thus, the deficit is calculated also considering it. If you eat them back you're eating more than you should be eating. The MFP calorie calculator seems to not consider exercise in the activity part, anyhow (another reason to not consider it) I won't use it, it undestimates a lot (1200kcal, the recommendation to me, is VERY low; I've seen a lot of people following this. Very, very few people needs to eat 1200kcal/day, it's actually the limit for a women to eat, under that is considered an unhealthy caloric amount). Any other decent calculator (better stick with Mifflin-St Jeor formula, thought to be the most accurate) will include exercise in your maintenance calories thus no, you should not be eating them back.

Btw another reason to not use the MFP calculator is that calculating the calories burned in exercise is very difficult even with heart rate monitors and such (which are very inaccurate) and it has been studied how people tend to overstimate the calories burned (as well as calories consumed) so I would stick to a generic formula and eat the same amount of calories everyday -this will help to create well founded habits, also- and see how it goes. I personally think is more accurate.

Why do people feel the need to give false info? Your deficit caloric intake on MFP is NOT based on your exercise level, it's based on how active you are thoughout the day WITHOUT exercise if you did it correctly. That is why when you add in exercise that it gives you more calories. Eating more calories than your goal is not the same as NETTING more calories than your goal.

Cyriatan

No - your maintenance caloric amount is calculated including your activity level. Thus, the deficit is calculated also considering it. If you eat them back you're eating more than you should be eating. The MFP calorie calculator seems to not consider exercise in the activity part, anyhow (another reason to not consider it) I won't use it, it undestimates a lot (1200kcal, the recommendation to me, is VERY low; I've seen a lot of people following this. Very, very few people needs to eat 1200kcal/day, it's actually the limit for a women to eat, under that is considered an unhealthy caloric amount). Any other decent calculator (better stick with Mifflin-St Jeor formula, thought to be the most accurate) will include exercise in your maintenance calories thus no, you should not be eating them back.

Btw another reason to not use the MFP calculator is that calculating the calories burned in exercise is very difficult even with heart rate monitors and such (which are very inaccurate) and it has been studied how people tend to overstimate the calories burned (as well as calories consumed) so I would stick to a generic formula and eat the same amount of calories everyday -this will help to create well founded habits, also- and see how it goes. I personally think is more accurate.

Why do people feel the need to give false info? Your deficit caloric intake on MFP is NOT based on your exercise level, it's based on how active you are thoughout the day WITHOUT exercise if you did it correctly. That is why when you add in exercise that it gives you more calories. Eating more calories than your goal is not the same as NETTING more calories than your goal.

It seems you read it too fast, I said: " The MFP calorie calculator seems to not consider exercise in the activity part", I'll repeat: NOT consider. I argued that (1) calculating calories burned from exercise is VERY hard thus personally I prefer, and recommend, using ANOTHER calculator which includes exercise in the activity factor. (2) I also said that, even is you took out exercise from the activity factor as the MFP's calculator does, it STILL understimates A LOT, very, very few people and under medical control has to eat 1200kcal day. Even if TOTALLY sedentary.

Before throwing fits be sure to READ.

moosegt35

No - your maintenance caloric amount is calculated including your activity level. Thus, the deficit is calculated also considering it. If you eat them back you're eating more than you should be eating. The MFP calorie calculator seems to not consider exercise in the activity part, anyhow (another reason to not consider it) I won't use it, it undestimates a lot (1200kcal, the recommendation to me, is VERY low; I've seen a lot of people following this. Very, very few people needs to eat 1200kcal/day, it's actually the limit for a women to eat, under that is considered an unhealthy caloric amount). Any other decent calculator (better stick with Mifflin-St Jeor formula, thought to be the most accurate) will include exercise in your maintenance calories thus no, you should not be eating them back.

Btw another reason to not use the MFP calculator is that calculating the calories burned in exercise is very difficult even with heart rate monitors and such (which are very inaccurate) and it has been studied how people tend to overstimate the calories burned (as well as calories consumed) so I would stick to a generic formula and eat the same amount of calories everyday -this will help to create well founded habits, also- and see how it goes. I personally think is more accurate.

Why do people feel the need to give false info? Your deficit caloric intake on MFP is NOT based on your exercise level, it's based on how active you are thoughout the day WITHOUT exercise if you did it correctly. That is why when you add in exercise that it gives you more calories. Eating more calories than your goal is not the same as NETTING more calories than your goal.

It seems you read it too fast, I said: " The MFP calorie calculator seems to not consider exercise in the activity part", I'll repeat: NOT consider. I argued that (1) calculating calories burned from exercise is VERY hard thus personally I prefer, and recommend, using ANOTHER calculator which includes exercise in the activity factor. (2) I also said that, even is you took out exercise from the activity factor as the MFP's calculator does, it STILL understimates A LOT, very, very few people and under medical control has to eat 1200kcal day. Even if TOTALLY sedentary.

Before throwing fits be sure to READ.

No - your maintenance caloric amount is calculated including your activity level. Thus, the deficit is calculated also considering it. If you eat them back you're eating more than you should be eating.


This is the part I was talking about. It isn't correct. If you eat back your exercise calories you are NOT netting more cals than you are supposed to be. I also think it would be stupid to use a calculator that goes ahead and factors in your exercise. What if you don't exercise the same amount of time each day, or don't exercise at all some days. Obvioulsy the OP IS using the MFP calculator in which case it is perfectly fine to eat back some exercise cals and still stay under their NET goal, which already has your deficit built in if you are set to a losing weight goal. I agree that it does overestimate cals burned for exercise so if I ever log mine I just subtract from the amount of time I actually worked out. For a 30 minute workout I usually log 20.

WendyTerry420

I dont eat them back as I find the mfp calculations to be abit generous with how many cals youve burnt, I go to a gym where each machine tells you how much youve burnt on each 10 mins on a rowing maching is 100 cals at the rate I go but mfp says its 300!! its a little misleading. even swimming, I went recently for a leisure swim with my son we were there for 4 hours and mfp said I have gained over 1000 cals that cant be right.

This is true. MFP calculations for burn are way off. I always use a heart rate monitor and go by those numbers. I simply create my own exercises in MFP and log them with the calories from my HRM.

They can't be too far off because the MFP numbers are the only thing I have ever used. I only have a moderate deficit (300-500 calories) and I am still consistently shedding the fat each week.

Sammyjo4486

If you are hungry EAT, if you are not DONT! Listen to your body, its smarter than the website.

^^^
This sometimes i eat back and maybe of the cals never all of them when I am hungry and other days I don't because my body just doesnt feel hungry and I have no desire to eat anything else. the weight is still coming off steady and I feel good. Make sure you eat lot of protien during the day though to make sure your muscles get what they need to keep them and repair them from the exercise.

soulfulsally

I've been tracking here for almost 2 weeks now and haven't lost a single pound. Not every day has been ideal, but better than how I used to eat. Confused, I decided to compare MFP's calorie burns for the activities I do. Some of them seem way off. Like, how does 10 minutes of determined walking only burn 13 more calories than gentle yoga? How does 10 minutes of stepping burn the most calories when I don't nearly work up as much a sweat as other activities? How does circuit training burn almost twice as many calories as dancing when both activities have me sweating up a storm?

I decided to reset my weight loss goal from 2 lbs a week to 1 lb to give me a reasonable calorie intake and will not be eating my exercise calories back anymore. MFP's calorie burns just seem too iffy, especially when I haven't lost any weight yet.

Stretching, hatha yoga Minutes: 10 Calories: 42

Walking, 3.0 mph, mod. pace, walking dog Minutes: 10 Calories: 55

Dancing, aerobic, ballet or modern, twist Minutes: 10 Calories: 80

Aerobics, general Minutes: 10 Calories: 108

Running (jogging), 5 mph (12 min mile) Minutes: 10 Calories: 133

Circuit training, general Minutes: 10 Calories: 133

Aerobics, step, with 6-8 inch step Minutes: 10 Calories: 141

MissTattoo

I've been tracking here for almost 2 weeks now and haven't lost a single pound. Not every day has been ideal, but better than how I used to eat. Confused, I decided to compare MFP's calorie burns for the activities I do. Some of them seem way off. Like, how does 10 minutes of determined walking only burn 13 more calories than gentle yoga? How does 10 minutes of stepping burn the most calories when I don't nearly work up as much a sweat as other activities? How does circuit training burn almost twice as many calories as dancing when both activities have me sweating up a storm?

I decided to reset my weight loss goal from 2 lbs a week to 1 lb to give me a reasonable calorie intake and will not be eating my exercise calories back anymore. MFP's calorie burns just seem too iffy, especially when I haven't lost any weight yet.

Stretching, hatha yoga Minutes: 10 Calories: 42

Walking, 3.0 mph, mod. pace, walking dog Minutes: 10 Calories: 55

Dancing, aerobic, ballet or modern, twist Minutes: 10 Calories: 80

Aerobics, general Minutes: 10 Calories: 108

Running (jogging), 5 mph (12 min mile) Minutes: 10 Calories: 133

Circuit training, general Minutes: 10 Calories: 133

Aerobics, step, with 6-8 inch step Minutes: 10 Calories: 141

It's been 2 weeks. This isn't the Biggest Loser where you will drop 20 pounds the first week.

olerolls

If you are hungry EAT, if you are not DONT! Listen to your body, its smarter than the website.

THIS PERSON SPEAKS SENSE x

Yes, BUT.

Many/most people are here because they really don't know how (yet) to listen to their bodies. Or they misinterpret what their bodies are saying. That's how they ended up overweight.

So while that's common sense advice, I think for people who are early in their weight loss journey and not accustomed to really paying attention to what their bodies are syaing, it's not that easy.

magj0y

I decided to reset my weight loss goal from 2 lbs a week to 1 lb to give me a reasonable calorie intake and will not be eating my exercise calories back anymore. MFP's calorie burns just seem too iffy, especially when I haven't lost any weight yet.

You're looking at losing over 100lbs so I decided to look at your food diary.
Many times you seem to be over your carb intake but always never enough protein. Eat more nutrient dense foods, you have a lot of calories to work with to make that happen. for example, instead of using iceburg lettuce, use dark leafy greens like romain.
skip over apples and pears and go for cantelope, oranges, strawberries and bananas.
You really do have a lot of calories to work with to make them fuller. Just be sure you eat a good 1st meal.

I think for you, it's more about quantity/quality of food and not the exercise part. Look at other websites and find one that has better numbers for your caloric needs

soulfulsally

It's been 2 weeks. This isn't the Biggest Loser where you will drop 20 pounds the first week.

No, I don't have delusions of getting Biggest Loser numbers. Just want to see a little something positive on the scale. I'd be really happy right about now to see a 1 lb loss.

soulfulsally

You're looking at losing over 100lbs so I decided to look at your food diary.
Many times you seem to be over your carb intake but always never enough protein. Eat more nutrient dense foods, you have a lot of calories to work with to make that happen. for example, instead of using iceburg lettuce, use dark leafy greens like romain.
skip over apples and pears and go for cantelope, oranges, strawberries and bananas.
You really do have a lot of calories to work with to make them fuller. Just be sure you eat a good 1st meal.

I think for you, it's more about quantity/quality of food and not the exercise part. Look at other websites and find one that has better numbers for your caloric needs

I am careful about which fruits and vegetables I choose. Reviewed my food diary and it looks like the hot cocoa and nuts need to vanish from my diet. Thanks for the feedback. You're right about eating a decent 1st meal. I notice that my eating is crappy later in the day on days I either skip breakfast or eat nutrient-poor foods early on.

acuratlsd

I eat pretty healthy myself and because of that. I eat very low calorie foods. I also exercise a lot. Being that I am very heavy. I don't have to exercise a lot to burn a lot of calories. The problem that I have is that because of all the low calorie foods. I start to get tired of eating LOL

Like today....
If you look at my Lunch... I was about to just pass out from all the food I ate. It took me around 45 min to eat all the food and I was still snacking on the carrots and the apple in the classroom just to finish.

I can eat very high calorie foods I just have to be careful about the saturated fats and sodium.