Why You Shouldn’t Eat Back Exercise Calories

nadinab

I found this article very interesting. I normally eat back calories but after reading this http://ifitwasnteasy.tumblr.com/post/21174832957/why-you-shouldnt-eat-back-exercise-calories and comparing it to the past weightloss, I tend to agree with most points. How about you? What works for you?

xxbookwormbabexx

Interesting! I don't usually eat back my exercise calories simply because I would be too full haha.

ixap

please note that the author says:

My general level of exercise is already reflected in my choice of an activity level multiplier, so if I ate back my exercise calories I would be eating them twice!

so this author IS "eating back" her calories - she's just calculating the average number of exercise calories burned per day and adding them to her calorie goal rather than calculating the specific number burned on each separate day

you can do this on MFP by bumping up your activity level or manually changing your calorie goal settings.

Azdak

If anyone cares, these are some of my thoughts on the subject:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/why-i-don-t-count-exercise-calories-114873

snowfox1

bump

zaph0d

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

LisaLouisiana

I eat a VERY healthy high protein, high fiber diet and I do not eat my exercise calories back.

joehempel

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

And yet I still lose weight...how am I wrong?

HeatherPH

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

zaph0d

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

And yet I still lose weight...how am I wrong?

Oh you'll still lose weight. You're just obfuscating your calorie deficit. This may lead to stalling, poor performance, muscle loss. Or you might just lose weight faster. Roll the dice baby.

zaph0d

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

LOL. Yes, it's clear that Tony knows better how MFP works than MFP's developers and staff. :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work

RmYWarrioR

Well, Everyone is different. I eat back a portion of my workout calories to keep my body from eating itself. I want to lose FAT not MUSCLE. I find for me eating healthy and eating relatively healthy snacks with a few bad food choices tossed in here and there, I am maintaining around 185 pounds +/- 3 depending on the day of the week and how I am exercising. You can read all the articles you want but, until you experiment and find out the formula which works best for you .............................. one can never truly know what is right and wrong.

Mads1997

Unfortunately some people just don't get how MFP works. Follow MFP and eat your cals back or follow some other method and don't eat your exercise cals back. Whatever works for you is ok.

MikesterAZ

please note that the author says:

My general level of exercise is already reflected in my choice of an activity level multiplier, so if I ate back my exercise calories I would be eating them twice!

so this author IS "eating back" her calories - she's just calculating the average number of exercise calories burned per day and adding them to her calorie goal rather than calculating the specific number burned on each separate day

you can do this on MFP by bumping up your activity level or manually changing your calorie goal settings.

Very astute, and accurate!!

MikesterAZ

I don't think of it as "eating them back" I just go by what it says and stay above zero. I found a balance between exercise and food to where I don't feel hungry or deprived and it's working out to healthy weight loss so what else can you ask for? I mean if you want a stringent, structured plan you are going to need a trainer anyway. This site is basically amateurs helping amateurs with the occasionally bonus of having some pro's join in the fun. But they are also here for social networking-style encouragement, none of us are here to be health nazis (at least I hope not!!) so chill out and have fun with it. This isn't a diet boot camp it's a fitness website.

AbsoluteNG

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

LOL. Yes, it's clear that Tony knows better how MFP works than MFP's developers and staff. :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work

Tony is a registered dietitian. Does the MFP staff have any doctors or Dietitians on their staff other then the computer programmers that made the app for my smartphone?

krae84

please note that the author says:

My general level of exercise is already reflected in my choice of an activity level multiplier, so if I ate back my exercise calories I would be eating them twice!

so this author IS "eating back" her calories - she's just calculating the average number of exercise calories burned per day and adding them to her calorie goal rather than calculating the specific number burned on each separate day

you can do this on MFP by bumping up your activity level or manually changing your calorie goal settings.

I agree. I eat 1600 calories regarless of whether i exercise or not. if i know for sure that i cannot exercise i will hold back to 1500. i had been eating back all of my exercise calories in the past and lost for a while but soon my metabolism slowed down and i stopped losing all together. I think u need to decide what your basing your calorie intake on to determine whether to eat them back. I figured my 1600 cal based on the IN PLACE OF A ROAD MAP article. It's made a huge difference for me for the better.

ihateroses

Oh come on...its simple math!!!

If you ate 1200 (most people get this as a recommendation) , and burned 200 with exercise, you are only working with 1000 measly calories to get you through the day.

1000 calories a day is not healthy...for anyone...(and don't you dig on the internet to prove me wrong with a 1%-er case!)

birdieaz

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

LOL. Yes, it's clear that Tony knows better how MFP works than MFP's developers and staff. :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work

Tony is a registered dietitian. Does the MFP staff have any doctors or Dietitians on their staff other then the computer programmers that made the app for my smartphone?

I will never understand why people on this board cling so desperately to ultra low calories..no wonder 90% will gain all the weight back. It's unsustainable...yeah yeah I know...special snowflake and all that jazz....

Pimpmonkey

I don't think of it as "eating them back" I just go by what it says and stay above zero. I found a balance between exercise and food to where I don't feel hungry or deprived and it's working out to healthy weight loss so what else can you ask for? I mean if you want a stringent, structured plan you are going to need a trainer anyway. This site is basically amateurs helping amateurs with the occasionally bonus of having some pro's join in the fun. But they are also here for social networking-style encouragement, none of us are here to be health nazis (at least I hope not!!) so chill out and have fun with it. This isn't a diet boot camp it's a fitness website.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

AbsoluteNG

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

LOL. Yes, it's clear that Tony knows better how MFP works than MFP's developers and staff. :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work

Tony is a registered dietitian. Does the MFP staff have any doctors or Dietitians on their staff other then the computer programmers that made the app for my smartphone?

I will never understand why people on this board cling so desperately to ultra low calories..no wonder 90% will gain all the weight back. It's unsustainable...yeah yeah I know...special snowflake and all that jazz....

This topic has nothing to do with VLCD. It's about eating back exercise calories... L2R

PinkHurricane88

Wow, I had a similar question about exercise calories and this is obviously quite a huge debate. It's good to see everyone's thoughts, I really thought the art of losing weight, becoming healthy and fit just came down to a simple science.

zaph0d

a) this is a blog post on someone's tumblr, not an article

b) they are describing a tdee-based approach to calorie deficits which is a perfectly good approach (and in fact the one i follow)

But comparing this to MFP is sort of apples and oranges. The MFP calorie target is not TDEE; it's an estimate of daily activity sans exercise; therefore when following the MFP calorie target, one SHOULD eat back the exercise calories.

So, pick one - Eat a flat TDEE sans deficit; or Eat the MFP target + exercise calories. You don't mix and match both.

If you go by the MFP number and don't "eat back exercise calories", then you're doing it wrong.

Well, according to this dude (who's a registered dietician and PT), you're wrong:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/755899-registered-dietitian-in-tx-here-to-answer-questions

Tony specifically recommends that people go by their MFP limits AND not each back their exercise calories (individual cases permitting).

LOL. Yes, it's clear that Tony knows better how MFP works than MFP's developers and staff. :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work

Tony is a registered dietitian. Does the MFP staff have any doctors or Dietitians on their staff other then the computer programmers that made the app for my smartphone?

Actually you are misinterpreting Tony's post. Like most dietitians, he includes exercise in the calculation (the TDEE based approach I mention above). Here is a quote from his thread.

You don't have to be a mathematician, dietitian, or computer programmer to have some logical reasoning skills and reading comprehension. Open your mind and get a clue.

I don't recommend that my clients "eat back" calories from exercise because I use them in my estimations when I write their calorie prescription.

In my opinion MFP can overestimate calories burned from exercise.

My practical advice is that if you're able to function without eating back the extra calories, you don't feel worn down, or deprived, having a larger caloric deficit will just help you lose weight faster. If you're eating back calories and still losing weight at the rate you're happy with, then keep on eating them. If you're not losing weight, it could be a good place to start.

Hope that helps.

Yogi_Carl

I find some days if I cycle to work and back (which I dont get to do every day) and then go on to do an hour of cardio at home or weight training I can end up with 1000 or so calories to "eat back". If I do this, my body simply can't process that amount of calorie increase and so it will end up as fat and not processed to heal and build.

For this reason I tend to eat about half of my workout calories back.

It would probably serve me better to make sure I stick to my weekly workout routines and just up my MFP dailiy calories threshold by one level - that way, instead of one day demanding 1000 calories more than the day before or after, my exercise calories would be shared across the week which is more in line with how a body heals and develops itself surely?

Does a body need the exercise calories actually on the day you do the exercise or during the following 24 hours (shared across the day of exercise and the recovery day)? I think it is likely to be the latter as the body takes a day or so to carb back up or repair muscle mass.

jenlipe

I almost always eat back my exercise burned calories. But then again, I work out so I can have my Tuesday night family dinner, Wednesday night Old Chicago nachos, Thursday night Twin Peaks burgers and get a little crazy on the weekends (love beer and olives). Somewhere along the line of working out for necessity (to not give up the foods I love) I found out I love to work out. So very, very rarely skip a day even if it is a great eating day. Those days I tend to not eat back some of those calories.

I keep my breakfast, snacks and lunches healthy. Just not so great in the evenings.

kiachu

Here we go again...

Azdak

I find some days if I cycle to work and back (which I dont get to do every day) and then go on to do an hour of cardio at home or weight training I can end up with 1000 or so calories to "eat back". If I do this, my body simply can't process that amount of calorie increase and so it will end up as fat and not processed to heal and build.

For this reason I tend to eat about half of my workout calories back.

It would probably serve me better to make sure I stick to my weekly workout routines and just up my MFP dailiy calories threshold by one level - that way, instead of one day demanding 1000 calories more than the day before or after, my exercise calories would be shared across the week which is more in line with how a body heals and develops itself surely?

Does a body need the exercise calories actually on the day you do the exercise or during the following 24 hours (shared across the day of exercise and the recovery day)? I think it is likely to be the latter as the body takes a day or so to carb back up or repair muscle mass.

I find that it is better to "feed the workout" rather than stick to a fixed rule like "eat back your calories". In other words, eat what you need to replenish your fuel stores so that you can maintain your workout program.

There are different strategies that are appropriate at different stages of the journey. Someone who is 35+% body fat can sustain 1000+/day calorie deficits without any problem--if they are eating enough protein and doing resistance exercise. However, by the time that person got down to say 20%-22% BF, that strategy would likely be counterproductive.

I think two common mistakes that people make are: rushing to the "1200 calorie" limit thinking it will speed up weight loss, or being overly concerned about "starvation mode" and so they eat back too much.

sleepytexan

You can lose any way you wish. Losing is not success. Keeping it off is success. The point being that bc your body is losing at 1200 (or whatever, maybe even fewer) net calories, your body MUST slow down some in order to keep you alive. What do you think will happen when (if) you get to goal? Will you say, "ah, this is awesome, I'm gonna keep eating 900 net calories forever!" OK. you can do that if you like. Let us know how that works for you.

I'll still be happily eating my 2000-ish cals per day at 5'4 without gaining and you'll still be mystified.

WendyTerry420

It depends on the method you choose for setting your daily calorie goal. There is no right/wrong way to do it.

Dawnymaries

Oh come on...its simple math!!!

If you ate 1200 (most people get this as a recommendation) , and burned 200 with exercise, you are only working with 1000 measly calories to get you through the day.

1000 calories a day is not healthy...for anyone...(and don't you dig on the internet to prove me wrong with a 1%-er case!)

This makes the most sense to me.

xtrout

If I eat back my exercise calories on MFP, I gain weight. If I am lucky, I plateau. If I I don't eat back my exercise calories I lose weight. May not be true for everyone, but it is for me. Needless to say, you may have to play around with each scenario to find out what is optimum for you. Don't let anyone tell you that one way is better than the other.