Why You Shouldn’t Eat Back Exercise Calories

SarahofTwins

This is a continuous topic that everyone feels one way or another. I always say do what works for you in the healthy sense. Sometimes I eat most of them back, sometimes I don't. Either way its worked out.

2012asv

haven't read the article yet, i'm about to... but I used to eat back my exercise calories and while I was still losing it was SUPER slow. Since I have changed to not eating them back I've seen a lot of steady success.

i dunno, might just be me but I found what works for me.

PayneAS

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.

^ That

karenwill2

I totally agree. I never track my exercise. When I did, I stayed the same in weight.

LorinaLynn

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.

This. If you're doing it right, it shouldn't matter if you're going by MFP numbers with exercise calories, or going by your TDEE.

My first 20 months or so using this site, I used MFP numbers and ate most of my exercise calories. The past month, I've been eating about 10-15% below my estimated TDEE, and only logging my exercise to keep track of it and overriding the calorie burn to 1 calorie.

It works out about the same, except I eat the same amount every day instead of having a little less calories when I lift weights and a crapload on days I run and burn a lot more.

fit4lifeUcan2

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.

Exactly! Its whatever works for you. NOT eating back my exercise calories is what works for me.

possibri

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

Yeah, and his blanket statements surely work for everyone! Absolutely ridiculous...

fit4lifeUcan2

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.

Same for me and I agree!

newcs

This might've been said but it's also important to factor in that this is all based on estimates if you're using MFP or other web based calculators to determine your goals. Your calorie needs (BMR, TDEE, etc) are just an estimate based on certain stats (height/weight/age/etc) and not necessarily accurate. Same goes for exercise...unless you use a heart rate monitor with super high accuracy, there's a decent chance you're not using your actual calories burned in your calculations.

So for instance: most calculations I've done tell me that I should eat approx 1300-1400 calories/day (net or eating back exercise calories). I felt like I was going to pass out and upped it to 1670. I'm maintaining at slightly less than my goal weight (meaning I lost slightly more than I planned to) and I feel like I have enough fuel to get through my workouts without falling apart. The discrepancy could be that the calculators are estimating my BMR & TDEE too low, that my calorie burn calculations are off, etc.

BIG_Lew

Great info.....I always wondered about this. Thxs

JustJennie1

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

Yeah, and his blanket statements surely work for everyone! Absolutely ridiculous...

As do the blanket statements that other people post on here about what you *should* do because it worked for them.

escloflowneCHANGED

I don't "EAT" them back, I set my goal for the day to 400 calories above what MFP says and then I hit the gym and burn 400 calories, I never actually ate them back!

Wabbit05

I calculate my TDEE at a sedentary level without exercise and subtract a percentage, making sure it's not lower than my BMR and then eat back my exercise calories so it works the same.

DebbieLyn63

To me it depends on what you're doing. If you've used the TDEE method to determine your calorie needs and put in the correct level of exercise for yourself then those exercise calories are already accounted for. If you use BMR then that's a survival in a coma number and you need to add to it for activity.

If you're an professional athlete that spends huge amounts of calories daily on exercise then you'll probably need to eat those back. If you're the average person who puts in a couple hundred calories of exercise a day at most then you don't need those back if you're eating a healthy diet at your TDEE.

Another thing that keeps getting dragged up is that if you eat 1500 and exercise 300 then you've only gotten 1200 calories. Not true, your body got 1500 calories of nutrition and it will take what you need from that first. Exercise isn't working off the vitamins, minerals, etc that you ate. It's converting the food to fuel and when the fuel runs out it turns to fat or to muscle if you aren't eating enough for that fuel.

Most often the ones searching for exercise calories to eat back are those who least need to be doing it. People who are actually in tune with their body and nutritional needs will already have figured out what they need and not be logging walking to the corner in order to justify that extra piece of cake.

Give this one a medal please! Finally a voice of reason on the subject!

bufger

I dont eat them back because I added them to my daily calorie limit. I was at 1800 and exercising 3 days a week and now im at 2000 with the same 3 days a week. The difference has been the consistancy of weight loss (3lb per week) and the fact that 2000 calories never makes me feel like im hungry, i actually now struggle to balance all of those calories in!

bcattoes

I lost most of my weight before joining MFP or tracking anything, but since the change I made to lose weight was to begin exercising regularly without eating less than I lalready was, I guess I'd have to say that I eat at least some of them back. Or that I exercise some of what I ate off, which is pretty much the same thing.

But I don't wear a HRM or anything like that. I just eat when I'm hungry, try to stick to healthy foods most of the time and exercise daily and that keeps my weight down.

AngryDiet

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

This is what I do. I arrived at my personal TDEE by analysing a few months of MFP logs.

And then I reduced it by 500 kcal to get my ~1 lb a week deficit.

AmberJo1984

This is very interesting. I read an article one time about why a person isn't losing weight. It had several of the same points about eating back your exercise calories. The fact that it's easy to miscalculate exercise calories is the reason I never eat mine back. Don't get me wrong. I may go a little over (by a hundred or so calories); or, I may not even meet the total recommendation. Either way... I never eat back all my exercise calories (or even close to them). I do count exercise... but, I know it's not always accurate.

Plus... my doctor has me on 1500 calories a day. They never mentioned eating extra because I exercise. They just said to exercise AND eat 1500 calories a day. That's what I do. Or at least try to do.

sanvanhaaften

Bump! I'm very interested on the subject :flowerforyou:

DebbieLyn63

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.

This is a huge point. You are MAINTAINING your weight by eating back a PORTION of your calories. Apparently you are not burning as much as you think you are, or you would be losing if you aren't eating them ALL back.

For those who are trying to LOSE weight, then a calorie deficit is the only way to do that. Whether you have a lower goal and eat back calories, or a higher goal and not eat them back, or even a lower goal without eating them back (if you have a lower BMR/TDEE), you still need a 500 cal deficit per day average to lose 1 pound a week. Or a 1000 deficit per day for 2 pounds per week. However you create that deficit is your choice.

I could put my calorie goal at 900 per day and eat back my 300 exercise cals and it would still bring me to 1200. But since I don't exercise every day, I shoot for 1200 every day and don't intentionally eat back my calories. Note, that I am 49 yrs old and my BMR is only 1350.