Why You Shouldn’t Eat Back Exercise Calories

WendyTerry420

NEVER eat bananas.

Why would you not want to eat a little load of vitamins and minerals? I don't even like the things, but I eat them because they're such excellent little all natural vitamin pills.

I think of bananas as sugar sticks.

Sugar sticks actually taste better, but unfortunately, they are missing the nutrition found in bananas.


Yummy!

agthorn

I work out late at night, so for me it is almost impossible to eat my calories back!I would also feel too full.

Prelog an estimate of your exercise and spread them out throughout the day. Or focus on the weekly number rather than the daily number (this is what I am currently doing). So you can have a lower day earlier in the week and a higher day on the weekend, and your weekly deficit still works out the same.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

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.

Quoting for truth

rocket_ace

so what are you supposed to do then? I never eat them back but I think that probably leaves me low....do just eat more each day on expectation of exercise?

WendyTerry420

My TDEE without exercise is around 1600. I am still 50 pounds overweight, so I choose to have a deficit of around 750 to lose 1.5 pounds per week. This is a widely acceptable loss rate for someone my size. Since MFP won't recommend a base calorie level any lower than 1200, that only gives me a calorie deficit of 400 calories per day, if I were to eat back my exercise calories.
Sorry, but with 50 pounds left to go, I need to lose more than 8/10 of a pound each week.

If your deficit is only 750, and you have 50 pounds or more to lose, then your deficit is not too high. With such a low TDEE, then you need your exercise to increase your deficit, like you said. For some people they have a much higher TDEE and are eating 1200 *PLUS* burning 500-1000 calories with excessive exercise. These are the ones that will face the problems associated with a high deficit. Based on your numbers, you're doing just fine. :flowerforyou:

THANK YOU! You are the first person to actually read my posts about my numbers and agree that it is appropriate for me. Of course it is not appropriate for everyone, but it works for me. We all just need to use some common sense and have realistic expectations and goals as we are figuring out what is best for our bodies. Severe calorie deficits combined with obsessive over-exercising can certainly be unhealthy, at any size.
BTW Congratulations on reaching 50 lbs lost! Your hard work is paying off.

LOL! I have always been pretty good at reading and math, got "A's" in school, dontchaknow? :laugh:

Yes, it's all about the energy deficit. Some people achieve it in different ways, just so long as it's there, and not too high.

rybo

It's all a matter of accounting.

Person A eats 2000 calories a day, and wants to lose weight so they start exercising. They keep eating 2000 calories per day & exercise off 300 calories but don't eat those calories back. They consume 1700 net calories.

Person B eats 2000 calories a day, and wants to lose weight so they start exercising. They cut thier base food intake to 1700 calories per day, exercise off 300 more calories, but eat back those 300 calories. They consume 1700 net calories.

Person C eats 2000 calories per day & wants to lose weight but hates to exercise. They cut thier calories to 1700 per day. They consume 1700 net calories.

3 different ways to look at it, all end up at the same net calories.

maddieprice87

I eat my exercise calories/ save them so I can have a life. This isn't about losing weight as quickly as possible for me, it's about a maintainable lifestyle change and personally I don't think I would stick to it if I was working my butt off exercising and then denying myself treats for having done so. I exercise so that I can be naughty some days without feeling like I've screwed my diet up, 'earning' the calories motivates me to exercise.

Each to their own though, there are arguments for both ways and at the end of the day if you're healthy then who gives a crap what other people say!

LPCoder

I have my account set for sedentary and I log everything. When I first started on MFP, I knew next to nothing about how my body reacted to certain foods, and how it reacted to exercise. I set it to sedentary so I could log all my exercise. I also found that by logging my exercise, I tended to be more faithful in doing it. I learned so much about myself. I also learned that I don't have to eat back my exercise if I am not hungry, and I can eat them back if I do have hunger. WOW! Revolutionary! Eat when hungry! I still see great results and I don't worry if I am eating back my calories or not. My body is the best indicator of when I need to eat.

So to those of you who debate on whether to eat calories back or not, I say, pay attention to your body, provide it healthy food choices and do enough exercise to promote overall health.

Each person has different goals, not all are to lose weight... (some are here to track their sodium, or to manage diabetes, or to improve athletic performance, or to manage food allergies) and each person has different approaches to that goal. I don't think there is one way to do something, especially something as complicated as getting healthy.

Ladyiianae

I really liked reading what she wrote and can totally see myself in some of those lines

Ladyiianae

It's all a matter of accounting.

Person A eats 2000 calories a day, and wants to lose weight so they start exercising. They keep eating 2000 calories per day & exercise off 300 calories but don't eat those calories back. They consume 1700 net calories.

Person B eats 2000 calories a day, and wants to lose weight so they start exercising. They cut thier base food intake to 1700 calories per day, exercise off 300 more calories, but eat back those 300 calories. They consume 1700 net calories.

Person C eats 2000 calories per day & wants to lose weight but hates to exercise. They cut thier calories to 1700 per day. They consume 1700 net calories.

3 different ways to look at it, all end up at the same net calories.

This...pick your poison...the end result is the same

frando

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.

I agree ^^

marsellient

I didn't read through the whole thread because its been repeated so many times and usually ends in a "starvation mode" debate. It reminds me of the classmates I had in University who didn't want to take courses in the prescribed order. They eventually ended up without something they needed to graduate even though all along they thought they had a better way to get through.
As the first posters said, MFP is set up to allow you to use those exercise calories. If you chose to set it up some other way, then do so by all means, but don't try to convince those of us who are going along with the way the site is designed not to just go with the program as it is, especially as it seems to work for a lot of people, including me. I've read through a lot of threads on TDEE, etc., and have run the numbers, but right now prefer to follow the KISS principle and honestly log everything.
Cheers.

frando

I didn't read through the whole thread because its been repeated so many times and usually ends in a "starvation mode" debate. It reminds me of the classmates I had in University who didn't want to take courses in the prescribed order. They eventually ended up without something they needed to graduate even though all along they thought they had a better way to get through.
As the first posters said, MFP is set up to allow you to use those exercise calories. If you chose to set it up some other way, then do so by all means, but don't try to convince those of us who are going along with the way the site is designed not to just go with the program as it is, especially as it seems to work for a lot of people, including me. I've read through a lot of threads on TDEE, etc., and have run the numbers, but right now prefer to follow the KISS principle and honestly log everything.
Cheers.

I also like this person

HyacintheAlcuin

I agree

HyacintheAlcuin

this guy is right ... the banana hater is just ill informed

pjrbs

Bump to read later.