eating back exercise cals: yay or nay?

bexxxster

i'll eat some back if i'm hungry.. but say if i've had a day out with the kids and we've been walking for hours plus a workout so I burn a thousand or more then no. No point eating so much i'll make myself sick lol

psuLemon

If you want to lose fat, then either eat 50% of them (if MFP is accounting for them) or account for them if your lifestyle calculator. If you want to lose fat and muscle, do not eat them back and aim for an aggressive weight loss like 1-2 lbs a week and just burn as many calories as you can. Just an observation, do you realize that most of the really fit people in the thread alone suggest properly fueling your body, which for women is 1700-2000 calories and mean it's 2500+. Personally, i model myself after those who are fit and athletic and it's gotten me down less than 12% body fat. Also, look at the below link.. It has good info in it.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/729141-exercise-calories-to-eat-or-not-to-eat-results?hl=exercise+calories+psulemon&page=1#posts-10742097

twinkychops

I was always a no, don't eat them back before, but I found I was losing incredibly slowly for all the changes I had made and exercise that I was doing so I started eating back some over the last couple of weeks and now i am losing again! So I'd say if your hungry and getting plenty of exercise then eat back some

twinkychops

As long as you do not go below 1200 calorie net (calories eaten - calories burnt through exercise) then I think it is okay.

With the exercise I am doing I never seem to net more than 1000 so i have started eating back some of the exercise cals now

angelique_redhead

Almost never but rarely if I'm hungry.

gingerjen7

If you have your MFP profile set up correctly (Right activity level etc) and a realistic loss set for your target, then definitely eat those cals back.

That's a little misleading, though. If you set your activity level correctly to account for exercise, you shouldn't eat those calories back because they've already been accounted for. Logging your exercise would just be for recording purposes and shouldn't factor in.

This is incorrect. MFPdoes not account for your exercise calories *outside of normal daily activity*, hence why it *adds* the calories to your diary in the first place. Sure, you might lose weight faster if you don't eat them, but you're just setting yourself up to regain weight later on (like most people do) IMO.

If you set your activity level higher to account for exercise, then yes, MFP DOES account for your exercise calories. If you then turn around and log your exercise and eat back those calories, you're eating them twice.

kbfref

Eat them back or not, if you're consistent and the weight is coming off then all is good.

crazyellybean

Nay, for me atleast...but if you're still hungry, go for it.

^^

jacquelyn_erika

If you're hungry, eat them back. If you're not, leave 'em. I personally don't think it matters either way. I typically don't eat mine back, but if I'm hungry I'm all about it.

psuLemon

If you're hungry, eat them back. If you're not, leave 'em. I personally don't think it matters either way. I typically don't eat mine back, but if I'm hungry I'm all about it.

It actually does matter. If you don't eat enough calories, your body will catabolize your lean muscle mass. Less muscle means you need to lose a lot more weight to have a tight body. It's either you fuel your body with calories or it will fuel itself when the amino acids from your muscles.

SilverLotusGirl

I'm no expert on it, but I go by how I feel. If I'm hungry I'll have a few back, but if I only burn off 200 or so I do my best to leave them. If I burn about 500 and I'm hungry I'll have a few back but I try my best to leave them be.

Nerdy_Rose

Yay, all the way.

andreamelo1

nay

erinnstreeter

I've been eating mine. And I'm still losing.

debdelilah

Yay! Bad experience when not eating them back - loss of muscle, loss of endurance, didn't feel well.

JanaCanada

I eat mine back. I still lose weight, but more slowly than if I didn't eat them back. I'm OK with that. To each his/her own.

lrcross

I am middle of the road on this question.

I am more for eating enough cals than eating exercise cals back. For me, this is why: An example, if I am to eat 2000 cals a day, but three days a week I burn 1500 cal/day, I would be eating 3500 cals on those three days which would be a difficult feat.

Therefore, I'd rather add like 500 or so cals, or maybe not... It just depends.

My double-pennies.

bronnyd

type "eating back exercise cals" into search.

You'll get about a years worth of reads.

THIS! these threads with the same questions over and over pop up practically every day and i think - "does no one use the search function!?"

lrob100

I rarely eat my exercise calories back, unless I happen to be very hungry or a special occasion. I find MFP over-estimates how much each workout burns. When I tried for a time to eat back my exercise calories, I stopped losing. So 95% of the time, I eat very few or none at all of the exercise calories.

metacognition

I go by hunger and usually add back 100 calories with a general workout (so 1300 for the day), or more if I feel hungry and it was very challenging.

P05T5CRIPT

Usually no, but if I'm hungry I have no problem eating them back. Whatever works for you