eating back exercise cals: yay or nay?

tryclyn

I don't log exercise because I've manually set my goal to somewhere between my BMR AND TDEE. I'm not in a rush and work to eat close to my goal weight maintenance now instead of having to increase much when I get there.

For a better explanation

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

maryannmiclat

Listen to your body. If you're hungry then eat! Personally, I don't eat back my calories. I may eat 100-300 back on some days, but if I did each day I'd be eating close to a total of 3,000 calories a day and I don't want to do that. Also, what's worked for me is keeping at my normal daily intake and when I decide to have a cheat at the end of the week I don't feel guilty about it because I'm under like 5,000+ calories for the whole week so in a sense it's making up for it?

rvicini

To me, it's not a matter of all or none, I personally need 100 cals off my daily diet to be OK. I just eat that back and no more. I do not trust completely the MFP's exercise calories so I eat less. Besides, if you really look into it, you could not probably need any more.

lauren3101

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

xSakura

There's nothing wrong with eating your exercise calories, but I still can't bring myself to do it lol

Cait_Sidhe

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

That website is no longer relevant, just FYI.

LMick1986

I read something recently that explained it for me. If you are at the baseline of 1200 calories a day, yes...eat them back. You don't want to ever net below 1200. That starves the muscles...which is counterproductive to the whole health journey. Of course you will lose weight either way...and obviously probably quicker if you aren't eating them back. But remember, it's not all about the weight loss. It's about doing it in a healthy way. You don't want to lose a ton of muscle in the process of losing weight.
If you are in a higher calorie range, do not eat them back.....you don't get allotted 1800 calories, burning 200, then eating ultimately 2000 calories.

chigsy

ive only ever done it once had about 60 cal into them dont think its a bad think every once in a while but dont have them all xx

MadelineTaylah

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

ekz13

...

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.