Question about eating back calories...

shquig

So...we're supposed to eat back exercise calories (depending on your program). However, I'm wondering if I really should eat them ALL back. If we burn calories when we're not exercising shouldn't we subtract those calories from our exercise calories? For example, if I exercise for an hour and burn 200 calories and I would normally burn 50 calories/hour (average) not exercising, wouldn't I only want to eat back 150?

Somehow this popped into my head while on the treadmill today. Any thoughts?

alpine1994

Yeah I agree that's it counter-intuitive and tricky. I just spent a lot of time experimenting to see what works best for me. Turns out that I am happy and losing with 1400 cals during the week whether I exercise or not. On the weekends I let myself be more relaxed and sometimes I don't even count calories, but I'm mindful. I exercise 5-6 days per week for 30 min to an hour. You just gotta find your magic formula.

omma_to_3

It depends on where you get your calorie burn from, and if your BMR is included in that. With an HRM, that does include your BMR, so I subtract mine out. Others will say it's all estimates, so it doesn't really matter...but I prefer my estimates to be as accurate as they can be.

I eat back all my exercise calories. Almost every single time. I strive to NET 1200 calories so on workout days (typically 5 days a week), I'll eat anywhere from 1500 to 2100 calories to net my 1200.

litatura

I don't eat them back because I'm never sure exactly how many calories I'm eating and burning (there's always such a margin of error). So, for me, I just see exercise as an added bonus, not an opportunity to eat more. However, I don't work out like crazy and I eat enough to make sure that I'm not hungry and/or feeling lethargic.

RunnerInVT

Im with Litatura. Some days I need to eat more so I do with the weekly exercise in mind so im not beating myself up about going over.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I think you're really overthinking it. Yes, you're "double counting" but I don't know anyone who tries to figure out their EPOC ("afterburn") so I figure that it balances out.

bgelliott

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

zaph0d

just how precise and accurate do you think your calorie counting is....

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

cwolfman13

I usually eat back 75%-90% of my exercise calories back and that has been working for me and kept me on track for my goals thus far. I think you just have to play with it and do what works.

bgelliott

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

I don't believe this to be excessive at all. It works fantastic for me and I've yet to experience any issues with it. As a matter of fact, it's when I get the greatest results and so do our clients. The problem I see is that lots of people don't track calories in and calories out accurately and they experience lots of frustration due to lack of results. People judge the amount they burn based on what machines tell them which is completely inaccurate and so they eat more than they should thinking they are burning more than they really are.

Stella2070

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

Agree totally. I think the key here is where you are at: how much weight you have to lose and how quick you want to lose it. When I was eating my calories back, it was more like I was on a maintenance plan than on a weight lose plan. Didn't lose that much (half pound a week, maybe, and that not a lot considering I had 60 to lose) but didn't gain either. When I stopped eating my calories back, the weight starting coming off and then I added resistance training and started seeing definition- still not where I want to be, but closer to needing a maintenance plan than a weight loss one!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

I don't believe this to be excessive at all. It works fantastic for me and I've yet to experience any issues with it. As a matter of fact, it's when I get the greatest results and so do our clients. The problem I see is that lots of people don't track calories in and calories out accurately and they experience lots of frustration due to lack of results. People judge the amount they burn based on what machines tell them which is completely inaccurate and so they eat more than they should thinking they are burning more than they really are.

Okay, keep at it then. I know from experience and thorough research that this just isn't how the human body works. Best of luck to you and your clients.

Brendajo510

I understand what you are saying but I think that there are factors not being considered. For example, the nutritional information we read is approximate and unless you weigh your food, it is not very accurate. Plus different foods digest differently. Or if you workout, you create muscles that need to feed even when you are doing nothing to maintain. However, if you do nothing then you do not create these muscles that need nutrition. Then the more muscle you have, the more nutrition you need to feed them.

But when we get into these nitty gritty details, we are nickel and diming ourselves away from a healthy eating habit all the way into an obsessive life-consuming diet. I'd say workout and see if eating back your calories works for you. Try the scale and measurements if you are worried about your progress. Again, find what works for you as what works for me may not work for you.

bgelliott

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

I don't believe this to be excessive at all. It works fantastic for me and I've yet to experience any issues with it. As a matter of fact, it's when I get the greatest results and so do our clients. The problem I see is that lots of people don't track calories in and calories out accurately and they experience lots of frustration due to lack of results. People judge the amount they burn based on what machines tell them which is completely inaccurate and so they eat more than they should thinking they are burning more than they really are.

Okay, keep at it then. I know from experience and thorough research that this just isn't how the human body works. Best of luck to you and your clients.

I must admit, it bothers me that in your last statement you are insinuating that I do not have experience and do not do research. I've done extensive research on this topic from all aspects and have years of experience. I didn't say it works for EVERYONE, nor would I try it with every client, but the ones that have done it, it's worked for like magic. I also did not say I live this way 365 days a year. I said "When dieting". I was simply replying to the questions asked which was "do you eat your exercise calories back".

Rocbola

Your body is very good at deciding the right amount of calories to eat if you eat the right food. If you are eating fiber rich, high water content, natural unprocessed foods, your hunger drive will be all you need to pay attention to. Even if you can't eat that way all the time, try eating fruit and/or vegetables for your after workout meal.

Watch This for info about satiety, hunger drive, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdqLB6bTuQ

zaph0d

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

I don't believe this to be excessive at all. It works fantastic for me and I've yet to experience any issues with it. As a matter of fact, it's when I get the greatest results and so do our clients. The problem I see is that lots of people don't track calories in and calories out accurately and they experience lots of frustration due to lack of results. People judge the amount they burn based on what machines tell them which is completely inaccurate and so they eat more than they should thinking they are burning more than they really are.

Okay, keep at it then. I know from experience and thorough research that this just isn't how the human body works. Best of luck to you and your clients.

I must admit, it bothers me that in your last statement you are insinuating that I do not have experience and do not do research. I've dont extensive research on this topic from all aspects and have years of experience. I didn't say it works for EVERYONE, nor would I try it with every client, but the ones that have done it, it's worked for like magic. I also did not say I live this way 365 days a year. I said "When dieting". I was simply replying to the questions asked which was "do you eat your exercise calories back".

cool story

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

When dieting, I never eat my calories back...this nets a greater deficit. I stay at 1200 intake and 2200 expenditure. If my expenditure if greater than 2200, I will eat more but only enough to net a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. This will ensure a 2lb per week weight loss.

I think this is fine and well for someone 50+ pounds overweight, otherwise this is EXTREMELY excessive and creates hormonal imbalances at a much greater rate than would be experienced with a more modest deficit.

I don't believe this to be excessive at all. It works fantastic for me and I've yet to experience any issues with it. As a matter of fact, it's when I get the greatest results and so do our clients. The problem I see is that lots of people don't track calories in and calories out accurately and they experience lots of frustration due to lack of results. People judge the amount they burn based on what machines tell them which is completely inaccurate and so they eat more than they should thinking they are burning more than they really are.

Okay, keep at it then. I know from experience and thorough research that this just isn't how the human body works. Best of luck to you and your clients.

I must admit, it bothers me that in your last statement you are insinuating that I do not have experience and do not do research. I've done extensive research on this topic from all aspects and have years of experience. I didn't say it works for EVERYONE, nor would I try it with every client, but the ones that have done it, it's worked for like magic. I also did not say I live this way 365 days a year. I said "When dieting". I was simply replying to the questions asked which was "do you eat your exercise calories back".

Well, the OP obviously wanted information that he/she can use in order to help achieve his/her goals. I think you could have explained your original post in much the same way and I wouldn't have made the comment that I did. Sorry for upsetting you. :flowerforyou: