Eat back calories burned?

jennmariepantoja

Hi!
This has probably been asked before but:
Can you really eat back the calories you burned during a workout?

I am on a 1200 cal a day plan and my workout today burned 300 calories.
Can I really eat something/s (sensible) that is 300 calories and it have no impact?

What if I don't feel like it?
I can probably add a dessert tonight for 100 calories but, really, I do not see myself eating the whole 300 calories.

This is worrisome since today's workout was very lite and I don't want to find myself eating too few calories and going into starvation mode.

Thanks for taking the time

mzjessicaxo

Eat them back!!!! If you are going to work out, just aim for 1400 throughout the day!

You are very right your body will be in starvation mode otherwise


http://feelgreatmotivate.wordpress.com/

jennmariepantoja

Thanks for the feedback!
I guess I will have to eat more.
I am def going to try the "green monster" smoothie.
I typically can't drink a smoothie in 1 sitting so I can break it up and drink a little throughout the day for a calorie and protein boost.

Thanks

pastryari

Eat them back!!!! If you are going to work out, just aim for 1400 throughout the day!

You are very right your body will be in starvation mode otherwise


http://feelgreatmotivate.wordpress.com/

Meh, the important part was right.


Yes, eat back your exercise calories if you're following MFP's system.

MSeel1984

Hi!
This has probably been asked before but:
Can you really eat back the calories you burned during a workout?

I am on a 1200 cal a day plan and my workout today burned 300 calories.
Can I really eat something/s (sensible) that is 300 calories and it have no impact?

What if I don't feel like it?
I can probably add a dessert tonight for 100 calories but, really, I do not see myself eating the whole 300 calories.

This is worrisome since today's workout was very lite and I don't want to find myself eating too few calories and going into starvation mode.

Thanks for taking the time

I am going to do you a favor.

Close the thread...this usually causes drama and you may get unkind comments.

On your actual question, it's a case by case basis. Some insist on eating them all back. Some say none...I eat when I am hungry. I track what I eat. If I'm still hungry or my blood sugar is low, I eat something. If I'm not, I don't. If I go over a day it's no big deal. There's always tomorrow.

So try it both ways...eat them back and don't eat them back...If you have not been eating any of them back and you find that you haven't seen progress, try eating them back.

Best of luck.

keenesmom

Hi!
This has probably been asked before but:
Can you really eat back the calories you burned during a workout?

I am on a 1200 cal a day plan and my workout today burned 300 calories.
Can I really eat something/s (sensible) that is 300 calories and it have no impact?

What if I don't feel like it?
I can probably add a dessert tonight for 100 calories but, really, I do not see myself eating the whole 300 calories.

This is worrisome since today's workout was very lite and I don't want to find myself eating too few calories and going into starvation mode.

Thanks for taking the time

I don't eat mine back...at least not all the time and not all of them. I always found that by the end of the day I still had a deficit because I had worked out, however, I wasn't hungry so I just don't eat them. If you're hungry eat them...if not then don't. Also don't worry about your body going into starvation mode. Unless you are literally starving yourself it's just not gonna happen. I'm at my goal weight (40# lost) and I still don't eat my exercise calories. Good Luck!

jennmariepantoja

Thank you, thank you!
I will take it day by day

monty619

the entire point about eating back exercise calories is that when people diet traditionally they are in too much of a caloric defecit so their metabolism will slow down at a greater rate than it should when dieting and ultimately have metabolic damage associated with it...

MFP promotes eating back exercise calories to lose weight in a healthier way by having smaller defecits and getting more nutrition from food which in the end is how you want to do things for prolonged and permanent weight loss..

good move MFP.

with that said... i dont eat back exercise calories because i dont track calories burned from exercise. i only keep track of how much cardio im doing and look at results i just track the calories i consume and go from there.

SeahorseDolphin

Normally I would say it's really up to you, but if you're only taking in 1200 calories to begin with I would definitely eat back every calorie. You don't want your body to think it's starving.