Do you always eat ALL of your exercise calories?

wendycity1

I'm sure this has been asked 38356355 times so I apologize, but I would like to know the answer.

I'm trying to lose 1 lb/week for the next 10 weeks. My daily calorie goal is 1350. Some days I burn 300 calories working out, and other days I burn over 1000. Should I really be eating 2350 calories on those days? That seems like SO MUCH.

Thanks!

EmilyOfTheSun

Yeah I do cuz I'm freakin hungry. I seem to lose weight and tone more quickly when I do. So it's a win-win.

newdaydawning79

I'm honestly really bad about eating them ALL back but I do eat a good portion of them. I also don't use MFP's exercise totals for most things because I think they're inflated. I don't have a good HRM yet (probably will get one as my 30 lb loss gift to myself) so I look at a variety of different calculations and try to average it. It may not be the best method but it's working for me so far and I'm not feeling deprived and/or hungry!

Jerodhold

Yes you should, cuz say you ate 1350 calories and in your workout you burned 1000 calories like you said, your body would be left with only 350 calories for the rest of the day for normal activites and body functions and that's just not enough and would put your body in starvation mode, which is not good.

JENPOW72

If you are hungry, eat them. Some days I use them, some days I don't. I did a very tough circuit workout last weekend, and was STARVING afterwards, so I definitely used all the calories. Either way, the weight continues to come off. Listen to your body.

wendycity1

I adjust MFP's calories burned too...I usually lower them down to a rate that I used to burn wearing a HRM.

Last week I was 3120 calories under my weekly goal. Is that terrible?

altinker

I don't eat all of my exercise cals back, but I eat some of them back. But, I do have a splurge day in there because my husband likes to eat out on the weekends. So, I figure that if I saved a couple hundred calories each day, it isn't going to hurt too bad when I eat out and go over by 500 or 600 calories on the weekend. I mostly just try to balance it out.

Now, I would wait for answers from people who have lost more weight than me since I have only last a small number of pounds. But, I don't eat the extra if I'm not hungry or if it is too late. I will just add some extra the next day if I feel starved.

wendycity1

I get your logic, however I see it as I ate enough for my body to "survive", and used my stored fat as energy for the workouts...

Summer_Lunatic

Yes. Fuel your body. Period.

jacksonpt

Yes, I do... at least whenever possible. But that's because of how I setup my goals and how I estimate. Whether or not you should depends (and yes, there is reason/science behind it... it's not just about doing what you feel like or letting hunger determine if/when you eat).

rerowland99

Most of the time the closer I get to eating them, my "if every day were like today, you would weigh 'such-and-such' lbs in 5 weeks" frequently goes down tremendously. I have a sedentary job, and I am wanting to lose 1.8 pounds a week until I reach my goal. They set me at 1,200 calories. Some days are more active than others, though, and if I have an extremely active day and I don't eat at least some of those extra calories my stomach does that growling and rumbling that I'm not used to on slow days. I was wondering this too, though. I'm always like, "That's a loooot of calories. I don't know." I just started going with it, though, and trying to keep my percentage of fat low (my goal is 20%). So, in answer to your question, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but I almost think it is better to go ahead and "do" if you're that active.

mikeyrp

Over a week - yes. On a specific day - probably not all on days where I have massive burns |(+ 1500 cals) but at least 2/3rd

Matt_Wild

Simply eat 300-400 calories below your TDEE. You'll lose weight at a nice speed, esp wehn combined with lifting and cardio. Nothing magic about eating calories back.

Yerblonde

I am so glad you asked this question because I was going to, also! After being in a consistent routine for a month now I understand the STARVING point people are talking about because I started to feel so hungry all the time! Now that I have stuck to working out I feel my metabolism is working more which is the point and I feel like eating those calories I was still loosing weight. Otherwise I just felt drained. But I don't eat just anything any more. When I get those Starving feelings I bump up the fiber content and that always helps.

PennStateChick

Honestly, it depends on my workout. It's all about figuring out what works for you!

This morning, I was feeling really lazy. Everything is cancelled around me so I had a 4 year old chatting with me during my workout. I opted for a 40 minute walk on my treadmill. According to my HRM, I burned just over 200 calories. That being said, I won't eat those calories back.

However, if I do something crazy like Insanity or a 3+ mile run, I usually eat back about 75-80% of them. I don't usually eat back the full 100% because I am just not hungry enough to eat 2500 calories that day usually. However, after my big workout days, I'm usually pretty hungry the next day and I allow myself a little "wiggle room" then too. Just because I'm not sure if that's clear: I ran 3.1 miles on Saturday this weekend. I burned about 700 calories. On Saturday, I ate my normal 1500+500 calories. However, on Sunday, I felt hungrier than normal so I ate 1500+100 more the next day too.

justal313

I probably eat back about 90-95% of my exercise calories. MFP has already calculated my calorie goal for me so of course I'm eating them back, besides 1/2 the reason I exercise is so I can eat more, the other half getting to be more active and have fun..

Why only 90-95%? Covers anything that I haven't specifically measured and weighed and the occasional goldfish cracker I eat off my daughters tray.

wendycity1

Thanks everyone for your replies!! I will try to eat most of them from now on

kosuski

You are supposed to eat them all back, but some days I find it hard to eat them all back and some days I find it hard to stay under... As long as you aren't short all the time, and leaving like 300-400 calories each time I wouldn't worry about it.

julesxo

Sometimes but not always. Some days I have 2200 cals and I struggle to eat that much.

I eat when I'm hungry if not I don't...I try not to worry about it.

Yogi_Carl

If I do eat all back - I gurantee to increase weight. Calories burned and calories in foods and calories burned by certain activities and the amount of calories burned or not to make body repairs, all come together to make an unknown calorie total burn.

To be safe, I eat half back and the rest are a bonus or safety margin.

quirkytizzy

At `1350, yes, you should be eating ALL of your exercise calories back. You'll likely net too low otherwise.

I just bumped my goal up to 1600 and am now playing around with how many calories to eat back. At least half, probably more.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

No. I have to go with the TDEE calculation. Eating back exercise calories hasn't worked for me on maintenance. I exercise a lot, and MFP's estimates on calories burned are about double what I really burn. Even when I adjust down by 50%, it's over my TDEE calculation, which already includes 90 minutes of intense exercise daily on top of my normal day. For me, that still only allows me around 1800 calories (simply can't eat as much anymore at my age or with my medical history screwing with my metabolic rate), so when I have big burn days that tell me I can consume 2400 calories, that 600 over TDEE, and I will gain pretty quickly.

For people eating at a serious deficit and using MFP's calculations, then it is necessary to eat back calories. Just at the actual rate of burn and not MFP's numbers (rec. getting a heart rate monitor).