Isn't eating back exercise calories defeating the purpose?

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  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
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    Being healthy is great, but I think most people bust their butt at the gym because they want to get healthy AND lose weight.

    There we go. I've never heard someone say, "I want to work out so that I can be healthier" without also saying that they want to lose weight. I know I'm doing this whole bullcrap to lose weight! I don't count calories because I want to be healthy -- I am healthy. I know working out makes me feel good, but it's also supposed to make me lose weight. Right? Yes, being strong is sexy, but I personally think skinny is also sexy. I want to be skinnier, and I think I can be strong, too.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    Yes. Because exercising and eating back those calories you burn gives you MORE calories to eat in a day without maintaining or gaining.

    :P
  • 2bmeagain12
    2bmeagain12 Posts: 284 Member
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    I don't always eat back my calories. But know that some days my body needs to. I like that it gives me some wiggle room to eat more (and stay within my macros) if I'm hungry. But I don't feel guilty whether I do eat them, or don't eat them all back.
  • Sharlaew
    Sharlaew Posts: 30 Member
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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Can someone explain this to me? I go to the gym and exercise to burn calories. If I eat back the calories I just burned, does that not defeat the whole purpose of going to the gym? I understand the energy it takes to work out needs to come from somewhere, but shouldn't it be coming from the stores of fat on my body and not more food? I understand it to be eat less + exercise more = lose weight... not eat less + exercise more + eat back what you burned off exercising. I don't spend time at the gym so I can reward myself with more food!

    Can anyone explain a good reason why I should eat back my exercise calories?

    I'm glad i'm not the only one who feels this way lol

    Go back and read some stickies on this tool. MFP gives you a huge calorie deficit in your goal. You don't have to workout at all to lose weight using the MFP method...the deficit necessary to lose weight is already in that goal. Doing a **** ton of cardio and burning a bazillion calories makes this deficit even larger...in most cases the deficit would then be too large for the body to maintain for any substantial amount of time and it will start shutting down "non-essential" functions and go into metabolic stall and you will store fat rather than lose it.

    All of this info is in the requisite reading MFP asks you to do when signing up.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Being healthy is great, but I think most people bust their butt at the gym because they want to get healthy AND lose weight.

    There we go. I've never heard someone say, "I want to work out so that I can be healthier" without also saying that they want to lose weight. I know I'm doing this whole bullcrap to lose weight! I don't count calories because I want to be healthy -- I am healthy. I know working out makes me feel good, but it's also supposed to make me lose weight. Right? Yes, being strong is sexy, but I personally think skinny is also sexy. I want to be skinnier, and I think I can be strong, too.

    Ok, let me be the first then...I workout for fitness, cardiovascular health, endurance, and strength. I lost a lot of weight using MFP without ever lifting a finger in exercise. I only started exercising because I was feeling better and I wanted to regain previous fitness levels from my more athletic and Marine Corps days.

    For the love of God people and for the bazillionth time I'm sure you've heard this...MFP gives you the caloric deficit in your goal to lose weight...It's a friggin' goal...it is something to be achieved. When the heck did the definition of the word GOAL change? You will note that when you exercise and log it, MFP will up your Goal...it's because it's a friggin' GOAL!

    I seriously don't understand why people do not do the requisite reading when signing up for this site. It is all explained very well in the stickies...but I guess people just don't like reading directions or following them.
  • kaitybugg33
    kaitybugg33 Posts: 5 Member
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    Alright most people have good points.. and I'm understanding how the whole mfp system works better. (also to the guy who's lost 311 lbs, that's just freaking awesome)

    So now I have another question... MFP has my caloric deficit set to 630 a day. I set it to lose 2 lbs per week. If 3500 calories is about a pound, shouldn't my deficit be at 1000 per day? I know I can't eat under 1200, and I wouldn't want to, but I can make the deficit bigger through burning calories exercising. Or does are there other reasons factoring in (I have about 40 lbs to lose, and I'm a 5'3" female), that would make a 1000 cal deficit too much?
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Alright most people have good points.. and I'm understanding how the whole mfp system works better. (also to the guy who's lost 311 lbs, that's just freaking awesome)

    So now I have another question... MFP has my caloric deficit set to 630 a day. I set it to lose 2 lbs per week. If 3500 calories is about a pound, shouldn't my deficit be at 1000 per day? Or does are there other reasons factoring in (I have about 40 lbs to lose, and I'm a 5'3" female), that would make a 1000 cal deficit too much?

    MFP 'hard stops' at 1,200 calories a day. My guess is that your maintenance calories are 1,830. MFP subtracted 1000 from that number, compared the result with 1,200, and took the highest number.

    Eating less than 1,200 calories per day can be detrimental to your health, and interfere with the body's normal functions. Your menstrual cycle in particular would probably be totally screwed if you went all the way to 830 calories per day.
  • g0tr00t
    g0tr00t Posts: 192 Member
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    Yes. Because exercising and eating back those calories you burn gives you MORE calories to eat in a day without maintaining or gaining.

    :P

    All this makes my brain hurt. I'm hungry, I eat (healthy, very). If I feel like I ate too much (yeah after 8:00pm snack), I'll rider harder the next day...

    Wrong? yeah probably, but, its worked for over 3 years for me AND I've lost 40lbs(FAT)...so...guess it's not all bad.
  • UpandRunning2013
    UpandRunning2013 Posts: 69 Member
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  • karakreature
    karakreature Posts: 79 Member
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    I feel the same way. I was given 1950 calories a day, which is about 500 less than what is needed to maintain my weight with no exercise. I exercise 6 days a week and burn about 500 calories each day. Which gives me 2450 to eat. I usually end up consuming between 1600 and 1900 a day. I figured this based on weight loss. I am never hungry so am not starving myself. If I go over this amount too many days, I don't lose much if any weight. If I go less than this, I don't lose much if any weight. When I figured my BMR/TDEE, it comes to about this # anyway. I didn't even figure those #'s until two days ago when a friend on here commented about my intake. I really think it is what works for you. I do believe you need to take in at least 1600 to get proper nutrition and what you're eating is very important. Technically, I could find a way to eat fast food and fit it into my calorie goal but we all know that is no good for you. Figure your BMR/TDEE, see what works best for you, make sure you're eating healthy and aren't starving, and don't worry about everyone elses opinion.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    It's only the premise of how this web site works.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • Ginn123
    Ginn123 Posts: 20 Member
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    The idea of 'eating back your calories' is that MFP already provides a significant calorie deficit, even if you do no exercise. So if you have your settings for a 1000 calorie deficit (2lb a week) and burn 400 calories at the gym, you can eat an extra 400 calories and still be at a 1000 calorie deficit. And unless you're significantly overweight, a bigger deficit that that can actually be unhealthy.

    That being said, I don't like the system MFP has set up. I don't trust their exercise calorie counts, and I don't like how much I eat being contingent on if it's a workout day. SO, I use a TDEE calculator (ex: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) which takes into account roughly how much you exercise and spits out a number that you should eat every day. In that case, you DON'T your exercise calories back.

    Thanks for posting, I'm going to look up this TDEE calculator.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    ok, lets all take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

    Everything about this losing weight thing is an estimate... there is no exact science to all this. We estimate how many calories we eat. We estimate how many calories we burn. We estimate how many cals we need to maintain weight. We estimate how many cals we need to lose X weight per week. Etc. We are constantly estimating everything we do. Even HRMs are estimates.

    So basically we all start with an approach, typically either MFP's approach (x cals per day + eating back exercise cals) or TDEE - 20% (or whatever % you want to decrease) (x cals per day and NOT eating back exercise cals). We do the approach for a while (ideally we follow the guidelines of that approach as closely as we can) and gauge progress, then tweak as necessary.

    Once we find what works, we usually end up with some modified version of the approach we originally started with. Why? Because of the estimates. We over estimate on food or our initial TDEE calculation was off or whatever else, so we modify things to make up for the errors in our estimates.

    That doesn't mean that the approach didn't work, or that one approach is better than another. It just means that some trial and error is a necessary part of all this.

    The moral of the story? Pick an approach and do it as accurately as possible for a month or longer. Then gauge your results. Then post about why your results were not what you expected and try to learn the finer details. At that point you can start making changes. If you make changes before you understand what's going on, how do you know if those changes will help or hurt your progress? And even if you see results, how do you know they were because of the changes you made and not some other variable?

    OK, now I'm starting to ramble... but the point is this... you are on this site for a reason. Yes, to lose weight, but also because you need help losing weight. If you need help then you have to realize you don't know everything. So either do your research first then take an educated approach to all this, or pick a plan and follow it to the T. Don't assume you know more than the plan does. Don't ask for help, then say, "that's wrong, I'm going to ignore that and do my own thing."
  • ademiter
    ademiter Posts: 176 Member
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    Here's how I see it:

    My goal is 1200 calories a day WITHOUT exercise (the "deficit" word that seems to confuse some of us - I know it did me).

    Any exercise I do burns some of those calories, so I need to refuel (eat all or at least some of those calories back) to meet my original goal of 1200 calories.

    Eat 1200 MINUS 500 exercise = 700 calories (which isn't enough) Eating back that 250-500 calories helps refuel the body so you don't go into MFP's perception of "starvation mode." If your body doesn't get enough food/nutrients, it's going to store what fat it does have.

    I've read in many forums on here that some individuals find it hard to lose weight but when you look at their diaries, they aren't eating enough (meaning, they aren't eating back at least some of their exercise calories). I hope this helps :) I know how confusing it is sometimes because of the mixed reviews. :)
  • Ginn123
    Ginn123 Posts: 20 Member
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    If it helps, think of it this way:


    You need a Caloric deficit to lose weight. Whether that deficit comes from diet, exercise, or a combination of both is personal preference.

    When you joined MFP, you likely took their suggestion to lose 1 lb per week - which is a 500 Calorie deficit. As an example, let's say 2000 Calories would be for maintenance, so MFP has you at 1500 Calories per day.

    1) You could eat 1500 Cals and not work out and lose approximately 1 lb per week, or...

    2) You could eat 1500 Cals to start, work out and burn 500 more - for a total deficit of 1000 Cals. This means you'd "eat back" those 500 Cals you burnt off, in order to keep the 500 Cal deficit intact, even though you are now eating 2000 Cals - all while reaping the fitness benefits of exercise, or...

    3) You could simply eat 2000 Cals and workout and burn 500 off, thus creating your daily 500 Cal deficit.


    In all of the above cases, you've created a 500 Calorie daily deficit, so you'll lose the 1 lb per week you expect. However, many people like option 2 because it allows you to eat more on workout days - so you should feel fuller on those days - and it allows a deficit on days you don't work out.


    I hope that helps clear it up.

    Wow, this makes a whole lot of sense. Thanks for posting!
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    Man I hope not or I have been doing it all wrong..... lol But Seriously it depends on what method you are using. If you are using MFP method then you need to eat back a good portion of those calories but if you are figuring by TDEE then no you would not eat them back... I have always used the MFP approach myself, so I eat mine back... Best of Luck.....

    I'd listen to the guy who lost 300+ pounds.

    Dang!
  • chels0722
    chels0722 Posts: 465 Member
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    You don't always have to eat back your exercise calories. If your calorie intake is based off of TDEE -20% or more, than your exercise calories are factored in already. The only time you really need to eat back your exercise calories is when you net below your BMR. You always need enough calories in your body to sustain organ functions.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    Did you read the FAQs to find out how MFP works? Do that..good explanations there.
  • ciphermonk
    ciphermonk Posts: 3
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    The idea is to be at a slight caloric deficit in order to lose weight.

    I also find that intermediate fasting can be a very effective way to drop the pounds. In additional to cleaning up your diet, "when" you eat is important too. For example if you change your eating schedule to where you eat all of your meals within an 8 hour window, you will lose weight.

    Outside of the 8 hour window, consume nothing else but water. So breakfast, lunch and dinner all have to be eaten which 8 hours. Within 2 weeks, you'll start seeing the weight come off.

    You'll preserve your muscle and still consistently drop fat using this method. It takes a while to get used to. It's really effective though. It's been just what I needed to get ripped and not lose any strength in the process.

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