Eating back your calories

paradisochick

Hi MFP friends,

Im very new to losing weight and am a little confused.

Just by reading through some of the posts on here, Im seeing that some people are saying that I HAVE to (or should, anyway) eat back my calories Ive burned by exercising, while others are saying to just stick to your original daily goal.

For example, I earned 354 extra calories today but chose not to eat them back to reach the new daily calorie goal, simply because Im not hungry and honestly just feel that I should stick to my original calorie goal of 1290. Any calories that Ive burned throughout the day will just help me lose weight .... no? Am I wrong in thinking this?

Just wondering why there are 2 strains of thought on this one. Trying to figure out which would work better for me.

Thanks in advance!!!!

phildawson75

I would suggest always eating back your calories if you're on such a large deficit already.

I would say you're trying to lose 2 lbs a week on 1290 and your TDEE is close to 2290 at a guess.

If you did say 1000 cals exercise in a day you'd be creating a combined deficit of ~2000s cals.

2290 TDEE - 1000 deficit - 1000 exercise = 290 cals

So in this case if you didn't eat your exercise back you're essentially giving your body 290 cals whilst it should be expecting 3290 (2290+1000) cals to compensate for the extra activity.

There's no exact rule it all depends on your personal deficit and how much your exercising whether they should be ate back. I'd generally always recommended eating them back in every case to be honest but that's my view, at least a good % of them.

In your example 2290 - 1000 - 354 = 936 net, this isn't great for your body which is probably burning 2,644 cals that particular day.

Although not recommened one day of having 936 probably isnt going to be noticable, two days and you might feel groggy, but you would be essentially on TDEE - 60% which is going to start having negatives effects if consistently kept at that rate each day.

Take someone with a 2500 TDEE whose losing 1/2 lb a week on 2250. If they did 354 additional exercise it would mean a net of 1,896 which is still a healthy combined deficit of roughly TDEE - 24%. In this case it doesn't really matter if they ate some or none of it back.

In conclusion, in your particular case eat them back. Your body will thank you for it, and you're less likely to feel drained over time.

Losing weight isn't about exercise, its just about eating all kinds of food but in moderation. Exercise is about looking good naked. Stick to your original deficit and eat them back. When the fat starts to go, you'll be left with an ace body.

They only key thing you have to remember is log everything and try an make sure the exercise cals arent dramatically over/under estimated.

ladyraven68

Hi MFP friends,

Im very new to losing weight and am a little confused.

Just by reading through some of the posts on here, Im seeing that some people are saying that I HAVE to (or should, anyway) eat back my calories Ive burned by exercising, while others are saying to just stick to your original daily goal.

For example, I earned 354 extra calories today but chose not to eat them back to reach the new daily calorie goal, simply because Im not hungry and honestly just feel that I should stick to my original calorie goal of 1290. Any calories that Ive burned throughout the day will just help me lose weight .... no? Am I wrong in thinking this?

Just wondering why there are 2 strains of thought on this one. Trying to figure out which would work better for me.

Thanks in advance!!!!

If you are following MFP's method, their calorie target excludes exercise, and yes you should eat them back if you want to maintain the original deficit you chose for 1lb per week, 2lb per week etc.

This is because you and I could be the same height/weight/job etc, and MFP would give us both the same calorie goal, as it ignores exercise.

But if one of us sits in front of the TV every night, and one of us runs 10 miles every night, we would both have different calorie needs, our maintenance calories will be different due to the exercise, and our "maintenance calories less 500 to lose lb a week" would be different, because of the exercise.

So eating back exercise calories is purely to keep the defict you chose.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

RonandDi

My suggestion would be to not listen to all the "internet experts" and try one thing for a while and see what works for you. For me, if I eat what MFP tells me I should, I don't lose. If I stick to what I am supposed to eat without exercise, I lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. I'm not saying that you will be the same, but if you eat exactly what MFP tells you you can after exercise and you don't lose anything after a couple weeks, don't be afraid to cut it back.

JAT74

RonanDi you may be losing but you are losing muscle mass not fat. You can't eat less than your body needs in order to survive without doing so, believe me I've been there and at the time I didn't know it. I lost weight very quickly on 900-1200 calories per day and then my weight loss stalled and it became impossible to lose any more because I couldn't eat less calories without feeling very weak.

I was skinny in clothes but I still had a lot of fat as I had lost mostly muscle and not fat.

The only way to safely lose the fat is to eat above your BMR which in my case is 1450. I have set my calorie intake to 1500 and want to lose half a pound per week. It might take a while for your body to adjust to the higher calorie intake which is what has happened with me at the moment (up 2 six weeks) but then you'll start losing. If I workout which I do daily I try and eat back my exercise calories so that my deficeit remains at 1450-1500 if at all possible so I know that I'm fuelling my body properly.

You CAN and WILL lose weight on less but it won't be the right kind of weight. Being skinny fat really is no fun.

RonandDi

The only way to safely lose the fat is to eat above your BMR which in my case is 1450. I have set my calorie intake to 1500 and want to lose half a pound per week. It might take a while for your body to adjust to the higher calorie intake which is what has happened with me at the moment (up 2 six weeks) but then you'll start losing. If I workout which I do daily I try and eat back my exercise calories so that my deficeit remains at 1450-1500 if at all possible so I know that I'm fuelling my body properly.

Wait, you say eat above your BMR, then you say to eat a deficeit?

BTW...My BMR is a touch over 2000, if I eat to include my exercise I end up at over 1700. That is a deficeit of just under 1000 (recomended by MFP). If I keep my deficeit closer to 1400, then I lose. We aren't talking about cutting your calories in half...we are talking about 300-400.

JAT74

Sorry meant to say I net 1450-1500 every day but normally burn off 500 calories through exercise so I actually eat at least 1950.

It depends what the amounts are in the first place. It seems like your BMR is very high, in that case what's your TDEE? If your BMR is over 2000 I assume your TDEE is close to over 2500? My BMR is 1450 but my TDEE is 1950 based on being sedentary so I've basically subtracted just over 20% to find out what I should be eating every day without exercise and then I add my workout calories on top.

In your case if your BMR is over 2000 you will need to eat over your BMR so something like 2100 PLUS exercise calories so if you burn off 350 calories for example then you should be eating 2450 per day.

You are saying you're eating 1700 including exercise calories which is leaving you below your BMR and also with a very low net number if you burn off more calories (if you subtract the exercise calories from 1700) which is way less than your body needs.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Some people eat them back, some people don't, and some people eat part of them back. Do what works for you.

psuLemon

The only way to safely lose the fat is to eat above your BMR which in my case is 1450. I have set my calorie intake to 1500 and want to lose half a pound per week. It might take a while for your body to adjust to the higher calorie intake which is what has happened with me at the moment (up 2 six weeks) but then you'll start losing. If I workout which I do daily I try and eat back my exercise calories so that my deficeit remains at 1450-1500 if at all possible so I know that I'm fuelling my body properly.

Wait, you say eat above your BMR, then you say to eat a deficeit?

BTW...My BMR is a touch over 2000, if I eat to include my exercise I end up at over 1700. That is a deficeit of just under 1000 (recomended by MFP). If I keep my deficeit closer to 1400, then I lose. We aren't talking about cutting your calories in half...we are talking about 300-400.

Yes, you can eat above your BMR and still have a deficit. BMR is what you would burn if you slept for 24 hours. TDEE is what you will burn above your BMR to include exercise and all other daily functions. My BMR is around 2080, my TDEE is around 3000, my calories are a total of 2500. I lose fat. The issue with yoru approach of eating 1300 calories is your weight loss will be from muscle and fat. And I don't know about you, but I would like to have a lean and tight body. Which means, the more muscle I have, the tighter, strong and more fit my body will be in.


So if your BMR is 2000 calories, you have a desk job and you exercise and burn 300 calories, your TDEE is:

2000* 1.2 + 300 = 2700 calories. This means your maintenance calories is 2700 calories, aka, you can NOT gain fat until you surpass that.

From there you create a deficit. I prefer 20% because large deficit can create hormone issues and increase the changes of catabolizing lean body mass.

2700 * .8 = 2160. <-- about what you should be eating.


Now issues happen when you suppress calories for a long time because your Resting Metabolic Rate (very close to your BMR) will adjust and your body will burn less calories, so where a normal person would burn 2160 calories, a person would a low RMR will now burn 1700 or 1500 based on suppression metabolic function.


OP,

yes you should eat some of your exercise calories or if you exercise routinely, like I do, include it in your lifestyle.

3-4 days - light active
5-6 days - moderate

wibutterflymagic

MFP set our daily calorie goal with a built in calorie deficit to allow you to lose weight without the need of exercise. I have a daily calorie allowance of about 1500 which puts me at only a 1/2 lb a week weight loss. If I exercise and burn about 200 calories it just helps me lose a bite more but I'm still within a healthy range of weight loss, however I still usually eat back some of my calories. If someone has only 1200 calories a day and burns 200-400 calories then their deficit is getting to the point that their body doesn't have enough fuel to function. You need to play around a little to see how big or small of a deficit your body will allow so you still lose weight.

cwolfman13

Here's the thing...MFP gives you a calorie goal based on your requested weight loss goals. This calorie goal is in fact, a goal and it includes a substantial weight loss deficit in it...a goal is something to be achieved. When you log exercise, you will note that MFP increases that goal...it is still a goal... it is still something to be achieved...nothing has changed here. If you exercise and don't eat back your exercise calories you will be under your goal...and thus underachieving. Don't be an underachiever, achieve your goals.

This is not opinion, this is the way MFP is set up....read the MFP stickies. The only reason you wouldn't eat back you calories is if you were following some other method (i.e. TDEE method like I do) and just using MFP to track your numbers.

Now get out there and start achieving your goals.

CountryStrongNicole

I know there are alot of internet experts.... All I can tell you is what has worked for me. I eat part of my calories back. I keep track of where my 'Net' calories land. I have a ballpark that I like to stay in and that will let me lose weight. If I drop below or sit above the net calories that work for me... I will sit the same or gain. I also watch my salt intake and drink more water if needed per day. Like a few others said... try a path and see if you get results, if not working... then change it and try something else. You will find that there is no 1 answer as much as everyone wants to believe that there is only one way.

cwolfman13

I know there are alot of internet experts.... All I can tell you is what has worked for me. I eat part of my calories back. I keep track of where my 'Net' calories land. I have a ballpark that I like to stay in and that will let me lose weight. If I drop below or sit above the net calories that work for me... I will sit the same or gain. I also watch my salt intake and drink more water if needed per day. Like a few others said... try a path and see if you get results, if not working... then change it and try something else. You will find that there is no 1 answer as much as everyone wants to believe that there is only one way.

You don't have to be any kind of expert anything...just read the directions for the tool you are using, it would solve a lot of this so called "debate"...which it really isn't a debate because the directions tell you how to use this tool.

alanlmarshall

Any calories that Ive burned throughout the day will just help me lose weight .... no? Am I wrong in thinking this?

Yes, you are mistaken.

Losing fat quickly is not better than losing it gradually. Your ancestors survived because their bodies were designed, like yours, to scream at you to get those calories back. NOW! An excessive defecit like that cannot be sustained. The more gradually you lose, the easier it will be to keep it off for the long term.

ElizaRoche

Some people eat them back, some people don't, and some people eat part of them back. Do what works for you.

agreed. I dont eat them back, if I do I stop losing... and yes, i´ve tried that.

mitsi94

Bump... I would like to read the responses here.