Does everyone eat their exercise calories?

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Replies

  • aj445
    aj445 Posts: 183 Member
    Yes I do. This last week I ended up eating a touch more than my allotment as I had it calculated low. I lost 3 lbs in one week. Over last few weeks I've been steadily losing - 1lb a week - but 3 in one was pretty sweet

    should add I'm not the best logger as some things I don't log. I eat to my hunger. I enjoy food way too much to go hungry!
  • JewelSmith
    JewelSmith Posts: 155 Member
    I listen to my body. If I maybe did P90X, in the morning and after drinking plenty of water and I am still feeling a bit hungry in the early evening, I will eat. I do try not to eat them all and make the healthiest options possible, especially if it is after 7:00 pm. However, I say over/under if you feel you need to eat something and this is after you have had a glass of water...eat something.
  • carolyn000000
    carolyn000000 Posts: 179 Member
    Eat them. Otherwise you lose muscle instead of fat. Just don't over estimate them.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I don't, but mainly because I don't have MFP set up that way. I use TDEE-20%. I eat a consistent 1700ish calories a day, regardless of whether I work out or not. And actually, these days I'm logging my workouts as 1 calorie so MFP doesn't mess with my macros.
  • funhouse77
    funhouse77 Posts: 179 Member
    Yes I do, and I've lost 50lbs to date. I don't necessarily eat them all, especially on days like today, I am on 1200 calories, have burned 825 and eaten back 550. I think both MFP and the machines at the gym may overestimate the calorie burn, so I always err on the side of caution. But I tend to end at least 50% percent of them back.
  • Firekeeper66
    Firekeeper66 Posts: 116 Member
    I don't eat back my exercise calories during the week but I do eat them back on the weekend. I figure that's a little treat for myself.
  • Eileen889
    Eileen889 Posts: 117
    Once in a while I might eat a few back, butt most of the time I don't feel that it's necessary for me.
  • merflan
    merflan Posts: 216 Member
    I was. Didn't lose a thing for weeks. Stopped eating them back, and started losing. I think everyone is different. I have a lot to lose though, and I imagine as I get closer to goal, I'll increase my cals.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I don't. My goal is 1500 anyway and I haven't been weighing things so I'm sure I'm underestimating some stuff. It's not like I exercise a lot either, and I don't think I burn much more than 200 calories a day (I do 'walk away the pounds' and 'slim in 6' mainly so far.

    But this way I don't sweat it if I get a little bit over my goal, and I don't have to worry about overestimating my exercise calories either (I've spent too much on fitness stuff in the last 6 weeks to justify a $65 heart monitor).
  • MikeCzarbary
    MikeCzarbary Posts: 29
    as much as I hate to admit it,sometimes I eat those calories back :-\
  • Liftnlove
    Liftnlove Posts: 235
    I do... I eat around 2000 calories a day. I lost all my weight thus far eating this much, but now I'm just maintaining...Apparently, I'm not really willing to drop my calories to lose that last 5 pounds. Oh well... food is delicious. I'm pretty happy. :tongue:
  • Liftnlove
    Liftnlove Posts: 235
    as much as I hate to admit it,sometimes I eat those calories back :-\

    ummmm, don't feel bad hon. You're supposed to eat them back. MFP has a built-in deficit...Even when you eat them back, you are still eating at a deficit. That's the beauty of this site. :)
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    as much as I hate to admit it,sometimes I eat those calories back :-\

    ummmm, don't feel bad hon. You're supposed to eat them back. MFP has a built-in deficit...Even when you eat them back, you are still eating at a deficit. That's the beauty of this site. :)

    ^^This^^ if you're using MFP with the default set up, they EXPECT you to eat those calories. That's why there's a "net" calories indicator. Don't fret.
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    I always ate back at least 2/3rds of my exercise calories, and dropped that low only after it became evident that MFP was overestimating the burn. I'm in maintenance now and I eat back 100%, but no longer rely on MFP to do the math.

    I was in my late 50s when I began the diet and knew my metabolic rate had already taken a hit from the loss of lean body mass to advancing age and decades of a sedentary lifestyle. That's why I gained weight in the first place. So sacrificing even more muscle to an aggressive calorie deficit just to make the scale move a little faster never struck me as a very good plan.
  • IWantToo
    IWantToo Posts: 162
    Heck No! I barley lose weight not eating my cals back... its supposed to be cals in cals out right?

    anyway I dont worry about it.. I eat about 2300 cals a day... I have a hard time eating under 2000, I dont even worry about it anymore. I can barely lose weight eating as i do, i can only imagine if i ate the 3500 cal goal i have after exercise...YIKES!

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