Ate exercise cal's back....and gained....am NOT sold!

I don't eat mine back unless I dip below a net of 1000. My goal is 1500 a day and if I eat that and exercise I will eat a little over but, I never eat them all back. To me that would defeat the purpose at least I think so.

Eating the cals you burned cancels out your exercise which leaves you at zero weight loss. If you want to maintain the weight you are at now that wouldn't be a problem. To lose weight you have to burn MORE calories than you consume. So, I wouldn't eat many of my exercise calories unless you are seriously working out and burning 500+ cals in exercise alone--like long-distance runners. I run like 6miles on some days and burn like 700+ cals, therefore on those days I eat more of my cals to restore energy.

This is false if you are using MFP's set-up without customizing. MFP ALREADY gives you a deficit to lose weight WITHOUT exercise. If a person's goal is to lose 2lb/wk they ALREADY have a 7,000 calorie weekly deficit. They go out and exercise 5x/wk - conservatively maybe a 1500 extra deficit - if they eat that 1500, they STILL have a 7,000 calorie deficit. Making a bigger deficit is not the healthiest thing to do, especially if you are not significantly overweight.

I don't eat mine back I lose faster

Every "expert" tells you something different based on their own perspective and presuppositions. You just have to find what works for you and stick to it. As for me, MFP set me at a bare minimum base of 1200 and I am fairly sedentary as a writer and lifelong exercise hater. I'm only 5'1.5", had lost about 23 pounds through diet control alone before my friend introduced me to MFP. Due to medical issues with my knees and ankles, I finally got motivated to discipline myself start exercising in spite of myself and have been doing that pretty much 7 days a week for 2 1/2 months now. I'm about 21 pounds further along now (was hoping for about 10 more but have to adjust my expectations accordingly) and being an avid researcher (writers have to be) I've read alot of "professional advice" -- at least one that I've read said the whole eat your exercise calories back idea is a myth. The truth is probably somewhere in between the extremes of all or none. All I know is that even though MFP allows me 1600 to 1800 per day most days after exercise, if I eat more than 1400 or so, I start gaining so I shoot for somewhere between 1200 and 1400 most days and don't feel hungry, tired or sick so I'm sticking with that plan. I just have to watch the line for actual calories consumed, not the one that says I have X number of calories (carbs/fats/protein, etc.) consumed. I also found a Mayo Clinic page the other day that said the recommended maximum sodium intake I am allowed on MFP is right, because I have high blood pressure, should be about 1000mg less so embarking on an experiment to see how that might play out and affect my weight loss cause I've read alot about salt and water theories of weight loss too. I believe that somewhere in the fine print there is a disclaimer about the recommendations being generalizations and everyone's body will respond differently. So find the level that works for your weight loss while still being healthy and go with it. No one can tell you what is going to work for your body but you. You just have to tune out all the fitness nazis who insist that their way is the only way and you are on the path of doom and destruction if you do anything else. Develop selective hearing and discernment about what's good science and health and doable for you and what's hokum and hearsay and bully talk. I have no patience for the latter so just choose voluntary deafness or walk away when I hear it. Good luck and many blessings on your efforts as you go forward!

I eat most of my exercise calories. My settings are for light activity and a goal of 1 pound per week for weight loss. That allows me 1400 calories per day, which just wasn't enough for me. I found myself feeling hungry all day long. So now I work out more. Sixty minutes every day. My weight loss has slowed down a bit but I don't feel like I'm constantly starving anymore. For me, it's worth it.

i can't eat them back without gaining weight. hell, i can't eat 1200 calories and lose weight, even with exercise. and with my h/w, you'd think i'd be able to

I agree with Peachy, I am set to sedentary with 1 minute of exercise (because it won't let me enter 0 minutes of exercise). That way, when I enter my exercise calories, I can actually eat some of them back if I want to. This helps keep me from overeating on the 1-2 days a week I don't exercise, as I try to exercise at least five days a week, 30 minutes.

If you open your diary we can also give you more feedback. Send me a friend request if you want me to look further.

(Hi Peaches!)

Ruth

The bottom line is this:

If you have calculated your calorie needs based on a sedentary level of activity and then you log your exercises, you can eat back those calories.

If you have calculated your calorie needs factoring in a higher level of activity, don't log those exercises, and don't eat back the calories. Your allotted intake will automatically be higher.

I am reading the Reverse Taper Diet...and just started implementing it for a contest I will be doing(contest is Oct.) COmplete opposite of what I used to do. The heavier you are...the less you eat because your fat is what you want the body to go for...

But as you gradually lose weight and you have less fat...the more you actually eat because you don't have enough fat as a buffer. It's supposed to take you to maintenance level.

Totally opposite of what I used to do for contests.I used to start high and then go low the closer I got to a contest and be all crabby and rebound at the end.

So those people who have ALOT of weight to lose really shouldn't worry. Fat is there to use for fuel. It won't be if one is constantly eating.

Plus as society innundated with food messages all the time..it's hard to seperate true hunger from just a craving. people need to get used to not feeling 100% full. There is NOTHING wrong with that. Nothing.

Reverse taper diet sounds interesting.
http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/tortoise-and-hare-two-approaches-to-losing-body-fat/

Eating the cals you burned cancels out your exercise which leaves you at zero weight loss. If you want to maintain the weight you are at now that wouldn't be a problem. To lose weight you have to burn MORE calories than you consume. So, I wouldn't eat many of my exercise calories unless you are seriously working out and burning 500+ cals in exercise alone--like long-distance runners. I run like 6miles on some days and burn like 700+ cals, therefore on those days I eat more of my cals to restore energy.

It is not true that it will leave you at 0 weight loss unless you already have your calories set to maintain.

Yep I am to eat back 1/2 of mine if I don't eat at least 1/2 back I gain.
Everyone is different you nee to play around a bit to see what your body will tolerate.

I, personally, don't eat my work out calories back. I stick to a 1200-1250 calories intake per day.

I think this is messing me up too, and I don't need any other excuses for my body to not lose!! :noway: I thought about not recording my exercise for a week to see what happens.

One thing I like to do...I will eat my calories back earned from cardio. However, my cardio is always underestimated. Thats just a small tip. A much better tip is to weight train, and never log it as exercise. Keeping this method insures you stay at a caloric deficit.

I think people who eat exercise calories back just want an excuse to eat more and more ****. If you're going to diet, diet. Don't sit there making up excuses to eat all the crap that made you overweight to start with.

Or maybe we did a long workout and our net calories will be super low if we don't eat them back. If I got for a six mile run (which I do regularly) I will only net between 800-1000 calories, depending on the day. If I run longer (which I also do regularly) it'll be even less. If you're eating right at 1200 (which most people are, and is too low for them in the first place) you HAVE to eat back some of that or you'll be netting a really low number, especially if you're intensely working out.

Besides, who says you have to eat back those calories with crap? Most people understand the important of a healthy post workout snack and eat one.

Most people overestimate their exercise burn, that's why. When I used to do cardio-I would wear a polar ft 60 and if I told mFP how much I ran it would give me 100 cals I earned! But my polar heart rate monitor specifically set to me???

40.

I rarely use machines in the gym but those ARE VERY wrong as well. On the bike? It told me I burned 300 cals in the hour! My hrm??

120.

Think about that.

I'm not sure this is an insight to many. I reckon the 'mfp overestimates' thread must happen 20 or 30 times a day.

Think about that.