Should you really use the extra calories from exercise?

I am a bit confused about the extra calories you are awarded when you exercise. It is extremely important to eat that many more calories or will you lose more weight if you ignore them? I am set at 1200 calories because I sit at a desk all day. But I do zumba twice a week and walk about thirty minutes the other days. I find it's hard to use up all the calories I am given on a zumba day. Any suggestions? Thank you.
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Replies

  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    I eat back about 80% of them.
  • Mistyblu08
    Mistyblu08 Posts: 580 Member
    I feel the same way- I dont feel like I am doing as well when i am eating them all back...as long as I dont get lower than 1200 cals a day I figure I am good and then when I do have a day where I want sweets...I have those cals to fall back on
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
    I exercise so that I can eat more!
  • I don't think it's particularly important to eat them back entirely. Usually you will eat part of them back because more exercise makes you more hungry, but if you have a few hundred left and don't feel like you need the food, I don't see anything wrong with that. I just try to listen to what my body needs rather than follow the exacts number!
  • poeco76
    poeco76 Posts: 139 Member
    For me personally, I take it day by day and try to listen to what my body is telling me. If I'm hungry, then I eat some of them, if I'm not, then I don't see the need to eat mindlessly. Generally speaking, the more/harder I workout though, the hungrier I am, so often times I need the calories to keep myself going. I don't want to be weak and unable to do my workouts, but I also want to lose. I think we find the balance with this over time, and you may need to experiment a bit to see what works for you. There are folks who do eat all the exercise calories and still lose, but that doesn't happen to work for me.
  • nsmpal
    nsmpal Posts: 11
    For me personally, I take it day by day and try to listen to what my body is telling me. If I'm hungry, then I eat some of them, if I'm not, then I don't see the need to eat mindlessly. Generally speaking, the more/harder I workout though, the hungrier I am, so often times I need the calories to keep myself going. I don't want to be weak and unable to do my workouts, but I also want to lose. I think we find the balance with this over time, and you may need to experiment a bit to see what works for you. There are folks who do eat all the exercise calories and still lose, but that doesn't happen to work for me.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    If you are accurate in your intake and burns, and you exercise a lot, then you probably ought to be eating them. I will crash and burn if I don't, but also, I am very honest and accurate about calories in and calories out.
  • nsmpal
    nsmpal Posts: 11
    I agree with her, sometimes I eat them back. Listen to your stomach. My sister eats her exersize calories back and she is consistently losing weight.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    yes. you should use them. Your body needs good fuel to function...even when, and especially when, you're losing weight.
  • mystikalbeanz
    mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
    I just read on another post that when you calculate your TDEE - 20% that you should eat the same # of calories a day and not eat back any exercise calories because thats already calculated into your TDEE. Which makes sense but now im confused because others say that since you have the 20% deficit already taken out you can eat back your exercise calories to keep you at that deficit and maintain muscle. Can anyone clarify this. I dont understand why it has to be so confusing and controversial.
  • Again I think you need to listen to your body. Sometimes I eat all of them but most of the time I have a couple hundred left over. I lose consistently also. I also exercise a lot, sometimes earning an extra 1000 calories.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I let my body be my guide. If I am hungry, I eat back my exercise calories. If not, then I don't worry about it.
  • adswillis27
    adswillis27 Posts: 76 Member
    I just read on another post that when you calculate your TDEE - 20% that you should eat the same # of calories a day and not eat back any exercise calories because thats already calculated into your TDEE. Which makes sense but now im confused because others say that since you have the 20% deficit already taken out you can eat back your exercise calories to keep you at that deficit and maintain muscle. Can anyone clarify this. I dont understand why it has to be so confusing and controversial.

    TDEE includes exercise calories. If you calculate your BMR then you should be eating your BMR plus exercise calories. Hope that helps.
  • Mguilmot
    Mguilmot Posts: 232 Member
    When I burn 800+ I eat maybe 150 of them. I burn a lot, and I almost never eat them. I'm not losing muscle, and still losing lots of fat. Honestly, I don't really care about eating more when I exercise.
  • You know... this question comes around a lot and I've read a lot of response. And it got me thinking some more...

    If you're really working out hard, you'll need those calories, probably not all, but definitely a lot of them.

    If you're not really working out that hard, then probably not.

    If I go for a casual 2 mile walk, I don't eat back those calories burned as I really didn't expend that much energy.

    I think when you have a hard workout, you know it and you know you need to eat... got to or you'll just run out of energy.

    Unfortunately, I do see a lot of "I exercise so I can eat more", which is not the point of it... not at all.
  • abbylg1983
    abbylg1983 Posts: 177 Member
    I am not a big fan of eating for the sake of eating. If you've had 1200 calories and are not hungry, I don't see the point in forcing yourself to eat. I think if you get to the point where your body needs those extra calories, you WILL be hungry. If you are at 1200 calories and you just finished a really tough zumba class and you're hungry, by all means, eat. Hell, if you're at 1200 calories and you're hungry you should eat even if you haven't exercised that day- just make it something healthy. But I wouldn't eat just to meet some arbitrary number.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I track my calories burned with my Polar FT60 heart rate monitor and eat back 85% of my exercise calories and leave 15% for error.... I have lost a few pounds doing this method.... Best of Luck.....
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Unfortunately, I do see a lot of "I exercise so I can eat more", which is not the point of it... not at all.

    Why not? It's worked great for me - it gives me a little extra incentive to exercise.

    You have to be realistic about how many calories you are burning, and not use 15 minutes on the treadmill as an excuse to eat a Whopper with Bacon.
  • oh... and over-estimating calories burned can mess you up.

    It's best to get a HRM or if you can't then I definitely would not eat all those calories back because they are probably way out of whack.

    A lot of people screw themselves up going by generic calories burned and eating them all back. When in fact, they didn't burn that many calories at all.
  • Unfortunately, I do see a lot of "I exercise so I can eat more", which is not the point of it... not at all.

    Why not? It's worked great for me - it gives me a little extra incentive to exercise.

    You have to be realistic about how many calories you are burning, and not use 15 minutes on the treadmill as an excuse to eat a Whopper with Bacon.

    "Why not?" what?

    You contradicted yourself.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I just read on another post that when you calculate your TDEE - 20% that you should eat the same # of calories a day and not eat back any exercise calories because thats already calculated into your TDEE. Which makes sense but now im confused because others say that since you have the 20% deficit already taken out you can eat back your exercise calories to keep you at that deficit and maintain muscle. Can anyone clarify this. I dont understand why it has to be so confusing and controversial.

    If you are doing 20% cut from TDEE, was your regular exercise routine included in the TDEE calculation? If yes, then don't eat them. If no then YES, eat them. Does that help?

    The point is, you don't want to eat the exercise calories twice.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Unfortunately, I do see a lot of "I exercise so I can eat more", which is not the point of it... not at all.

    Why not? It's worked great for me - it gives me a little extra incentive to exercise.

    You have to be realistic about how many calories you are burning, and not use 15 minutes on the treadmill as an excuse to eat a Whopper with Bacon.

    "Why not?" what?

    You contradicted yourself.

    "Why not" exercise so you can eat more.

    The post I was replying to said that working out you can eat more is "not the point of it" (implying "not the point of working out").

    Plenty of us use eating back our exercise calories as an incentive to do the exercise.

    The only caution is that you cannot burn 100 calories (15 minutes on the treadmill) and use it as an excuse to eat 1,500 calories (Whopper with Bacon). That would leave me with 1,400 calories I've eaten but not burned. You have to be realistic about how many calories you've burned/earned.

    I don't see how I've contracted myself at all.
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
    Unfortunately, I do see a lot of "I exercise so I can eat more", which is not the point of it... not at all.

    Why not? It's worked great for me - it gives me a little extra incentive to exercise.

    You have to be realistic about how many calories you are burning, and not use 15 minutes on the treadmill as an excuse to eat a Whopper with Bacon.

    Exactly, I don't mean "eat more" as in an excuse to eat crap. It's tough to stay around 1200 calories, even with how small I am. When I exercise it means I can enjoy more chicken, eat a bigger breakfast, and not have to worry about it so much.
  • Bootzey
    Bootzey Posts: 274 Member
    I don't really eat mine back either. Diets should work mathematically. I desire to lose 2 lbs per week. 2 lbs = 7000 calories. I set my eating to give me a deficit of 3500 calories and then my exercise to give me a deficit of 3500. That way I should lose weight. If I ate them back then my deficit would be off which would require me to eat less or exercise more.
  • dkoroschetz
    dkoroschetz Posts: 67 Member
    If you are accurate in your intake and burns, and you exercise a lot, then you probably ought to be eating them. I will crash and burn if I don't, but also, I am very honest and accurate about calories in and calories out.

    Same here, I have not been eating them back but I am starting too as of this week :) I have always counted very well and I'm hoping that increasing my intake will kickstart my weight loss again.

    I do notice when I workout in the mornings, I'm so much more hungry before lunch than I normally am. So I definitely need to be eating more on those days to keep me going.
  • Thanks for all your posts. I guess my concern is I am not eating enough and so I won't lose weight. I am still hungry on the 1200 calories. But I am hoping that will get better over time. I really only got serious two weeks ago. I have found it's easier for me to stay between 1300-1500. So I've been eating that much on work out and non work out days. So far not much weight loss. So I figured I would throw it out there to see if maybe it's because I am not eating enough? Or maybe I am eating too much on the non work out days? I just was introduced to protein shakes. Which is actually helping me feel full. :) Total I've lost about 2.5 lb's in the last week and a half. So I guess that's not bad. Thanks again. I appreciate it!
  • avocado12
    avocado12 Posts: 197 Member
    I don't ever eat them back - I find it pointless.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Do you want to lose fat or muscle and fat. A calorie deficit puts your body into a catabolic state. If the deficit is really high, your body will rely on your muscles to produce energy. It does this by converting the amino acids from muscle into energy. Also, when you properly fuel your body, you are able to push harder in your workouts where you burn more calories. In fact, if you don't believe me do some weight training. Set up a scenario where you do XX number of moves at 8 reps. Do the same exercise for two weeks (this is without eating back exercise calories). The second 2 weeks start to eat 20% below TDEE and see how much you can increase weight. I have done this experiment with several people on this board. Every one was able to improve strength.

    Also, high deficits cause your body to release cortisol, which make it harder to lose fat. Another reason you it's important to maintain a smaller deficit. Below is a little study (comparison) I have just started. I can tell you, of the people I have already, there is a huge difference in the amount of muscle loss. Those who eat exercise calories or eat 20% below TDEE lose about 10% of the lbm while those who do not eat back exercise calories lose 30-50% of their weight from muscle.

    Muscle is what makes your body look tight and lean, it's what burns more calories so you can eat more and it linked to insulin resistances and immune system issues. The muscle, the better your body will look and respond. Below are two great examples of women who gained muscle and weight.

    Some of you might say, well i will wait until I get to my ideal weight and gain muscle back. Well, it's very harder to gain muscle. Women can gain about 7-10 lbs a year and men can double. But when you gain muscle, you also gain fat (10% at least of the weight is fat). This means, after you gain muscle (while eating at a surplus) then you have to go through another cut phase. So while you could have maintained your muscle and made it easier for yourself if you ate more food to begin with, you end up trying to fix your mistakes.


    Also, I am a firm believer of "to look like an athlete, you need to train and eat like one". The fourth link is another MFP study I did. Those who are already cut, lean and have tight bodies all ate higher calories (around 20% below TDEE). Women averaged 1600 calories, men around 2400. So if you want to be one of those who have a tight body, why don't you train and eat like one.




    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/708037-weight-loss-vs-fat-loss


    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395948-caloric-intake-results?hl=caloric+intake+results&page=1#posts-5425208
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    OP, if you want, you can update your activity level to lightly or moderately active and have your deficit over the week. This will also enable your body enough calories to be used on days it requires repair. Then you don't have to chase exercise calories.


    ps- http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • Selfmadepsyche
    Selfmadepsyche Posts: 20 Member
    EAT THEM BACK.