"Eating back" Exercise Calories - Simple breakdown

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  • saradas
    saradas Posts: 19 Member
    I am 36 Female , weigh 179 pounds , 5'3" height and currently eating 1340 calroies per day , I am a vegetarian and i am not doing any low carb or low fat things , i mostly cook at home and try to eat normal food and eat all the protein i need to which is sometimes a challenge. I do sometimes go over on the sugar due to grapes
  • I clean the house before going to work which is an hour ride each day followed by 8 hours of sitting. Getting up once in a while.
    Maybe taking a walk at lunch. When I go home I eat, clean up and go to sleep by 8. I get up at 4 every morning.
  • Morvoran
    Morvoran Posts: 2 Member
    This is a very interesting thread, thank you for posting this information, and I am very new to this, but according to this equation, I end up with 912 so perhaps I am reading it wrong.

    10x weight in kg 730
    6.25x height in cm 992
    3 x age 170

    730 + 992 - 170 - 161 = 1391

    1391 x 1.375 = 1912.625

    1912.625 - 1000 = 912.625

    However I did notice that if I add 170 rather than subtract it, I end up with 1380 which sounds about right to me?

    I'd really appreciate it if you would take a look at this :)

    My BMR is 1433 x1.2=1720 -1000 for a 2 pd a week loss. that would be 720 calories a day is that right!!!!!!!!

    if your bmr is ACTUALLY 1433, i dont think 2 lb/week is a realistic goal. you'd have to cut too much out. if you send me your weight, height, age, and gender ill run it through the following formula if you'd like and double check the numbers :)

    the miflin st jeor equation is as follows for your BMR

    males: (10×weight) + (6.25×height) - (5×age) + 5
    females:(10×weight) + (6.25×height) - (5×age) - 161
    weight is in KG and height in centimeters.

    then take your BMR times an activity quotient from the below list, do not include your going to the gym or anything, just your daily life aside from workouts. your job, home life, etc. you can log your daily workouts through MFP to keep better tabs on your daily deficits.

    1.200 = sedentary (little or no exercise)
    1.375 = lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week, approx. 590 Cal/day)
    1.550 = moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week, approx. 870 Cal/day)
    1.725 = very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week, approx. 1150 Cal/day)
    1.900 = extra active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job, approx. 1580 Cal/day)

    the result of multiplying your BMR from that equation and the activity level is your base caloric burn per day. subtract 1,000 calories from that number and thats your 2 pounds per week (7,000 calories per week) deficit.

    example: my bmr is about 2750, sedentary lifestyle so 2750 x 1.2 = 3,300 calories. my daily goal for 2 lb/wk is 2,300 calories.
  • Thank you... this helped me so much. I could not understand why i should eat all my calories and still they say i will lose weight... we must fuel our bodies to help them work... ( with the right food... naturally)
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    This is a very interesting thread, thank you for posting this information, and I am very new to this, but according to this equation, I end up with 912 so perhaps I am reading it wrong.

    10x weight in kg 730
    6.25x height in cm 992
    3 x age 170

    730 + 992 - 170 - 161 = 1391

    1391 x 1.375 = 1912.625

    1912.625 - 1000 = 912.625

    However I did notice that if I add 170 rather than subtract it, I end up with 1380 which sounds about right to me?

    I'd really appreciate it if you would take a look at this :)

    I'm not sure but I don't think you did age correctly.

    Edit: Here is an online calculator that uses this same formula. http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html (I hate math)
  • slwernet
    slwernet Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you, Marc, for your explanation. I am new to this and what you wrote makes sense about exercise and daily calories.
  • virjenmarie
    virjenmarie Posts: 22 Member
    BUMP!
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
    My BMR is already so low at 1191

    TDEE is 1510

    I can never go below or above those numbers. Exercise calories burned are not an exact science. Doing a Spinning class today will burn less calories than it did 6 months ago because the body becomes efficient at using energy as it becomes more fit. The calorie numbers game is in a constant state of flux with too many variables in play: including inaccurate calorie consumption (your grandmother's muffin may not contain the same calories as the muffins from Costco) and inaccurate calories burned.

    I find eating when hungry and choosing the healthiest options is the simplest way to live. I don't force myself to eat if I net less than 1200 on a workout day and I don't force myself to drink crazy amounts of water. As long as my diet kinda fits within the 2 numbers, I'm happy.
  • cathdrew2
    cathdrew2 Posts: 136 Member
    Marc, information presented accurately and clearly - thanks for taking this on!
  • luvred51
    luvred51 Posts: 163 Member
    Bump... Thanks for sharing.
  • One thing about eating back calories is if you are doing this you need to calculate as if you are seditary. A lot of calculators and formulas will pack on the avg calories you need if you excercise a lot already if you pick something other than seditory.
    I normally calculate my TDEE seditary then minus my 1000 cal/day def. then eat all my exercise calories back on days I exercise because some weeks I have been able to hit 9k in exercise per week and only 5k other weeks.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I have been asking myself this question for years. 6 years ago I worked with a personal trainer that when ever I plateaued he had me re-evaluate what I was eating and the calorie count. Every time I got stronger and stronger and the weight stayed the same on the scale he upped my calories. He started me at 1400 and eventually I was at 2400 a day and still losing weight.

    I believe it's all a matter of adjustments. I do agree you should eat back most to all your calories from working out, think of your body as a car... no gas no go... not enough food, no weight loss.


    great quote!!! 'think of your body as a car... no gas no go... not enough food, no weight loss'. brilliant! :)
    [/quote]
  • pamben92
    pamben92 Posts: 6 Member
    Marc thanks so much for this explanation mate. Makes it all much clearer. I have spent my bus ride to work working out my BMR and used the Harris Benedict Formula to work out my cals. Setting a deficit of 750 for just over a half kilo a week loss gets me to 1788. Readjusted my MFP settings in line with the HBF and got a goal of 1830. Very close!
    How does the Fitbit adjustment fit in with all this? Can you really get full calorie credit for it, or isn't that activity level taken into account with the MFP and HBF activity settings anyway?

    glad to help. would be hard to include fitbit in all this as i am suggesting not including your exercise regimen in your daily activity level (sedentary, lightly active, active, very active, etc). I only suggest including your job, home life, etc. if you are a call center rep that sits down 10 hours a day but you work out 6 days a week, i suggest setting your lifestyle as sedentary and just logging your exercise manually. if you work construction, then maybe your lifestyle is moderately active, still log your personal exercise regimen separately. the important thing is dont count the same activities twice. dont say you're "lightly active" because you have a sedentary job and you go jogging twice a week in the morning........just put it at sedentary and log your jog manually otherwise the jog is calculated into your lifestyle AND you are logging it a second time manually. also make sure you arent just deducting your daily deficit goal from your BMR, be sure to calculate your lifestyle type also. for a sedentary lifestyle add about 20% calories to your BMR and then subtract your 1,000 or 500 calorie deficit. the list of lifestyle activity percentages are on this thread somewhere.

    i dont use the hbf i use the miflin st jeor equation. theres a post somewhere on this thread where that formula is listed. the hbf lists my bmr as 3300 calories and my daily burn at almost 4,000 calories! the st jeor equation lists my bmr at about 2750 and my daily burn at 3300, so you can see theres a big difference. my body seems to feel right getting to 2300 for a 1,000 calorie deficit, and sometimes even 2300 can be a challenge to reach without eating junk food so i question the HBF accuracy, it WAYYYY overestimates what i need to keep going.

    This was very enlightening to me! It never occurred to me that I was counting my exercise burn double. Thanks so much for that one. BTW, I do agree with you with eating back your calories. I try to take a different approach by looking at my net calorie intake vs. burn weekly, otherwise I would obsess over it daily!
  • lilmisfit
    lilmisfit Posts: 860 Member
    [Example of not eating back exercise calories]
    Breakfast: +500 calories
    Exercise -200 calories
    Snack: +50 calories
    Lunch: +500 calories
    Exercise: -500 Calories
    Dinner : +450 calories
    Total Net calories for the day: 800 calories. You ate your daily goal of 1500 calories, but almost half of it didnt actually go to your body, it was used by exercise Your body should receive 1500 calorie in this example.

    See, this is where I have a problem with this theory. the 1500 calories actually DID go into your body and was used as fuel. You still ate the 1500 calories. You just burned more than you ate. Your body still got the nutrients from those 1500 calories. Does it need more? Maybe. Maybe not. People vary. If eating back your exercise calories works for you, do it. If it doesn't, don't. Simple, really.
  • PinkEnvyx
    PinkEnvyx Posts: 172
    images3.jpg

    HEE HEE I just see this calorie back thing a lot.


    I don't know about eating back calories or if it works for others but I reached my goal not doing it so it depends on the person.
  • MarcoRod
    MarcoRod Posts: 150 Member
    The OP is spot on. This is not rocket science. I think the controversy here has less to do with nutrition than it does with the Americans being math-challenged.
  • jbudge1
    jbudge1 Posts: 62 Member
    So sick of seeing this argument on these forums. What the OP fails to mention is everyone's body is different. Yep shocker I know but every single person on this board has a different body. Some are short, some are tall, some are thin, some are fat. YOU need to find out what works for you. What works for the next guy may be a disaster for you and your body. A short person may not need as many calories as a tall person to put it in simple terms. I lost over 70 pounds from my high point several years ago. For me when I eat my calories back, I gain weight period. I have tested this on more than one occasion and for months at a time.

    Losing weight is simple. Burn more than you take in. People and "experts" on this forum will try to complicate this more than it needs to be. Personally when I want to lose weight I eat 1400-1500 calories a day and I run 5.5 -7 miles a day six days a week. This burns 800-1000 calories give or take. I lose approx 1 to 1.5 lbs per week doing this.

    Eating your calories back may work for some people, but it doesn't work for everyone. I can't believe some people actually eat 2500-3000 calories a day because they are exercising like crazy and then ask why they aren't losing any weight. Use some common sense and quick trying to reinvent the wheel. Figure out what works for you, seek a doctor if needed, and stick to your plan.
  • PinkEnvyx
    PinkEnvyx Posts: 172
    So sick of seeing this argument on these forums. What the OP fails to mention is everyone's body is different. Yep shocker I know but every single person on this board has a different body. Some are short, some are tall, some are thin, some are fat. YOU need to find out what works for you. What works for the next guy may be a disaster for you and your body. A short person may not need as many calories as a tall person to put it in simple terms. I lost over 70 pounds from my high point several years ago. For me when I eat my calories back, I gain weight period. I have tested this on more than one occasion and for months at a time.

    Losing weight is simple. Burn more than you take in. People and "experts" on this forum will try to complicate this more than it needs to be. Personally when I want to lose weight I eat 1400-1500 calories a day and I run 5.5 -7 miles a day six days a week. This burns 800-1000 calories give or take. I lose approx 1 to 1.5 lbs per week doing this.

    Eating your calories back may work for some people, but it doesn't work for everyone. I can't believe some people actually eat 2500-3000 calories a day because they are exercising like crazy and then ask why they aren't losing any weight. Use some common sense and quick trying to reinvent the wheel. Figure out what works for you, seek a doctor if needed, and stick to your plan.

    :love: THIS
  • smhammons
    smhammons Posts: 115 Member
    Thank you so much for this post and I have to agree with you I have done diet after diet and always its the same eat very few calories and exercise and that is why they never worked for me. This is not a diet it is learning to eat and eat healthy and fuel your body and when you do it correctly you lose the weight.
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    So i am still a bit confused (never takes much to confuse me, i am only new to MFP too), if my Daily Goal is 1830 according to age weight etc etc, and like today i earned and burnt 400 calories in a spin class ( i have a polar fitness watch) so then that takes my daily total up to 2230 calories for the day .... how many calories should i stick to and eat daily ???? 1830 or 2230?? I have only just noticed the NET calorie on the home page the other day and it confused the crap out of me lol !! I work out every day most days i burn a min of 300 calories a day in a cardio workout. Love MFP but would love to be using it correctly.

    you add the calories from any exercise to your daily eating allowance. if your calorie goal is 1830, that means your NET calorie intake for the day needs to be 1830, not the amount you ate. your body needs to receive 1,830 calories even after you burn calories exercising. so the exercise will help get you more fit and in better shape, but you have to provide extra fuel if youre going to do more work. please review the last 5 pages questions like this have been answered multiple times :)
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    This is a very interesting thread, thank you for posting this information, and I am very new to this, but according to this equation, I end up with 912 so perhaps I am reading it wrong.

    10x weight in kg 730
    6.25x height in cm 992
    3 x age 170

    730 + 992 - 170 - 161 = 1391

    1391 x 1.375 = 1912.625

    1912.625 - 1000 = 912.625

    However I did notice that if I add 170 rather than subtract it, I end up with 1380 which sounds about right to me?

    I'd really appreciate it if you would take a look at this :)


    first, your height in 992 cm? thats like 32 feet...and i think the age is wrong in that math also. so ill just have to assume your math is correct since i dont know your actual height. if you come up with your TDEE (1912 by your calculations) and subtract 1,000 and it falls below 1,200 calories, it doesnt really apply. the absolute minimum caloric intake per day is 1200. you will just have to keep a calorie net intake of 1200 and have a deficit of apx 700 calories instead. thats what happens when you get closer to a correct weight, you cant lose 2lb per week anymore. 750 calorie deficit is an average weekly weight loss of 1.5lbs so still not bad.
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    images3.jpg

    HEE HEE I just see this calorie back thing a lot.


    I don't know about eating back calories or if it works for others but I reached my goal not doing it so it depends on the person.
    i notice you joined MFP last month...........its been said multiple times that eating below your 1,000 calorie recommended deficit isnt going to hurt you overnight. those people who have a year of exercising and weight loss ahead of them its a bigger concern than the person that just wants to drop 10 lbs real fast. you may very well be able to get away with it for a month before your body reacts, everybody's body is different
  • Chrisswa
    Chrisswa Posts: 71
    Thankyou for the answer and helping me out !! Sometimes too much info in this ole brain can be too much so hence i asked .... again thanks for taking the time to answer it makes sense now .... have a wonderful day
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    So sick of seeing this argument on these forums. What the OP fails to mention is everyone's body is different. Yep shocker I know but every single person on this board has a different body. Some are short, some are tall, some are thin, some are fat. YOU need to find out what works for you.

    yes, everybody's body is different, but our bodies were all designed on the same FUNDAMENTALS. we differ on low carb diet, low fat diet, etc diet working best, or what kind of exercise tones us up best, but when it comes to the basic IN vs OUT.......there's no controversy. if somebody "severely" cut calories for a year straight and it never hurt them they had a much lower BMR or TDEE than they thought they did so they werent cutting like they thought they were. this is simple math
    Eating your calories back may work for some people, but it doesn't work for everyone. I can't believe some people actually eat 2500-3000 calories a day because they are exercising like crazy and then ask why they aren't losing any weight.
    lots of body builders will eat multiple thousands of calories a day and "exercise like crazy" to get fit and bulk up. if this what im talking about wasnt true they wouldnt bother with the extra caloric intake because clearly it just doesnt matter what you consume vs what you burn.

    in essence.....the RULE is what i have been saying this whole thread. if theres a 5% minority out there that have actually managed NOT to get screwed over by having too high of a calorie deficit this is the EXCEPTION, not the rule, QUIT telling the masses they can have a huge deficit and be ok, because if its true AT ALL, it only applies to a very very slim portion of society.
  • As_Sweet_As_Pea
    As_Sweet_As_Pea Posts: 56 Member
    Thank You very very much!!
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    Thank You very very much!!
    no problem :)
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
    I guess this thread has run the extent of its life, lol. too bad, lots of time and good information
  • Thanks Marc! I needed this answer and understanding the logic behind it makes great sense! My stopped progress totally makes sense now.
  • Hi I am new and have 140 lb to lose. I have lost 14lb in first 3 weeks but gained a pound today and yet I started the gym this week. Are you trying to say if you burn 200 calories on exercise you should then eat them?? I am currently on 1500 a day but am doing around 200 to 300 calories in exercise which I do not use. I stick to 1500 no matter what exercise i do...is this wrong?? Thanks for advice
  • p.s If for some reason I dont exercise I only have 1200 calories
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