(yes I've read all the debates and I try to eat them all back)

Well if that is your conclusion then I guess you are stuck because I think that most of the exercise value from many sources are WAY too high (as you do also it seems) . I try to not eat back any more than 1/2 of my exercise calories. That seems to work for me. If I exercise 1000 calories and don't eat any back I wind up feeling out of energy the next day.

If you are not running "fast or hard" then the body doesn't tap into the glucose (whether it is coming from the diet or the muscle/liver), it runs on fatty acids/ketones so there is no need for extra carbohydrate in your day.

I could walk all day every day at a moderate pace and not need any supplementary carbohydrate.

As far as the whole 'eating back calories' thing goes I think body composition is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise so I see any exercise I do (mostly walking, some push-ups) as fairly unimportant for body composition (resistance is good to keep/bulld muscle though) but good for other things (mental state, etc).

I've never logged exercise, way too tedious for me and I'd wager that the estimated calories burnt are way off. And who says 500, say, calories burnt mean that 500 calories of fat is going to be somehow magically removed from your body? It just isn't going to happen, the body isn't a magical calorie/fat cash machine.

I concentrate on eating right first and let the body sort out the rest.

I used to exercise like mad and it did me no good whatsoever from a fat-loss point of view.

Just my weird world

It seems fairly common that once people have adapted to using their fat as the primary fuel source (as opposed to the glucose that all carbohydrate metabolises down to) they have less hunger and the issue of creating a calorie deficit is a non-problem.

I'm a few months in and I find that it's more of an issue to make sure I get enough rather than cut back. If in doubt I add fat, a big dose of coconut oil is not going to harm anything much less turn into fat

The fat-burning adaptation can take around 3 weeks in some people so in this period the body will probably be craving stuff that it has been used to having as fuel. Once over this though the feeling of not being a slave to food and calories is great.

I have a theory that once we are generating our energy internally (from our fat stores) then the need for external calories goes down by a fair amount. I'm not saying starve yourself but more to listen to the body and recognise actual hunger. Something that is easier to do once you get off the blood sugar rollercoaster

I wouldn't eat any other way now, it just feels so right.

I'm a few months in and I find that it's more of an issue to make sure I get enough rather than cut back

I have a theory that once we are generating our energy internally (from our fat stores) then the need for external calories goes down by a fair amount. I'm not saying starve yourself but more to listen to the body and recognise actual hunger. Something that is easier to do once you get off the blood sugar rollercoaster

I wouldn't eat any other way now, it just feels so right.

hahaha forgot to put my post underneath -

i 100% agree with this! im the same

I really wish it were though. So much easier! Just need a pin number and some walking shoes and I'd be good to go

Indeed so, we can all do basic math, we can all be honest and log what we put in our mouths and our exercise and still we generally tend to fail to make long term progress on fat loss. It's not through lack of will.

Why is this? Because our bodies don't want to give fat up, never mind the calories.

It's a bit more complex than calorie balance, this much I instinctively know is true.