Do you eat back your exercise calories?

I eat them all; sometimes I go over in a day; sometimes a bit under, but I try to reconcile within 24-48 hours bc that's what works best for my energy level.

I exercise a lot, because my job is teaching dance and fitness (specifically, spin). I teach about 20 hours a week, and outside of that, I also go road cycling, paddleboarding, and I enjoy lifting heavy objects and putting them back down

I eat A LOT of calories, and I burn a lot of calories.

Anyway, here's an old post of mine which may interest you:

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From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
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There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

I have always ate them back...period. Most people that don't, do not understand that MFP has a deficit already built in....or some say they tried and it "doesn't work", ie they gain. Key is...you should be weighing/measuring your food accurately and wearing a HRM to accurately track your burns if you are going to eat them back, otherwise you're just guessing at everything.

I am new to the site and still working it out. So if my goal is 1200, I have burned 400 calories so it shows my goal for the day is now 1600 calories that I should eat??

Agreed! I think this can be a bit decieving. If you burn 300 calories,it doesnt make sense to add that back to eat more for the day. Seems that defeats the purpose. I want that to come out of the reserve I have already built up!

Then it is clear you do not understand how MFP works.

For me, it vairies. I have gotten to a point that I try to only eat them if I am truly hungry. Why eat if you are not hungry? If you are hungry, you should eat even if it puts you a little over your daily goal of intake. Our bodies can go into starvation mode if it feels as though it isn't getting enough calories. However, ever person is different and you need to take the time to observe and "listen" to what yours is telling you :-) I think it is extremely helpful to log everything that goes into your mouth esp in the beginning so you can see how things affect you. Some people can consume high carbs while others have to have fewer carbs even when they are eating the same caloric intake... If you do hit a plateau you can go back to your log and note if there have been any dietary changes that you may not have noticed otherwise.