Eating back exercise calories

AroraSumita
AroraSumita Posts: 19
in Health and Weight Loss
I do eat back some of my exercise calories but on days that i burn 500-700 caloriess in Gym, I really do not want to eat so much more...was wondering..what is the 'safe' amount so that body still gets nutrition it needs and not go in starvation mode?
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Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Do not worry about starvation mode.

    Try to eat back 50% to 75% of your exercise calories.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Do not worry about starvation mode.

    Try to eat back 50% to 75% of your exercise calories.

    This would work, or you could just up your cals everyday which would have you eat more than you do now on non-workout days, but less than you do on workout days. (eat the same amount of calories everyday, but this amount should be a fair bit higher than the initial MFP recommendation)
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    i dont eat mine ..... i stay at 1200
  • BeingAwesome247
    BeingAwesome247 Posts: 1,171 Member
    I don't eat back my exercise cals personally.
    Found the equation to figure out your basic calorie needs, subtracted 500 and have my set goal.
    Lot of ppl do this actually.

    MFP over complicates things in a lot of ways I think
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    i dont eat mine ..... i stay at 1200

    Yikes. 1200 is not enough for anyone that works out. I would suggest if you don't want to eat them back that you eat 1500-1700/day instead.

    Having too large of a deficit can lead to a large % of your weight loss coming from lean muscle instead of the fat you are looking at losing.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I don't eat back my exercise cals personally.
    Found the equation to figure out your basic calorie needs, subtracted 500 and have my set goal.
    Lot of ppl do this actually.

    MFP over complicates things in a lot of ways I think

    This is a great way, as long as you account for exercise in your basic calories needs. You can also take that number and -20%, that is what a lot of people do as well.
  • DivaMoe40
    DivaMoe40 Posts: 159 Member
    I usually eat something after my workout, but just enough to satisfy my hunger. I'm not trying to eat it all back, I just don't want to go to bed hungry.
  • MissJenn85
    MissJenn85 Posts: 2
    oh yay! thanks for asking this question!! i've been trying to find the balance also b/c i am trying to lose and have been by watching my food but i also play derby. on the days i have practice, i burn upwards of 1,000 calories... obviously i would need to eat some of those back to keep my body from freaking out. these pieces of advice have been super helpful!
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    I don't eat my exercise calories back. When I do I find my weight loss stalls however when I want to maintain my weight I will begin to do so. One thing to add is that I also don't stress or fixate on a 1200 calorie number. Instead I try to eat til I'm satisfied and stop. That tends to do it for me. Some days I'm slightly over and some days slightly under but physically satisfied. Best advice is for you to see what works best for you :flowerforyou:
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    Around a 20% deficit from TDEE
  • AroraSumita
    AroraSumita Posts: 19
    Thank you everyone. This sure is helpful ...
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    Do not worry about starvation mode.

    Try to eat back 50% to 75% of your exercise calories.

    That's pretty much what I do. It's worked great for me so far. I originally tried to NOT eat them back at all. It sucked, I was hungry all the time. When I started to eat back 50-75% of them...I started to lose weight more quickly and steadily. It's great :)
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    I do eat back some of my exercise calories but on days that i burn 500-700 caloriess in Gym, I really do not want to eat so much more...was wondering..what is the 'safe' amount so that body still gets nutrition it needs and not go in starvation mode?
    I eat mine back and on the weekends when I burn over 800 calories I have pizza!! I love it!
  • NatashaB8
    NatashaB8 Posts: 202
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    You eat the extra amount to fuel your workouts, and you workout to ensure that you are losing fat and not muscle, to strengthen the heart, increase endurance, become a better athlete, get stronger etc.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    MFP sets your calories low so that you will lose weight without exercise. Then when you DO exercise, you need to eat more to fuel the workout. If you don't then you may be creating too large of a calorie deficit which is not healthy, and may stall your weight loss, or cause you to lose muscle mass.
  • NatashaB8
    NatashaB8 Posts: 202
    Ah right okay!
    Thanks for the replies, will definitely try and eat my exercise calories back :)
  • sarah1334
    sarah1334 Posts: 77 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    You eat the extra amount to fuel your workouts, and you workout to ensure that you are losing fat and not muscle, to strengthen the heart, increase endurance, become a better athlete, get stronger etc.

    And because adding some exercise/building some lean muscle means you'll look better naked in the end! :smile: Hehe.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    I get better results if I don't so I try not to, but sometimes I do if I really want something (last 2 days = homemade apple crisp!!)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/729141-exercise-calories-to-eat-or-not-to-eat-results?hl=exercise+calories+psulemon&page=1#posts-10742097

    Pretty much states, those who do NOT eat back exercise calories, increases the chance of muscle loss.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    BECAUSE this is how MFP is designed. MFP does not assume that anyone will exercise. So the calorie deficit is built in up front. When you exercise you actually INCREASE the deficit. When the deficit is too large ...you actually lose muscle (along with fat).

    Debate on eat back/don't eat back is complicated - how much you have to lose makes a difference. There is wiggle room on activity level (it's a range really), calories burned calculations (MFP exaggerates many exercises) .... lots to consider
  • gingerjen7
    gingerjen7 Posts: 821 Member
    I do eat back some of my exercise calories but on days that i burn 500-700 caloriess in Gym, I really do not want to eat so much more...was wondering..what is the 'safe' amount so that body still gets nutrition it needs and not go in starvation mode?
    If you're hungry, eat a healthy snack. Don't overstress about it. Starvation mode aside, chances are if you're consistently hungry, you're not being "safe" with your diet. If your body is telling you it needs fuel, fuel it. If not, I wouldn't worry.
  • MissJenn85
    MissJenn85 Posts: 2
    also, something to think about is what you're eating to replace your calories. Yes, because i burned 800 calories between cardio & weight lifting it doesn't mean i am justified in eating pizza. sure, every once in a while is okay... but 800 calories of pizza is NOT the same as 800 calories of grilled chicken breast, leafy greens, etc.
  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
    Around a 20% deficit from TDEE

    That puts me at 1056 calories a day. If I go over that, I start gaining weight.
  • joannathechef
    joannathechef Posts: 484 Member
    also, something to think about is what you're eating to replace your calories. Yes, because i burned 800 calories between cardio & weight lifting it doesn't mean i am justified in eating pizza. sure, every once in a while is okay... but 800 calories of pizza is NOT the same as 800 calories of grilled chicken breast, leafy greens, etc.

    Actually 800 calories is 800 calories because you choose to eat clean doesn't they are not exactly the same caloriewise.
  • BSchoberg
    BSchoberg Posts: 712 Member
    I found I was starving on rest days and not able to eat all my calories (including exercise) on workout days. So I upped my "goal" to level it out a bit, but not a lot. Now, I eat back some of my exercise calories and try to stay at goal on rest days. I'm still kind of hungry on those days, though - so I think I need to tweak it more.
  • MissCarter79
    MissCarter79 Posts: 227 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    MFP sets your calories low so that you will lose weight without exercise. Then when you DO exercise, you need to eat more to fuel the workout. If you don't then you may be creating too large of a calorie deficit which is not healthy, and may stall your weight loss, or cause you to lose muscle mass.

    Thank you! You just gave me the easiest explanation by far! This makes sense!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    MFP sets your calories low so that you will lose weight without exercise. Then when you DO exercise, you need to eat more to fuel the workout. If you don't then you may be creating too large of a calorie deficit which is not healthy, and may stall your weight loss, or cause you to lose muscle mass.

    Thank you! You just gave me the easiest explanation by far! This makes sense!

    You are very welcome. I remember being a little bewildered when I first got here because it is opposite of the way you might think.
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    I do eat back some of my exercise calories but on days that i burn 500-700 caloriess in Gym, I really do not want to eat so much more...was wondering..what is the 'safe' amount so that body still gets nutrition it needs and not go in starvation mode?

    I'm not sure what is really meant by "starvation mode" in this context, unless it's what happens to your metabolic rate when your deficit is too large and you unnecessarily burn off muscle along with the fat.

    I was able to stay on track with my 1lb/week weight loss goal and avoid hitting any plateaus by eating back 2/3rds of my exercise calories and by averaging them out over exercise and non-exercise days. For me that was a lot easier than dealing with swings of hundreds of calories from one day to the next. I've continued to average my workout calories through a full year of successful maintenance, so I don't think I've done my metabolism any harm.
  • NatashaB8
    NatashaB8 Posts: 202
    This might be a silly question but..
    why exercise if you're going to eat the calories back? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't understand it really :/

    You eat the extra amount to fuel your workouts, and you workout to ensure that you are losing fat and not muscle, to strengthen the heart, increase endurance, become a better athlete, get stronger etc.

    And because adding some exercise/building some lean muscle means you'll look better naked in the end! :smile: Hehe.

    I certainly wouldn't mind that!

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