Eaitng Back Calories

maddiey
maddiey Posts: 231 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I know there's probably like a million threads about this, but it's not a should I or shouldn't I type of board.
I was wondering, what are the benefits/needs of eating back calories, and what happens if I DON'T eat back calories I burn?

I wonder, because I don't. I eat about 1650 calories a day, and probably burn maybe like 200 a day I work out? (I don't know, currently I'm doing P90X and the best guess I can get is what my fitbit says after the work outs, but I know it can't measure strength exercises). So please, enlighten me :)

What happens if I don't eat back my calories?

Replies

  • maddiey
    maddiey Posts: 231 Member
    Bump
  • satxtrap
    satxtrap Posts: 120 Member
    Hi, Despite having been ridiculed on my first ever post by a few for sharing what I was advised I'll take a chance and respond to yours since nobody else has. (Hopefully I wont get laid into again.) It's my understanding that when you don't eat back your calories that you run the risk of your body going into "starvation mode" since it's not getting the minimal # of calories needed to maintain itself. When that happens it decides to start storing calories consumed as fat instead of burning fat which is probably counter to what you are trying to accomplish. That's the basics anyway.
  • deb1962
    deb1962 Posts: 36 Member
    Wow..Really? This is only my second day at this so what a great question asked and answered..Ijust thought i would lose more weight..Oh and hi all :smile:
  • danithegirl89
    danithegirl89 Posts: 203 Member
    You are probably fine doing that. If you had crazy burns (like 1000+) you might want to eat some of them back to help with muscle repair, etc. But 1650-200= 1450 net calories and that's plenty unless you are crazy tall or something. As long as you are happy with your weight loss, I wouldn't change anything. :)
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    There is a risk of your metabolism slowing down if you chronically undereat vs. how much you exercise. I'm not going to weigh in on "starvation mode" but your metabolism slowing down is a risk. If you are eating 1650 calories and only exercising 200 calories off, it is unlikely that you will fall in that catagory. On the other hand, if you find yourself uncomfortably hungry or your weight loss is not going as expected, or you don't seem to have enough energy, you might consider eating those calories. They might make you feel better- exercise calories are especially delicious calories because you've earned them. :)
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Every calorie calculator I've seen suggests that if you are more active, then you should eat more each day to give your body extra energy to fuel the extra activity. This still applies if you are trying to lose weight, the numbers are just different.

    - The way MFP is set up is that it calculates your daily calories without taking exercise into consideration. If you exercise, then you should add in extra calories each time you exercise to get up to the total recommended daily calorie allowance.
    - If you use another calculator to work out your numbers, then you should do what they say - most others already include calories from exercise in your total recommended daily calorie allowance.

    Chances are that the numbers will come out about the same either way, you're just using a different method to get there.

    If you are using MFP numbers and DON'T eat those extra cals - well, the sky probably won't fall in, it just means that you are creating a larger calorie deficit. If you have a lot of weight to lose, then it's probably not going to be an issue.
    If you don't have much to lose you might be putting yourself at risk of not getting enough energy and nutrition to keep you healthy and full of bounce.

    The way I see it is that if you are using a tool to tell you how much to eat - then you should use it the way it is designed for a month or two to see how your body reacts. If that doesn't suit you, then you can change things around if needed.
  • danithegirl89
    danithegirl89 Posts: 203 Member
    There is a risk of your metabolism slowing down if you chronically undereat vs. how much you exercise. I'm not going to weigh in on "starvation mode" but your metabolism slowing down is a risk. If you are eating 1650 calories and only exercising 200 calories off, it is unlikely that you will fall in that catagory. On the other hand, if you find yourself uncomfortably hungry or your weight loss is not going as expected, or you don't seem to have enough energy, you might consider eating those calories. They might make you feel better- exercise calories are especially delicious calories because you've earned them. :)

    Yes I definitely recommend having a "cheat day" once in awhile to confuse your body. I mean, don't go crazy and eat like 6000 calories or something. I have noticed if once in awhile I don't log calories and maybe eat out for dinner or something, a few days later the scale goes down :D
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    If you don't eat back your calories you lose weight faster. Ever see those extreme weight loss shows? The fear is that you'll go overboard with it and create very large deficits and reduce lean body mass more than you might at smaller deficits. At 1650 calories, you should be fine with it.
  • kmshred
    kmshred Posts: 393 Member
    i never eat back my exercise calories.
  • aoikirin
    aoikirin Posts: 143
    i never eat back my exercise calories.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    You know what 'eating back calories' reminds me of? Roman vomitoriums. I know, MFP's goals are assuming you 'eat back'. But when you think about it's kind of gross. We sit all day at work, crank out an hour on the treadmill, then sit all night at home, then go to bed. But first we have to 'eat back' those treadmill calories! After we've 'eaten' our BMR calories (don't get me started). And god knows you will ruin your metabolism if you don't, despite that you have about a half million calories aged to perfection on your *kitten*. :laugh:
  • lee3978
    lee3978 Posts: 274
    You know what 'eating back calories' reminds me of? Roman vomitoriums. I know, MFP's goals are assuming you 'eat back'. But when you think about it's kind of gross. We sit all day at work, crank out an hour on the treadmill, then sit all night at home, then go to bed. But first we have to 'eat back' those treadmill calories! After we've 'eaten' our BMR calories (don't get me started). And god knows you will ruin your metabolism if you don't, despite that you have about a half million calories aged to perfection on your *kitten*. :laugh:

    Hey! Not all of us have desk jobs! I haven't had one since 2005. I come home tired and funky from sweating at work lol.
    Sorry my poor feet and back spoke up! haha :)
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
    If you're doing p90x, you're probably burning 400-600 calories per workout if you're doing them entirely. I'm just finishing up a round, and when my calories (and/or carbs) were too low I lacked energy in the workouts. I try to eat back my exercise calories and I'm down 34 lbs (I lost 10 before starting p90x). Most of the workouts are over an hour and pretty brutal....you need the fuel.
  • ItsPheebs
    ItsPheebs Posts: 127 Member
    Hi, Despite having been ridiculed on my first ever post by a few for sharing what I was advised I'll take a chance and respond to yours since nobody else has. (Hopefully I wont get laid into again.) It's my understanding that when you don't eat back your calories that you run the risk of your body going into "starvation mode" since it's not getting the minimal # of calories needed to maintain itself. When that happens it decides to start storing calories consumed as fat instead of burning fat which is probably counter to what you are trying to accomplish. That's the basics anyway.

    ^^ Yes.
  • legitlee
    legitlee Posts: 25
    I found this thread helpful.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    Found Here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    Loads of fantastic advice.

    Lee
  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
    Oh look, it's this thread again.

    The search function must be disabled.
  • geordiegirl27
    geordiegirl27 Posts: 307 Member
    Oh look, it's this thread again.

    The search function must be disabled.

    As another newbie I am happy to have questions asked again, ok there maybe a search but sometimes its nice to have a question answered with a focus on your own situation.

    I have read a few posts about eating back calories as the confusion of whether its right to eat exercise calories or if it will help with additional weight loss.

    I'm coming to the conclusion that its trial and error, I'm allocated 1250 cals per day and yesterday I ran off 871 I only just made it to 1248 by eating a cheese sandwich to get my calories up. I need to be a bit more relaxed on days I exercise but feels wrong to eat for the sake of it :ohwell:
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
    i never eat back my exercise calories.

    That can be fine when you have a lot to lose, but as you get closer to your goal you need to slow down the weight loss to limit the amount of lean body mass you lose.
  • maddiey
    maddiey Posts: 231 Member
    Thanks everyone for the advice! Apparently everyone likes to post when I go to bed lol.
  • maddiey
    maddiey Posts: 231 Member
    Thank you. I do all the work outs fully (except right now I do not do the bonus rounds!) and I am doing leans. I know the calorie burn is a little more than I thought, but I don't have a way of measuring them. So far I'm only into week 2, but I have a really weird schedule right now so I do not do 6 days in a row, I do 3 days, 1 day off, 3 days, 1 day off. Do you think that is still okay? The work out would be similar?
  • Amaek469
    Amaek469 Posts: 3 Member
    Hi, Despite having been ridiculed on my first ever post by a few for sharing what I was advised I'll take a chance and respond to yours since nobody else has. (Hopefully I wont get laid into again.) It's my understanding that when you don't eat back your calories that you run the risk of your body going into "starvation mode" since it's not getting the minimal # of calories needed to maintain itself. When that happens it decides to start storing calories consumed as fat instead of burning fat which is probably counter to what you are trying to accomplish. That's the basics anyway.
  • Amaek469
    Amaek469 Posts: 3 Member
    This is my understanding as well. I think you should listen to your body. On certain days if I've been very active and I am hungry I'll be sure to eat again to stay satisfied. I do try to never, ever go under the base calorie limit for nutrition, which I've read is 1200 calories a day. That's probably low for me because I'm 6' tall, but again, I listen to my body.

    My MFP calories is 1400 per day. If I burn 600 additional calories I try to eat back 400 of those so that I don't go under the 1200 minimum for nutrition. See what I mean? 1400 - 600 = 800 so I eat 400 so my 800 + 400 = 1200 for base nutrition.

    Here's a major thing to remember: Drink lots of water! Thirst aften disguises itself as hunger. Thanks for your post!
  • MzStarrQueenB
    MzStarrQueenB Posts: 194 Member
    Okay, I know there's probably like a million threads about this, but it's not a should I or shouldn't I type of board.
    I was wondering, what are the benefits/needs of eating back calories, and what happens if I DON'T eat back calories I burn?

    I wonder, because I don't. I eat about 1650 calories a day, and probably burn maybe like 200 a day I work out? (I don't know, currently I'm doing P90X and the best guess I can get is what my fitbit says after the work outs, but I know it can't measure strength exercises). So please, enlighten me :)

    What happens if I don't eat back my calories?

    I do it sometimes like if I eat 700 cals before lunch and then I walt 5miles and burn 600 cals. When I get dinner and a snack I make sure to eat at least 800 cals.



    If you set your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.....



    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8987-serious-diet-support-group
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    MFP sets you st a calorie deficit to start with. That means you will lose weight, doing nothing else but eating at that level. If you exercise..which you should..now you've created another calorie deficit. Sounds great...but now you may not be getting enough calories and nutrients to sustain your body's good health and functioning. So..you eat more calories, back to your original goal net. You're still at a deficit, and you've had the healthy benefit of exercise...and you've also gotten more food to enjoy. This is the way MFP is designed to work. The MFP exercise calorie figures tend to trend high...so its a good idea to use a HRM or a fitbit. But yes...do eat those calories. It works. And it works at keeping you healthy.
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
    Everyone be nice, the new people always ask these questions :) I too direct them back to the search button.

Categories