Eating back calories

Do a search in this section; you'll find about 1000 threads with the same subject.

Personally, I eat back some calories but not all.

I eat back my exercise calories, or at least most of them. It seems ridiculous to me that anyone should net less than 1000 calories, and I'm supposed to be on 1200, which is low enough I think!

I eat back my exercise calories, or at least most of them. It seems ridiculous to me that anyone should net less than 1000 calories, and I'm supposed to be on 1200, which is low enough I think!

I agree with this. I eat back a good portion of my calories. There are days (today is one of them) when by the end of the day, I will burn 1500 calories +, and I certainly don't eat all of them back, but I do eat about 2000 calories on days when I'm allotted 2400.

I really just listen to my body. If I am hungry, I am going to eat. If I am not, I am not going to eat out of boredom or "requirement."

I eat back my exercise calories, or at least most of them. It seems ridiculous to me that anyone should net less than 1000 calories, and I'm supposed to be on 1200, which is low enough I think!

I agree with this. I eat back a good portion of my calories. There are days (today is one of them) when by the end of the day, I will burn 1500 calories +, and I certainly don't eat all of them back, but I do eat about 2000 calories on days when I'm allotted 2400.

I really just listen to my body. If I am hungry, I am going to eat. If I am not, I am not going to eat out of boredom or "requirement."

This is pretty much what i mean. If I'm doing rock climbing or weights at the gym my muscles are suffering, and if I don't give them what they need to recover I'm not going to reach my overall goals very fast. I only have around 3kg left to lose, but I want to be fitter and stronger, so netting too few calories is not helping me at all. If I exercise and I'm hungry and have the calories spare then I'll eat.

i do sometimes, other times I don't and sometimes I eat over. And at the end, I still lose weight.

depends how you set your calorie goal
MFP uses net calories & assumes you are eating them back i.e. 1200 to lose 2lb/wk say so if you burn 300 cals that day you can eat 1500 cals

but the alternative is to set your activity level higher to take exercise into consideration then the net daily goal is 1500 say, then don't eat back exercise cals - so on some days when doing a lot of exercise net will be really low - but over the course of a week should average out so your net comes out as 1100. The advantage of this approach is that you eat consistently about the same amount everyday even if your exercise levels fluctuate

at the end of the day the numbers work out the same. what you shouldn't do is set a low net and not eat back exercise calories that is not a good long term approach to fitness - it will be hard to maintain

Study below shows those who ate back exercise calories lost less weight when compared to those that did not. Eating back exercise calories is a myth created by MyFitnessPal. I've never seen a diet or a research paper that said you must eat them back. It's nonsense. If you want to eat them back, that's your preference, but it will not in any way help you reach your weight loss goals faster.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/health/weight-exercise-loss/index.html

Wrong. As an earlier post stated, it depends on how you set it up. When I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds a week it gives me a daily calorie goal of 1750. If I eat 1750 calories and then go burn 1400 in a 2 hour workout (which I regularly do) then essentially I have only netted 350 calories that day. Not nearly enough. (I actually did this for the first two months I was on MFP and didnt lose a single pound. I started eating 2600-2750 on days I work out and the weight started coming off) The 1750 calorie goal will give me a 2 pound a week loss WITHOUT working out. I could eat 1750 calories a day, sit and watch tv and lose 2 pounds a week. So, If Im going to workout, I need more calories. Or I could set my calorie goal manually to 2600 calories per day and that would take my workouts in to account. In which case, I would not eat back any exercise calories.


Also that study was about exercise and had nothing to do with eating back exercise calories. The people in the study were instructed to NOT change their normal diets at all. Thats a completely different situation. It also stated that they probably ate more than they logged.

Study below shows those who ate back exercise calories lost less weight when compared to those that did not. Eating back exercise calories is a myth created by MyFitnessPal. I've never seen a diet or a research paper that said you must eat them back. It's nonsense. If you want to eat them back, that's your preference, but it will not in any way help you reach your weight loss goals faster.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/health/weight-exercise-loss/index.html

Wrong. As an earlier post stated, it depends on how you set it up. When I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds a week it gives me a daily calorie goal of 1750. If I eat 1750 calories and then go burn 1400 in a 2 hour workout (which I regularly do) then essentially I have only netted 350 calories that day. Not nearly enough. (I actually did this for the first two months I was on MFP and didnt lose a single pound. I started eating 2600-2750 on days I work out and the weight started coming off) The 1750 calorie goal will give me a 2 pound a week loss WITHOUT working out. I could eat 1750 calories a day, sit and watch tv and lose 2 pounds a week. So, If Im going to workout, I need more calories. Or I could set my calorie goal manually to 2600 calories per day and that would take my workouts in to account. In which case, I would not eat back any exercise calories.

What part am i wrong about? The study shows that those who did not eat their exercise calories back lost more weight when compared to those that did. You should also take note that the ones that did eat their exercise calories back also exercised harder. I have a study. What do you have other then your opinion?

The study had nothing to do with eating exercise calories and all three groups were instructed to not change their diets.

Study below shows those who ate back exercise calories lost less weight when compared to those that did not. Eating back exercise calories is a myth created by MyFitnessPal. I've never seen a diet or a research paper that said you must eat them back. It's nonsense. If you want to eat them back, that's your preference, but it will not in any way help you reach your weight loss goals faster.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/health/weight-exercise-loss/index.html

Wrong. As an earlier post stated, it depends on how you set it up. When I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds a week it gives me a daily calorie goal of 1750. If I eat 1750 calories and then go burn 1400 in a 2 hour workout (which I regularly do) then essentially I have only netted 350 calories that day. Not nearly enough. (I actually did this for the first two months I was on MFP and didnt lose a single pound. I started eating 2600-2750 on days I work out and the weight started coming off) The 1750 calorie goal will give me a 2 pound a week loss WITHOUT working out. I could eat 1750 calories a day, sit and watch tv and lose 2 pounds a week. So, If Im going to workout, I need more calories. Or I could set my calorie goal manually to 2600 calories per day and that would take my workouts in to account. In which case, I would not eat back any exercise calories.

What part am i wrong about? The study shows that those who did not eat their exercise calories back lost more weight when compared to those that did. You should also take note that the ones that did eat their exercise calories back also exercised harder. I have a study. What do you have other then your opinion?

The study had nothing to do with eating exercise calories and all three groups were instructed to not change their diets.

Correct, the original study was not about exercise calories but the end result showed what eating exercise calories can to your weight loss journey. It's also +1 more study then what you have provided other then your opinion. In fact, I even challenge you to find a single study that says eating back exercise calories will in some form or fashion help you lose weight faster. I'm open minded and I'd be willing to read the study but I'm going to go out on a limb and just say that you will not find any.

I think you have a misunderstanding of how MFP works and also what the study is saying. Lets put it like this. Lets say Im a person in that study. I eat 4000 calories a day and thats why I got fat. Now, Im going to workout but Im still going to eat the same calories, plus because I worked out, Im actually going to eat more than that (which is what the study says happen) Obviously, thats going to hamper weight loss. Doesnt take a study to know that. Im working out but Im eating WAY over my TDEE.. My BMR is 2205. My TDEE is 3750. (those are my real numbers) So if I want to lose 2 pounds a week Im going to set my MFP goal at 1750 calories. Thats 1000 calories under my TDEE. If I eat 1750 calories, then i workout and burn 1000 calories, I now have a net calorie intake of 750 calories. Thats not going to work. I dont need a study to know that, as I mentioned earlier I didnt lose any weight my first two months on MFP because I wasnt eating enough. Now, if I eat 1750 calories, then burn 1000 in exercise, then eat another 1000, I still have a 1750 calorie net intake and will lose 2 pounds per week. So yes, if you set your calorie goal with a defecit already built into the equation then you can and probably should eat at least some of those calories back. Otherwise, you could find yourself way under eating and not losing a single pound.

I'll give you a head start. I've listed some diets below and they all have 1 thing in common. Absolutely none of them say anything about eating exercise calories back.


Atkins Diet, says nothing about eating exercise calories back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet

1200 calorie diet, says nothing about eating exercise calories back
http://www.everydiet.org/diet/1200-calorie-diet

1500 calorie diet, says nothing about eating exercise calories back
http://www.womenandweight.com/1500-calorie-diet-plan/

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/glossary/g/Vegan.htm
Vegan diet, says nothing about eating exercise calories back

PSMF, says nothing about eating exercise calories back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_Sparing_Modified_Fast

Well, if you dont understand how the MFP system works, why are you here? You can not eat a 1000 calorie a day deficit, workout on top of that and expect to lose weight. At least for any length of time. Its not gonna happen. There is no shortage of people here that have experienced just as I have that they started losing weight only after they started eating more. I cant eat 1750 caloried a day then burn 1000 calories working out and lose weight. Tried it, it doesnt work. Your body will hold onto everything if you dont eat enough. You will also experience a serious lack of energy. So, do as you wish, good luck.