SAY WHAT!? DO I NEED TO EAT MY EXERCISE CALORIES?
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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
No offense to this poster, but again, if you want to reach and maintain goal, take your advice from people who HAVE reached and maintained goal.
Ditto's.
And understand that calorie burn estimates that may be a tad high (actually low for many of us, dead on for walking flat) are an excellent balance and makeup for that 1200 probably being too low.
Eating back all those possibly even inflated calories really will just save you from a goal that is likely too low in the first place.0 -
I would recommend NOT EATING THEM BACK.
Here's why: All of the diet logging places I have seen, have been vastly over-estimating the caloric burns of exercises. If you want to slightly increase your caloric intake to refuel yourself after a long workout, that is one thing. But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it is a good idea to eat back the whole deficit. I was actually losing, quite easily, about 2 lbs a week...
UNTIL I STARTED EATING BACK CALORIES THAT WERE CALCULATED BY THE WEBSITES. Then my weight loss came to a crawl. It still happened, but it was going intensely slow, and I am very overweight. This week, I switched back to my old model. 1600 calories, and don't eat any extra on account of exercise. PERIOD. What do you know? Three pounds fell off. A little more than I hoped, I don't try to lose too fast, but as I am 240 lbs, three pounds isn't really in dangerous territory for me. But I went from losing about 2 lbs a week, to losing less than a pound a week for a whole MONTH. Then when I go back on doing it my way, it's suddenly 3 lbs lost. And I think this has to do with calorie burns being way, way off on these food logging websites. I was using Calorie Count before, and the same thing was going on. So... it's not just MFP. Just a thought. Eating them back could sabotage you, if you over-estimate the calories burned. And it's way, way easy to do that.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
No offense to this poster, but again, if you want to reach and maintain goal, take your advice from people who HAVE reached and maintained goal.
I love it when people say "no offense" and then make an offensive/ irrelevant statement. I don't see how my not being at goal weight is relevant. I can read, and am very intelligent. This is my first time losing, and I plan to make it the only time. I like to read things that don't have a confirmation bias built in... unlike most of the people here who still buy into the starvation myth. Besides, I have successfully lost weight. I am not a yoyo dieter, and I am using conventional methods. I was just pointing out a flaw in these websites that could make "eating back" problematic.
Also, the "study" you cited is ANYTHING BUT a study. It does not give any citation of any source in any way. It's a ****ty repost that pushes the myth of 'starvation mode', which is utter BS. Whereas, starvation mode is just something fad diets want you to believe, so that you will buy into the system of the moment. They will twist this in whatever way they choose. Low carb diets use it to convince you that it's not about calories, but it's about carbs. (Even thought is is always about calories.) Paleo, vegan, and raw diets all do the same thing. Anyway, real, documented, objective studies have shown that these people who say they are not losing weight on low caloric intakes, are under-estimating their intake, or just not reporting it. Even this report says she was binging/ starving. What are the odds that she was vastly under-reporting the number, frequency, and severity of her binges? I would say, UM... 101%. Meaning, not only is it occurring, but it's blatantly apparent that it is occurring.
You know, I think I'm going to type up a post that I can use every time I see one of these posts where people sling around this absolute MUCK. Here have some links from reliable sources:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
That's the short explanation of why starvation mode and metabolic slowing are crap.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment
And here is the wiki for the military study that everyone has misinterpreted. Frankly, this is people losing 25% of their IDEAL weight, which is drastic, and was done specifically to study the effects of real and actual starvation.
Unless you are under 5% bodyfat or so, this isn't something you have to worry about. All of the effects described from eating too little, don't come from caloric restriction. They come from vitamin and nutrient deficiencies, electrolyte imbalances, etc. That's why you have to eat a bare minimum of calories, because it's difficult to get all those nutrients, protein, potassium, b-vitamins, vitamin c, and so on... on an extremely low calorie diet. It would even be kind of hard to get them from multivitamins and protein powder.
Thank you, and goodnight.
okay! retraction: please take all of your advice from this woman. she obviously knows everything.
btw "case study" = evaluation of a case.0 -
I lost my weight by eating ~200-300 calories under my maintenance (NOT calculated on MFP - the site I used gave me 2000 for maintenance; it's probably higher than that). I had a few days and weeks where I just ate at maintenance. I might have gone under 1700 like twice, when I was sick or something.
I exercised 3-5 times a week, but didn't pay attention to calories burned from that - I just worked hard for usually 40-60 minutes. I did circuits and cardio, but if I knew then what I know now about body composition, I'd have started with heavy weight training from the beginning.
I've been at goal weight for a few months over a year
I'm using MFP this way: not logging exercise calories (just making a note of what I've done in my food diary), and shooting for my TDEE.0 -
I have found that I don't need to eat my exercise cals if its a small burn (200-300cals) but if I've had a tougher workout (500cals+) then the following day I am really hungry. I haven't done this yet as its a new discovery, but as from next week I will be eating at least half of my Bootcamp or Zumba calories the following day.0
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Ouch!!! That was my first reaction to your answer.....but after reading your post, I have to agree with you, that people should Not take advice from a newcomer, and though I Am new at this, I can assure you I'm Not a "yoyo".......I'm 64, and have never had to diet until now.... ..I guess I was just over-enthused, and wanted to share what worked for me, so far....... and I Must say, I was very impressed with all of the info you shared!!! God's Richest Blessings to you...0
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The different variations people talk about comes down to honesty. I really believe that. I think if you were absolutely dead on with the calories you consumed, and you were absolutely dead on with calories burned, and you had your TDEE and BMR and RMR down to absolute precision, then, the system works well and you should eat back every single last calorie.
However, the truth is, many people lie to themselves a lot. They lie about their portions, they lie about what they actually eat, they lie about how many calories they burned cleaning the house, etc. I've even heard of people that go over their calories, and then go for a walk or something to burn it off so the end the day at a small deficit. It's silly.
Mainly, I try to eat around 2000 cals a day in maintenance. I generally do nto log any exercise, unless it's really extreme. If I was building a brick wall, I'd probably log that and eat more that day, for instance. But, if I just go for a jog, or a short run (3 miles or less), or lifted weights, I likely wouldn't log that because you don't burn as much as you think you burn. And, within the calories I eat, I think that's covered anyway.
There are variations. If you're trying to build up. Then, you gotta eat mass amounts of good clean food. But, other than anamolies, I generally don't recommend eating back calories if you have your TDEE set up properly for a healthy weight loss.
I'm failrly sloppy. I don't count coffee, I dont count condiments usually (I dont' really eat much of them anyway), and I don't count certain things. So, I might swing 50 to 100 calories either way in a day depending on the day. If I do some exercise, that's great and adds theoretical calories to my daily amount, but if I'm not hungry, i don't eat them.
People who have achieved their goal and maintain their goal are qualified to discuss, at a minimum, how they got there and what worked for them. You dont' have to agree with it, but I would prefer to listen to 10 or 15 people that did it, and can explain how they did it, rather than listen to 10 or 15 people that are still trying to figure out how to get to their goal.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, but everyone makes it one and people seem to be passionate about the topic, which makes it ridiculous. But, if you want to eat them back for a while, try it and see if you get good results. If you are not losing, stop eating them back and see how that works for you. In the end, although, we are all exactly the same, there are mental and truthful issues at play here. And, based on your lifestyle and how honest you are with yourself will depend on what works for you.
Everyone seems to have slight variations on what works for them. Just try it different ways. The most popular ways are, eat them all back, eat half back, or eat none back. If you can eat them all back and still lose weight, why would you not do that? But, if that doesn't work, change it and try something else. It's kind of easy and I don't know why people get so weird about it.0 -
This is a topic that comes up a LOT. I was very confused until I read a forum on this about "The Simple Breakdown" (you can serach it). After reading that post, it clicked for me. It's said to eat at least 1200 net calorie minimum to help your body run and function. I would say eat back to make that your net.
i eat back to make sure I make that net, then decide whether I'm hungry or not to eat the rest. if you do the guided goals, MFP already takes out the healthy deficit to lose the weight, mainly you could eat back up until you're sstill under that number. Even after you change your goals, it says after an * that the more you burn, the more you eat.
just keep your body fueled with food to function and you should be fine. Everyeone's different.0 -
Thank you everyone! I am really concerned because I might burn 500-700 calories a day and will not eat them back. I just started working out 5 days a week since I feel I have my eating under control and my calorie goal is always met. I think I may need to eat my exercise calories but I will look at all information and websites posted. THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK.
With another ~70 lbs you'd like to lose you can go for quite awhile without concerning yourself with eating them back. I use them as a buffer. If I'm hungry I will usually eat at least some of them and if not I don't sweat it. Listen to your body and it will guide you accordingly. At some point you WILL likely need to eat them back to continue losing but that's likely a lot closer to the "vanity" phase when you're approaching your goal weight. Also doing it this way allows you to be a lot more flexible for life's events that ultimately get in the way.
Only rule I live by is to at least consume what MFP says without exercise calculated in. As you become more accustomed to working out you will be hungry so the eat/not eat equation usually takes care of itself (at least in my experience). As I exercise more my body tells me I'm hungry so I eat but there are definitely days when I just don't have the appetite.
That's been my experience.0 -
I think it's important to look at your health here. yes you will lose weight not eating your exercise calories back, yes you will lose weight if you do. however if you don't this eventually is going to impact your overall health as your body can't maintain itself on serious deficits (below your BMR). This is going to most likely result in plateaus and binges which can also have a negative impact on your mentality towards weight loss and yourself. If you don't want to eat your exercise cals back all the time then that's fine but maybe try to eat most of them back. You need to eat the right food as well to make this work, give your body what it needs. I'd look into your BMR and TDEE which should help you understand this a bit better 0
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The different variations people talk about comes down to honesty. I really believe that. I think if you were absolutely dead on with the calories you consumed, and you were absolutely dead on with calories burned, and you had your TDEE and BMR and RMR down to absolute precision, then, the system works well and you should eat back every single last calorie.
However, the truth is, many people lie to themselves a lot. They lie about their portions, they lie about what they actually eat, they lie about how many calories they burned cleaning the house, etc. I've even heard of people that go over their calories, and then go for a walk or something to burn it off so the end the day at a small deficit. It's silly.
Mainly, I try to eat around 2000 cals a day in maintenance. I generally do nto log any exercise, unless it's really extreme. If I was building a brick wall, I'd probably log that and eat more that day, for instance. But, if I just go for a jog, or a short run (3 miles or less), or lifted weights, I likely wouldn't log that because you don't burn as much as you think you burn. And, within the calories I eat, I think that's covered anyway.
There are variations. If you're trying to build up. Then, you gotta eat mass amounts of good clean food. But, other than anamolies, I generally don't recommend eating back calories if you have your TDEE set up properly for a healthy weight loss.
I'm failrly sloppy. I don't count coffee, I dont count condiments usually (I dont' really eat much of them anyway), and I don't count certain things. So, I might swing 50 to 100 calories either way in a day depending on the day. If I do some exercise, that's great and adds theoretical calories to my daily amount, but if I'm not hungry, i don't eat them.
People who have achieved their goal and maintain their goal are qualified to discuss, at a minimum, how they got there and what worked for them. You dont' have to agree with it, but I would prefer to listen to 10 or 15 people that did it, and can explain how they did it, rather than listen to 10 or 15 people that are still trying to figure out how to get to their goal.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, but everyone makes it one and people seem to be passionate about the topic, which makes it ridiculous. But, if you want to eat them back for a while, try it and see if you get good results. If you are not losing, stop eating them back and see how that works for you. In the end, although, we are all exactly the same, there are mental and truthful issues at play here. And, based on your lifestyle and how honest you are with yourself will depend on what works for you.
Everyone seems to have slight variations on what works for them. Just try it different ways. The most popular ways are, eat them all back, eat half back, or eat none back. If you can eat them all back and still lose weight, why would you not do that? But, if that doesn't work, change it and try something else. It's kind of easy and I don't know why people get so weird about it.
Yes yes yes.....this makes perfect sense to me....and can't we just respect that we all have different views on the subject and that YES different things do work for different people....0 -
I always ate all my exercise calories. I don't see why I wouldn't. More food and still lose weight? F yeah.
I also reached my goal in April and have been maintaining since then.
x2
I aim to zero out my calories weekly including exercise, which usually means close to zeroing my calories every day.
Except that after a period of maintaining for a couple weeks, I've been bulking since then and have gained about 15 lbs; mostly muscle though (contrary to popular belief, controlled bulking is actually harder than losing IMHO, having done both). Going to cut the extra fat off here in a bit.I would recommend NOT EATING THEM BACK.
Here's why: All of the diet logging places I have seen, have been vastly over-estimating the caloric burns of exercises. If you want to slightly increase your caloric intake to refuel yourself after a long workout, that is one thing. But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it is a good idea to eat back the whole deficit. I was actually losing, quite easily, about 2 lbs a week.
Did you actually have your calorie goals set for 2 lbs/wk, and did you actually try somewhat when exercising?
The goal for anyone should not simply be to "lose weight". You should be learning new habits and autoregulating the system, getting better and better at it. Instead of hoping you are losing weight when you step on the scale, you should be verifying that you are losing at the rate you are supposed to be losing at. If you're not, there is a problem and things need to be adjusted to increase the accuracy of the system, whether altering your goals or fixing systemmic errors in your counting.
The importance of this is greatly magnified as you go through periods of increasing/decreasing activity, and as you approach the BF levels where you have to reduce your defict in order to avoid stalling out (you can't just come into ab BF% levels hot losing 2 lb/wk, that doesn't work at all). And then furthermore once you reach your goals and you move toward maintenence.
Maintenence is the key to it all, once past the initial loss phases and into the phase where losing is just an easy habit and the weight melts away (for all noobs reading this, it should occur about 3-6 weeks after you start, once losing is a habit willpower isn't a big part of the equation), your primary concern should switch to maintenece and preparing for that time. Learning to maintain is far, far, far more important and difficult than figuring out how to lose (which is for the most part pretty basic).0 -
Ouch!!! That was my first reaction to your answer.....but after reading your post, I have to agree with you, that people should Not take advice from a newcomer, and though I Am new at this, I can assure you I'm Not a "yoyo".......I'm 64, and have never had to diet until now.... ..I guess I was just over-enthused, and wanted to share what worked for me, so far....... and I Must say, I was very impressed with all of the info you shared!!! God's Richest Blessings to you...0
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This thread has been extremely helpful! I always figured I shouldn't eat back my exercise calories because I thought the bigger the deficit the better. Knowing that I can and probably SHOULD be eating back my exercise calories? Well, that's just plain great news! More foods!0
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This is in response to "sleepytexan"...
Ouch!!! That was my first reaction to your answer.....but after reading your post, I have to agree with you, that people should Not take advice from a newcomer, and though I Am new at this, I can assure you I'm Not a "yoyo".......I'm 64, and have never had to diet until now.... ..I guess I was just over-enthused, and wanted to share what worked for me, so far....... and I Must say, I was very impressed with all of the info you shared!!! God's Richest Blessings to you...0 -
The post above was in response to "sleepytexan"0
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This is in response to "sleepytexan...
Ouch!!! That was my first reaction to your answer.....but after reading your post, I have to agree with you, that people should Not take advice from a newcomer, and though I Am new at this, I can assure you I'm Not a "yoyo".......I'm 64, and have never had to diet until now.... ..I guess I was just over-enthused, and wanted to share what worked for me, so far....... and I Must say, I was very impressed with all of the info you shared!!! God's Richest Blessings to you...0
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