Do YOU eat back your calories burned with exercise?

No even though I own a Polar Heart Rate Monitor, I know exactly how many calories I burn at the gym etc. The program I'm currently on recommends that I eat 1200 and to not eat back calories, but I would be interested to see if it actually helps people.

I do my best but if I'm not feeling hungry then I won't eat all of them. Listen to your body.

well, to be blunt, you say you've only lost a pound doing this. you've only been doing this less then a month. it's going to take a while to lose the weight.

you should find out your TDEE and BMR. your tdee is your total daily energy expenditure, which is the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight at your current activity level. your BMR is you basal metabolic rate, which is the bare minimum of calories you need to survive if you were just laying in bed not moving.

TDEE- http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

BMR- http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/bmr-calculator.html

you should never eat under your BMR. ever ever ever. that could possibly hurt you and force your body to resist weight loss, as it is trying to conserve itself. if i were you, i would find out my TDEE at "light exercise," and then your BMR. find a number about half way in between those two, and then log and drink your exercise calories.

to accurately measure your burned calories, you should start working out with a heart rate monitor. polar ones, with a chest strap, are generally good ones.

I don't even log my exercise on here anymore I lift weights, sprint, cross country running & yoga). I just work out my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) based on my BMR (Basil Metabolic Rate) & then go from there.

I'm 27 years old, 5"9' & 159.2lbs @ just over 10.69% body fat this give me a BMR of 1,761 calories. That's what my body uses just maintaining current body weight & body function. So if I was just eating my BMR then I would log & eat my exercise calories (using a HR monitor with a strap). But if you take your BMR & use it to find your TDEE. You don't have to worry about exercise calories, Think of your TDEE like your BMR plus workout calories.

To find my TDEE from my BMR I need to use the Harris Benedict equation (All links are given so you can workout your own).

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So I take my BMR of 1,761 calories & multiply that by 1.55 because I exercise hard 5-6 times a week but also have plenty of time to rest because I'm out of work. This gives me a TDEE of 2,729 calories.

This means that I need, 2,729 calories to maintain my current body weight at my current activity level. So 2,729 is my maintenance calories, if I want to lose or gain weight I can plus or minus this by about 20%.

To gain weight I would, 2,729 x 1.20 = 3,274.

To lose weight I would, 2,729 x 0.80 = 2183.

So based on this I know how many calories I need for all scenarios.

BMR = 1,761
TDEE/Maintainence = 2,729
Cutting calories = 2,183 (As you can see even when cutting I don't go under my BMR)
Bulking calories = 3,274

Forget about exercise calories, workout your BMR (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) then use the Benedict formula to get your TDEE (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/), once you have your TDEE just plus or minus it by about 20%.

To lose weight TDEE x 0.80

To gain weight TDEE x 1.20

To maintain eat at TDEE also know as maintenance.

Peace.

I have to admit that I do eat back my calories burned from exercise as well... I think that one of the possible reasons why I have been able to maintain my weight at between 175-180 lbs...

I have a weakness for food... But, the good thing is that I do not eat red meat, fried food, and fast food anymore... In addition, I avoid soda even diet soda. I drink water, powered drink mix, fruit juice, or sports drinks...

Depends how I feel. if I have had a BUSY BUSY day I may eat more but not over my limit for that day. Go with your feelings that's what i feel anyway. No point starving when going to bed. Makes for a bad night's sleep.

i don't eat back my calories burned bc one, it would be way to much food for me and two, i don't get the desired results. additionally, i think mfp's calculations are a bit off...i don't trust them completely.

I agree 100 per cent with this. Sometimes I struggle to get to 1200 calories. I've been stuck at 133 lbs for the past 3 weeks, so really hope I'll get a sudden drop like yours.

Usually I do. I am not one of these people who burn 800 calories. I exercise 30 min a day usually on the Wii. My calories are 1500, so I may eat 1600 with exercise. It seems to be working. I don't believe in eating too few calories or skipping meals, etc. I've seen too many of my friends do this, and they wreck their metabolism and they can't lose weight even on restrictive diets.

And that's the problem - 2 hours swimming for one person may well burn 2000 calories.
It seems most reasonably intensive stuff will be around that - I can hit around 500 calories for 30 mins if I'm properly trying when cycling and just about running.
But for a lot of others it may be a lot less for a lot of reasons. May be a better swimmer, a worse swimmer, taking more breaks than they expect, fitter than they expect etc.

I've found that the calories burnt as listed by my motoactv (with HRM) has dropped.
I suspect it's because I've been getting fitting and especially for cycling, generally doing the same route.
While these may still not be as accurate as they could be (a power meter would enhance it a bit, but are silly expensive), it's going to be a hell of a lot better guess than MFP can make just knowing the time and my weight - the motoactv can figure in heart rate, pedalling speed in which gear and how steep a hill I'm going up or down.

No, unless I have burned 500 calories, in which case I would eat back maybe half, if that.