Don't Eat back your exercise Calories !!???/

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buildingdreams
buildingdreams Posts: 173 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm reading alot this morning about not eating back your exercise calories??? 1200 calories/Before exercise. Huh. Im confused
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  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    it depends on your calorie goal. MFP builds in a deficit when it calculates your goal, so if you're using MFP's numbers then you need to eat them back. however some people enter their own calorie goal by calculating their TDEE and then subtracting 20%, in which case they do not eat back their exercise calories, because the TDEE calculation already includes calories burned through exercise.
  • shannabelende
    shannabelende Posts: 3 Member
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    I just had this conversation with my trainer and she agrees not to eat back your exercise calories. She also agrees, that 1200 is very low, especially when your exercising. I found my BMR and adjusted my calorie intake to that calculation, and did NOT eat back my calories.

    Good luck!

    Shannon
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    It depends on how you setup your daily calorie goal. If your goal includes exercise, then no you don't as they are already accounted for. If it doesn't, then yes you do.

    Read these for more:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/383956-exercise-calories-explained
    and
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • loneworg
    loneworg Posts: 342 Member
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    it really a personal choice, some people do great with eating back and other do great not eating and other just eat half. Gotta remeber this is a new and you have your whole life, so since you have so much time experment with it, try all three or do what i do and search for in place of a road map 2.0 to help figure out your tdee -20%. I like this method best because i dont worry about exercise cals couse it allready figured where mfp doesnt plus i get a lot of cals to play with. anyway have fun, play with the numbers some!
  • annas3911
    annas3911 Posts: 46
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    I eat back the majority of mine - I would be too hungry otherwise and I have still been losing weight.

    I try and net 1200 a day - if I did 800 calories of exercise and didn't eat them back, I would only net 400 which is far too low!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    it depends on your calorie goal. MFP builds in a deficit when it calculates your goal, so if you're using MFP's numbers then you need to eat them back. however some people enter their own calorie goal by calculating their TDEE and then subtracting 20%, in which case they do not eat back their exercise calories, because the TDEE calculation already includes calories burned through exercise.

    Just to be clear... it is suggested to eat back cals when using MFPs guidance NOT because it already has a deficit built in (which the TDEE - % does as well), it's because MFP doesn't automatically factor in exercise, so those cals don't get accounted for until you log them, which is why when you log them your daily goal increases.
  • Frozen300
    Frozen300 Posts: 223 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    So the issue isn't the theory, it's the people who are doing the estimating.
  • Frozen300
    Frozen300 Posts: 223 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    So the issue isn't the theory, it's the people who are doing the estimating.
    I'll give you that, I believe human error is more often the fault.
  • Julzanne72
    Julzanne72 Posts: 467 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    Unless they use a HRM, in which case, over-estimating doesn't happen.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
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    Go here and read all these posts. Should clear up a lot.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
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    If you wanna be skinny fat, then don't eat them back. If you wanna look hot and toned, eat them back and hit your macros targets! (If you're using MFP the way it's set up. If you have your own custom calorie setup then it may be different).
  • Scarlett_Belle
    Scarlett_Belle Posts: 145 Member
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    bump
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
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    Eat if your hungry, don't if your not. Just remember that the exercise calories on here are a little off.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    Eating back exercise calories "theory"?

    "Theory" as in musings of calorie counting/weight loss beginners amongst themselves?

    I lose, gain, and maintain with precision, precision that requires knowing how many exercise cals I burn each and every day. Likewise I'm pretty much convinced that plateaus are a myth, pretty much a side effect of sucking at estimating your calorie needs (either way, too much or too little).

    I'm certianly not alone, there are plenty of us long past our initial goal weight that see estimating exercise calories well to be absolutely vital, every bit as important as estimating food calories well.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    Unless they use a HRM, in which case, over-estimating doesn't happen.

    HRMs don't guarantee anything... they are still just an estimate, and can be horribly inaccurate depending on how they are used.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    I don't trust the eating back your calories theory, just because the fact that people usually over estimate the amount of calories burned through exercise, then people tend to "reward" themselves with food and find themselves over indulging.

    But I also think that no one does themselves a favour by eating only 1200 cals.

    Unless they use a HRM, in which case, over-estimating doesn't happen.

    Unless used for strength training, in which case a dartboard is about as effective as a HRM.
  • raleyam
    raleyam Posts: 2
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    How much I eat back depends on the day for me. Some days more than others. I've been more successful looking at the week as a whole to see how much I've NOT eaten back and my goal is to have 3600 left over each week. My hunger level is different every day and it also depends on how bored I am during the day. I love super busy days then I'm not as tempted to snack and mindlessly eat.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    How much I eat back depends on the day for me. Some days more than others. I've been more successful looking at the week as a whole to see how much I've NOT eaten back and my goal is to have 3600 left over each week. My hunger level is different every day and it also depends on how bored I am during the day. I love super busy days then I'm not as tempted to snack and mindlessly eat.

    Sounds like a great approach... you balance what you can do and how hungry you are on a day to day basis in a way that your weekly numbers work out in a way that still meets your goals. PERFECT!
  • ctalimenti
    ctalimenti Posts: 865 Member
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    Don't eat them back if you want to lose quicker.

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