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

buildingdreams
buildingdreams Posts: 173 Member
edited October 25 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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Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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!
  • 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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 468 Member
    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
    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
    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
    bump
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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.
  • 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
    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
    Don't eat them back if you want to lose quicker.
  • ctalimenti
    ctalimenti Posts: 865 Member
    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.

    LOL, love this!!
  • bpwparents
    bpwparents Posts: 359 Member
    If I'm hungry and still have calories left from working out, I eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't. It's nice to have the cushion if you need at least a little bit of the calories. My 100 calorie chai latte is a great treat to add if I have the room on an exercise day. Yummm
  • Julzanne72
    Julzanne72 Posts: 468 Member
    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.

    I use one with a chest strap and I find it to be pretty accurate, I don't use the mfp built in calories burns, because they are very inaccurate. I would say using a good HRM is the best way to calculate calorie burn, if you have it set up w/ your weight, age, etc....just my opinion. Better than just trying to guess or using the built ins on mfp.
  • motd2k
    motd2k Posts: 5
    I train with an SRM on the bike, so know pretty much exactly what i've burnt. Eat them back... dont eat them back - doesn't matter, just end the day with your deficit target.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    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 that's why you wear your heart rate monitor and measure your food. It's still an estimate, but it gets you within a reasonable percentage of error. If you don't want to eat them back then you need to calculate you TDEE and BMR and then eat according to the weight loss goals associated with that.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    Don't eat them back if you want to lose quicker.

    Why would anyone want to lose quicker? It's not a race, slow steady weight loss and educating yourself about what your body needs is proven to be more effective to maintaining weight loss and health in the long term. People who lose faster are usually the yo-yo dieters, or the people who end up back here 2 years down the line heavier than they were in the first place.
  • motd2k
    motd2k Posts: 5
    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.

    I use one with a chest strap and I find it to be pretty accurate, I don't use the mfp built in calories burns, because they are very inaccurate. I would say using a good HRM is the best way to calculate calorie burn, if you have it set up w/ your weight, age, etc....just my opinion. Better than just trying to guess or using the built ins on mfp.

    It's not accurate at all really - if you're stressed, if you didn't sleep, too much coffee, coming down with a bug... tons of things affect your heart rate other than the effort you're exerting. Use it as a guide, but don't trust the burn figures as being exact purely because you know your average heartrate for the effort.
  • spfldpam
    spfldpam Posts: 738 Member
    I use MFP and FitBit. So I should be eating my exercise cals back? I set my cals at 1000 a day but have had gastric sleeve surgery back in 6/11/12 is why it is set at 1000 cals a day. My nut. and bariatric physical therapist told me if I exercised more than 30 minutes a day to start eating 1200 cals a day. I have been exercising 1 hour and 20 minutes the last couple weeks broken into three times a day. I did up my cals on MFP to 1100 yesterday but still didn't eat back my exercise cals. I noticed am at a stall now for the last week or so. I only need to loose about 7-17 more pounds to be a my personal weight goal of 130-140 for my 5'4" height and realized loosing those last pounds will be tough. So should I eat the exercise cals back!?!?
    Thanks!
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I just eat some of mine back if I REALLY GET HUNGRY, as in... my stomach is growling, not because I'm bored or that cake looks good, blah blah. There is a difference between eating exercise calories because you can, and eating them because you NEED them. If I work out with a 'walk' and have 2-300 cals left, I'm less likely to eat them because I'm not really hungry. If I work out like yesterday and burn nearly 1,000 cals, I end up starving by the time I go to bed so I eat something! I just try to stick with healthy stuff like nuts, protein packed food, fruit, etc. I won't go and eat a huge piece of cake just because I have the calories. Not that I never fit in treats, because I do! Just try to eat something that will nourish and repair your body most of the time.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

    Look at those links. The last one is a spreadsheet to help you calculate your tdee and bmr and appropriate deficit. If you don't want to log and eat back your exercise calories you really should just set your diary to a higher and more appropriate level to begin with.
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