Do you eat back your burned calories?

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  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
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    I am just curious how many people eat back all of their burned calories? In general I try not to, but I am now trying to really burn them. I'm pushing myself harder I want these last 20lbs to come off. So just curious how others have lost the last bit of weight and if they ate back calories burned or stayed in their original calorie intake for the day?

    Last spring I was within 5 pounds of my goal weight and I still ate most of my exercise calories back (I lost a total of 42 pounds over about a year, then maintained for about 6 months, still eating exercise calories the whole time.) I gained some weight back in the past few months but it's not because of eating exercise calories--due to illness and some other stuff going on in my life, I stopped running, and stopped eating healthy for about 6 months. I try to overestimate the food I'm eating and underestimate exercise calories so that even if I'm a little inaccurate, things should balance out ;)
  • seesarahrun2
    seesarahrun2 Posts: 2
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    No! It's a known fact that in order to lose weight you have to have a calorie deficit! I make sure I'm eating my alotted calories for the day BEFORE it subtracts what I'm burning with my workouts...so I go off of my "pre-net" total.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    No! It's a known fact that in order to lose weight you have to have a calorie deficit! I make sure I'm eating my alotted calories for the day BEFORE it subtracts what I'm burning with my workouts...so I go off of my "pre-net" total.
    If you're eating at what MFP gave you, that already has the deficit built in.
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
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    EVERY DAMN ONE! To quote Bill Parcells "That's why you lift all them weights"!
  • cld111
    cld111 Posts: 300 Member
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    I have to eat them back. I'm too hungry if I don't. And plus, I love eating! :love:
  • becujo
    becujo Posts: 26 Member
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    I eat them back, not necessarily all of them. I pretty much am motivated to work out just so I can eat more or enjoy wine, ha. It can determine how hard Im gonna work that day, be it bootcamp or yoga... I have a HRM when I workout and post 85% of what it says I burned; just to be conservative. Funny enough, I used to not eat any calorie and didn't lose weight as quickly as if I was eating them. It's really hard to eat 1200-1400 cals only and then do HIIT workouts on top of that without fainting. Instead of eating the same # of calories every single day, I like to do 1200 one day and then 1700 the next day and so on. I feel it keeps my body from settling into a plateau.
  • carijok
    carijok Posts: 32
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    I'm glad I read this thread. I think I'll start creating my own exercises in MFP even if they are already in the database and try to get a more accurate amount of calories burned in an hour by checking multiple sources for activities I do a lot. If I don't work out I'm only sposed to have 1400 in a day. You better believe I'm working out almost every day, lol. But I don't eat 2 ,667 extra calories on a day when I'm waitressing and MFP says I burned that much just going to my job. I eat like four or five hundred extra on a day like that.
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
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    I don't, but only because I'm using the TDEE calculation that already has my exercise averaged in. It seems easier to have a set amount each day rather than the variation between workout and rest days.

    It's much easier, for me, this way.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    If you must - eat back only half. Only because you are unsure of what you really burned.

    Also - If you are concerned about eating up burned calories, then you should be eating useful calories only. Clean up the diet.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    no i dont. basically, you only eat them back if you want to maintain your weight but dont do so if you want to lose wight.

    33017025.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

    That is just untrue.

    If you wanted to lose weight and your daily intake was 2000 calories (to maintain), you dropped to 1500 - burn 500 and eat them ALL back, you are still 500 under your daily calorie intake. Anyone on here on the weight loss side is not eating their maintence calories anyway.
  • powership00
    powership00 Posts: 20 Member
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    If I am hungry I will, if not I wont. I spend some of my burned calories on workout days with protein after the workout.
  • Hbazzell
    Hbazzell Posts: 899 Member
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    Yes. If you're using MFP correctly and logging your exercise calories, you should be eating them back.

    Correct. If you are doing TDEE then you dont.
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    Very rarely do I eat them back...usually if I'm going out and know I'm going to be eating more than I usually like to. Sometimes I'll dip into them a bit, but I've noticed when I eat them back, I don't lose.
  • smartin0181
    smartin0181 Posts: 44 Member
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    I do the same. MFP says I burn more than I actually do! I also go by my heart rate. If I can't carry on a full sentence and I am a little winded, I will say I burn about 10 calories per minute. I try to consume it least half the calories I burn, but I am never hungry after a workout. I can barely get down a protein shake for my muscles.
  • Givemewings
    Givemewings Posts: 864 Member
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    Yes I do!
  • PoshDinosaur
    PoshDinosaur Posts: 49 Member
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    This is interesting to me. I can comfortably sit at 400 calories under my allowance on a non work out day, and I eat well. On a workout day, my heart rate monitor says I burn between 800 and 1000 calories. So I can end a day under half of my allowance. I use protein powder and am a decent cook so I know the nutrients are there.

    All the same, still not sure whether eating it all back is a good idea, somehow seems excessive to me. I imagine it would help with muscle gain, but at a time when I'm actively trying to she'd weight it seems counterintuitive to eat more.

    I like the idea of eating back some of it, though.

    An added wrinkle is my partner has nowhere near the allowance i do - I'd hate to sit there eating a whole tub of ice cream.
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
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    Yes, most of the time. I try to slightly overestimate the calories in my food and underestimate calories burned through exercise, so I leave myself a little margin for error...but I run and workout hard and usually eat into my exercise calories, if not eating all of them at times. It's worked for me for the past 30plus pounds that I've lost, hopefully will continue to work ok for the last 15 or so.
  • bugsysbak
    bugsysbak Posts: 1
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    If you want to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. Burning 3,500 calories more than you consume in a week helps you lose 1 pound. If you exercise off 500 calories, replacing them will slow your rate of weight loss. If you are eating fewer than 1,200 calories per day -- the minimum amount you need to get adequate nutrition -- you should replace at least some of the calories burned during exercise to prevent muscle loss and possible nutritional deficiencies.
  • KLC2784
    KLC2784 Posts: 14 Member
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    Sometimes I will eat some of them back, especially if it was a really intense workout. The more calories I burn in the morning, the hungrier I tend to be throughout the day even though I am eating regularly. I am currently training for a half marathon, and when I am doing 10/11/12 mile training runs burning upwards of 1100 cals I am most definitely eating some of those back.
  • blleadon
    blleadon Posts: 187 Member
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    I eat mine back until I reach my tdee -20% number, which is still eating most of them back

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