Isn't eating back exercise calories defeating the purpose?

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kaitybugg33
kaitybugg33 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone explain this to me? I go to the gym and exercise to burn calories. If I eat back the calories I just burned, does that not defeat the whole purpose of going to the gym? I understand the energy it takes to work out needs to come from somewhere, but shouldn't it be coming from the stores of fat on my body and not more food? I understand it to be eat less + exercise more = lose weight... not eat less + exercise more + eat back what you burned off exercising. I don't spend time at the gym so I can reward myself with more food!

Can anyone explain a good reason why I should eat back my exercise calories?
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Replies

  • Erienneb
    Erienneb Posts: 592 Member
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    The whole purpose of working out is to make your body healthier, not necessarily to lose weight. I do cardio for heart health (hence it being called cardio) and I lift for bone strength as well as muscle strength and that helps burn fat.

    If you aren't comfortable with it you don't have to eat ALL your calories back. I usually don't, for margin of error. The reason it is suggested to eat some or all back is because with mfp the deficit is set up. Don't look at it as a "reward". Food is fuel.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    Can someone explain this to me? I go to the gym and exercise to burn calories. If I eat back the calories I just burned, does that not defeat the whole purpose of going to the gym? I understand the energy it takes to work out needs to come from somewhere, but shouldn't it be coming from the stores of fat on my body and not more food? I understand it to be eat less + exercise more = lose weight... not eat less + exercise more + eat back what you burned off exercising. I don't spend time at the gym so I can reward myself with more food!

    Can anyone explain a good reason why I should eat back my exercise calories?

    It depends on how you set up MFP, and what your calorie goal is - this may help

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • catrunsintowindow
    catrunsintowindow Posts: 77 Member
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    The idea of 'eating back your calories' is that MFP already provides a significant calorie deficit, even if you do no exercise. So if you have your settings for a 1000 calorie deficit (2lb a week) and burn 400 calories at the gym, you can eat an extra 400 calories and still be at a 1000 calorie deficit. And unless you're significantly overweight, a bigger deficit that that can actually be unhealthy.

    That being said, I don't like the system MFP has set up. I don't trust their exercise calorie counts, and I don't like how much I eat being contingent on if it's a workout day. SO, I use a TDEE calculator (ex: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) which takes into account roughly how much you exercise and spits out a number that you should eat every day. In that case, you DON'T your exercise calories back.
  • Poprocket_2012
    Poprocket_2012 Posts: 142
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    Can someone explain this to me? I go to the gym and exercise to burn calories. If I eat back the calories I just burned, does that not defeat the whole purpose of going to the gym? I understand the energy it takes to work out needs to come from somewhere, but shouldn't it be coming from the stores of fat on my body and not more food? I understand it to be eat less + exercise more = lose weight... not eat less + exercise more + eat back what you burned off exercising. I don't spend time at the gym so I can reward myself with more food!

    Can anyone explain a good reason why I should eat back my exercise calories?

    I'm glad i'm not the only one who feels this way lol
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    The idea of 'eating back your calories' is that MFP already provides a significant calorie deficit, even if you do no exercise. So if you have your settings for a 1000 calorie deficit (2lb a week) and burn 400 calories at the gym, you can eat an extra 400 calories and still be at a 1000 calorie deficit. And unless you're significantly overweight, a bigger deficit that that can actually be unhealthy.

    That being said, I don't like the system MFP has set up. I don't trust their exercise calorie counts, and I don't like how much I eat being contingent on if it's a workout day. SO, I use a TDEE calculator (ex: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) which takes into account roughly how much you exercise and spits out a number that you should eat every day. In that case, you DON'T your exercise calories back.

    ^^^^^^ THIS! TDEE is the way to go.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    If you do not eat back you exercise calories, you will not have enough energy to keep exercising.

    The exercise itself boosts your overall health, including maintaining or building muscles. Muscles have a higher metabolic rate than fat, so your body burns more calories even while you are sleeping. If you have a huge calorie deficit, you cannot build more muscle and are more likely to lose what muscle you do have now.

    In other words, your body can only burn so much fat at a time. If you don't feed it enough, it will start burning muscle to keep up with demand.
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
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    Because Hershey's chocolate cake cheesecake is delicious!

    Oh yeah, and the point of exercising is actually to help you get healthier, not necessarily lose weight faster. If you do cardio exercise, you are conditioning your heart and body to work better; if you do strength training, you are helping maintain muscle mass so that when you get done losing weight you look "toned" instead of flabby. I honestly don't worry about eating my exercise calories back. Some days, I don't eat any, some days I eat all of them and then some. I try to eat when I'm hungry and not when I'm not. Some days I am hungrier than others.

    ALl that being said, if your calorie goal is set really low, like say, 1200 or 1300, I do think it's more important to eat back some of your exercise calories. MFP gives you a calorie goal based on not exercising, so if you are already at a 1000 calorie deficit and go and burn 700 calories and try to keep that up, you are probably going to burn out pretty quickly. My calorie goal is set closer to 2000 so it's not as big a deal for me. I can eat plenty of nutritious foods and treats on 2000 calories.
  • Kellyeee2013
    Kellyeee2013 Posts: 221
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    Being healthy is great, but I think most people bust their butt at the gym because they want to get healthy AND lose weight.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how you set your daily calorie goal. 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
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    it works.

    I promise.

    Read all those threads and then just try it for a month or two. Then you'll be the one on these theads telling people to relax and trust the system.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    As always with questions like this, the answer is 'it depends' :-

    If you've set your base maintenance calories without taking into account exercise, and then created a deficit from there, then you absolutely should eat back your exercise calories because otherwise you'll inflate your deficit. People telling you that you must eat back your exercise calories typically are assuming that this is what you are doing.

    If you've set your base maintenance calories with exercise taken into account, and then created a deficit from there, then you should not eat back your exercise calories, since you'll decrease your deficit. Of course, you shouldn't log the exercise either, or you should log it as 1Cal burned, to avoid double dipping.

    If you set your base maintenance calories without exercise, and then created 0 deficit with the intent to use exercise to create the deficit, then once again you should not eat back the exercise calories, since you'll be destroying the deficit.


    It's really not rocket science. It's just about consistency and controlling the deficit (not so high it makes you sick, no so low that weight loss is too slow). Just choose the method that gives you the caloric deficit you desire, without putting you into harmfully low calorie counts.
  • Windy_
    Windy_ Posts: 1,012 Member
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    No (stolen from Crankstr)
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Depends on your goals. If you're concerned about lean mass retention you may want to eat some back.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    The calories that MFP gives you creates a deficit for weight loss already. Exercise creates even more of a deficit by burning calories. You don't want the deficit to be too steep or your metabolism will start burning muscle and soft tissue for energy as well as fat. So pay attention and keep good records of food and exercise. It's perfectly fine, even preferable, to create your weight loss deficit through a combination of diet and exercise.

    Personally, I enjoy earning extra calories through exercise so that I can have a treat, but I almost never eat all my exercise calories back. I still haven't found the right combination that will give me success at weight loss so who knows, I might have to avoid eating any exercise calories back. My body is being really stubborn about holding onto extra fat.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Man I hope not or I have been doing it all wrong..... lol But Seriously it depends on what method you are using. If you are using MFP method then you need to eat back a good portion of those calories but if you are figuring by TDEE then no you would not eat them back... I have always used the MFP approach myself, so I eat mine back... Best of Luck.....
  • g0tr00t
    g0tr00t Posts: 192
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    ..... Don't look at it as a "reward".....

    Curses! ....that just bursts my bubble!

    :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    If it helps, think of it this way:


    You need a Caloric deficit to lose weight. Whether that deficit comes from diet, exercise, or a combination of both is personal preference.

    When you joined MFP, you likely took their suggestion to lose 1 lb per week - which is a 500 Calorie deficit. As an example, let's say 2000 Calories would be for maintenance, so MFP has you at 1500 Calories per day.

    1) You could eat 1500 Cals and not work out and lose approximately 1 lb per week, or...

    2) You could eat 1500 Cals to start, work out and burn 500 more - for a total deficit of 1000 Cals. This means you'd "eat back" those 500 Cals you burnt off, in order to keep the 500 Cal deficit intact, even though you are now eating 2000 Cals - all while reaping the fitness benefits of exercise, or...

    3) You could simply eat 2000 Cals and workout and burn 500 off, thus creating your daily 500 Cal deficit.


    In all of the above cases, you've created a 500 Calorie daily deficit, so you'll lose the 1 lb per week you expect. However, many people like option 2 because it allows you to eat more on workout days - so you should feel fuller on those days - and it allows a deficit on days you don't work out.


    I hope that helps clear it up.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    i do not eat mine back.
  • jmcreynolds91
    jmcreynolds91 Posts: 777 Member
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    This is what i thought when i first started about a month ago. But ive learned through many people on here that MFP already has a deficit built in for you. If you burn calories, you need to eat them back cuz you dont wanna increase that deficit . Then your body would go into starvation mode.
  • BonaFideUK
    BonaFideUK Posts: 313 Member
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    Most people dont go to the gym to "burn calories". Most people go to the gym to burn fat while gaining/retaining lean muscle mass. Saying that though, everyone has different objectives and obviously if your only objective is to lose weight and you dont care about toning up or anything like that then eat at a calorie deficit.

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