Do you eat your calories earned by exercising?

brendabryden
brendabryden Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you all eat your extra calories you earn exercising or just your goal calories? I have been eating my extra 300 or 400 exercise calories - so then I can eat 1500 calories - is this how most of you do it?
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Replies

  • clubbybear
    clubbybear Posts: 30 Member
    Yes, I eat most or all of them.
  • Freidon
    Freidon Posts: 169 Member
    In my experience, MFP tends to over calculate calories burned, so I usually set mine to 50 minutes if I was exercising for an hour. After that, I usually eat back 75% of it. I'd be a bit cautious about it if you were eating 1600+ calorie intake, but if you're 1200ish calorie intake, I would definitely eat them back.
  • chaaalgeo
    chaaalgeo Posts: 70
    I eat nearly all probably leave maybe 100 just in case of over estimating what i have burnt off
  • jbbrannon
    jbbrannon Posts: 167 Member
    Yes, but I try to leave some of the calories.
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    I eat all of my exercise calories but don't rely on the apparently over generous MFP calculator to tell me how many. Back when I did, I ate 2/3rds of them.
  • nornyb
    nornyb Posts: 224 Member
    I use them as "bonus" calories for days when I want something extra or if I am hungry and already at my limit.
  • LavenderBouquet
    LavenderBouquet Posts: 736 Member
    I don't always eat them all, but I usually make sure to at least eat up to 1300 calories gross.
  • 0408boys
    0408boys Posts: 72 Member
    I usually eat about 1/2 back.
  • melissanorth35
    melissanorth35 Posts: 33 Member
    YES! Or else I would be starving.

    Like others though, I think MFP over estimates the calories burned. So, if I run for 40 minuets at a 9MPH pace, I put it in MFP at a 10MPH pace, so that calories burned are lower.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    Yes, I eat them. ALL OF THEM. ALL THE TIME.
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    I give myself "permission" to do it, but I eat back only part of them the majority of the time. But always enough to net to at least 1200 calories.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Yes, but I use other sources to determine calories burned because MFP overestimates.
  • contentedmummy
    contentedmummy Posts: 12 Member
    I allow for a small buffer in case there's a margin of error calculating my exercise or food. But generally, you should eat them. There's also other threads on this very topic with some good insights from people. Worth a gander. :-)
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
    I eat them. I use a heart rate monitor to get a more accurate number than MFP--usually have to put in a lower number of minutes than I actually ran to make the entry match what my HRM shows.
  • hollygoddess
    hollygoddess Posts: 78 Member
    I have a lot of weight to lose, so NO I don't. At goal weight I plan to :-)
  • blu_meanie_ca
    blu_meanie_ca Posts: 352 Member
    Nope. I know the numbers are higher than I burn, but, I have fun recording them anyways (I sometimes try to "net" negative calories).
    But, I personally work out as much as I do to increase my fitness levels to burn extra calories, not to eat more. That's my goals, I'm happy with the outcome for far.
  • mwbulechek
    mwbulechek Posts: 162 Member
    I do not eat back mine. It is what works for me.
  • corinnecurcio
    corinnecurcio Posts: 4 Member
    You betcha! In fact, if I know I'm going to be eating more calories for whatever reason (eating out, or a particular dinner that is higher in calories than usual) I make it a point the exercise enough to cover those calories
  • Scottg97
    Scottg97 Posts: 9
    I haven't yet..........but it's nice to know they are there.
  • funhouse77
    funhouse77 Posts: 179 Member
    Yes, I eat them. I try not to always eat ALL of them, in case MFP has overestimated.
  • CLFrancois
    CLFrancois Posts: 472 Member
    For me it depends. If I burn over 500, I don't eat all of that. If I burn 300 or less, I eat it. In between depends on how my appetite is.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    I eat back a portion of them. Not only to account for inaccuracy of the number burned, but because I only want to eat back my NET calories burned. MFP takes into account how many calories you burn in a given day without exercise. For me, it works out to about 75 calories per hour just sitting on my butt. So if I work out for an hour and burn 500 calories, I only eat back 400 - because that is how many EXTRA calories I burned, and then 25 is the wiggle room. I hear virtually no one talk about this on MFP, which is surprising.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    Nope. I know the numbers are higher than I burn, but, I have fun recording them anyways (I sometimes try to "net" negative calories).
    But, I personally work out as much as I do to increase my fitness levels to burn extra calories, not to eat more. That's my goals, I'm happy with the outcome for far.

    I'm not sure how often you "net" negative calories, but that is not a long-term solution and could be very dangerous. Your body needs a minimum level of calories to survive - if you are netting a negative number, that means you are quite literally starving your body.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Yes I eat back 85% of my calories burned leaving 15% for error in logging and whatnot..... Best of Luck....
  • apittmanrn
    apittmanrn Posts: 200 Member
    I use TDEE-20%, so I do not eat my exercise calories back...
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    not when i burn 2-3k. i'll eat like half or 75% back then.

    if i had a ton of weight to lose, i'd probably not be too strict on it. now that i'm down to only needing to lose a handful of pounds (between 5-10) i try to hit 1700-2000 net calories a day.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    Most days I don't. If I'm hungry I will eat some but not all.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    I use TDEE-20%, so I do not eat my exercise calories back...

    This method is still inadvertently eating them back.
  • fae14
    fae14 Posts: 54 Member
    I eat back a portion of them. Not only to account for inaccuracy of the number burned, but because I only want to eat back my NET calories burned. MFP takes into account how many calories you burn in a given day without exercise. For me, it works out to about 75 calories per hour just sitting on my butt. So if I work out for an hour and burn 500 calories, I only eat back 400 - because that is how many EXTRA calories I burned, and then 25 is the wiggle room. I hear virtually no one talk about this on MFP, which is surprising.

    My guess would be that not a lot of people know about it.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    I eat back a portion of them. Not only to account for inaccuracy of the number burned, but because I only want to eat back my NET calories burned. MFP takes into account how many calories you burn in a given day without exercise. For me, it works out to about 75 calories per hour just sitting on my butt. So if I work out for an hour and burn 500 calories, I only eat back 400 - because that is how many EXTRA calories I burned, and then 25 is the wiggle room. I hear virtually no one talk about this on MFP, which is surprising.

    My guess would be that not a lot of people know about it.

    I forget where I read about it, but I am glad I did, and it makes sense once you think about it. What I do now is subtract the calories I would have burned from the amount of calories I log for my exercise - that way I am still shooting for the calorie goal MFP gives me and it makes my charts/reports more accurate than if I logged all the exercise calories and came in "under" because I didn't eat them all back. Using this method, my weight loss has progressed pretty much exactly on target with my goals over the course of 6 months.

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