to eat or not to eat back calories...confused!

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sweetcheeks1978
sweetcheeks1978 Posts: 85
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Peeps

I am so confused, I am on approx 1600 a day and find thats working fine for me. I dont however eat back the calories I burn after a workout...is that wrong? Should I be eating back what I've burned?

HELP!!

Replies

  • ZyheeMoongazer
    ZyheeMoongazer Posts: 343 Member
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    You will get mixed responses. Some people are for eating them back, others are not.

    From a program perspective, you are supposed to eat them back. That is how the creators of MFP designed this website. The difference between MFP and some other sites is that your calorie goal is based off of a deficit amount BEFORE exercise. If you eat close to your goal you will lose weight even if you don't lift a finger in exercise.

    How some personal trainers or other programs work is that they with add your planned exercise into your calorie goal. This is all well and good, if you actually do the exercise. And this is why some people fail. They are eating at the goal their trainer gave them, but skipping the workouts the trainer told them to do.

    That being said, it is truly up to you if you eat the calories back or not. Everyone is different, what works for me may not work for you. The only warning I would give is to be careful you are not undereating. Undereating can cause a weight loss plan to fail just as easily as overeating, it can also be very bad for your health.

    The key is to eat ABOVE your BMR and BELOW your TDEE. Not sure what those are? Many aren't when they first start. Take a look at Scooby's website, he has lots of great information. He also has a great calculator that will tell you both numbers.
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    If you don't know what your BF% is, the Miffin formula is the best to use. If you do know your BF%, then Katch would be best.

    Good Luck.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    The short answer is that it depends.

    When you calculated your daily calorie goal, did you factor in exercise to the activity setting? If so, then no you do not need/should not eat them back. This is the way most TDEE calculators work.

    If you did not factor in exercise to the calculation, then yes you should eat them back. This is the way most BMR calculators work, and how most people use MFP.


    Read these for a better understanding...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/383956-exercise-calories-explained
    and
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
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    Is what you are doing right now working?

    Are you hungry?

    Listen to your body.
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
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    I am so confused, I am on approx 1600 a day and find thats working fine for me.

    If it's working for you then I don't see a problem here! Keep on going and good luck!
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
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    Like others have said it's up to you. I have been eating them back since I started and it has been working well for me.

    My personal opinion is that the lower your calorie goal is the more important to eat them back. I am at 2000 so if I burn 500 and don't eat them back I am still netting 1500. You on the other hand would only be netting 1000, too low for most people.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Listening to your body... that's great advice. None of us are on this site because we "listened to our body" or "only ate when we were hungry" in the first place.

    Yes, some common sense can go a long way, but posting response like this with no context is dangerous on a forum full of people with bad eating habits, poor relationships with food, and piles of mis-information being thrown at them from Dr Oz and other crappy sources.

    Despite what others may say, there actually is a reason and there is some science behind why you should or should not be eating them back. Understanding WHY you are doing things will make it easier to adjust WHAT you are doing when need be.


    .
  • TT_luvs_fitness
    TT_luvs_fitness Posts: 274
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    I set my own custom cals according to my goals. I've lost most of my weight not eating back. Now if I train extremely hard and need extra food cause I'm truly hungry then I will eat back some. It's all a personal choice I think and depends on your daily activity ( just you average day) if you sit all day then depends on how much and how hard you workout and what you do for workouts. I have always been told by a very wise friend to set an amout of cals and stick to it for 10 days after 10 days depending on results you may need to tweek it for another 10 days or if its working then stick with it. There's no magic to it just hard work and figuring out what works for you.
  • MzNeecie
    MzNeecie Posts: 107 Member
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    This is a perfect topic b/c i was just thinking about this earlier this week. I normally eat multiple small meals throughout the day so as to stay under my mfp calorie goal but then i go to the gym after work and i end up with over 600 or more calories by 7 or 8 at night. i go to bed pretty early so i eat something sensible and usually a dessert and then if i have leftovers oh well. i think though i end up eating far less than i should which is why i have been leveled for several months. I will follow this topic though and hopefully it will help me as well. thanks for posting.
  • floodedlungs
    floodedlungs Posts: 22
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    I don't eat back my exercise calories. In fact, I don't actually log my exercise because I feel like MFP overestimates the cals burned.
  • sweetcheeks1978
    sweetcheeks1978 Posts: 85
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    thanks for all the replies peeps, much to take in...will look into it:wink:

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