Do you eat your excercise calories back?

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  • Jarice12
    Jarice12 Posts: 135 Member
    what everyone else said pretty much. You are not eating enough to be doing so much. I use my BMR and TDEE, but I use them as a scale. I eat no less than my BMR requires and no more than 20% less than my TDEE. I have increased my calories yet again because I keep being told I'm not eating enough either. So, I have yet to see if this increase is going to help me through this plateau, but I feel healthier, stronger and am never hungry, unlike a month ago when I felt drained and exhausted. Instead of being so focused on eating a certain set number of calories and losing a certain number of pounds, try to eat healthy foods, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and protein, and focus on how you feel. I know it's hard; i'm trying to learn to do this myself. let me know how it goes...

    oh and to answer your question :) if you eat at TDEE or less a percentage of TDEE, you DO NOT need to eat your exercise calories back. If you set your calories at BMR or BMI or whatever, you DO eat back those exercise calories.
    Hi all. I've put myself on a 1200 calorie per day regimen. I workout 5-6 days a week which includes 3 days at gym with usually 30 minutes uphill walk on treadmill burning approx. 300 calories then 30 minutes circuit training. The other days I either hike or walk for at least an hour. I've been at this for over about 2 months now and managed to take off a measly 2 pounds. I am wondering if this is because I am eating my calories back after burning them? I figure 1200 is pretty low for me to begin with but everyone keeps telling me I'm not eating enough. I am wondering what the right thing to do is. I've been trying to switch it up by adding more protein and less carbs to my daily intake but in the meantime, I'd love to hear what others are doing. :)
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    Thank you everybody for such an overwhelming response! Now I don't feel so bad about eating them back! @Icehurts, you said it in a nutshell. If I didn't eat them back, I would be consuming 900, possibly 800 calories a day which would be too dangerously low. So I'm going to try the higher protein this week and see what that does. And while we're on the subject, I work out very early in the morning and try to eat breakfast when I get home from the gym (around 9-10am. I do, however, have to eat something before I leave for the gym and I'd love to know what everyone's eating for protein (other than protein shakes as I like to eat better than drink my calories!). Thanks!

    peanut butter toast was my go to, but now i have more of a primal lifestyle so i have a banana with a couple TBS of sunbutter.
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
    I eat mine back (at least within the week, as I tend to save some for a restaurant meal or dessert on the weekend). At one point, when I got "stuck," I even upped my base calories by setting my goal to 1/2 pound per week weight loss, and I actually went back to losing about a pound a week.

    However, when in doubt I logged more calories on the food and fewer calories for the exercise to ensure that my "estimates" in my diary didn't derail me.

    Best wishes in getting back to it!
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    Hi all. I've put myself on a 1200 calorie per day regimen. I workout 5-6 days a week which includes 3 days at gym with usually 30 minutes uphill walk on treadmill burning approx. 300 calories then 30 minutes circuit training. The other days I either hike or walk for at least an hour. I've been at this for over about 2 months now and managed to take off a measly 2 pounds. I am wondering if this is because I am eating my calories back after burning them? I figure 1200 is pretty low for me to begin with but everyone keeps telling me I'm not eating enough. I am wondering what the right thing to do is. I've been trying to switch it up by adding more protein and less carbs to my daily intake but in the meantime, I'd love to hear what others are doing. :)
    First of all, where did you get the 1200 calorie number? Out of thin air? Or did MFP actually suggest that amount?
    For post people, that isn't nearly enough to lose weight. Your body is basically starving and is holding on to all of the fat. I would pretty much guarantee if you upped your calories, it would start coming off a lot quicker.
  • Lauri524
    Lauri524 Posts: 54 Member
    Okay, now I'm really confused. To CM9178, MFP gave me 1254 for daily caloric intake so I took it down some. BUT I just went to the site that has the TDEE calculator and I'm blown away by the numbers. BMR 1480, TDEE 2294, Daily Calories 1835 (20%). This seems like an awful lot of calories. I feel at this point if I ate anywhere near 1835 calories per day,. I would slowly start to gain weight. This is so frustrating :(
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    Okay, now I'm really confused. To CM9178, MFP gave me 1254 for daily caloric intake so I took it down some. BUT I just went to the site that has the TDEE calculator and I'm blown away by the numbers. BMR 1480, TDEE 2294, Daily Calories 1835 (20%). This seems like an awful lot of calories. I feel at this point if I ate anywhere near 1835 calories per day,. I would slowly start to gain weight. This is so frustrating :(
    When you setup your goals in MFP, what did you set your activity level at? And how many pounds per week weight loss did you set it for?
    If you set the activity level to sedentary and the weight loss to 1 lb per week - then the calorie number MFP will give you will not include exercise. So for example, if it says you get 1254 calories, then any exercise you do, you should eat back those calories until you net 1254. If you included any type of activity in your MFP calorie goal, then the number they are giving you would include exercise calories and you would not eat any back.
    Judging by the low number and the big difference in calories between MFP and whatever calculator you tried, I'm guessing you set it to sedentary but then also set it for more than 1 lb per week weight loss.

    I think the best calculator out there is the Scooby Calculators - try this one: http://scoobyworkshop.com/calorie-calculator
    The number it gives me is VERY close to the MFP numbers.

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