Do you eat back your calories exercised?

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  • leeanneowens
    leeanneowens Posts: 319 Member
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    Absolutely. :smile:
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
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    YES! No way would I want to train my body to get by on 1200 calories. Sounds like a miserable life. I'd rather lose slowly and maintain easily.
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
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    My base is 1500 calories, and I eat back most of my exercise calories too. I'm losing at a pretty steady 1.5 pounds a week.
  • Usa9872001
    Usa9872001 Posts: 27 Member
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    I, too, eat my exercise calories back. I am just careful about being accurate with my exercise and I try to wear my heart rate monitor!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    I try to eat at least some of them back. I don't always eat all of them back. Sometimes I go over. It just depends on how I feel for the day. However, when I go over, its not by much. I have lost 17 pounds in just under 2 months. I passed my first goal, so made a new one, but I'm basically at a perfectly healthy "goal" weight right now. I have my base calories set at 1300 and then eat back some exercise calories.
  • kazzsjourney
    kazzsjourney Posts: 674 Member
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    I just eat a straight 1800 cals I dont eat back any exercise calories. I am less then 35 pounds from goal so that has me losing just over a pound per week on average
  • Alison12121
    Alison12121 Posts: 198 Member
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    I've been eating back the calories I burn. This was my first week though, so we'll see what happens next week.
  • Josee76
    Josee76 Posts: 533 Member
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    My daily intake is around 1,600 - 1,700 and that is based on my TDEE (minus 15% to lose some fat). Since my TDEE takes into consideration my 'daily routine', such as walking, working, exercising... I do not eat back my exercice calories. I usually put 1 as my 'calorie burn' when logging my workouts.

    ^^^^ This is what I do; TDEE-20% My daily intake is 1800.
  • orapronobis
    orapronobis Posts: 460 Member
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    I set my activity level at sedentary, which gives me a recommended daily intake of 1200. I absolutely eat back my exercise calories. On occasion, I will "save" them up for a few days, when I know I have a special occasion coming up, and then "use" them for that special event. But, I always use them up within any given week.
  • bevmcarthur
    bevmcarthur Posts: 341 Member
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    WOW how do you burn that many calories in a day
    I don't eat anything back. I burn between 2,000 and 3,000 calories a day from exercise so eating that back and doing it cleanly would be a nightmare.

    Everyone is different so experiment to find out what works for you.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
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    i dont eat back my calories on a regukar basis, i save them up (mentally) for 1 day every OTHER saturday, and have a day of fun and carefree eating with my family... have lost 65 pounds since sept doing it this way, so... it workd for me :)
  • iceman7840
    iceman7840 Posts: 110
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    WOW how do you burn that many calories in a day
    I don't eat anything back. I burn between 2,000 and 3,000 calories a day from exercise so eating that back and doing it cleanly would be a nightmare.

    Everyone is different so experiment to find out what works for you.

    A combination of elliptical, crossfit, running, weight training, walking with a weight vest, basketball, etc. I'm extremely active.
  • Madaly320
    Madaly320 Posts: 112 Member
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    I eat all of my exercise calories back if I can. I am steadily losing. I am not looking for huge numbers, just consistency.
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
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    Unless 1200 calories is the limit for a meal as opposed to a day, I would absolutely eat back your exercise calories. Otherwise you are just not doing yourself any good. You may be punishing yourself for no good reason.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0?hl=road+map
  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
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    I've been eating little in the morning/early afternoon because I've been afraid of going over my calorie limit. Then I end up exercising later on in the evening and realize I still have 500 calories or so that I need to eat. Unfortunately I live in a dorm, and my meal plan has me set for 2 meals a day, so I can't eat anything else typically -_____-
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I eat 1200 cals (or a bit lower) daily and yes I do eat a lot (not all) of my cals back. I feel GREAT and am losing consistently 0.5 to 2 pounds per week on average.
  • melissagordon87
    melissagordon87 Posts: 4
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    I don't eat them back. I see them as buffer sometimes if I go over the 1200 calories. That way if there is something I happen to eat which is extra calories, The extra compensate for it.
  • brendadavis83
    brendadavis83 Posts: 1
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    I agree. I know most people don't want to hear this because it seems almost pointless to work so hard to lose so many calories just to turn around and eat them. But, that is what you really should be doing. Maybe not all of them, especially if you're not really very hungry..no point in forcing food down your throat. Typically, 1200 cals a day is the minimum you should be ingesting. That is what your body needs to survive if you were doing nothing out of a normal daily routine. But, if you are working out and burning 1000s of calories you are going to need energy to sustain your workouts. Your body will stop metabolizing food in order to reserve energy. It's a natural reaction to being starved. Working out for an hour at a high intensity will likely burn off about 1000 calories. So, you would be asking your body to survive off of 200 cals a day. At first the math makes sense and you are calculating all of the weight you are about to lose with excitement. Until you are too tires to work out, you are moody, constipated, missing periods, and frustrated because you are not seeing any change on the scale. You are abusing your body and it goes into survival mode. You may very well lose intense amounts of weight at first. But, the second you start eating you are going to put it on twice as fast because your body is going to store if incase you starve it again. This method is ok if you are trying to lose 5 lbs in a week for a wedding or something temporary, but expecting your body to keep up with this lifestyle is like outting water in your car and being shocked that you broke down. You are much better off to be string and fit than skinny and frail! Your body will turn into a well oiled machine. Just think about kids..long day at play..they eat you out of house and home..that is how it should be. How many active kids do you see restricting their calories?? Feed your body! You deserve it!
  • LindaGTaylor
    LindaGTaylor Posts: 260 Member
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    I also agree!

    No! I do not.

    Looking at my reports, I went from eating 600 calories a day before exercise
    (two months ago) to a healthier 750 - 1250 before exercise.

    I do notice that I feel better and can run (for example) longer
    before I get huffing and puffing...

    I burn a minimum of 325 calories a day, even on rest days...
    Today for example I burned 502 calories...

    I try to have at least 150 calories left over at the end of the day...

    On rest days I try to eat smarter meals...

    Good luck on your healthy journey!
  • peachypants
    peachypants Posts: 34 Member
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    I also agree!

    No! I do not.

    Looking at my reports, I went from eating 600 calories a day before exercise
    (two months ago) to a healthier 750 - 1250 before exercise.

    I do notice that I feel better and can run (for example) longer
    before I get huffing and puffing...

    I burn a minimum of 325 calories a day, even on rest days...
    Today for example I burned 502 calories...

    I try to have at least 150 calories left over at the end of the day...

    On rest days I try to eat smarter meals...

    Good luck on your healthy journey!


    Seriously? You can eat under 1000 calories a day and survive? Good luck keeping your weight off.When you decide to splurge... It's going to be tough to keep that off. What's the point of setting a 'goal' of you still try to leave 150 cals/day? And what kind of meal is less than 250 calories? Your starving yourself! Seriously.

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