Eating back exercise calories?

Freyafleur
Freyafleur Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you tend to eat back your exercise calories or go with what you usually eat?
For example, if you usually have 1300 calories but then burn off 300 calories extra, would you eat 1300 that day or 1600? Thanks!!
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Replies

  • babyluu80
    babyluu80 Posts: 58 Member
    I think it depends on how hard you're working out. I've made some changes since I started on here but my suggestion is that it's okay for you to eat back some of your calories but try not to eat it all back. When I first started, MFP had me set at 1340 calories a day (I was not eating back my calories) and that was working for me until I started working out 5 times a week. I hit a plateau and wasn't losing any weight and finally figured out that I wasn't eating enough for as much as I was working out. I've since changed my macros so that I am eating 1600 calories a day and I aim to stay within 100 calories of that goal.

    Bottom line is that if you're set at 1300 calories try to stay within that for the day but if you're working out and burning 400+ calories that day then I would at least eat back some of it.
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  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    I go back and forth on this one honestly. Right now I'm not eating the majority of my exercise cals but I do eat back some. But a LOT of people on here simply do not eat enough.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
    I try to ignore the addition/subtraction of exercise calories. The goals MFP sets calorie-wise is lower than just a maintenance number. It's designed to lose weight. If you burn more calories than you consume you WILL lose weight. If you don't gobble up more calories due to exercise--guess what? Most here are here to lose, like yours truly.
    MFP is designed specifically so that you DO eat back your exercise calories. The deficit is factored in already based on how many pounds you want to lose per week...
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    eat them. that's what MFP wants you to do.
  • carolemorden9
    carolemorden9 Posts: 284 Member
    I eat some of my exercise calories back, but not all. I've been using this sight for 8 weeks and have lost 20 pounds and still losing. I guess it depends on what works for you.
  • centarix
    centarix Posts: 123 Member
    I've tracked calories for 2 weeks (no skip days) and I exercise 6 times / week. I eat back maybe 250-300 exercise calories per day. I've lost 5 pounds these past 2 weeks.

    I know everyone will always have a different opinion on this subject, but I think its okay to eat back "some" calories. Just don't go overboard. You will still lose weight~
  • Sonjalalala
    Sonjalalala Posts: 101 Member
    YES!
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    It depends on how you have your account set up.
    If you haven't messed with any of the settings, and you're using MFP the way it is set up, then yes, eat back the exercise calories that you've earned.

    If you've calculated your TDEE to include moderate exercise, -20%, then no, do not eat back the calories because they are already accounted for in that calculation.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    i do not eat back my exercise calories.
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
    If you're following MFP the way it was designed, then you should be eating back your exercise calories. MFP was designed with deficits in mind and it was designed for users following MFP to eat back their exercise calories.

    If you are using MFP in conjunction with a trainer or some other program, you may have to see what the other program states.

    I only use MFP as my tool and I do eat back my exercise calories, or at least try to. I found if I exercise and burn more than about 300cal I have a hard time eating them all back. I make an attempt but depending on the time of day, I can't always eat it all back. I do at least eat some back.
  • leonaedithlewis
    leonaedithlewis Posts: 75 Member
    I eat them back most of the time, and I have consistently lost weight. I just lose more slowly that I might otherwise but I believe this lifestyle is more sustainable for me. I like to eat, and the suggested calorie target is too low. With exercise I can raise the calorie target and to a level that is more reasonable, and I am not hungry. I do focus on healthy foods however, just more of it.
  • JanaCanada
    JanaCanada Posts: 917 Member
    I have struggled with this constantly since I started back in Sept 2012.

    What I have learned works for me (and not everyone will agree, but...) is to eat exercise calories but partial or half, and only those calories earned by doing INTENTIONAL exercise. Logging calories burned from housework, etc. doesn' count. It has to be exercise that makes me sweat before it gets logged.
  • leonaedithlewis
    leonaedithlewis Posts: 75 Member
    I do my best to eat them back, I get really hungry otherwise, I'm still losing weight.

    Me too. I just get too hungry otherwise.
  • jen81uk
    jen81uk Posts: 177 Member
    I'm trying to not eat them back now as I've been maintaining for a while. I have lost inches though but unless I do really strenuous exercise and in the morning, I'm not going to and see if that helps? Cos somedays Im eating 2000 cals to eat them back. Eat when hungry is the best advice. x
  • cschiff
    cschiff Posts: 209 Member
    listen to your body. some days i don't eat back exercise calories, and some days i'm feeling extra hungry and so i do! listen to your body!!!

    best of luck!
  • AutumnBride
    AutumnBride Posts: 13 Member
    Depends.

    Some days I do, some days I don't. Depends how hard I ran and how hungry I am. I don't think I have ever eaten them ALL back though. If I burn 400 calories in a run, I will generally eat 200 of those back.
  • PrimalPixie
    PrimalPixie Posts: 69 Member
    I think it depends on how hard you're working out. I've made some changes since I started on here but my suggestion is that it's okay for you to eat back some of your calories but try not to eat it all back. When I first started, MFP had me set at 1340 calories a day (I was not eating back my calories) and that was working for me until I started working out 5 times a week. I hit a plateau and wasn't losing any weight and finally figured out that I wasn't eating enough for as much as I was working out. I've since changed my macros so that I am eating 1600 calories a day and I aim to stay within 100 calories of that goal.

    Bottom line is that if you're set at 1300 calories try to stay within that for the day but if you're working out and burning 400+ calories that day then I would at least eat back some of it.

    ^ This. I would say it depends on how hard you're working yourself. You don't want to be ravenous. So, sometimes It's okay to eat some back.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Do you tend to eat back your exercise calories or go with what you usually eat?
    For example, if you usually have 1300 calories but then burn off 300 calories extra, would you eat 1300 that day or 1600? Thanks!!

    I eat back 100% of my exercise calories ***....... because

    *1. I have my activity level set to sedentary .... so exercise is not already included (this is how MFP is designed)
    *2. I use a heart rate monitor .... so calories burned tend to be more accurate (machines & MFP can overstate)
    *3. I am over 50 & I want to preserve as much muscle mass as I can ...... when one loses too fast .....they lose muscle (as well as fat)
  • Nissi51
    Nissi51 Posts: 381 Member
    Nope
  • JEG2012
    JEG2012 Posts: 158
    I try not to. What was the point of burning them in the first place.
  • Peg_M
    Peg_M Posts: 34
    Well it sounds like most of us do eat back some but not all of the exercise calories. I do what a few have said and listen to my body If I am hungery then yes I eat some back but not all.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I try not to. What was the point of burning them in the first place.

    Huh?

    MFP as designed gives you a calorie deficit up front; when you exercise you increase that deficit even more. The problem with a calorie deficit that is too large .....MUSCLE loss.

    One of the reasons people on a diet "start" exercise in the first place is to "reduce muscle loss" while dieting .....well eating too few calories (regularly) negates that. You're basically back to dieting alone .......(why?).
  • nitrogen_widget
    nitrogen_widget Posts: 92 Member
    I try not to. What was the point of burning them in the first place.

    This.
    What's the point of killing yourself if you are going to eat those cals back?

    Calories burned from regular daily cardio & exercise really isn't going to amount to all that much.
    Use them as a bonus fat burn.

    Also the problem with eating back calories is, are you REALLY burning THAT many from exercise?

    I seriously doubt you are.

    I don't eat back cals.
  • lessofme43
    lessofme43 Posts: 139 Member
    I just started this lifestyle change last week. It is a real eye-opener for me, who for the last 20+ years, most of my adult life, I've been enjoying food, knowing I was eating too much, but not caring how much or enough to hold back. The calorie 'budget' given me when I set up my profile is probably 2/3 of what I have consumed on a regular basis, so needless to say I'm feeling quite challenged to stay under my limit every day! At this point, I'm feeling like the burning off of calories from exercise is an incentive to be allowed just a few more food calories for the day. I don't know if that's 'right or wrong' but I just need a little something to look forward to a this point.
  • AngieM76
    AngieM76 Posts: 622 Member
    I have my calories set at my TDEE - 20% so I dont eat back my calories. I think MFP is defaulted to set your calories to where you eat them back.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I try not to. What was the point of burning them in the first place.

    This.
    What's the point of killing yourself if you are going to eat those cals back?

    Calories burned from regular daily cardio & exercise really isn't going to amount to all that much.
    Use them as a bonus fat burn.

    Also the problem with eating back calories is, are you REALLY burning THAT many from exercise?

    I seriously doubt you are.

    I don't eat back cals.

    The problem with this ..... for some of us .... the "Bonus fat burn" is also a "bonus muscle burn." 100% of daily nutrients are not stored as fat.

    I eat back my exercise calories but am "conservative" ......... I have a pretty good idea what I burn (HRM) ..... and no I don't burn huge numbers ..... but an extra 200-300 calories is my "incentive" to exercise. I was never a regular exerciser .... now I know the "value" of exercise.

    Besides .... if I lose fat at the same rate I lose muscle .... does my body fat % go down ... or stay the same? I would rather have "healthy" weight loss ..... than quick weight loss (but that's just me).
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I have my calories set at my TDEE - 20% so I dont eat back my calories. I think MFP is defaulted to set your calories to where you eat them back.

    You have included exercise in your TDEE ..... so yes you "technically" do eat your exercise calories back.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    I normally don't but if I'm truly hungry, I eat.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,170 Member
    i normally dont on the day i exercise as im not hungry but i may go over the next day and not worry about it

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