Eating back calories

This is a long debated heated topic in here! Do what works for your body. Some people actually lose by eating more. Myself, I only gain when I eat those calories back so I never did and I lost 112 lbs in less than a year. Find what works for you and pay no attention to anyone else's logic, lol. Some people in here fiercely defend HAVING to eat those calories at all costs or you will go into starvation mode. I never did. Find what works for you! Hope this helps.

"I agree.

I guess my question boiled down to if I exercise for weight loss and then eat back those calories, why even exercise."

OK, if this is really the question -- here is the answer from my standpoint.

1. My MFP setting is at 1500 calories on a non-workout day. That's not a lot. On a non-workout day, I eat right up to it.
If I burn 500 extra calories in a workout, I'm likely to eat back 300 or 400 (at least during the week; I do eat more on the weekend), so I actually have a slightly bigger deficit on those days. And I am a lot happier besides

2. Using this system has me working out a lot more -- 6-7 days a week vs 3-5 previously.

3. Working out will help you retain muscle, thus maximizing the percentage of fat lost. Which I assume is what everyone wants.

4. Working out greatly reduces my stress, and thus my stress eating.

5. Working out makes me feel like a healthier person, and it reinforces good choices in the kitchen.

6. Working out is going to make maintenance a hell of a lot easier once I get there.

"I agree.

I guess my question boiled down to if I exercise for weight loss and then eat back those calories, why even exercise."

OK, if this is really the question -- here is the answer from my standpoint.

1. My MFP setting is at 1500 calories on a non-workout day. That's not a lot. On a non-workout day, I eat right up to it.
If I burn 500 extra calories in a workout, I'm likely to eat back 300 or 400 (at least during the week; I do eat more on the weekend), so I actually have a slightly bigger deficit on those days. And I am a lot happier besides

2. Using this system has me working out a lot more -- 6-7 days a week vs 3-5 previously.

3. Working out will help you retain muscle, thus maximizing the percentage of fat lost. Which I assume is what everyone wants.

4. Working out greatly reduces my stress, and thus my stress eating.

5. Working out makes me feel like a healthier person, and it reinforces good choices in the kitchen.

6. Working out is going to make maintenance a hell of a lot easier once I get there.

Love this!

Let's say your goal is to eat 1,500 calories per day. This is less than you are used to in order to maintain your weight (2,000 calories, for example).

Also, let's say you burned 400 calories from exercise.

This means you actually ate 1,100 calories that day. You will need 400 more calories to equal your goal of 1,500.

Otherwise, you are eating 1,100 when you are used to 2,000 calories. Going to 1,500 calories is already different for you, so 1,100 calories is making you starve.

I agree.

I guess my question boiled down to if I exercise for weight loss and then eat back those calories, why even exercise.

In my opinion and from what I have seen in the past with my own experience, exercising makes your body look better while you are losing and by trying to keep the lean body mass you have, it prevents you from being skinny fat due to the loss of muscle on a diet alone regime. Can you lose weight without exercise? sure! A defecit is all you need but it may boil down to how you create that defecit that will determine body composition.

Let's say your goal is to eat 1,500 calories per day. This is less than you are used to in order to maintain your weight (2,000 calories, for example).

Also, let's say you burned 400 calories from exercise.

This means you actually ate 1,100 calories that day. You will need 400 more calories to equal your goal of 1,500.

Otherwise, you are eating 1,100 when you are used to 2,000 calories. Going to 1,500 calories is already different for you, so 1,100 calories is making you starve.

I agree.

I guess my question boiled down to if I exercise for weight loss and then eat back those calories, why even exercise.

Ummm...fitness...lots of health benefits associated with being a fit individual.

I think this has been stated in multiple posts above but to summarize.

1) You exercise to not only allow yourself to eat more calories, but to be fit and healthy. Also exercise and resistance training helps to tone and build muscle (which in turn raises your metabolism, will help your skin keep its elasticity if you are losing a large amount of weight, and to get the body composition you are probably looking for).

2) The misconception is you burn more calories and eat less and you will lose the weight more quickly. While this is true, you are not going to achieve what you want. At a certain point your body is starting to not only burn fat, but also start cannibalizing your muscle mass for energy b/c you haven't eaten enough to sustain it for the amount of exercise you are doing. Food is fuel first and foremost. I personally made this same mistake and while the scale number kept dropping, I was also losing muscle mass and my BF% wasn't dropping like it should have.

3) MFP's formula already gives you the calorie deficit for you to lose weight. When you exercise it gives you more calories to eat (that you need to eat back) because your body needs them... you are still eating at a deficit even when you eat back your exercise calories. The important thing to note is to make sure you don't overestimate your exercise calories. There might be some logic in eating back a portion of your exercise calories just b/c most of the estimates are high to begin with. If you are manually entering calories from exercise based on a HRM or other more accurate method, I would eat back your calories in whole.

In short... Eat back your exercise calories if you are using MFP as designed. The only reason not to do this is if you are using the TDEE method.

Thanks! I've been really struggling with what I've read. Some people say eat them back, other people don't. I've been exercising a lot, I do strength training 3 days a week, and cardio 6 days a week. Although, the past month my measurements and weight have been the same with me eating calories back, but I don't want to not eat them back and potentially lose any muscle I've put on...so it just confuses me as to why I haven't really seen results, you know?