Eating Back Calories...Advice Needed
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missharleychick
Posts: 171
So someone posted on this topic previously, and it was brought up again. I wanted to make a thread off it to learn more about what "eating back" calories is all about.
Yesterday I ate three meals, then worked out for 1 hour and 15 minutes total, doing cardio. At the end of the day I had 800 calories left over.
Should I be eating those back? I don't, then get happy because I am way under calorie goal. What am I missing, what are the side effects of not eating back these calories?
Yesterday I ate three meals, then worked out for 1 hour and 15 minutes total, doing cardio. At the end of the day I had 800 calories left over.
Should I be eating those back? I don't, then get happy because I am way under calorie goal. What am I missing, what are the side effects of not eating back these calories?
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Replies
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This article was helpful, I guess I should read before I post?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/713460--eating-back-exercise-calories-simple-breakdown0 -
I really liked that article! Thinking of it as a bank account will make it easier (or harder in my case lol never balance my check book)0
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This is such a debate, I have had trouble with this ever since I started counting calories. I do not usually eat any of my exercise calories back. I have my plan set for losing 1 lb/week. So I think I will try to maintain a 500 calorie deficit from exercise that way I should lose 2 lbs/week....who knows!0
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Not giving advice, because I remain torn...
Today is the first day that I'm actually eating 1,200 calories - I feel like I've been eating all day and I'm STUFFED. I still have a snack and dinner to get through to meet the 1,200 cal mark. I do not intend on eating a single thing after I work out, and from what I understand, this will eventually cause my weight loss to stall out at some point, and possibly lose lean muscle mass in the meantime. I suppose I understand the science behind my body needing fuel to function, but it's hard for me to put more food in when I'm seeing the number on the scale drop. For now I'm going to shoot for eating 1,200 a day (there were many days leading up to this I got about 800-900 before exercise, not feeling hungry), but still not eat back calories from work outs...we shall see!
Is anyone out there eating calories back and still losing?0 -
Hi Sgouti1,
I've heard from a few medical sources (including Dr. Oz's book YouOnADiet) that a healthy diet that has 1000 net calories per day is fine - and doesn't trigger the body's starvation response. So maybe you don't have to eat back all the exercised calories to 1200. maybe 1000 calories is fine.
I have the opposite problem of eating higher than I'm supposed to. So it sounds like you're having a really great week!
Cheers,
Laura0 -
Thanks for the info LB!0
