Do you eat your calories you earn from exercising?

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  • xBethanyJadex
    xBethanyJadex Posts: 37
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    Oh and I know other people are saying that you'll lose muscle if you don't eat back your calories, and I'm not denying that that's the truth, but this isn't the case for me. I've noticeably gained muscle in my biceps and calves. I guess it's whatever works for you. Maybe try it out both ways and see what's working out better for you. :)
  • bgardiner49
    bgardiner49 Posts: 86 Member
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    Yes
  • Andreagay60
    Andreagay60 Posts: 50
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    I definitely try to.....:flowerforyou:
  • ilmb87
    ilmb87 Posts: 216 Member
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    I don't even have 1200 as my goal (goal is about 1600 net) , and yes, I eat back my calories.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    Yes, I NET 1920 calories. I exercise so I can eat them!
  • kwilliams386
    kwilliams386 Posts: 156 Member
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    my tdee-20 is 1350 calories. I cannot seem to eat only 1350 calories so I guess i pre-eat my exercise calories back. :/
  • jlfoster0427
    jlfoster0427 Posts: 86
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    I do eat some of mine back. As you exercise more your body is going to need more nutrients to replenish what you worked off. If I didnt eat some of them back I would have no energy since MFP already has a calorie deficit built in to the program.
  • riccoismydog
    riccoismydog Posts: 319 Member
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    Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If I'm hungry I do, If I'm not I don't.

    You should subtract the calories you just used to stay alive, for me about fifty an hour from your exercise cals if you are going to eat them back.

    Otherwise, you are eating your RMR twice...and that will definitely stall your weight loss....especially if you are short. We shorties are pretty close to almost no deficit when we eat 1200 and sit around all day.... eat 100 of the 1200 twice plus some exercise calories and your going to have a bad time.

    In simpler words. Take your calculated from heart rate calories burned. Subtract your RMR/24 from your calories burned. Eat those.

    Or don't eat them. Do what makes you happy. You will not enter starvation mode from a well balanced low calorie diet while doing moderate exercise. Unless you are really close to having no body fat.

    How do I know this? Do you see body builders and competitors who are on a strict diet pre comp worrying about starvation mode? Have you ever actually gained weight by eating properly and exercising.

    On the other hand....if you are hungry. Listen to your body, don't worry about the calculators and eat something healthy.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Oh and I know other people are saying that you'll lose muscle if you don't eat back your calories, and I'm not denying that that's the truth, but this isn't the case for me. I've noticeably gained muscle in my biceps and calves. I guess it's whatever works for you. Maybe try it out both ways and see what's working out better for you. :)

    I think your muscles are more noticeable due to fat loss NOT muscle gain. I really don't think you are building noticeable muscle on 1400 calories (gross).
  • Thorbjornn
    Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
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    I don't log my workouts, so I don't know how much it's calculating for eating-back calories. I already accounted for my activity when I did a BMR and activity calculation from the IPOARM formula.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    Yes I always eat them back, but on a weekly basis instead of daily. I keep track of weekly calorie intake and weekly calorie burn, and make sure to net my goal (1550) by the end of the week. Makes weekends more fun!
  • jonjhayden
    jonjhayden Posts: 165 Member
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    I find that is the beauty of MFP. I know what my target is to lose weight if I do absolutely nothing at all. For me it is 1600 cal (and I should lose about 1.5lb/wk). However, I love to eat and I know that the more I work out the more I can eat. I am extremely disciplined about working out and my kids are teenagers so I can find the time to work out almost everyday. On a typical day, I burn between 800 and 1200cal. That bumps my daily goal from 1600cal to between 2400 and 2800cal. Eating healthily, I find it rather difficult to eat that many calories but I will eat between 1800 & 2000 calories. I feel great and when I hit the gym the next day I am able to really exercise intensely. If I don't eat enough calories, the next day my workout suffers and it is pure drudgery getting through my workout.

    I also think it is important to throw your body curve balls. Vary your calorie intake within in your goal range. This keeps your body from going into a starvation mode.

    I started working out and eating healthily following the plan I outlined above (slowly building up to my present calorie burn) on January 6, 2013. At that time I weighed 270lbs. As of today (5/7/2013), a little over 4 months later, I weigh 211.5lbs.

    My suggestion eat some of those exercise calories back and workout even harder the next day. Then youcan eat even more calories back the next day and still be in a rather significant calorie deficit and lose weight.
  • HPLW0705
    HPLW0705 Posts: 102
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    I have my calories set to 1800 a day. I'm doing Insanity and it was recommended I up my daily calories. I don't log how many calories I burn, but I know that I'm at least netting 1200 per day if not a little more. Before Insanity, I was eating 1400 per day and eating back my exercise calories then. I have noticed that I'm not as hungry as I used to be since upping my calories and in reality, I'm netting less. Maybe it's a mind over matter thing? I don't know...

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