Eating back exercise calories made me gain - so confused

Never trust the scale it is a LIAR and you should find other ways to measure progress along with the scale.

Are you weighing and logging your food as accurately as possible?
Have you calculated your TDEE calories as well to see if it's around the same number as MFP is giving you?
Also, how is your activity level set on here?
I think you've got to be eating the wrong number of calories initially to be gaining.
However, you 100% should eat back your exercise calories IF you are using MFP's guidelines for calories. If you are using TDEE you should have already calculated them in and therefore don't need to.

A little game you can play during that 2 weeks is to try to estimate the portion first, then weigh it and see how close you are. This will help you get better at estimating at restaurants and stuff since you really can't take your scale with you everywhere!

Great idea - thanks!

So, just because I'm thick - I should consume/GROSS 2160 calories a day and then ignore the NET since exercise & activity is already factored into the TDEE. Does that sound right?

Theoretically, if your activity level is consistent. Have you tracked your daily TDEE over a time period to ensure it isn't all over the place? I'm just asking cause that will vary day to day based off your activity level. I don't know if the BodyFit thing does that or not.

Personally, I would estimate on the low side if it were me, so if I had a crappy couple of weeks activity wise it wouldn't really affect my losses.

Thank you! I'll give that a read. Those two numbers, TDEE and BMR are what I find confusing. I've been wearing BodyMedia Fit band that I thought was pretty accurate for my TDEE. I've worn it for about a month now and it tells me I burn an average of 2400 - 2500 calories in a 24 hour period. Is that number my TDEE or my BMR?

That's your TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

BMR is what you'd need to stay alive in a coma, and is usually recommended to be the minimum you net (since you're not in a coma).

Aha. Got it.

So, in a nutshell my BMR is 1489.75 (which I just calculated using my current weight) and my TDEE is 2400 (according to BodyMedia). In order to lose weight I shoult be eating between 1489.75 and 2160 (-10% of TDEE) a day?

Does that sound right?

If your BMR is 1489 and your TDEE is 2400 ...then YES in order to loose weight you need to consume at least 2160 a day (-10% of your TDEE).

If you do the TDEE - 10% method....you SHOULD NOT be eating back your exercise calories because they are already built into your TDEE...base of your Bodymedia Fit.

I was like you and not loosing weight at all!!! I started this method two months ago and these are my results from March 2nd through May 3rd.



I gained a few pounds the first couple of weeks.... It takes anywhere between 4 - 6 weeks to adjust if you've been eating at a large deficit for too long. I was eating 1200 - 1400 NET for about almost a year. I lost close to 50 lbs...yes, BUT I hit a plateau since August and it wasn't until March that I started eating NETTING 1900 - 2000 calories that I've started to loose the weight again.

Now I'm losing the weight but at a slow and steady pace. about a 1 lb a week and in two months I've lost 11 inches.

You look fantastic! You're doing an awesome job and I envy your progress

So, just because I'm thick - I should consume/GROSS 2160 calories a day and then ignore the NET since exercise & activity is already factored into the TDEE. Does that sound right?

Which calculator did you use? And yes, if you know your correct number, eat close to that and ignore the net

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I used this calculator for my TDEE
http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

And this one for my BMR:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Oddly enough, I just went to change the setting in my MFP to lightly active, current weight (153), exercise 3x a week for 60 minutes, lose .5 lbs and it put me at 1670.

MFP calculates that at 2160 a day I will GAIN 2.5 lbs by next month. Should I just totally ignore MFP?

I believe that this MFP calculation will not take into account your caloric burns for those 3 exercises at 60 minutes per week, so, for all intents and purposes, yes. Ignore MFP's recommendation and customize your daily intake to meet your needs.

I noticed the comments about the food scale went unaddressed by the OP. trying to do this without a food scale is like doing carpentry without a hammer.


This is 20% exercise, 80% diet.


80% of your relevant data is actually an unknown due to failure to answer questions about method of measurement, so I am baffled by some of the responses.


I have transformed my body by eating back exercise calories and simply managing my net deficits. I sometimes check calorie counts in multiple places, and I get my estimated burn from a heart rate monitor.


I have noticed a few mistakes in MFP suggested calorie counts but mostly good numbers. I came over from another app because this one is way better at helping me measure food. For instance I can record using decimals, in grams or in ounces, etc...


The net deficit method works very well for the average person, but you can adjust it once you have gathered data. Again, I can't stress just how important it is to have good data if you expect to be able to get help or help others.

I do not follow that silly idea. Why would you eat back what you worked so hard to burn?

Because MFP has you at a deficit already with your daily calorie goal - meaning you could eat to goal, do zero exercise, and you're at a deficit and will lose weight. Exercising and burning more calories creates an even larger deficit, which can lead to problems - that's why they add those burned calories back into your daily goal - you are supposed to eat them back.

Now this is assuming you entered all your info correctly when you set up MFP, going for a reasonable weight loss goal (as in, not 2lbs a week unless you've got 100+ pounds to lose, etc), and that all the food consumed is measured and accounted for correctly - the system works.

OP - as for the six pound gain - how long has it been since to switched to eating back exercise cals? Do you also take measurements and progress photos? Do you lift heavy? And how often do you weight - the body can easily fluctuate 6lbs in a week due to a new or harder workout, too much sodium & water retention, hormones, time of the month, etc.

Hard to offer more advice without more info - if you could make your diary public that might help. Hang in there - with only 17 pounds to lose, it's a pretty slow process anyway, and hard to be patient!

My current settings are to lose 1lb a week. I have myself set to 'sedentary' since I work a desk job.

I do lift, and it's pretty heavy for me. Normal weight session would be deadlifts 60lbs, squats 90lbs, power cleans 45lbs. I also do kettlebells and generally use the 25 - 35lb weights.

I run 3x a week now, since I'm training for a half. At this point it's 3.5 miles 2x a week and then a long run (6miles this week, 7. this upcoming).

I weigh in about once a week. Although now that I'm now obsessing about it, I've started weighing in every day. I thought it might be water retention, but a few weeks ago I posted about gaining 6lbs of water weight in a short period of time. Apparently, that's never gone away..:(

Maybe it's water retention? I don't really know anymore.

Good god woman, if you think that running three times a week and lifting heavy weights twice a week is "sedentary," then what category are people supposed to use if they sit on their *kitten* all day and don't move and dont EVER EXERCISE AT ALL????

YOU ARE NOT SEDENTARY and you will never get the results that you want at that setting. If you wear a BodyMedia Fit all day long, then at the end of the day, the total number is gives you is the total number that you burned that day. I bet it's close to 3000 calories some days, right? So you need to eat that, minus 10%. If you eat too big of a deficit, you will mess up the weight loss hormones and you will gain not lose.

And you can't go by your hunger. Not a reliable indicator. Remember, if you shock your poor body by giving it radically less calories that it requires, it will take drastic measures to adapt, including dialing your metabolism way back, which dials back your hunger too. And which primes you to gain like crazy with small increases in calories.

Take it from a girl who is eating an average of 2400-2600 calories a day and who lost 1 pounds last week (and who btw only exercises a small FRACTION of the amount that you do) that you need to eat MORE. Not just more in general, but the correct amount. You need to eat your total daily burn minus 10%.

BUMP!!!!

I used this calculator for my TDEE
http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

And this one for my BMR:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Oddly enough, I just went to change the setting in my MFP to lightly active, current weight (153), exercise 3x a week for 60 minutes, lose .5 lbs and it put me at 1670.

MFP calculates that at 2160 a day I will GAIN 2.5 lbs by next month. Should I just totally ignore MFP?

Your activity level is closer to moderate than lightly active. I would start with the the TDEE - 10% numbers. Give it a good month or so. Start using your food scale, log accurately, and increase your protein intake to 1 gram per pound of lbm. Also, as you are lifting, look at other guages of measurement than just your scale. Water weight fluctuates wildly, so the scale can be misleading. Because of body recomposition, it's pretty common with heavy lifters to go down in sizes but not weight. Go by how your clothes fit. Enjoy your training and congratulate yourself on gains there. :flowerforyou:

Make sure you log accurately (weigh your food!), or all of your number crunching will be for naught.

Nope. Activity level is not including exercise if you are logging exercise. Common mistake. I lost almost a month to that one.

Use the food scale if you choose effective. If you conclude it doesn't work with your food choices, that should be a lightbulb moment.

This is great advise. My friends/family don't like it, but I have "almost" cut out eating at restaurants with them...I simply find that one time you go to a "chilis" or "applebees" etc.. and the plate looks about right, the next time, I can tell it's more than it should be, etc..

I've been trying to stay away from places where serving sizes are really all over the place. And no, I don't consider that me "depriving" myself of anything, I consider it making a more informed choice!

You're gonna be just fine. Just don't get caught up in the hype...

eating back calories is stupid and useless.

bro your very gong-ho about stuff..... such a broad statement is stupid and useless, if your trying to gain muscle you better be eating back calories you need a surplus, if you work out a lot you need to eat them back or else your body will shut down. Some cyclists burn over 2000 cals in a work out if they didnt eat that back they would pass out in the middle of a ride. if your trying to loose its just about having a steady deficit for example if I my BMR is 2300 and I set my cal deficit at 500 a day to loose a pound a week which is normal I would be needing 1800 a day right? well some days I have a 1400-1500 calorie burn if I dont eat any of them back that would only net me like 400 cals for the day which is stupid and useless.

Case in point I went on a ride (unplanned) the other day and wound up with almost 2000 calories of exercise logged. I ate them back, and it kept me from crashing and burning. I have been losing weight this week. Because I am running a deficit.


Math. Look into it.

Doing the math right is cool, but I believe the problem is having too much faith in the numbers. Even assuming you've picked an approach that will give you a calorie deficit (either MFP or the TDEE-x% approach), the fact is you have to understand that every number you use is only an estimate.

For the first 3 months I used MFP I lost 1.5 pounds a week. It wasn't a smooth process--there were ups and downs, but it averaged out to 1.5 lbs a week like clockwork. But here's the thing... based on my estimates of calorie intake and my exercise burn I should have been losing at least 2 lbs a week.

I was weighing my food and using food labels, etc., and I have a Polar FT7 to give me my exercise burn, but the sad fact is I had to have been underestimating calories and/or the Polar was overestimating my burns. It was fine, though, because I'd set MFP to sedentary and a 1lb a week loss. I was not eating back my exercise calories (there were plenty of days when it appeared I netted under 1200--gee, I didn't fall over and die of malnutrition, and I continued to lose!).

So bottom line, every label, every food entry in food databases--those are all estimates. And I'd wager that underestimating calorie intake is much more likely than overestimating--especially when you eyeball serving portions (I'm guilty of that) or forget to log something (yep, that too). Calorie burn--if you get it from MFP or the exercise equipment, it could be off by quite a bit. Even HRMs--who knows how good the estimate is for you personally?

So if you're stuck on a plateau, the simplest explanation is that your numbers are lying to you. My recommendation is that before you go off down the path of "I'm in starvation mode!!" try to really bear down on weighing/measuring your portions. Make sure the MFP numbers make sense (i've seen plenty of incorrect entries out there). And if you're using the MFP approach, don't eat back all of your exercise calories (but do listen to your body--don't make yourself weak). And don't ever believe this is JUST simple math. Yes, the math is simple, but the data could be systematically off.

I think I might have mentioned before that I don't weigh my food. I do own a food scale, but it's difficult to use it consistently. What I tend to do is either eyeball my portions. Mostly I try to scan whatever I'm eating and measure that way. My salad mix or my veggies occasionally come in a neat little wrapped package with a barcode, so I scan those.

Other things tend not to be so cut and dry and then I'll go with whatever MFP has listed. So, if I eat a sandwich that kind of looks like one from say Cosi, or Au Bon Pain I'll log it as that. Otherwise I tend to break down my meals i.e salmon, 1 cup broccoli, 1 sweet potato etc.

I do forget to log things occaisionally, so sometimes it's me logging the next day, trying to recall what I ate.

I leave my food scale on the counter. When I get my plate, I set it on my scale & just hit tare in between items. It doesn't really take long & I trust it much more than I trust my eyes. Sometimes I'll eat out & what I'm having isn't in the database, then I will have to approximate what I'm eating. But, that's not too often. In order to evaluate whether or not your method is working, you need to have an accurate accounting of your calories. That's the piece that is missing, and until you have that, you are shooting blind.