Eating back calories.

mannequinchampion
mannequinchampion Posts: 9 Member
edited January 24 in Health and Weight Loss
At what point does not eating back the calories you burn in exercise become detrimental to weight loss?

For example, today I burned 1000 calories which according to MFP takes my daily calorie goal up to 2200 however I've only eaten 1500 calories. Most days I don't eat my entire calorie goal - some times only being under it by 200 or so calories, others by quite a substantial amount like today.

Part of me assumes that by eating back ALL your calories you'll simply maintain your weight...? However I am very aware that if you eat too little it can have a negative effect on your metabolism. I mean is something like my example a good means of losing weight or would doing something like that every day cause me to go into "starvation mode"?

I just find calorie counting so confusing. I have no problems with healthy eating, I just don't know how much/little I should be eating to ensure I lose weight.

Replies

  • MaggieSporleder
    MaggieSporleder Posts: 428 Member
    I never really eat mine back, unless I'm starving. I eat till I'm full, but not overly. And if I do eat some of them back, I try and always leave some there.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    MFP's calorie goal was designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. The proper deficit for weight loss is already calculated into the number they give you. So if you're sure that you burned 1000 calories through exercise (that's a big number, do you wear a HRM?) Then yes, you can eat all or at least most back and still lose.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    It's a common misconception that eating all of your exercise calories will cause you to maintain. MFP takes the information you input and figures out how many calories your body is burning before exercise. Let's assume this is 2000 calories a day you'd need to maintain your current weight. It then subtracts 500 from this for you to lose 1 pound/week. When you add exercise on top of this (let's say you burn 500 calories in exercise) you'd now need to eat 2500 calories a day to maintain. At 2000 calories a day you'd now be losing about 1 pound a week.

    MFP is designed for you to log that exercise and eat the calories so that you lose weight as safely as possible. We lose weight by creating a deficit between what our bodies need to maintain and what we're actually eating. When you eat slightly less than you need your body breaks down your fat stores in order to get the energy it needs. When you eat at too large a deficit, though, your body also breaks down your muscle mass to get that energy. Not only will that slow down your metabolism and make you look less toned, but you also risk a host of health problems (remember, the heart is a muscle too) if you eat very little for a prolonged period of time.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member

    Part of me assumes that by eating back ALL your calories you'll simply maintain your weight...?

    Incorrect. MFP gives you a deficit before exercise, so you should eat them all back
  • tonyrocks922
    tonyrocks922 Posts: 172 Member

    Part of me assumes that by eating back ALL your calories you'll simply maintain your weight...?

    Incorrect. MFP gives you a deficit before exercise, so you should eat them all back

    MFP also overstates calories burned for most exercises, so no, you shouldn't.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    The only way eating back all of your exercise calories will make you maintain weight is if you told MFP that you want to maintain (like me).
  • mannequinchampion
    mannequinchampion Posts: 9 Member

    Part of me assumes that by eating back ALL your calories you'll simply maintain your weight...?

    Incorrect. MFP gives you a deficit before exercise, so you should eat them all back

    MFP also overstates calories burned for most exercises, so no, you shouldn't.

    I'd gone on the assumption that it over estimates which is why I like to under eat as it were.

    I don't know if I'm eating too little though (and as such have mucked up my metabolism) because I can't seem to lose weight anymore.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member

    Part of me assumes that by eating back ALL your calories you'll simply maintain your weight...?

    Incorrect. MFP gives you a deficit before exercise, so you should eat them all back

    MFP also overstates calories burned for most exercises, so no, you shouldn't.

    For a lot of people it doesn't.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    To the OP's questions (rather than fighting about the merits of MFP), it's hard to say for sure. Depends on a lot of things, including the individual, and that's something that is very hard to quantify.

    The bigger your deficit, the greater chance it'll affect weight loss, hormones, etc. The longer you're in a deficit, the greater chance it'll affect weight loss, hormones, etc. Combine the 2 (big deficit and long term) and the chances of negative side effects goes way up.
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