Eating back exercise cals does not wok for me

Do TDEE - 20% and then you don't even have to think about eating exercise calories back.

This.

I bet it was all water retention.

The trick? Gradually up your calories. Your appetite will adjust with you. And your body will, too--which is good, because you want a healthy body.

I am.. when i started here i was under 1,000 daily. Not an ED. I was overeating for years prior to this. Just life takes turns and mine took a 360. I wasn't even trying to lose weight initally. and honestly now i don't really care if I do or not. My goal is fitness and health. part of which is being a healthy weight. i think 173 is what is considered ideal for my height.. thats why i picked that number.. but if I get out of the 190s i'll be thinner then I was in highschool. I can't even fathom that. The rest of it i believe works. I wasn't eating breakfast until I foreced myself to for a while. Now I'm hungrier in the morning then I am in the evening. Some days i'm still not hungry in the morning, but it's less and less often.

yes also agree about the exercise.. doesn't create hunger for me and I work my butt off. Heavy lifting, swimming, zumba, kickboxing, HIIT, hiking, bicycling etc. An hour or so later I might feel a little hungry. I usually eat about an hour after working out. (takes time to cook!)

No but you would continue to lose if you stayed in a deficit. My point was if you struggle to hit calories now at a deficit, how are you going to manage when you ARENT eating at a deficit. Smarty pants

ha. had to give a smart *kitten* response. it was mandantory. i guess i'll get there somehow one day. I just know.. if I try to eat that much more then what i eat now all at once.. i'm going to fail miserably. I am getting closer to 1600 more often then not. I think that's pretty good, given where I started. I eat really healthy so my plates are full and low calorie and i'm stuffed. It definatly helped me to eat breakfast every morning.

Thanks for posting this! I've been stuck at the same weight and have been taking some of my exercise calories. I recently started a cardio based program that burns a lot of calories but the scale isn't budging. I'm going to try to only eat my original calories and see if the scale will budge. Good luck!

I am guessing you didn't read all the responses.

well since I get an answer of 2200 or more on most of those TDEE calculators.. minus 20% means I should be eating around 2,000 calories.. give or take..

Hmmm, get thee a calculator...2200 -20% is 1760 calories...not "2,000.. give or take". Big difference!

ah yes.. I did 10%... my bad..

i just used fitness frog and it says 2589.. minus 20% would be 2,000 give or take (I knew I got that number from somewhere.. I just gave the wrong starting number). i get closer to that because i pick moderately active, because I work out 5-7 days a week. Which is what i'm supposed to do right?

I'm working on getting to 1600 everyday currently and increasing protein. (which I think I figured out)

Yeah, you definitely want to choose the appropriate activity level when doing TDEE -20% since your exercise is factored in and you don't eat the exercise calories back. Protein can be a pain to get up there. I have recently started trying to up mine just using food, no protein drinks. Really makes you take a look at what you thought had a lot protein and what really does have a good amount of protein.

I rarely eat them back I just eat more on days I workout example 1400 on days I don't and around 1700 on days I do ( depending on what I am doing)

I hate to break it to you, but that means you're eating them back. That's the definition of eating them back, even if it's not one-for-one.

yes I suppose it is just not every single calorie or I would be eating A LOT

Weight loss is about a simple mathematical formula: calories consumed - calories burnt = weight loss.
To use this formula correctly, you need to put in accurate numbers, so for 'calories consumed' you need to be accurately tracking each and every calorie consumed by being honest about what you are consuming, and weighing out portion sizes. You probably do this already. For calories burnt, you also need to be as accurate as possible, although admittedly this is more difficult. Work out your TDEE using an online calculator and estimate calories burnt during exercise as accurately as possible – a gadget with a heart rate monitor is the best way. The exercises in the MFP database can only give an average estimate of calories burnt during different exercises - the actual amount burnt depends on your body, and how hard you are actually working out.
The average female has a maintenance calorie allowance of 2000 cals (though check you TDEE to make sure what is more accurate for you). So, as long as your calories consumed – calories burnt = less than 2000, you should lose weight.

The "simple" formula only works if your body is working like it should. Not everyone's body has a normal metabolism.

I had been trying to diet for over a year and nothing worked. Come to find out I'm insulin resistant which is why I was gaining weight and not losing.

I also think that MFP way inflates the cals earned during exercise.

Have you looked into a HRM? That gives you a more accurate calorie count during a workout.

Seems stupid and surely defeats the point if you burn off 300 cals then these are added back to your allowance to eat?!?!?:huh:

MFP is set up to create a deficit BEFORE exercise... that is why you should then eat back exercise calories, as too large a deficit can be detrimental.

THIS^^^

MFP asks what your activity level is during a normal day at work. NOT how much exercise you do a day. READ FOLKS!!

ha. had to give a smart *kitten* response. it was mandantory. i guess i'll get there somehow one day. I just know.. if I try to eat that much more then what i eat now all at once.. i'm going to fail miserably. I am getting closer to 1600 more often then not. I think that's pretty good, given where I started. I eat really healthy so my plates are full and low calorie and i'm stuffed. It definatly helped me to eat breakfast every morning.

Ive found adding in calorie dense, but good foods helps me bump up. I have half an avocado at breakfast with my eggs, and the other half at lunch. I also LOVE at the moment eating 0% yoghurt (or fromage frais....similar macros and cheaper) with a scoop of vanilla protein mixed in. It makes a sort of puddingy texture and is really great for upping protein (I aim for around 200g per day, and the yoghurt protein is around 35).