Help me out- calorie burning question.

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NicolleLindgren
NicolleLindgren Posts: 64 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This might seem like a really stupid question, but...

I've been eating about 1400 calories per day for the past month and have started walking/jogging a mile a day recently. I try to eat back most of my calories, because I'm already at a deficit. Often when I work out, I'm not hungry for awhile afterwards.

My 5 year old is with my sister for the day and I am BORED! I've already walked my mile (yes, this might not seem like much to a lot of you, but I am completely out of shape, lol), and struggled to eat back those calories for lunch (still have 1000+ calories left for the day). I want to go walk more, but if/when I do, I will have more than my whole day's worth of calories to eat, and there's no way that I'm going to be able to eat all that.

Am I fine to keep working out without eating my calories back? How much of your burned calories do YOU eat back? How do you make up those calories when you're not hungry? I've read about the BMR and risks of going into starvation mode if you don't eat that amount of calories per day, so now I'm a little nervous. I don't go by MFP database for my workouts, for the record.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    1. It's one day. If you don't eat them all back the world won't end.
    2. How much do you really burn in a mile that would make it that hard to eat them all back? A mile walk for me would be a bite size snickers candy if that.
  • carmentownes
    carmentownes Posts: 46 Member
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    Wait. So when we workout we are supposed to eat all of our calories back? I have 1700 calories a day. I have to try my best to eat most of them? I didn't know that.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Wait. So when we workout we are supposed to eat all of our calories back? I have 1700 calories a day. I have to try my best to eat most of them? I didn't know that.

    Because MFP already has a calorie deficit in your daily eating goal based on total calories burned daily with NO exercise expected or included.

    You exercise, you just raised that total burned. So to keep the same hopefully reasonably deficit that will lead to long-term success - you eat the extra calories back.

    Same deficit is still there.

    That's why when you log your exercise, your daily eating goal goes up.
  • carmentownes
    carmentownes Posts: 46 Member
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    I guess I didn't look at it like a daily eating goal but more like a number. I knew that i needed to eat 1200 or more..I didnt know i needed to eat all of them. WOW. I learned something new.
  • Luya86
    Luya86 Posts: 5 Member
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    Well, to me i find it very hard to eat them back because i do my exercise once a day and that once a day is only in the evening before going to bed. I drink almost 4 liters of water everyday and i'm always full. I think i need help too:-)
  • carmentownes
    carmentownes Posts: 46 Member
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    Im kind of happy to hear that because i get nervous eating the calories they provided me. Im glad to know Im supposed to eat all of them.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    A mile walking or running is about 100 calories burned give or take...I think you could manage that. If you're logging much more than that, it's an overestimate of burn. 100 extra calories is nothing to eat back...little olive oil on your salad. When I was doing MFP I at about 70% of my calories burned per my HRM. The better Polar models have been tested to be about 70% accurate for calorie burn during an aerobic event.
  • daltem
    daltem Posts: 138 Member
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    Depending on your current weight a mile can add up. Make sure as you lose weight that you change the weight on whatever you're using to track.

    I started out walking a mile at a time and now I'm up to 5. It didn't take long to get there either ( and I know for some it isn't a lot but for me it's pretty dang good!). Anyway, I found the first few months it didn't matter that I wasn't eating the calories and then all the sudden I stalled out. It seemed like it was overnight!! I've heard that eating back half the exercise calories is a good rule of thumb - that way if you didn't burn as much as you thought, you're not way off.

    Good luck!
  • Shuntele
    Shuntele Posts: 5
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    I find it sometimes difficult to eat the 1200 calories I am suppose to eat. Most times I'm under my goal, but I'm trying!!
  • JustPeachy044
    JustPeachy044 Posts: 770 Member
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    Eating back calories is completely an individual decision. It depends somewhat on what you set your calorie allowance at in the first place. Sites like fitnessfrog.com have calculators to help you determine your BMR and TDEE. Fancy abbreviations for the calories you burn just by existing (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure. If you figure your TDEE using your typical activity/exercise, you will not want to eat back any calories. If you figure your TDEE as sedentary, you will want to eat back at least some of your exercise calories. I set my MFP calorie goal at sedentary, and then I eat back exercise calories, from about 1/2 to most. But I typically try not to eat them all back.

    It can be confusing, but mostly you need to listen to your body...you should not go several days in a row netting less than 1200 calories. Regardless of one's opinion about whether "starvation mode" is a myth or a reality, I don't think it's healthy. A day here and there netting super low, not a big deal. Some do it as a part of their plans--calorie cycling or what is called the 5:2 diet are two examples. And I don't believe you should "force" yourself to eat extra calories if you are truly not hungry at the end of the day and you have calories left.

    This is all just my personal understanding/opinion. I am NOT an expert. I have lost about 40 lbs. and kept most of it off for about 6 months, just FYI.

    Feel free to friend me! I love having support and giving it...
  • Cyclingbonnie
    Cyclingbonnie Posts: 413 Member
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    I seldom eat all of my exercise calories back. On those days I burn 200-300 extra calories I may eat them all, but on those days when I burn 3000 calories there is no way I can eat all those back. Even if I ate junk food it would be difficult. So I eat until I'm not hungry and then I stop.
  • NicolleLindgren
    NicolleLindgren Posts: 64 Member
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    I walk/jog an average of 4-4.5 mph. At over 250lbs and 5'9", I am burning a fair amount. I use a running app that takes height, weight, hills, speed, etc into account when calculating calories burned. At a little over a mile out in the hilly country, I burn around 250-310 calories. If you think that's inaccurate, give me a better way to calculate it out.

    My issue isn't eating 300 calories. That's not that hard for me, generally. I just don't have much of an appetite when I get done, so eating ANY amount of food seems difficult. I burned a total of 569 calories jogging today, so I ate my 1400 calorie goal and subtracted 569, that would be 831 calories for the day, which doesn't seem healthy by any means.
  • NicolleLindgren
    NicolleLindgren Posts: 64 Member
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    Depending on your current weight a mile can add up. Make sure as you lose weight that you change the weight on whatever you're using to track.

    I started out walking a mile at a time and now I'm up to 5. It didn't take long to get there either ( and I know for some it isn't a lot but for me it's pretty dang good!). Anyway, I found the first few months it didn't matter that I wasn't eating the calories and then all the sudden I stalled out. It seemed like it was overnight!! I've heard that eating back half the exercise calories is a good rule of thumb - that way if you didn't burn as much as you thought, you're not way off.

    Good luck!

    Thanks, I'll work on trying to eat back half :)

    To everyone else, thanks for the replies.. It's so confusing to figure everything out when different sites/apps give you completely different calories burned, and some say to eat the calories back and some say not to.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I walk/jog an average of 4-4.5 mph. At over 250lbs and 5'9", I am burning a fair amount. I use a running app that takes height, weight, hills, speed, etc into account when calculating calories burned. At a little over a mile out in the hilly country, I burn around 250-310 calories. If you think that's inaccurate, give me a better way to calculate it out.

    My issue isn't eating 300 calories. That's not that hard for me, generally. I just don't have much of an appetite when I get done, so eating ANY amount of food seems difficult. I burned a total of 569 calories jogging today, so I ate my 1400 calorie goal and subtracted 569, that would be 831 calories for the day, which doesn't seem healthy by any means.

    Drink a 2% chocolate milk, great 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein, little fat to make it smooth, and since drinking, usually easier. That's 200-300 easy.

    And studies have shown when you do that ratio soon after a cardio workout (running), you are prepping your body well for doing it again tomorrow.

    It'll usually make you hungry too.

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