Earning calories with exercise: to eat or not to eat...?

jessdunn27
jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I exercise and it tells me I have "earned" more calories on my food diary, should I eat those additional calories or not? Of course, I'd love to use them for a little extra snack or something at the end of the day, but will it slow down my weight loss progress if I do? Should I just continue to consume the normal calorie limit that is set for me every day?
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Replies

  • LiezelWeasy
    LiezelWeasy Posts: 11
    i do not eat the calories i earn. i only eat the normal daily intake and this speeds up my fatloss
  • aszwarc
    aszwarc Posts: 200 Member
    I eat many of mine back. The actual percentage depends on several things: how hungry I am throughout the day, what my workout schedule looks like for the NEXT day, when my next low-calorie day falls (I try to have one low calorie day per week), etc. Most important is when my next big workout is. Today's calories provide fuel for tomorrow's workout, so if tomorrow is a hard day, then I'll eat most of today's workout calories back.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. The 25% that I don't eat back is my insurance against MFP overestimating my exercise burns.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    I do not eat them back
    I use an HRM for a more accurate reading of calories burned. I never use MFP's database.
  • Tonia184
    Tonia184 Posts: 94 Member
    You should actually eat back some of the calories you earned from exercise.
  • sarah5893
    sarah5893 Posts: 106 Member
    I think it depends on how much you are eating in the first place and how many calories you burn in your workouts.
    I never used to eat my exercise cals back, but I started plateauing so after advice on here I started eating them back.
    Sometimes I don't manage to eat them all back, but I attempt to net 1200 per day, and if i don't then i'll give myself a treat meal at the weekend.
    For example, the past two days with exercise i've only been netting around 900, so i'm going to treat myself to a Nando's this weekend :)
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    I eat mine back. It's important to keep your NET calories at or above your BMR.
  • jessdunn27
    jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
    I never thought about using an HRM. That's very good advice. I always wondered how the calories burned were being calculated.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    i do not eat the calories i earn. i only eat the normal daily intake and this speeds up my fatloss


    Speeds up your muscle loss as well......................


    MFP as DESIGNED expects you to eat your calories back. The calorie deficit is built in BEFORE exercise. When you exercise you increase the deficit...... too large a deficit speeds up weight loss ..... fat PLUS muscle = weight.

    Also (look up VLCD)..... when your deficit is large you are prone to plateaus also.

    Just be careful not to eat too many calories back .... machnes & MFP are "guesstimates" .... one of the key factors is exertion level.... no way MFP or machines can know that.
  • EnviousDan
    EnviousDan Posts: 107 Member
    You should be eating at least some of those calories back. They're calories that your body is going to need if you want to keep exercising with sufficient energy and health to do so (which also helps prevent injury). You can skip it to lose "faster" if you'd like but you'll lose some energy and ability to exercise. Do you want to just be skinny or would you like to lose weight and be fit?
  • squirrelythegreat
    squirrelythegreat Posts: 158 Member
    I'm shooting for a 500 calorie deficit daily. I eat them back sometimes. For instance, "runs 10 miles, burns 1200 calories" I don't want / need a 1700 calorie deficit for the day. Not to mention I don't feel great with too large of a deficit. Base it on how you feel :)
  • jessdunn27
    jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
    You should be eating at least some of those calories back. They're calories that your body is going to need if you want to keep exercising with sufficient energy and health to do so (which also helps prevent injury). You can skip it to lose "faster" if you'd like but you'll lose some energy and ability to exercise. Do you want to just be skinny or would you like to lose weight and be fit?


    BOTH, lol!!
  • acollis1
    acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
    I don't eat mine back, when I do I DO NOT lose, when I don't, I lose!!! That's just MY body... it doesn't like the whole "eat more to weigh less" philosphy!!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    MFP is set up that you are supposed to eat them back. Your daily goal already has a deficit built in, meaning eat to goal every day, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. Burn off cals through exercise and you're creating a much larger deficit, which is not good for ya, and can cause more harm than any good in the long run (stall in weight loss, no energy for workouts, burn out, screwed up hormones & metabolism, loss of lean muscle, body wants to store fat, etc).

    That's why MFP adds those burned cals back into your goal when you log your exercise - you are supposed to eat them back to bring your NET calories up to goal for the day. Food is fuel! Can't expect that furnace to keep burnin' hot if you don't fuel it!

    Edited to add: This system works well assuming you have set things up correctly - meaning being honest and realistic with healthy weight loss goals (as in not 2lbs a week if you've got 20lbs to lose), activity levels, etc. :smile:
  • dandelyon
    dandelyon Posts: 620 Member
    I try to leave them be, since I'm set at 1/2 pound per week. I will eat some back if I have a really vigorous workout.
  • mtfr810
    mtfr810 Posts: 136 Member
    I wear a HRM when exercising. I usually eat back the aerobic calories burned but not resistance training calories since those are not accuaretly recorded using the HRM. I just use the HRM as an over gauge of how hard I worked out doing resistance exercises for comparison. I think you should eat at least some of them back as a "reward" for the hardwork. But reward still needs to be healty and appropriate for your diet plan.
  • Habiteer
    Habiteer Posts: 190 Member
    I believe in the calories in/calories out theory of weight loss. So I just monitor my calories as much as possible, and if I feel like I've done more exercise than normal, then I will eat them back because I want to lose weight at a certain rate. It's hard to estimate each day exactly how many calories you're burning, but I feel like over time (and with the help of apps like MFP), you can get better and get more steady results.

    So I say eating back the calories usually works for me! (although a lot of times, I'll just eat until I'm full which might actually be less than what I'm expected to eat so I've been actually losing too fast at times. Not really bad, since I feel okay in general)
  • NathanFronk
    NathanFronk Posts: 137 Member
    Eat half of the calories you've earned.

    This is a good reward for exercising and you will still lose more weight. Double win.
  • OliviaVandenberg
    OliviaVandenberg Posts: 7
    Never have more than a 500 calorie deficit based on the calories your body needs to maintain itself. If you increase this deficit with exercise or by eating to few calories your body will begin to burn your muscle for energy instead of your fat.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Do people really believe that MFP is so poorly designed that it adds these calories to your daily goal for no reason?

    Yes, if you set your profile up accurately and are using MFP as it was designed you are supposed to eat them back, within reason and taking into account any inaccuracies between MFP's database and your actual workout.
  • csheltra26
    csheltra26 Posts: 272 Member
    i do not eat the calories i earn. i only eat the normal daily intake and this speeds up my fatloss


    Speeds up your muscle loss as well......................


    MFP as DESIGNED expects you to eat your calories back. The calorie deficit is built in BEFORE exercise. When you exercise you increase the deficit...... too large a deficit speeds up weight loss ..... fat PLUS muscle = weight.

    Also (look up VLCD)..... when your deficit is large you are prone to plateaus also.

    Just be careful not to eat too many calories back .... machnes & MFP are "guesstimates" .... one of the key factors is exertion level.... no way MFP or machines can know that.

    This.
    I never used to eat back my exercise calories....killed my metabolism and couldn't eat anything without gaining weight. Oh yeah, lost weight really quickly and then gained it back. You have to be careful not to create too much of a deficit. You want your metabolism to keep working and burning so when you are ready to maintain it doesn't have to be on 1200 calories a day.
  • erikkmcvay
    erikkmcvay Posts: 238 Member
    The premise behind the daily caloric amount giving is based on your BMR (NOT BMI -- they are different things) multiplied by your daily activity level.

    SO if you were honest (like putting sedentary because you sit at a desk all day like me) and stick to that then adding back calories earned when exercising actually makes perfect sense. Here is why:

    A sedentary person does not exercise.

    You see the BMR multiplied by 1.2 for Sedentary, gives you a daily caloric requirement that you need to eat NOT INCLUDING any exercise or extracurricular physical activity. Then MFP sets a target daily caloric amount in order to meet your weight loss goals based on this alone.

    So, if you work out, do cardio, work in the garden etc then you would have to eat those calories back in order to maintain your projected deficit. Not doing so could result in binging due to excessive hunger because you're put yourself into a greater deficit.

    My daily caloric needs are 2450 calories. That's my BMR times the rate for a 47 year old 235 pound man sitting at a desk all day. If I want to lose 2 pounds per month then I need to eat 1450 a day (1000 per day times 7 days equals 7000 calories not eating or 2lbs I SHOULD lose -- doesn't always work that way). Therefore if I ride my mountain bike for an hour at about 13mph I can burn an additional 1000 calories....to not eat those back would mean I took in only 450.

    450 calories in one day is starvation.
  • TheBeerRunner
    TheBeerRunner Posts: 2,777 Member
    Eat back what you can, but don't feel obligated to every day.
  • iamkass
    iamkass Posts: 122 Member
    I only eat them if I'm hungry. I usually am, but sometimes I'm not. Just listen to your body, don't stuff your face to reach your calorie goal, but don't ignore your hunger, especially if you have calories left to eat.
  • Flowers4Julia
    Flowers4Julia Posts: 521 Member
    MFP is set up that you are supposed to eat them back. Your daily goal already has a deficit built in, meaning eat to goal every day, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. Burn off cals through exercise and you're creating a much larger deficit, which is not good for ya, and can cause more harm than any good in the long run (stall in weight loss, no energy for workouts, burn out, screwed up hormones & metabolism, loss of lean muscle, body wants to store fat, etc).

    That's why MFP adds those burned cals back into your goal when you log your exercise - you are supposed to eat them back to bring your NET calories up to goal for the day. Food is fuel! Can't expect that furnace to keep burnin' hot if you don't fuel it!

    Edited to add: This system works well assuming you have set things up correctly - meaning being honest and realistic with healthy weight loss goals (as in not 2lbs a week if you've got 20lbs to lose), activity levels, etc. :smile:

    Terrific advice, worth repeating.....
  • nonnie35750
    nonnie35750 Posts: 11 Member
    When I started this lifestyle change I was told to eat back at least half my exercise calories. This will give me the fuel I need to continue my get fit program. It also allows me to not deprive myself of anything. I've been much more conscientous about what I eat and what I need to fuel my body. I am averaging 1.5 to 2 pound weight loss per week. I like to eat, therefore, I've learned that the more I exercise, the more that I can eat.
  • andrewjuu
    andrewjuu Posts: 76 Member
    I don't really believe the calories burned from exercise estimate that gets imported from my fitness app (currently Endomondo Sports Tracker) into MFP during a workout. Nor do I believe the numbers in the MFP exercise database. IMO there are too many variables to take into account to get a truly accurate measurement of an individual's unique calorie burning profile using current consumer available techonolgy. I don't know if an HRM is the answer. Each HRM manufacturer uses propietary algorithms to determine the caloric burn & I don't really know how accurate they are. I would want to see some published studies before plunking down my hard earned cash :) That being the case (in order to err on the side of caution), I don't eat back the calories burned during exercise each day.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Ideally, you should. The issue really is you don't want to create a deficit too big, or you're going to slow down your metabolism and eventually stall.

    But unless you have a heart rate monitor, you probably don't really know how many calories you're burning anyway, so I would probably not eat it all back unless you're really hungry.
  • jessdunn27
    jessdunn27 Posts: 6 Member
    The premise behind the daily caloric amount giving is based on your BMR (NOT BMI -- they are different things) multiplied by your daily activity level.

    SO if you were honest (like putting sedentary because you sit at a desk all day like me) and stick to that then adding back calories earned when exercising actually makes perfect sense. Here is why:

    A sedentary person does not exercise.

    You see the BMR multiplied by 1.2 for Sedentary, gives you a daily caloric requirement that you need to eat NOT INCLUDING any exercise or extracurricular physical activity. Then MFP sets a target daily caloric amount in order to meet your weight loss goals based on this alone.

    So, if you work out, do cardio, work in the garden etc then you would have to eat those calories back in order to maintain your projected deficit. Not doing so could result in binging due to excessive hunger because you're put yourself into a greater deficit.

    My daily caloric needs are 2450 calories. That's my BMR times the rate for a 47 year old 235 pound man sitting at a desk all day. If I want to lose 2 pounds per month then I need to eat 1450 a day (1000 per day times 7 days equals 7000 calories not eating or 2lbs I SHOULD lose -- doesn't always work that way). Therefore if I ride my mountain bike for an hour at about 13mph I can burn an additional 1000 calories....to not eat those back would mean I took in only 450.

    450 calories in one day is starvation.

    This is the best explanation I've seen. Thanks for your input. I'll eat away. I, too, have a desk job, so I try to walk every evening when I get home for some exercise (3 kids...not much time for anything else!!). Guess I'll keep walking and have my evening snack and not feel guilty!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I don't really believe the calories burned from exercise estimate that gets imported from my fitness app (currently Endomondo Sports Tracker) into MFP during a workout. Nor do I believe the numbers in the MFP exercise database. IMO there are too many variables to take into account to get a truly accurate measurement of an individual's unique calorie burning profile using current consumer available techonolgy. I don't know if an HRM is the answer. Each HRM manufacturer uses propietary algorithms to determine the caloric burn & I don't really know how accurate they are. I would want to see some published studies before plunking down my hard earned cash :) That being the case (in order to err on the side of caution), I don't eat back the calories burned during exercise each day.

    You don't believe the estimates, that's fine, niether do I ......... but is ZERO a closer number?

    I guess I don't understand ...... if it's not 100% accurate.... then it's zero. Oh well, for me maintaining muscle mass is more important than losing at a specific rate. Weight loss isn't a race for me; it took me awhile to get fat .... it's going to take me awhile to get FIT (not skinny..... I hate that word).

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