NOT TRYING TO START A WAR

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amraf1024
amraf1024 Posts: 74
in Food and Nutrition
So this is not to start another cosmic war on the subject, but i have seen several threads about eating back your workout calories...now before anyone jumps me about it this is a simple question because i really do not understand

i have read that weight loss is a simple matter of burning more than you take in so how does eating those calories back help?

is this just like a preference thing like clean eating?? (oh geeze hope that's not the start of WWIII)

i just really do not understand the concept of eating them back and would just kinda like a logical explanation of why u need to burn more than u take in while eating back workout calories!

****AGAIN I AM JUST LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER NOT WHAT YOU DO, WHY WHAT YOU DO IS BETTER....JUST A REASON BEHIND EATING THEM BACK....IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT PLEASE JUST DON'T COMMENT...THANKS*******:flowerforyou:

Replies

  • jbruced
    jbruced Posts: 210 Member
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    The deficit in calories is already done when you figure your TDEE as your normal routine. Then if you add more exercise or activity the idea is to eat those calories back so you don't have too large of a deficit.
  • amraf1024
    amraf1024 Posts: 74
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    ok so when i input all by height weight junk with my daily routine it calculates as if i were never going to exercise?
  • BenchPressingCats
    BenchPressingCats Posts: 1,826 Member
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    The deficit in calories is already done when you figure your TDEE as your normal routine. Then if you add more exercise or activity the idea is to eat those calories back so you don't have too large of a deficit.

    This, this, and more of this.

    The number of calories that MFP or most online calculators give you already factor in the fact that you are trying to lose. They build in a calorie deficit so you would be losing even without exercising. When you do exercise, you're burning off even more calories so when you eat them back (to the number that you got from MFP) you're still in a deficit.
  • amraf1024
    amraf1024 Posts: 74
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    thank you thats perfect and all i was looking for! :bigsmile: makes sense to me now!
  • jbruced
    jbruced Posts: 210 Member
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    ok so when i input all by height weight junk with my daily routine it calculates as if i were never going to exercise?
    Pretty much so. In my case, I did my info and selected sedentary as my activity level because I really like to sit and relax. I really don't like formal exercise but don't mind working like a crazed mule when it comes to things like manual labor type stuff. That kind of stuff is far and few between in this day and age.
  • thatjeffsmith
    thatjeffsmith Posts: 110 Member
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    The number of calories that MFP or most online calculators give you already factor in the fact that you are trying to lose. They build in a calorie deficit so you would be losing even without exercising. When you do exercise, you're burning off even more calories so when you eat them back (to the number that you got from MFP) you're still in a deficit.


    This should be pinned somewhere, or framed, or made into a public service announcement.

    Also, has everyone already read The Oatmeal's take on why he runs? He definitely eats back his exercise calories :)
  • thisdamselflies
    thisdamselflies Posts: 92 Member
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    ok so when i input all by height weight junk with my daily routine it calculates as if i were never going to exercise?

    Essentially, that's my understanding. Although I must admit to being confused by the reasoning behind putting your activity level at anything other than "sedentary" if you're adding in all of your activity (especially things like housework!). Is this because more active people burn more calories even when they're standing still? I suspect this is the case, but I'm not 100% positive.
  • BenchPressingCats
    BenchPressingCats Posts: 1,826 Member
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    NP. And just to go ahead and say it before somebody comes in claiming to be a special snowflake: your body works just like everybody else. You need the calories, carbs, fat, and protein for your body to stay energized and perform everyday functions. Nobody is immune to this.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    NP. And just to go ahead and say it before somebody comes in claiming to be a special snowflake: your body works just like everybody else. You need the calories, carbs, fat, and protein for your body to stay energized and perform everyday functions. Nobody is immune to this.

    LOL. Your body doesn't need carbs unless you're an athlete.

    *throws the match and runs*
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
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    Do, or do not. There is no try.
  • caly_man
    caly_man Posts: 281 Member
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    the whole exercise calories dilemma really stems from folks (myself included) not really knowing how much gets burned during a working out, even with the use of heart rate monitor. then, then, it gets even more complicated when food intake isn't properly tracked either (food scale).

    the good news is you have your own data, so if you see that something isn't working, adjust your calorie intake by 10% in either direction to get things going

    here's some good reading:

    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat#calories
  • fullofquirks
    fullofquirks Posts: 182 Member
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    The deficit in calories is already done when you figure your TDEE as your normal routine. Then if you add more exercise or activity the idea is to eat those calories back so you don't have too large of a deficit.

    This, this, and more of this.

    The number of calories that MFP or most online calculators give you already factor in the fact that you are trying to lose. They build in a calorie deficit so you would be losing even without exercising. When you do exercise, you're burning off even more calories so when you eat them back (to the number that you got from MFP) you're still in a deficit.

    Run away with me. I've never seen it put so succinctly :love: :flowerforyou:
  • thesupremeforce
    thesupremeforce Posts: 1,207 Member
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    ok so when i input all by height weight junk with my daily routine it calculates as if i were never going to exercise?

    Essentially, that's my understanding. Although I must admit to being confused by the reasoning behind putting your activity level at anything other than "sedentary" if you're adding in all of your activity (especially things like housework!). Is this because more active people burn more calories even when they're standing still? I suspect this is the case, but I'm not 100% positive.

    If a person is going to log everything, then it's probably a bad idea to put activity at something other than sedentary. I'm pretty sure that the other settings are intended for people who are at various levels of general activity who don't want to be bothered logging EVERYTHING that happens in a day.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    MFP is not a TDEE calculator, it is a NEAT calculator. It is figuring your need for what you need for living and every day activity NOT INCLUDING EXERCISE. When you do exercise, you need to eat more fuel for that because it isn't included in the amount it gave you to eat to begin with.

    If you set your goal too steep,and also do not eat your exercise calories, you can be at an unhealthy deficit. Example, you choose "I want to lose 2 pounds per week", it is going to subtract 1,000 calories a day from your estimated needs. If your daily need is 2500, MFP tells you eat 1500, then you also exercise and burn 500, then you are at 1,000 net calories to live on which is not enough.

    Most other weight loss methods use the TDEE method which of course includes calculation for exercise so you would not eat back calories with that method. So using the example above, If your daily need with exercise is 3000 calories, then you subtract a certain percentage, a reasonable calorie goal might be 2500 total calories to lose weight. You can see that is quite a drastic difference.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    NP. And just to go ahead and say it before somebody comes in claiming to be a special snowflake: your body works just like everybody else. You need the calories, carbs, fat, and protein for your body to stay energized and perform everyday functions. Nobody is immune to this.

    LOL. Your body doesn't need carbs unless you're an athlete.

    *throws the match and runs*

    What is glucose?
  • BenchPressingCats
    BenchPressingCats Posts: 1,826 Member
    Options
    The deficit in calories is already done when you figure your TDEE as your normal routine. Then if you add more exercise or activity the idea is to eat those calories back so you don't have too large of a deficit.

    This, this, and more of this.

    The number of calories that MFP or most online calculators give you already factor in the fact that you are trying to lose. They build in a calorie deficit so you would be losing even without exercising. When you do exercise, you're burning off even more calories so when you eat them back (to the number that you got from MFP) you're still in a deficit.

    Run away with me. I've never seen it put so succinctly :love: :flowerforyou:

    :blushing:
  • taeliesyn
    taeliesyn Posts: 1,116 Member
    Options
    MFP is not a TDEE calculator, it is a NEAT calculator. It is figuring your need for what you need for living and every day activity NOT INCLUDING EXERCISE. When you do exercise, you need to eat more fuel for that because it isn't included in the amount it gave you to eat to begin with.

    If you set your goal too steep,and also do not eat your exercise calories, you can be at an unhealthy deficit. Example, you choose "I want to lose 2 pounds per week", it is going to subtract 1,000 calories a day from your estimated needs. If your daily need is 2500, MFP tells you eat 1500, then you also exercise and burn 500, then you are at 1,000 net calories to live on which is not enough.

    Most other weight loss methods use the TDEE method which of course includes calculation for exercise so you would not eat back calories with that method. So using the example above, If your daily need with exercise is 3000 calories, then you subtract a certain percentage, a reasonable calorie goal might be 2500 total calories to lose weight. You can see that is quite a drastic difference.

    And this is where things get confusing (Besides the acronyms). If you have a fairly consistent workout routine, you could indeed factor it into your MFP goals with a different activity level. But don't log your exercise if you do this.
    Essentially, that's my understanding. Although I must admit to being confused by the reasoning behind putting your activity level at anything other than "sedentary" if you're adding in all of your activity (especially things like housework!). Is this because more active people burn more calories even when they're standing still? I suspect this is the case, but I'm not 100% positive.

    I have my activity set at something higher than sedentary as I found I was losing too quickly (even on 0.5lbs per week) whilst on sedentary. I was adding my exercise calories and eating most of them back too.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Options
    MFP is not a TDEE calculator, it is a NEAT calculator. It is figuring your need for what you need for living and every day activity NOT INCLUDING EXERCISE. When you do exercise, you need to eat more fuel for that because it isn't included in the amount it gave you to eat to begin with.

    If you set your goal too steep,and also do not eat your exercise calories, you can be at an unhealthy deficit. Example, you choose "I want to lose 2 pounds per week", it is going to subtract 1,000 calories a day from your estimated needs. If your daily need is 2500, MFP tells you eat 1500, then you also exercise and burn 500, then you are at 1,000 net calories to live on which is not enough.

    Most other weight loss methods use the TDEE method which of course includes calculation for exercise so you would not eat back calories with that method. So using the example above, If your daily need with exercise is 3000 calories, then you subtract a certain percentage, a reasonable calorie goal might be 2500 total calories to lose weight. You can see that is quite a drastic difference.

    And this is where things get confusing (Besides the acronyms). If you have a fairly consistent workout routine, you could indeed factor it into your MFP goals with a different activity level. But don't log your exercise if you do this.

    Yes, but for the unknowing people who first comes here, I think it is important to understand the basic way it is supposed to work. Then if necessary adjust for their specific situation.

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