Do YOU eat back your calories burned with exercise?

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Replies

  • Caspiana
    Caspiana Posts: 15
    Depends how I feel. if I have had a BUSY BUSY day I may eat more but not over my limit for that day. Go with your feelings that's what i feel anyway. No point starving when going to bed. Makes for a bad night's sleep.:smile:
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    I do now that I'm getting close to my goal weight - didn't so much before, but I'm willing to accept that it probably is bad to lose big chunks of weight as I'm now in the low teens BF.

    These days sadly I tend to be burning back my eaten calories; generally a late night cycle ride to make sure my calories expended on my motoactv is 1000 or so under my calories eaten on here.
    But does seem to be working well enough for me and means I'm getting fitter at the same time :).
  • sohmui
    sohmui Posts: 108 Member
    i don't eat back my calories burned bc one, it would be way to much food for me and two, i don't get the desired results. additionally, i think mfp's calculations are a bit off...i don't trust them completely.

    I agree 100 per cent with this. Sometimes I struggle to get to 1200 calories. I've been stuck at 133 lbs for the past 3 weeks, so really hope I'll get a sudden drop like yours. :smile:
  • caroleannlight
    caroleannlight Posts: 173 Member
    I aim to eat back 50 % for formal workouts as I think I need more on those days and it gives me an incentive to exercise more. Generally I don't record additional walking etc as I set my profile for lightly active and feel it fits in to this. I set a meal in MFP called 50 percent exercise and log a calories on that line so I can't see the extra and get tempted.
  • Suzyqall72
    Suzyqall72 Posts: 105
    Usually I do. I am not one of these people who burn 800 calories. I exercise 30 min a day usually on the Wii. My calories are 1500, so I may eat 1600 with exercise. It seems to be working. I don't believe in eating too few calories or skipping meals, etc. I've seen too many of my friends do this, and they wreck their metabolism and they can't lose weight even on restrictive diets.
  • Triplel79
    Triplel79 Posts: 3 Member
    I so agree. 2 hours of swimming it says burns of 2,000 calories, yet I am not loosing anything but motivation!
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    And that's the problem - 2 hours swimming for one person may well burn 2000 calories.
    It seems most reasonably intensive stuff will be around that - I can hit around 500 calories for 30 mins if I'm properly trying when cycling and just about running.
    But for a lot of others it may be a lot less for a lot of reasons. May be a better swimmer, a worse swimmer, taking more breaks than they expect, fitter than they expect etc.

    I've found that the calories burnt as listed by my motoactv (with HRM) has dropped.
    I suspect it's because I've been getting fitting and especially for cycling, generally doing the same route.
    While these may still not be as accurate as they could be (a power meter would enhance it a bit, but are silly expensive), it's going to be a hell of a lot better guess than MFP can make just knowing the time and my weight - the motoactv can figure in heart rate, pedalling speed in which gear and how steep a hill I'm going up or down.
  • emzack
    emzack Posts: 26 Member
    YES, honestly its the only reason I exercise.

    Yep.
  • PinkHurricane88
    PinkHurricane88 Posts: 156 Member
    No, unless I have burned 500 calories, in which case I would eat back maybe half, if that.
  • sohmui
    sohmui Posts: 108 Member
    And that's the problem - 2 hours swimming for one person may well burn 2000 calories.
    It seems most reasonably intensive stuff will be around that - I can hit around 500 calories for 30 mins if I'm properly trying when cycling and just about running.
    But for a lot of others it may be a lot less for a lot of reasons. May be a better swimmer, a worse swimmer, taking more breaks than they expect, fitter than they expect etc.
    This is why I don't eat back my calories burned. Every day, I swim for 45 mins and walk fast pace for another 45 minutes, and MFP tells me I have burned 648 calories. Fine. But I am 70 years old and suspect I do not burn at the rate of the 20-somethings I see jogging around.

    The problem with the MFP calculations is not that they are inaccurate per se, but that they are just not - and perhaps can never be - detailed and individual enough to take at face value.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Of course.

    That option not to is only available to people who don't exercise much.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Yes I do. MFP is set up to work that way, and it does work. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
  • Natalie143Miller
    Natalie143Miller Posts: 1
    Don't know if you could help me!!

    So if I am a 31 year old gal with a daily expense of 1400 (100 cals a hour, up for 14 hours) how do I figure out how much I need to be eating???
  • astartig
    astartig Posts: 549 Member
    for the most part no. (unless there was something unusual like eating out) My maintenance calories would be 1800 something can't remember the exact number. I have a lot to lose. it's got me at 1200 calories a day for 1.3 pounds a week. For the amount i have to lose it's pretty slow going. I take the extra deficit.

    the reason for stopping EVERYONE from going lower than 1200 calories is nutrition, it's hard to get everything you need at a level under that (and too big of a deficit is bad, upper number is 1000, I am no where near that) In order for me to get near a more reasonable deficit keeping those calories is necessary.
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  • astartig
    astartig Posts: 549 Member
    Everyone gets so hung up on the 1200 calories, as if it has some bearing on real life. You need to workout YOUR own BMR & TDEE. My three year old daughter eats more than 1200 calories.

    "For ages 2 to 3, the USDA recommends a child consume 1,000 to 1,400 calories, depending on his activity level. For age 4, the calorie intake increases to between 1,200 and 2,000. Here are examples of how much your child should be getting in all five food groups." - http://www.babycenter.com/0_nutrition-guidelines-for-young-children_64359.bc

    young children are burning at a much faster rate than adults. they're super active and they need a LOT of calories for growing up. not at all comparable.

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