Do you have to eat all the burned calories back?

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Wilhellmina
Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just wondering if it is really needed when you for example burn 200 cal, you HAVE to add those 200 cal extra to your menu?
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Replies

  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
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    No you don't HAVE to. It all depends on how many calories you eat that day. Say you've eaten1200cals and burn an extra 200 cals during exercise, that means your body has only received 1000cals. It's up to you if you eat the extra 200 cals, but it's not advisable to go under 1200cals.

    But if you've eaten 1400 cals that day and burned 200cals you're still within the 1200cal so you don't need/have to eat them back.
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    1200? Blimey, I think that's not enough even if you would lay in your bed the whole day :)

    Nope my normal intake is around 1680, after my walk it has been increased to about 1800-1900 and most likely there will be some more burned calories added. Guess it also depands on how much you have burned?
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    depends if you're doing the MFP default or TDEE - %. I'm doing TDEE - 20% and I don't eat mine back 95% of the time.
  • Synapze
    Synapze Posts: 499
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    If your following MFP, try to eat back your exercise calories. It keeps your metabolism firing.

    It can be hard to do if you have huge burns, i struggle some days myself trying to fit in another 700cals from a workout, but 2-300cals should be easy.

    :)
  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    depends if you're doing the MFP default or TDEE - %. I'm doing TDEE - 20% and I don't eat mine back 95% of the time.

    yup . Do the TDEE -20% usually it accounts for training . Eat your calories back if your net calories are too low
  • samcat2000
    samcat2000 Posts: 106 Member
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    i eat most if not all of mine back because i will bonk during my workouts. when i have hard workouts i'm ravenous and HAVE to eat the cals back. i also did not/do not want to lose muscle and I didn't want to lose too much weight too quickly (right now I'm at .5 lb/week) so eating back calories burned during exercise was critical for me.

    just be aware that no calorie counter is 100% accurate so if you're eating 100% of your calories back, you'll want to see how your body is handling that over time (i.e. are you losing, gaining?).
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    I calculated my intake at a keto calculator which told me about 1680 a day will be fine. MFP told me I should eat only 1300, sounds ridiculously low to me. So no, I do not use MFP, nor TDEE...
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    depends if you're doing the MFP default or TDEE - %. I'm doing TDEE - 20% and I don't eat mine back 95% of the time.

    yup . Do the TDEE -20% usually it accounts for training . Eat your calories back if your net calories are too low

    Where can I find a good calculator?
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    depends if you're doing the MFP default or TDEE - %. I'm doing TDEE - 20% and I don't eat mine back 95% of the time.

    yup . Do the TDEE -20% usually it accounts for training . Eat your calories back if your net calories are too low

    Where can I find a good calculator?


    I use http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    Thanks! According to the TDEE calculator I should increase my intake with about 200-300 calories a day. That could be a reason I feel a bit sluggish. This morning I woke up with a cracking headache which disappeared after I had my breakfast. I will adjust my goals!
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Thanks! According to the TDEE calculator I should increase my intake with about 200-300 calories a day. That could be a reason I feel a bit sluggish. This morning I woke up with a cracking headache which disappeared after I had my breakfast. I will adjust my goals!

    its allllll about the numbers :) keep your water up too x good luck!
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
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    Every TDEE calculator I've used gives me a different number ranging from 2000 to 2600 I mean seriously which one is correct?
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    I think that counts for all calculators Helen. I guess it's just to see for yourself a bit what works for you. What I understood you have to calculate your TDEE and then minus weightloss (3500 for 1 lb), when I did that it ended up between 1800 and 1900 calories a day.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Every TDEE calculator I've used gives me a different number ranging from 2000 to 2600 I mean seriously which one is correct?

    are you putting in exactly the same info every time?
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    its allllll about the numbers :) keep your water up too x good luck!

    Thanks a heap! :smile:
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Every TDEE calculator I've used gives me a different number ranging from 2000 to 2600 I mean seriously which one is correct?

    The correct one is the one you follow accurately for a few weeks and get the results you expect. Remember that although they "calculate" they only provide an estimate which gives you a starting point.
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
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    I use a fit bit and heart rate monitor, MFP sets my calorie goal, (normally around 1700 ish at the start of the day) and its up to me to get up off my but and move if i want more to eat than that . (fit bit adjusts my calorie goal based on how active i am, )Some days I can get as many as 3000-3500 calories to eat.

    MFP already allows for a calorie deficit, so i eat all my calories back...
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    If you're not overestimating your burns then I'd say definitely eat them all back. You are training your body to respond to extra need rather than want that way. I can't see the point messing about with TDEE when MFP calcs already work everything out for you. All it's doing is spreading your exercise calories across the week - something you can do anyway with the MFP method if you don't mind showing in the red on non-exercise days.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
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    Every TDEE calculator I've used gives me a different number ranging from 2000 to 2600 I mean seriously which one is correct?

    The correct one is the one you follow accurately for a few weeks and get the results you expect. Remember that although they "calculate" they only provide an estimate which gives you a starting point.

    I think I'd rather stick to what I'm doing now as I'm loosing weight every week, rather than test loads of different calculators, which all may be incorrect.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Every TDEE calculator I've used gives me a different number ranging from 2000 to 2600 I mean seriously which one is correct?

    The correct one is the one you follow accurately for a few weeks and get the results you expect. Remember that although they "calculate" they only provide an estimate which gives you a starting point.

    I think I'd rather stick to what I'm doing now as I'm loosing weight every week, rather than test loads of different calculators, which all may be incorrect.

    fair enough, but if so, why stress about the calculators? It's all trial and error anyway

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