how many calories to eat back

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DorineDieet
DorineDieet Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a question about how many calories of exercise I should/could eat back.

When you exercise you burn an amount of calories and there are different ways of putting a number on it, such as looking it up in online calculators, or using a heart rate monitor.

So i bought an HRM, and lets say after a workout it says i burned 300 calories.

Are these

A) the total calories i burned during the half hour workout

B) the extra calories i burned on top of normal activity

This is maybe a trivial question, but when you want to apply the MPF method of eating back calories, then there is a difference right ? I really only should eat back the extra calories i burned on top of whatever normal activity I do during a day?

So let's say my TDEE is 2400, then on average i would burn about 50 calories during a half hour.

So

A) i really only burned 250 extra calories, so I eat back 250.
B) i really did burn 300 extra calories, so I eat back 300.

I suspect it's option A, which means that I can't just mindlessly eat back the calories my HRM tells me.

Replies

  • Jhostile
    Jhostile Posts: 5
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    I suspect option A also...but would personally be sure to burn at least 100 calories more than I'm going to eat just to be safe. I do my best to underestimate my workouts and overestimate my meals... so if I'm wrong I will benefit!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Even simpler, if you know what your TDEE is, would be to calculate TDEE-20% as your target daily intake and forget about eating back exercise calories.

    But, yes, you're on the right track about not wanting to double count exercise calories and most HRM's estimates are for gross calories expended rather than net.

    To give you an example of the difference Runners World suggested the following formula for estimating calories expended running:

    Gross: .75 x your body weight in lbs x distance in miles
    Net: .63 x your body weight in lbs x distance in miles

    If you ate back all of your exercise calories based on gross calories expended it could certainly slow down your weight loss.
  • DorineDieet
    DorineDieet Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you both for the reply

    I think indeed underestimating calories burned is a good idea to avoid making less progress than aimed for and not understanding why.

    I agree that TDEE-xx% is a easier and releaves you from having to estimate calories when you burn them, but I have a sedentary life as IT consultant and some weeks near deadlines I have very little time for exercise, and sometimes I have long vacations and can go do something everyday, which is why I stick with the MFP calculations.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    There is no right answer... they are all estimates, and the estimates will vary from source to source and exercise to exercise.

    Your best bet is to use 1 method exclusively (you bought an HRM, so why not use that) for a month. After that month is over, compare your expected results with your actual results. If they are fairly close, then you know your estimates are reasonably good. If they aren't, then tweak accordingly.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
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    The best bet is to get macros were you don't eat back exercise calories. This method of eating calories back is non-sense.
  • smarionette
    smarionette Posts: 260 Member
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    A heart rate monitor tells you the calories you burned during a period of time while online calculators like MFP are giving you your over and above normal burn rate calories.

    However, if you are using TDEE you shouldn't be eating back calories as TDEE is based on your activity level including exercise. MFP's recommendations are so much lower than TDEE because it does not take into account exercise (which is why you eat back the exercise calories).
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    The best bet is to get macros were you don't eat back exercise calories. This method of eating calories back is non-sense.

    This is one of those times where I feel like your "my way or the highway" approach hurts you. Yes, basing calories/macros on TDEE is easier for a lot of people. But it's not the right option for everyone.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
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    The best bet is to get macros were you don't eat back exercise calories. This method of eating calories back is non-sense.

    This is one of those times where I feel like your "my way or the highway" approach hurts you. Yes, basing calories/macros on TDEE is easier for a lot of people. But it's not the right option for everyone.

    Sure it may not be right for _everyone_... but..

    Let's look at it this way

    it is much easier to be CONSISTENT throughout weight loss when you're consuming the same amount of calories each day rather than counting on exercise to determine your intake. You can adjust accordingly with a caloric intake, exercise has so many factors.. how hard you push yourself, how many calories you burn due to weight changing over time etc.. just doesn't make sense to me mate. Each to their own.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    since HRM's are not 100% accurate it may not matter much, trial and error. that said they are designed to give you A) total cals during that duration of which you would have burned a portion anyway (maintenance cals/24/60minsx30mins)
  • kisstheheavens
    kisstheheavens Posts: 23 Member
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    i only eat my daily calorie goal no matter how much i exercise. i really dont see the point on putting in what i just worked off.
    if i do get hungry... i head straight to the vegetables or fruits. but nothing heavy.

    just make sure you never starve or over-eat
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    The best bet is to get macros were you don't eat back exercise calories. This method of eating calories back is non-sense.

    This is one of those times where I feel like your "my way or the highway" approach hurts you. Yes, basing calories/macros on TDEE is easier for a lot of people. But it's not the right option for everyone.

    I agree, for those that workout so inconsistently using MFP's approach is better, as one week you may workout 6 times, then only twice the second. So the eating back cals will be a much better option for those people to get consistent results. I think TDEE is better when you workout pretty much the same routine, times, and duration each week.

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