Do you eat back the calories you burn?

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sjberrier
sjberrier Posts: 39 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Why or why not?
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Replies

  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
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    Yes because I'm a hungry girl and my body needs it.
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
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    No. Instead of eating them back, I use the handy dandy search button and read the hundreds of other posts about this very topic. (Sorry for being snarky, I'm in a snarky mood.)
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
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    I either eat half of it back or enough of it back so I don't go under 1200 calories per day
  • UrbanLotus
    UrbanLotus Posts: 1,163 Member
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    Yes, because I use the MFP method so my calorie goal is net calories.
  • OptimisticlyOptimistic
    OptimisticlyOptimistic Posts: 162 Member
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    No, because I'm eating TDEE - 20% and exercise is already figured into my TDEE. :happy:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    If you are following MFP caloric intake guide you should be eating them back.

    Say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • OptimisticlyOptimistic
    OptimisticlyOptimistic Posts: 162 Member
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    No. Instead of eating them back, I use the handy dandy search button and read the hundreds of other posts about this very topic. (Sorry for being snarky, I'm in a snarky mood.)

    ^ You could have simply chose not to respond to her question instead of being snarky about it. Being snarky does no good whatsoever to someone who is just trying to figure it all out.
  • kimpossible5
    kimpossible5 Posts: 21
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    I used to always eat them back because, well, I love food, but then I got a little smarter about it (I think) and started to only eat them back if I was really hungry rather than eating them back just to get to a "0 calories remaining".

    I have not been counting calories or exercising this summer and my weight and clothes show it, so I'm temporarily setting my cals to 1200 and I will eat back those exercise cals more often because I don't think I should drop below 1200.... I say this even though I totally dropped below on Monday - BUT that's not my plan. Last thing I want to do is kill my metabolism at this point. It's horrible enough as it is...
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
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    No. Instead of eating them back, I use the handy dandy search button and read the hundreds of other posts about this very topic. (Sorry for being snarky, I'm in a snarky mood.)

    ^ You could have simply chose not to respond to her question instead of being snarky about it. Being snarky does no good whatsoever to someone who is just trying to figure it all out.
    I could have. But **** happens. What would help her is to read the hundreds of other posts about this very topic. Which I believe I did.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Why or why not?

    Yes, because I am using MFP as designed. MFP gave me a calorie deficit BEFORE exersize. So, when I exercise I actually increase the calorie deficit. When the calorie deficit is too large, I risk losing muscle mass.

    I want to lose FAT .... not just weight. I'm not as concerned with the number on the scale, as I am with how my clothes fit and how I look. I don't want to weigh XXX pounds and still be all jiggly.

    Now - here's the tricky part. MFP & many machines over state calorie burns. So, I use a heart rate monitor for cardio .... I eat those calories back. For strength training I use a percentage of those calories ..... 75%. If I stop losing, then I will have to "tweak" the percentage some.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    No. Instead of eating them back, I use the handy dandy search button and read the hundreds of other posts about this very topic. (Sorry for being snarky, I'm in a snarky mood.)

    It's comments like that, that detour people from even asking for help. If you MUST be a snot, well, maybe just don't bother replying, let people who actually care and who are nice, help the ones who need it.
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
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    If you are following MFP caloric intake guide you should be eating them back.

    Say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

    Thank you for that answer! I just switched to TDEE - 20% and was wondering if I was still supposed to be eating the calories back or not...
  • SairahRose
    SairahRose Posts: 412 Member
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    Why or why not?

    Yes, because I am using MFP as designed. MFP gave me a calorie deficit BEFORE exersize. So, when I exercise I actually increase the calorie deficit. When the calorie deficit is too large, I risk losing muscle mass.

    I want to lose FAT .... not just weight. I'm not as concerned with the number on the scale, as I am with how my clothes fit and how I look. I don't want to weigh XXX pounds and still be all jiggly.

    Now - here's the tricky part. MFP & many machines over state calorie burns. So, I use a heart rate monitor for cardio .... I eat those calories back. For strength training I use a percentage of those calories ..... 75%. If I stop losing, then I will have to "tweak" the percentage some.

    This. Well, until I get round to getting a HRM.
  • caly_man
    caly_man Posts: 281 Member
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    even if you use MFP method, you should only be eating half your exercise cals, because let's face it.... exercise calorie burns are difficult to measure accurately.

    here's a good read for you:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • watfordjc
    watfordjc Posts: 304 Member
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    Yes, because I use the MFP method so my calorie goal is net calories.

    This, but I have modified how I use MFP so what my current way of doing things fits in. Whether that be a target "calories remaining" of 250 calories for a goal of 2.5 lb/week loss or 125 calories for a goal of 1.75 lb/week, or while calorie cycling a goal yesterday of 453 calories remaining (3 calories of which to average out the week to 1 lb/week) and a goal today of a "calories remaining" of -493 (i.e. maintenance minus the 7 calories over my overall target I have been this week).

    I don't eat back all the calories I burn because if I did that I wouldn't lose weight, but I do eat back all the calories I burn above the estimate of calories burned from normal daily activity minus my target deficit for the day (i.e. I eat back all of my exercise calories). Why? Because I'd rather eat 2,500-3,000+ calories each day instead of the 1,680 calories I would be eating if I ignored exercise calories, plus I have a weekly weight loss goal, plus I'd prefer to know how to balance food consumed and energy expended now rather than having to figure it out later.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    yup because i love food
  • tomwatso
    tomwatso Posts: 1,304 Member
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    I do. I want to eat to make sure I am not hungry. I am always close to going over. That is one reason for working out. It gives me lots of spare calories. I am getting close to 196 lbs (10% body fat). I will switch over to maintenance then. Right now, I am allowed 1960 calories via MFP guidelines. When I switch over, I believe I will have 2400 calories to play with.
  • ks4e
    ks4e Posts: 374 Member
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    yup because i love food

    LOL me too. But I also use the MFP method and need to eat it back. i don't eat it all back, just in case I've overestimated my exercise or underestimated my meals. So I leave about 200 calories just sort of hanging there.
  • JewelsinBigD
    JewelsinBigD Posts: 661 Member
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    I did but I stalled so I started eating half back and then lost and then stalled. Now I don't eat them back usually but give myself the permission to eat some of them if I am really hungry or to go over a bit on the weekend (like saving them up!). I am slowly moving down the scale again...
  • Phildog47
    Phildog47 Posts: 255 Member
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    do what works for you.

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