Do you eat back the calories you burn?

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  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    I eat back some, but not all. It evens out because other days I go over my goal 100 or so calories, so if I look at the weekly average I'm generally just below the week's goal. I like to be slightly below in case I'm overestimating something somehow.
  • Babygi6003
    Babygi6003 Posts: 356 Member
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    I eat back some of them on the days I burn a lot..but I hardly ever eat all of them back
  • 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.)

    Pangea250 burned 10 calories doing 5 minutes of cardio excercises, including, "being snarky"
    Poster #1: Great burn girlfriend!!
    Poster #2: You eat those calories...You earned it!
    Pangea250: Lol thanks!

    I get 10 calories for this???? OMG, I have to log them
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    85-95% of them. I leave a few "on the table" to account for overestimation or incorrect calorie counts.
  • suziepoo1984
    suziepoo1984 Posts: 915 Member
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    Yes..because i try and gather all the calories that i can eat..hungry gal here
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 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.)

    Pangea250 burned 10 calories doing 5 minutes of cardio excercises, including, "being snarky"
    Poster #1: Great burn girlfriend!!
    Poster #2: You eat those calories...You earned it!
    Pangea250: Lol thanks!

    I get 10 calories for this???? OMG, I have to log them

    Of course...the snark gives you a much better burn!
  • RockinTerri
    RockinTerri Posts: 499 Member
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    Yes, I try to eat back the bulk of my burned calories. Depending on what the activity is (I don't yet have an HRM), I may underestimate my burn (I've heard reading other forum posts that MFP may overestimate calories in activities). I do take the calories on any exercise equipment I use, as they seem to be lower than MFP also.
  • sjberrier
    sjberrier Posts: 39 Member
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    New to the internet? No. New to this site and community? Yes. (Only had used the mobile app before.) I've been reading and reading and reading. I felt a little confused about what I should do-- so I asked what others are doing. It didn't dawn on me to search for my question. Most questions, I'd imagine, are repeat questions. I'll never understand the a-hole remarks on a site that I thought was here to offer support -- we all have similar goals, right? :)

    Thanks for all of the helpful comments. It's really given me good information so I can better my calorie goals, thus bettering my success. :)
  • Juniper3411
    Juniper3411 Posts: 167 Member
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    Just wanted to add that even HRM aren't the end all be all of accuracy when it comes to exercise calorie burns :( I wish there was a magic calculator that would tell you everything to the exact decimal point but pretty sure they don't have those (at least for public consumption anyway).

    Sooo...yes it is wise even while using the MFP method to routinely leave some "buffer" calories in case you overestimated exercise or underestimated food (which you KNOW happens all the time LOL!)

    Just as long as you aren't routinely under or over eating everything should work out in a positive direction.

    And I will totally save up some for the inevitable weekend indulgences!
  • Libertysfate
    Libertysfate Posts: 452 Member
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    I did for the first month on MFP, but then I got hooked on working out and it became a chore to eat so much. I felt like I was having to snack all the time just to keep up. Now I just try to eat at least 1200.
  • sjberrier
    sjberrier Posts: 39 Member
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    I did for the first month on MFP, but then I got hooked on working out and it became a chore to eat so much. I felt like I was having to snack all the time just to keep up. Now I just try to eat at least 1200.

    That's kind of how I feel now-- that it's a chore to eat so much. Because I'm making healthier choices, I feel like I have to eat SOOO much just to hit my goal, much less my exercise calories.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I did for the first month on MFP, but then I got hooked on working out and it became a chore to eat so much. I felt like I was having to snack all the time just to keep up. Now I just try to eat at least 1200.

    That's kind of how I feel now-- that it's a chore to eat so much. Because I'm making healthier choices, I feel like I have to eat SOOO much just to hit my goal, much less my exercise calories.

    You don't have to eat more food to ingest more calories, make different choices or drink some cals (juice, protein shake, etc). As a snack have a handful of nuts, seeds, trail mix. add peanut butter to things you already eat, add olive oil to soups, sauces, and salads, etc.
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
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    Yes. I like eating.
  • sjberrier
    sjberrier Posts: 39 Member
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    You don't have to eat more food to ingest more calories, make different choices or drink some cals (juice, protein shake, etc). As a snack have a handful of nuts, seeds, trail mix. add peanut butter to things you already eat, add olive oil to soups, sauces, and salads, etc.

    Thank you for all your tips and help today! Very helpful and informative. I want to try a protein shake but want a high quality one. I was thinking of using hemp protein because it's natural (from what I hear) and easy to digest... thoughts or suggestions?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I like to use tools the way they are designed to be used...other people like trying to drive screws with hammers because they don't know or understand how to use a specific tool. Just my smart *kitten* way of saying....of course...it's the way this tool is designed to be used. Also, when in doubt get out your handy dandy dictionary and look up the word GOAL....it is something to be achieved. Don't be an underachiever.
  • kingcrystalg
    kingcrystalg Posts: 5
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    That was very helpful! I've been trying to figure this out recently too.
  • kingcrystalg
    kingcrystalg Posts: 5
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    Great explanation. I've been trying to figure this out recently. Thanks for making this clear!!
  • JennPrebs
    JennPrebs Posts: 111 Member
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    All this stuff can get so confusing and stressful. You might have to do trial and error with yourself and how you feel and how much weight you lose. I feel I lose weight steadily and healthy. I exercise and eat back my calories if I feel fatigue or hungry. If I have -900 calories and I don't feel hungry and its late at night, Ill just try to lay down and sleep.But.... I also had issues binging and over eating (especially late at night) so I am trying to control it.
  • melham
    melham Posts: 233 Member
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    No. I usually can't scrape off all the really blackened parts, and they end up tasting funny.
  • shelllord
    shelllord Posts: 43 Member
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    I don't as I feel as though it's undoing my hard work. I hate exercise so I personally don't want to put myself through a hard workout just to eat it back, but everyone is different x

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