Do you eat back the calories you burn?

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  • strongmindstrongbody
    strongmindstrongbody Posts: 315 Member
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    I spent the first 2 months here eating back half my exercise calories, but when I stalled for 3 weeks I had to switch it up. Stopped eating back exercise calories and lowered calorie intake, now the weight is coming off nicely again.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    never never NEVER
    I am exercising to lose weight not to stay where I am or lose a pound here and there. The goal is to lose

    I suggest a better goal is to lose fat not to lose "weight".
    Other good goals are to get fit, be healthy, be happy, be strong, find a sustainable way of eating....

    OP - I like food, I like exercise so I eat back all those delicious calories.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    When I was using the MFP method and losing weight, I ate them back. I used a HRM for steady-state cardio, so I would usually eat most of them back. When I had to use the MFP database or a number from an exercise machine rather than my HRM, I would either enter less time (for MFP's calculations), or only eat back about 80% of the reported burn.

    I have since switched to TDEE (to help with maintenance) and do not as my goal incorporates my exercise. I did some playing with Excel when I was switching to TDEE and, when I added a week of exercise calories to my MFP goal and divided by 7, my average daily calories were within about 20 calories of the TDEE number that I received using the calculator on the IIFYM site (http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/).
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    never never NEVER
    I am exercising to lose weight not to stay where I am or lose a pound here and there. The goal is to lose

    Then you aren't using the site as designed. If you enter a goal of 2lbs per day, the caloric goal the site gives you already has the deficit built in.

    If I enter a 1lb per week loss goal I get a caloric goal of 1800. I burn roughly 700 cals in my morning workout, netting me 1100 calories for the day. Ya, there's no way I will get through the day with only 1100 net calories.
  • lesterj64
    lesterj64 Posts: 19
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    Yes, and it makes me feel as if burning them off was a waste of time! I don't do this intentionally,
  • GODfidence
    GODfidence Posts: 249 Member
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    My calorie intake is all over the place so I have no ideaaaa.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    No - I don't eat back my exercise calories.

    I know that's the way the site is designed, but if I did eat back all my exercise calories I'd be headed right back where I started. I have tried it, my food logging is fairly accurate and I do use an HRM to get a relatively accurate calorie burn but I'm more successful when I don't eat back the calories.
  • amandarawr06
    amandarawr06 Posts: 251 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.

    ^ this.
  • andreaheileman
    andreaheileman Posts: 48 Member
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    I usually try not to eat them back, but I always make sure to eat my 1200 calories a day. If I am super hungry, I might eat some of the calories back.
  • andreaheileman
    andreaheileman Posts: 48 Member
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    It works differently for everyone. Not everyone gets the same results :smile:
  • mndamon
    mndamon Posts: 547 Member
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    I don't worry about making sure to eat them back. I just make sure my macros are in line and leave it at that.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    It works differently for everyone. Not everyone gets the same results :smile:

    Actually we are all remarkably similar, and it comes down to cals in cals out for everyone. The cals out will differ from person to person, but that is accounted for in MFP caloric recommendations. If you don't eat them back you risk a large % of your loss coming from lean muscle, not the fat you are trying to lose.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    only if I am hungry

    What does hunger have to do with it? Does your stomach know when your body is using existing muscle mass for fuel? Some people choose to eat lots of high volume, high fiber foods ..... so they are full all the time. The problem is that many times these foods are low in nutrition content and do nothing to help maintain muscle mass. Rant over........:grumble:
  • andreaheileman
    andreaheileman Posts: 48 Member
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    It works differently for everyone. Not everyone gets the same results :smile:

    Actually we are all remarkably similar, and it comes down to cals in cals out for everyone. The cals out will differ from person to person, but that is accounted for in MFP caloric recommendations. If you don't eat them back you risk a large % of your loss coming from lean muscle, not the fat you are trying to lose.

    I know that cals in, cals out is giong to be the same for everyone but sometimes with people's lifestyles they are more hungry at the end of their day than others and most the time I'm not even hungry so I don't eat back those calories :tongue:
  • onedayatatime12
    onedayatatime12 Posts: 577 Member
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    Sometimes, if I feel like it (even if I don't think the workout burn is as accurate as MFP tells me). Sometimes, I don't. I really just have to be hungry enough.
  • gaidinsgir1
    gaidinsgir1 Posts: 3 Member
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    I eat back enough to bring my net back up to 1200. I only eat all of them back if I am really hungry.
  • Gee45
    Gee45 Posts: 171
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    For now, I'm eating at maintenance and using exercise to create the deficit to lose weight.
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
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    *Smacks head of the table, when will people realise they are not snowflakes?
  • 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.

    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.

    I came to that conclusion soon after I stop trying to eat back my calories burned. :) It's still a pain since I already have issues with remembering to eat in the first place (job thing). If nothing else, I try to eat a large amount of calories towards the end of my day just to make sure I get my min. in.
  • VeganGypsie
    VeganGypsie Posts: 10
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    I am eating them back, because I am trying to gain muscle while losing fat simultaneously, not he easiest thing to do, but possible if like me you are just starting out on weight training. My MFP goal is set at loosing .75 lb/week (1375). Even if the calories for exercise are overestimated, I will still be happy with slower weight loss, I am more focused on getting stronger, and my main goals are things like doing a pullup, or 25 pushups without stopping, stuff like that. I don't necessarily eat them back the same day, I try to hit my weekly net goal, so I can eat when I am hungry and not when I am not. I have more struggles with hitting the protein goal, since I am vegan. I have to have either beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, or protein powder in just about every meal. I don't think 15% is actually that important for sedentary people, but I want to build muscle now, I am trying to meet or exceed it.

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