do I really need to eat back 1800 calories?

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  • mjrkearney
    mjrkearney Posts: 408 Member
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    How are you not starving? I go for a three mile run and by the time I get home I want to eat an entire chicken. My body starts screaming for protein within a half hour and gallons of infused water before I leave the building.

    Nice job, by the way, but I do recommend eating something or you will feel like an aquatic sponge in the morning.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
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    First off, congrats on the 10 miles!

    Second, unless you are very overweight, you probably didn't burn 1800 calories. The actual number will depend on a lot of factors (gender, weight, body fat%, VO2max etc), but 100 cals/mile is an ok rule of thumb.

    As far as eating it back, don't stuff yourself tonight, but eat a calorie dense snack. You may find that you are crazy hungry tomorrow, so up your calories then. Once in a while, not eating back a big burn is fine, but I wouldn't make a habit of it if you continue running long distances. You need to fuel yourself, after all.

    ^This. I'm 20+ lbs above healthy for my weight, and I tend to burn between 100 and 110 calories a mile (more if I'm going faster, less if I'm going slower). Actually MFP's calculations based on speed compare pretty well to what my Garmin says which compares pretty well to online calculators. Running is pretty basic speed/weight/time calculation.

    Sometimes after a run I'm not hungry either. But if I don't eat, I usually end up feeling like crap a couple hours later and not recovering well the next day. I've learned to just make myself eat something. If I've already eaten dinner it doesn't have to be super high calories, but even 300 calories of peanut butter on some toast and I won't get into the doldrums later.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    How big are you? 180 cals/mile sounds like a lot. I would double check the settings on your app.

    When I do long, huge burn runs I eat until I'm satiated that day, and then spread the rest of the calories out over the next couple days, and don't worry too much if I fall a little short. Usually I intentionally pre-feed the run by going over a couple hundred the day before the run, too.
  • annette113075
    annette113075 Posts: 2 Member
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    All i do know is that my hubby was working out like crazy and not eating back his calories. As soon as he started eating back most of his calories, he started loosing weight steady
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    On my 7 mile run, I burned 1684 according to my Bodymedia and 1496 according to HRM. I still have about 70lbs left to lose, so I attribute it to that. Just eat if you are hungry, if you ran 10 miles you SHOULD be hungry. You can eat it all back if you are hungry, but don't force yourself to just to hit a magic number that's retarded IMO, listen to your body not the MFP police
  • dvanamp
    dvanamp Posts: 3
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    thanks for all the great info. I think I probably should have planned out my day a little better but the long run was kind of on a whim. I did drink a big glass of chocolate milk but after all the water I drank when I got done that's about all I can fit in tonight I will just have a good breakfast tomorrow and hopefully it doesn't throw my body to out of whack.

    I weigh 213lbs I found an online calculator that said I only burned 1600 calories. that even seems high to me because I definitely was not breathing as hard as I do on my shorter runs.
  • Nacima26
    Nacima26 Posts: 28 Member
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    thanks alot everyone =) got it
  • purple4sure05
    purple4sure05 Posts: 287 Member
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    I ate 1600 calories today which is right around my goal for each day. I went for a 10 mile run tonight and RunKeeper said I burned 1800 calories. I'm not very hungry I could eat a snack maybe before bed but do I really need to eat back 1800 calories?

    I feel like 1800 calories is an overestimation but it all depends on how much you weigh i suppose. All of my calculations suggest that I burn about 1060-1100 calories on a 10 mile run. Regardless, I suggest you just eat a snack and then allow for a treat or two over the next week.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    thanks for all the great info. I think I probably should have planned out my day a little better but the long run was kind of on a whim. I did drink a big glass of chocolate milk but after all the water I drank when I got done that's about all I can fit in tonight I will just have a good breakfast tomorrow and hopefully it doesn't throw my body to out of whack.

    I weigh 213lbs I found an online calculator that said I only burned 1600 calories. that even seems high to me because I definitely was not breathing as hard as I do on my shorter runs.

    Glad you got the good nutrients in. If you can compare good compliance post workout to bad days, you'll notice the difference.

    I'm sure your hunger will tell you how low you are, though you can't always count on that either.

    You probably reached a good running efficiency you don't reach on shorter runs, hopefully you can figure out what it was if the pace was just as good. If not as fast, then no, not has hard breathing.

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

    Figure 3.5 % incline if outside and generally slight up and downs. Select NET to see what you would eat back, Gross is what any HRM or database or treadmill would give you.

    With no pace I couldn't do the math for you, you never mentioned how long it took you for the 10 miles.
  • Adrianachiarato
    Adrianachiarato Posts: 362 Member
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    No, you don't. It's up to you.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    My method is to eat back until I feel satisfied. I try not to under-eat or over-eat. I think of this as training for the long term.

    Same here. Even in the short term, if I don't eat back enough, I lack the energy for intense workouts.
  • NYCNika
    NYCNika Posts: 611 Member
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    I always eat back exercise calories. Don't want to stress my body too much with large deficit.

    But for me, 10 miles burns under 1,000 calories.

    I'd have no problem eating it back too. Ingredients for a nice cocktail/beer/some wine and good cheese and freshly toasted nuts are always stocked in my house.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    My method - I never eat back exercise calories no matter what the self-Appointed MFP Food Police or self-Appointed MFP doctors say or think.

    So, according to you, assuming that the food logging is accurate and the calories burned is accurate, eating 1600 calories and then burning 1800 calories, therefore netting -200 calories for the day is a long term healthy and manageable solution?

    ^^^This.......you can't really believe it's healthy to have a net negative caloric intake?

    (even though I think 1800 sounds a bit inflated).
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    Sometimes I'm not hungry the same day that I burn a lot of calories, so I might eat more the next day instead of doing so immediately. Eating enough is part of rest and recovery.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
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    Also think 1800 is a bit of an overestimation for 10 miles. I've gone that distance before with a heart rate monitor and basically burned just a bit more than half of that and I am not exactly a small guy.

    That said, there are some here that think your body will consume itself overnight and you walk up in the morning looking like a starving child on one of those commercials. It's not true. Do what feels right. You might feel great after a small snack and just a few more calories the next day but no reason to eat that all back if your body isn't telling you that you need it. There is not a 24 hour switch in your body that cuts off at midnight and does calculations and then adjusts itself to what you ate in that 24 hour period.

    If I were you I'd just hit your macros the next day for carbs to get those glycogen stores replenished and eat a bit over with your protein for muscle repair. There is no reason to flood your body with calories if your body isn't telling you that you need it. Just because the calorie nazis here yell the loudest about eating back your workout calories doesn't make it true across the board.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?

    Eating back exercise calories does not defeat the purpose because......MFP gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. So exercising makes the deficit larger

    People tend to exercise for fitness (health reasons) ... not to calorie burns. Not eating back calories DEFEATS exercise in a way. When you workout while dieting, you hope to retain muscle mass. Well, not eating enough actually promotes muscle loss.

    Bottom line .....do you want to lose just fat or fat+muscle?
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
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    For everyone saying that 1800 is overinflated, just wanted to share my anecdotal evidence that it may not be. When running about 4.25 miles, my HRM (I know it's still not the most accurate way to log calorie burn, but it's more accurate than MFP or online calculators and the most accurate method I have) says I burn around 850 calories so 10 miles would be around 1800 for me too. I weigh about the same as OP (within 15lbs difference), and my HR during those runs is usually around 80-90% of max.
  • hopefaithlove24
    hopefaithlove24 Posts: 454 Member
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    could someone plzz explain. if the idea of losing weight is to BURN more than you eat, y r we suppose to eat back our exercise calories? doesn't that defeat the purpose?


    Off course not, MPF gives you a calorie deficit goal already! Youo're not just burning calories when you exercise, you burn calories all day! If you don't eat back your exercise calories your deficit gets way too big
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    For everyone saying that 1800 is overinflated, just wanted to share my anecdotal evidence that it may not be. When running about 4.25 miles, my HRM (I know it's still not the most accurate way to log calorie burn, but it's more accurate than MFP or online calculators and the most accurate method I have) says I burn around 850 calories so 10 miles would be around 1800 for me too. I weigh about the same as OP (within 15lbs difference), and my HR during those runs is usually around 80-90% of max.

    Just throwing it out there. Would you run at that same pace for 10 miles?
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
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    For everyone saying that 1800 is overinflated, just wanted to share my anecdotal evidence that it may not be. When running about 4.25 miles, my HRM (I know it's still not the most accurate way to log calorie burn, but it's more accurate than MFP or online calculators and the most accurate method I have) says I burn around 850 calories so 10 miles would be around 1800 for me too. I weigh about the same as OP (within 15lbs difference), and my HR during those runs is usually around 80-90% of max.

    Just throwing it out there. Would you run at that same pace for 10 miles?
    Good question. I haven't run 10 miles yet, but I do try to keep a consistent pace. My 4.25 is consistent, hence the high calorie burns since my HR is high during the entire run.

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