Those who eat back exercise calories?

I usually don't eat them back...the reason being is that I can be an angel all week and then a proper demon at the weekends, so I like to 'save' them to cushion my weekends - and also to account for the above, inaccuracy in intake and burn. Also the reasons I aim for 200 calories short of my TDEE-20% each day.

If you're doing TDEE - 20% you wouldn't eat back exercise calories because an estimate of them is included in your TDEE upfront when you set your activity level. With MFP, exercise is accounted for on the back end after you do it and log it...this is why you get extra calories and eat them back with MFP...you have to understand what method you're using. Failure to understand your method will result in it "not working"

I fully understand the method I'm using, I'm a fairly intelligent girl capable of reading, processing information and such. My TDEE-20% is set to lightly active as my exercise routine is often inconsistent due to my busy schedule..however most weeks I do manage to fit in 4+ workouts a week, but I can't rely on that. Just because I don't follow the prescribed textbook explanation doesn't mean that it's nonsense. In fact for the first time in my life I have found a system that works, and that's because it's unique to me, and I've spent months tweeking, using trial and error to find something that does work, for me.

I find that i do eat about 50-70% of my exercise calories back. I do exercise a lot ~ usually 1.5 to 3 hours a day. I vary it a little bit.
I cycle - pushing myself about 5-6 days a week at a pace averaging 15 - 16.5 for 1 to 1.5 hours. I then have gardening - pulling weeds, picking up sticks and clipping hedges. On days i do this it is usually for 1-2 hours. And i am playing tennis again about twice a week for 1.5 to 2 hours. I know that MFP overestimates calories burned, so for the gardening and tennis - i often count about half of the time actually spent and for cycling i count the next lower average on MFP charts. If i do an avg. of 15.3 - i count it as 12-14mph. Even after all this, i think it could be elevated, so therefore i only use 50-70% of the exercise calories.

I often do extra exercise - just to EAT my Treats! Its ok with me - i love my treats. I find this has all worked and i do hit plateaus along the way. When this happens i try to change up my routine somehow.

But i don't usually go hungry - and i am not usually overfull. So find what works for you. It will - good luck on your journey!

Didn't read all the replies, but yes, eating back exercise calories has worked great for me so far. But I do not eat all of them back. And I also have a HRM.

Here's how I figure out how many calories to eat back. It's a bit complicated, but it works.

First I determined my sedentary TDEE which is 1916. Then I subtracted 15% to get 1629. I set my daily calorie goal to 1600, just to make it simple.

When I do a workout, I take the calories burned from my HRM and subtract my TDEE. The calculations on those INCLUDE your TDEE, so you have to subtract it. So my sedentary TDEE is 1916/24 hours in a day = ~80 calories an hour.

So if I work out for 1 hour and burn 500 calories, then I subtract 80 from 500 to get 420. Then I subtract 15% from the 420 (this keeps me at a 15% deficit). Essentially I am eating at TDEE-15%, but since my workouts are so irregular and I don't know how much I will burn from one day to the next, I chose to do it this way.... SEDENTARY TDEE-15% + Exercise - 15%.

Clear as mud probably, but it has been working great for me! I've lost almost 20 pounds since June and a whole lot of inches!!

I know this one requires a bunch of math, but this is the best way I have seen to understand it. And realize why I am stuck where I am. Thank you!!!

The calorie goal MFP set for you already has a deficit built in. If you eat back your exercise calories that deficit is still there. The exercise you do is not to promote weight loss but other health benefits. The deficit alone is what handles the weight loss.

never thought about it that way! it does have a deficit so may as well eat them back. I guess it could work by eating maintenance cals and exercising but not eating those back right

yup.

I set my activity to sedentary -- and have eaten every last one since I started.
I am now 50LBS down. The majority of the reason I exercise is so I can eat more.

every last one, its the only reason I exercise.

^ This.....but I do exercise because I find it a HUGE stress reliever

I have heard sucess stories both ways. I had to play with it a bit, but I am to the point where my excersize is pretty steady, so I normally eat back half of my calories. Ish. Had to play with it a bit - too little, and I want to sleep all the time, too much, and I gain weight like no tomorrow. I imagine it's different for alot of people.