Eating back calories.. your thoughts, please!

I used to eat them back and lost... 0lbs a week.. today i started 30ds and am not even logging the exercise so I cant have the calories.. hope it will work better!

I eat back all or most (at least half) of exercise calories - working so far!

I'll answer although I am surely not an expert. If you have your MFP settings to lose weight, then you should eat back your workout calories. If you aren't hungry on a certain night, no big deal. But accuracy of calories burned through exercise and accuracy of your intake are the most important things:

I have been on this site for 2 1/2 years and I have read a lot of posts such as this, and you will see many other reponses that are similar. Here are the 2 main things to pay attention to as you start your weight loss journey:

1) Know when to trust your body and eat if you are hungry, but eat smart. If you are exercising, be sure to have an accurate measure of what is burned, then you can trust yourself to eat back the necessary calories.
2) Exercising is very helpful and will make you look fantastic, but a calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight. Burning calories through physical or cardio activity will occur, especially when you are starting out...but as you get closer to your goal weight and your body gets used to the exercise, weight loss will slow down and the same exercise that you burned 400 calories a year ago may only burn 200 calories now (a lousy example, but just wanted to give a description). You constantly need to change things up every few months (eating & types of exercise) because the body's natural reaction is to fight back to a stable, non-changing situation. By varying exercise and eating routines, the body will constantly adjust in your favor.

I'm sure there will be a more articulate and qualified responses below mine, but those 2 suggestions should get you started in the right direction.

Eat them back, but make sure your burn estimates are correct. If you aren't using a heart rate monitor, I'd only eat about 60% of what MFP tells you you're burning. The estimates on here are really inflated.

I don't eat mine back, never have.

The reason you didn't get many answers to this is because it's usually ask at least once a day and if you use the search function you'll find pages and pages of responses to the same question.

I eat back most of the calories I burn. MFP is set up so that you eat the calories back.

I've always eaten mine! And now that I am eating at maintenance I eat them...and I am maintaining. The system works.

If your calories burned is correct eat them all back, the point of eating back your exercise calories is to keep your original deficit.

1. I use TDEE method, so no.
2. Used to be 1 lb per week, but lately 1.5. Guess I need to increase calories.

bump for later

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Thanks for asking, it makes more sense when explained in easier terms Good luck to u!

Hi,

I have been using MFP for about 4 months. Initially I wanted to lose 10kgs but now that I have lost 8 I will probably aim to lose another 2-3 kgs.

I have not been eating back my exercise calories, I'm of the opinion that if I do that its a waste of time exercising.

I am on 1200 calorie goal and only go over this by around 100 calories and then only on exercise days (except this weekend just gone when I went crazy at the work Christmas party).

I consistently lost 500gms a week, now as I near my goal I have slowed to about 200gms a week.

Why would it be a waste of time exercising?

Since I've started my journey I have never eaten back my calories. I know MFP already creates a deficit for you, but to me it makes no sense to eat back what you have just burnt off. I guess it all depends on what foods you eat back.

By not eating back i have lost .5 - 1pd a week give or take and im happy with that. I have less than 20 pounds to go, so it'll be harder to take off those last few pounds. But I know I can do it!