Eating Back Exercise Calories at Higher Numbers

ElaineBeekman
ElaineBeekman Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've seen some posts regarding eating back activity calories but most I've seen have been regarding eating at least 1200 calories or when people log in exercise. I'm a little confused and could use some advice.

I gained weight because I was eating everyday like I was working on the farm still and not teaching, which is quite a bit less active. My husband is a big active guy and eats like it and I was cooking for his appetite then trying to keep up eating right along with him. I wasn't as active as I thought, I was eating more than I thought even though it was pretty healthy fare. It happened slowly over a dozen years and I'm sick of it. I started MFP at the end of September (joined a long time ago but didn't use it) after I got a Fitbit Flex. I wear it all the time and have it synced to MFP. I don't usually log my activities (5ks, aerobics) seperately. I try to log EVERYTHING I eat (10 M&Ms, a whole meal) but stumbled with that a little over the Thanksgiving weekend. Still lost two pounds since my last weigh-in for a total of 18. I'm very happy with my progress so far. My plan was to get into the habit of logging, wearing my Fitbit and eating a deficit first. Once I made that a habit, I added some extra cardio each day (tried T25 but that was a little much so I went to Rockin' Body for right now - just started - and I'm going to work my way back up to T25). This week I had my fitness test with my personal trainer and will work up to weightlifting 3x/week by next month.

I am 5'8", started at 208, currently 190, set small goals then reset my goals every 5 pounds or so (the change is only 20 or so calories but I'm weird that way). My current BMR from the app on MFP is 1620 and my net calorie goal is 1600. I am fairly active as a high school teacher, farmer, and mother to a toddler. 2500-2600 calories burned a day (by Fitbit) is not unusual for me on school days. Weekends when I'm working on the farm (feeding animals, loading/delivering/unloading hay) or doing a lot of housework are regularly 3000+. This is without extra cardio workouts. I have it set that I want to lose 1.5 pounds/week (750 deficit each day). So that means that I usually have "earned" calories to eat back.

Here's my question - now that I am adding extra cardio and soon weightlifting my burned calories will be even higher. What should I do? I know my habits and I have a tendency to eat more on "lazy" days than really busy days. I think I will have a problem eating back all of my "earned" calories. I have seen some discussion of eating half of the earned calories back, and wasn't sure about that. I have seen discussion of making sure you eat at least 1200 calories a day, but I am well above that. Yesterday I had 550 calories left (ate 1900 total, earned 850 so had a total goal of 2450, so ended up with a "net" of 1050) but wasn't hungry. I having been losing pretty steadily, want to lose another 20ish pounds but am more concerned with getting fit and healthy so once I get down a ways I'm not going to worry as much about the scale. I don't want to screw this up. More importantly I don't want to screw my body up. I also know sometimes I have one of those days where I work hard and don't eat much, and then other days I'll be lazy or have a big meal and be over - nobody's perfect.

How do I figure this out? What should I do? Follow the MFP App and have some Oreos (I don't want to get into clean v. dirty - I grew up on a farm, garden, can, freeze, preserve, eat meat I raise but I like the unhealthy stuff sometimes, too. I just try not to like it too much) to reach my calorie goal (or somewhat near it)? Don't worry about it and don't eat if I'm not hungry, even if I end up with a 1200-1500 deficit for the day? Try to calculate half and eat back those? Make sure I eat at least 1200 NET calories a day? Please help. Like I said I don't want to screw up my weight loss but more so I don't want to screw up my body.

Replies

  • chimebird
    chimebird Posts: 57 Member
    If you're already so active in day-to-day life, maybe you don't need to be doing the extra cardio workouts?

    You should eat back all of your exercise calories! A big caloric deficit over a long time can mess up your metabolism, this is something I'm trying to recover from now. I'd recommend losing the weight more slowly and eating reasonably.

    That being said, it's perfectly ok to spread your calories out over the course of a week or so. You say you tend to eat more on days you don't exercise. It's fine to use the deficit from one day to overeat a little later in the week. I usually save a hundred calorie deficit a couple days a week so I can have a couple beers over the weekend.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    Why don't you use the TDEE method, and not worry about eating back exercise calories. If you're activity is generally consistent, the TDEE method will figure your average activity & workouts into your total for you. You'll probably have a higher calorie goal, but you don't add back calories burned through exercise.
  • ElaineBeekman
    ElaineBeekman Posts: 12 Member
    Since I posted I've been reading some of the many other posts on the topic. Thanks for your input. I also try overestimate my food so if I do eat back all my earned calories I might still have a little wiggle room. I'm down 18 in 2.5 months, so I figure that's just over 7 a month or right about my 1.5/week. What is considered a big caloric deficit? Anything over 1,000?

    To tell the truth I'm not really doing the cardio/weights to lose weight - I want to be more fit and hoping the weight will come off as a result. I figured it would better to ease into a lifestyle change though, instead of jump right into cardio and weights at one time. I have a bad family history when it come to strokes/heart disease and don't want to have weight/fitness issues that contribute to problems later on down the road. I also live on a farm where we regularly have days where I move 400-600 50-pound hay bales and have to throw them up onto trucks, stack them in the barn, etc. In the summer we can bale and move upwards of 2,000 of those suckers in one day. Carrying a couple of 5-gallon water buckets to fill tubs are 60-80 pound/50-yard hauls. I used to be able to manage just fine. Lately it's been kicking my butt. I also haven't run since high school and have just this year gotten into doing 5ks (which are fun and stress-relief for me as well) but still don't have the stamina to actually run the whole thing. That's why I'm doing the cardio, etc. I hope that once I lose weight and reach a level I want to maintain it will be easier to figure out how much and what I can eat.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    I don't know if there is an "official" answer to what is considered a big deficit, but I personally would consider 1000 calories a day to be a very aggressive deficit.
  • ElaineBeekman
    ElaineBeekman Posts: 12 Member
    I'm not sure about the TDEE because part of the problem is don't consider my activity consistent. M-F I'm at school for 8+ hours and walking around my science lab is the most active I get. My activity at the farm can be a half hour or 4+ hours of heavy lifting depending on the day and the summer is a whole other level.

    I did go to a calculator and put in both heavy exercise (6-7 days a week) and 7 days+physical job and it was telling me 2,800-3,100 calories. If I'm having problems on active days eating more than 1,800-1,900 calories how would I get up to 2,200-2,600?

    I'm not trying to sound like I don't appreciate the advice but I'm just not sure I'm consistent enough in my activity levels to do the TDEE and eat that much and to tell the truth I really like the way the MFP works to help me track and know many calories I have left.
  • janupshaw
    janupshaw Posts: 205 Member
    Sounds like maybe you're mixing the methods together...How did you "earn" 850 calories yesterday? That would be a heavy duty exercise session. If you mean you earned 850 from what your fitbit told you, isn't that calories you burn in a day (which MFP has accounted for)? If you like to wear the fitbit all day, use the TDEE method. If you want to use MFP correctly, only add in your actual exercise sessions (eg "walked on treadmill 3.5 mph for 30 minutes, earned 170 calories").
  • ElaineBeekman
    ElaineBeekman Posts: 12 Member
    I don't log in any extra activities really. I just wear my Fitbit all day. I set MFP to fairly active and it says I should be burning 2350 ish calories a day. When I sync my Fitbit if what I've already done that day + my base level for the rest of the day is more than that number it says I've "earned" calories and that shows up as a credit in my diary. Yesterday was a normal day at school but I had chores at home, housework and some low-impact aerobics that added up to burning over 3000 calories total for the day. I have wondered if I should change my settings from "active" to "very active" but I don't know if that would help or hurt.

    Like I said, I'm losing weight now with following the app and eating back most of my earned calories, but I just worry what will happen as I do more cardio and weights. I've seen some people say the Fitbit underestimates calories burned with weight training and I don't want to get into trouble with not taking in enough calories to keep my body running right.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    I also work on a farm and weekends are much more than weekdays. I use the TDEE method and subtract 20%. During the week I have an office job but still have daily farm chores but not much heavy lifting or cleaning. On the weekends where I know I'm going to have 1500 calorie burns via my heart rate monitor I will eat more the day before in nuts, dairy, and so carb loading. Then double up on protein during the working days because I cannot eat 3000 calories either. But I do eat, or try, to eat a lot of snacks while I'm at the farm working.

    I average 600-1000 calorie burns during the week and try to net my BMR or at a minimum 1200 and make my protein and fiber macros. Be sure you are taking a multivitamin.

    When I compared my TDEE with MFP plus exercise calories set at very active the numbers were within 100.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Your activity level is a lot like mine - I'm 5'7" and now about 162 lbs... I came to MFP at about 180 and was eating net 1600 calories... which worked out to an average of about 2100 daily while I lost weight. My TDEE now ranges from about 2500 now that it's winter here to about 2850/day in the summer.

    I think if you set your deficit to maybe 600-750 at most, that's about the most you want to do. Even bump it down to 500... I know if I try for a deficit over 500 now it will just lead to binging because I'm too hungry. So yeah, eat those extra calories you burn. Set your Fitbit to log to your MFP and leave a 500 calorie deficit.

    You should keep losing a pound a week that way.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    Since you clearly don't suffer from an eating disorder or dither anywhere near the 1200 cal mark I would suggest you just eat for your hunger so that was what around 2000 cals a day and see how you go. If you find that your energy levels are starting to drop or that you get hungrier then eat more. Keep an accurate log and good luck :-)

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