Balancing Exercise & Eating!

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leannemb27
leannemb27 Posts: 1
in Getting Started
Hey all,

Just out of curiousity, do many of you exercise & use those calories you gained while exercising to eat those calories....I`ve been getting into the habit of that, which makes me still technially even for calories, or under everyday but i feel guilty for using them.

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  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
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    I haven't due to it being hard to consume the calories I need a day.

    But, for me I'm allowed to consume around 1700 but knocked it down to 1550 but rarely eat that much even when I exercise. Yes, I'm working on uping my calories.

    I say as long as its within your calorie requirements, you will still lose that minimum of 1/2lb per week(if that was your goal), but if you are trying to lose more a week then you will have to omit calories.

    Nothing wrong with it. Go at the pace you are comfortable with.
  • beanrider
    beanrider Posts: 66 Member
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    I hear ya, feel guilty when i eat all my exercise calories back, but I am NOT going to just let them go, so I split the difference and try to only eat back about half of them. That way I don't feel too guilty, get to enjoy my exercise efforts, and maybe counter any calculation errors in overestimated burns.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i'm doing the TDEE method so my exercise calories are already accounted for. i log my burned calories as 1 but i'm keeping track of the exact number in the notes section.

    i'm currently not eating anything back but that might have to change since my workouts are becoming a bit tougher
  • andibenoit
    andibenoit Posts: 71 Member
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    I eat back the majority of my exercise calories, but I have my daily calorie goal set a little lower than my RMR, so I'm still on a small deficit each day but still getting enough to fuel my workouts and build up some muscle.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    I eat most of my exercise calories back. Why? Because I love food.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    If you're using MFP as it is designed, yes you eat your exercise calories back. Your deficit is built into your daily caloric goal if you were to do no exercise at all, so when you exercise you get more calories to eat.

    With that said, many eat only a percentage of exercise calories back due to most caloric burns (from MFP or a HRM) are estimates and can be off, so if you eat all of your exercise calories back and your caloric burn is estimated too high you could be in a surplus.

    It takes a bit of trial and error to figure out how many exercise cals you need/should/can eat back.
  • lyricsmamma6469
    lyricsmamma6469 Posts: 37 Member
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    I've done a bunch of research on this because I didn't quite understand why I should eat back my calories burned and why I was slowing on my weight loss. As soon as I started eating the calories back, I started losing weight again. This is what I found out...if you're using MFP's suggestions, you should eat the calories back because if you don't, you're putting your body into starvation mode. I usually can't eat back all my calories so I will eat back a portion of them. The estimates could be off so eating back a portion helps keep me under.
  • Thommothebear
    Thommothebear Posts: 25 Member
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    I nearly always eat back my exercise calories, has worked fine for me
  • mmm_drop
    mmm_drop Posts: 1,126 Member
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    I eat most of my exercise calories back. Why? Because I love food.

    ^This. And then some for me, actually. I know what my TDEE is even if I'm not technically using it to calculate my intake, so as long as I'm within my calories for the week I'm cool.
  • mrspride1
    mrspride1 Posts: 2 Member
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    I eat about half of mine when I am really hungry. And because I also love food.
  • mrspride1
    mrspride1 Posts: 2 Member
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    What is TDEE?
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    What is TDEE?
    total daily energy expendiblahblahblah

    basically it's the total amount of calories your body needs to maintain taking into account your activity level
  • brianages
    brianages Posts: 49
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    Oddly enough I haven't been eating the calories back. I have still been losing weight and follow a strict diet and excercise routine. I do hit what I call a barrier every 10 days where it goes into a holding pattern and then it breaks and a few pounds drop off quickly.

    Once I hit my goal I will loosen up a little. Thus far my diabetis is gone, I feel good, still miss my pizza and beer.
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
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    Hell yeah! I eat my exercise calories back! For me the point of exercise is to shape my body and retain muscle mass, as well as up the calories I can eat each day lol

    Like others said, if you are using MFP as designed, you should eat them back (not all though as MFP overestimates the burns), otherwise you're putting yourself in too much deficit. That is not a problem if you're seriously obese, but for people with just some to lose, slow loss is easier on the body.

    I don't understand why anyone would feel guilty eating calories back, that's the whole point of the MFP method. If this is bringing you negative feeling, find a TDEE calculator online (I like the scooby calculator) and figure out how much to eat including your exercise. Then you don't eat back as it is already counted in and you don't have to stress over it.
  • rhoule76
    rhoule76 Posts: 217 Member
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    Most days I do eat back my exercise calories. I do have days where I don't feel as hungry and don't eat them all back though. Don't feel guilty eating them back, MFP configured everything for you when you went through the setup process to have a calorie deficit already.
  • DianneP6772
    DianneP6772 Posts: 272 Member
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    I am always hungry and love food. So yes - i eat them back. But like others - i don't usually eat all back as MFP overestimates the burn factor. But some days - lately - i eat them all.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
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    It depends on the day but most times I eat at least half back.

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