Caloric Intake Questions and Exercising...

bella42182
bella42182 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, basic question-
I have read so much contradicting information, so I hope i can get some real life answers...

Do I eat back the calories (none, some, all) that I burn from working out?

Right now, my food intake is mostly clean, plant based with tuna about 3x a week and chicken 1x a week- no red meats or pork. Everything else is really clean (no processed, packaged, fast foods). I currently weigh 198.5 lbs/ 5'7" and am 30% BF (according to the latest bodpod reading) and a size 14. My goal is not a weight but more a size- size 10, for me and my build and how I carry my weight, that is a nice, healthy size.

I started this endeavor last year at 216 pounds. I got down to a 12, then fell off the wagon for about 4 months and am back. For the last 6 weeks I have been working out 5 days a week with all 5 days lifting and 2-3 days cardio is added (interval bike riding 14-16 mph to 24-26 mph for 30 min) or jogging/walking intervals (5.4 mph/3.4 mph) for 40 min.

I adjusted MFP levels to give me more protein, but that's all I customized it to. The caloric intake has me at 1480 calls and then adds in cals that I burned in my daily allowance. Do I eat those? Should my "net calories" be 1480 or overall intake? I wonder because if I eat 1400 calories, burn 500 during a workout- my net is only 900 calories. Should the net be more or is this ok? I typically "eat back" 200-250 calories from my workout as long as my burned was over 400.

And for additional (idk if helpful or not) info:
- I sleep 7 hours a night, an not usually tired during the day, drink at least 66 oz of water (my camelback is 33 oz and I drink at least 2), I take calcium supplement, multi vitamin and protein at each meal and additionally after my workouts.

Any help is appreciated. No bashing please- we are all here for support...

Thanks :)

Replies

  • skydiveD30571
    skydiveD30571 Posts: 281 Member
    My Fitness Pal is designed to incorporate a deficit for whatever activity level you selected. So for example if you chose lightly active and do nothing extra all day long, the suggested calorie target will give you a loss. If you add in workouts to MFP it tells you that your calorie limit for the day has gone up because this exercise isn't included in your "lightly active" activity level...it is extra exercise. You need to fuel this exercise somehow, so yes you should eat some of those calories back. Not eating any of them back means you are creating a larger deficit than recommended which usually leads to muscle loss. How much do you eat back? Everyone has their opinion but most seem to think that 50% is a good target. The problem with eating them all back is that most exercise calculators overestimate the amount of calories burned....i.e. you end up eating more than you actually burned and decrease your deficit.

    So follow your macros, target the calorie intake MFP tells you plus 50% of what you estimate as burned during workouts, and don't worry too much about it.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Yes, you should be eating those calories back. How much is dependent on how you are calculating your calorie burns. If you're using MFP's calculator, probably only eat like half of them. If you're going off gym machines... maybe like 75%. If you use a HRM, then you should probably eat most or all of them. Your NET should always be at least 1200 calories. Ideally your NET should equal your calorie goal before exercise.
  • bella42182
    bella42182 Posts: 6 Member
    I use a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor and go off of it. I program it to my age, weight and such and it calculates my calories burned. If I burn less than 400 cals, I don't usually eat any back. If I burn 400-600 I will eat back about 200, 600-800 cals I eat back about 300. So looks like I need to increase my intake to make sure my NET calories is closer to 1300-1400 (it's usually 800-1000). Thanks!!!!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I use a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor and go off of it. I program it to my age, weight and such and it calculates my calories burned. If I burn less than 400 cals, I don't usually eat any back. If I burn 400-600 I will eat back about 200, 600-800 cals I eat back about 300.

    Since you're using a HRM (same as mine, btw!), you should eat them all.

    If your goal is 1480 and you burn 400 calories, you're only leaving your body 1080 calories to do it's normal basic functions.... which isn't alot. So (in my opinion), do your body some favors and fuel it. :)
  • skydiveD30571
    skydiveD30571 Posts: 281 Member
    Also keep in mind that heart rate monitors, while generally excellent at predicting calorie burn for steady state activities like jogging or biking, are known to be inaccurate during weight lifting where there are spikes of heart rate.
  • bella42182
    bella42182 Posts: 6 Member
    Thank you. Today my intake (including all meals and snacks is 1729--1480 plus part of my workout calories--but I burned 690 calories today, so my NET is only 1031 calories), so I can eat more :) I think I'll have an apple with peanut butter, some kale chips and a yogurt!!! Yay :) Thanks guys!

    And I'll keep in mind the lifting and HRM issues :)
  • JillSalus
    JillSalus Posts: 19 Member
    Also keep in mind that heart rate monitors, while generally excellent at predicting calorie burn for steady state activities like jogging or biking, are known to be inaccurate during weight lifting where there are spikes of heart rate.

    I wear at HRM and am curious; do they err to the high side or low? I do mostly weight training with mine.
  • skydiveD30571
    skydiveD30571 Posts: 281 Member
    In general, it tends to overestimate calorie burn. By how much? I imagine that's a complicated answer that really depends on the person and the workout.

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=75
  • JillSalus
    JillSalus Posts: 19 Member
    Thank you for the reply and the link. I will check it out.

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