How many of you eat back your exercise calories?

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Replies

  • archaichoney
    archaichoney Posts: 132 Member
    I don't, but I eat for an active person. 5'9 and I usually get in around 1600-1700 a day. Maybe 1800 on leg day.
  • Mainebikerchick
    Mainebikerchick Posts: 1,573 Member
    I generally eat most of them back, if not all. I find whenever I don't quite eat them all, I'm STARVING the next morning!
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
    I sometimes do and I sometimes don't. I think you are supposed to! But when I do, I don't eat all of it back. Maybe like 50% of it. The most I've been eating is like 1500 calories.
  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
    My weight loss has been very slow although I know I'm building muscle. I'm curious to see how many people eat back their exercise calories. MFP tells me to eat 1200 with no activity and I mostly stay on track :) I know some people say to eat back your exercise calories or your body will starve and store fat but I'm not sure if that' working for me. I wanted to lose 20 lbs by May. I started 2 months ago and have only lost a few :(
    Honestly, I doubt you're building any muscle on 1200 cals a day (unless you are a very tiny person!), especially if you're not eating back exercise cals.

    MFP is designed that you are SUPPOSED to eat back your exercise cals. The daily goal you're given already has a deficit built in - meaning eat TO GOAL every day, do zero exercise and you'll lose weight. Burn off more cals through exercise and now you're creating a HUGE deficit, which is no bueno. Especially if your goal is to actually build, or even retain your muscle and lean body mass while dropping fat.

    Food is fuel - don't sell yourself short by underfueling & thinking that eating soooo much less is going to result in quicker weight loss. It may cause some loss, but you risk losing muscle along with fat, running out of energy, stalling weight loss, and eventual burn out and exhaustion.

    There's a reason MFP adds those cals back into your daily goal. 1200 is the very minimum recommended for women (and it really too low for most of us!), so your daily NET cals should be 1200, especially if you are exercising.

    Good luck!

    I know I'm building muscle because I can do things now that 2 months ago were impossible....not to mention I can feel certain muscles (abs, glutes and biceps) and they are harder than before. I have been eating my exercise calories back and I use a heart rate monitor for accuracy. I was just curious as to what other people do. I read a few posts from some people that looked like they had very successful weight loss and some mentioned they did not eat back their exercise calories. I do want to keep the muscle and build more so I will keep going :) Thanks Everyone!

    You can gain muscle strength and endurance without building new muscle tissue.
  • Love4fitnesslove4food2
    Love4fitnesslove4food2 Posts: 711 Member
    I do.
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    I carb cycle, so yes, I eat back on workout days.
  • _firecracker_
    _firecracker_ Posts: 185 Member
    Nope, don't eat them back. Although mfp told me to lose 1.5 lbs a week that my cal goal should be 1200. I laughed in its face and eat anywhere from 1600-1800 cals a day, every day. And when I stay with in that range I drop quickly without suffering in hunger pangs. I lift heavy and run too though and once I get back into my normal workout schedule (I was sidelined for almost a month being sick), I plan upping to 1900 and should still see a loss.

    Try eating a little more. Even if it's 1500 a day. You might see better losses.
  • Nutella91
    Nutella91 Posts: 624 Member
    i don''t because i tend to get hungrier on days when i don't work out and usually eat more then.
  • 2networking
    2networking Posts: 16 Member
    I eat them!
  • andresconejo
    andresconejo Posts: 264
    I don`t and i don`t think i will until i get a HRM so i can get an accurate number for the cals i burn...
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    i bank my exercise calories, and have 2 days a month where i eat what i want. i call it a wash... weight loss has gone great!
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    Since I started eating back my calories (70% of net calories according to HRM), I've actually been losing faster than expected and have been slowing uping my base calories week to week. Of course to eat back exercise calories you need a fairly accurate estimate, many of theestimates on the site are a good bit off, so if you don't have a HRM or other activity tracker, you may need to experiment with percentages to find what works for you.

    I've had the same experience. In my first month, I did not eat back my exercise calories, towards the end, I started to plateau. 10 days into this month, I started carb cycling, so basically, on my workout days, I do eat back exercise calories. In addition, I added a cheat day on Sunday and dropped another 5 lbs just like that.

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