Do you use Workout Calories?

If you are using the MFP method then your deficit has already been established for you and your exercise calories are to be eaten to full your body for the workouts you are asking of it to do.... Been using this approach myself and have lost a few pounds.... Best of Luck.....

Most weeks I eat all of mine, sometimes 80% or so. I don't stuff myself on purpose to use them but I fully understand the need to be fueled and I'm always hungrier on good workout days. I also sometimes carry them over a day. I left about 250 calories on the table yesterday because I'm going out for dinner tonight and I know I'll be over.

I set my own calorie goal and input my calorie burns from my HRM, then eat back all the exercise calories. This puts me at a net of 1400 every day which is roughly a 300 calorie deficit each day.

As someone else said, this is a big debate on MFP and you need to figure out what works best for you and in a healthy way. With that said, I do not eat back my calories. I spoke with 2 trainers and neither of them reccomended eating them back. One of them uses MFP to logg his food intake, so he knew this subject well.

Good Luck

i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

deficit = loss.

As explained above. If you're using the MFP method, it's already got the required deficit built in - so eat at least a proportion of your exercise cals back. If you're using the TDEE method, then your daily goal includes those exercise calories, so you don't eat them back.

MFP tends to overestimate calorie burns, so you may need to play around with numbers before working out what proportion you need to eat back to keep on track.

Personally, my walking calories are what fuel my wine drinking...

As someone else said, this is a big debate on MFP and you need to figure out what works best for you and in a healthy way. With that said, I do not eat back my calories. I spoke with 2 trainers and neither of them reccomended eating them back. One of them uses MFP to logg his food intake, so he knew this subject well.

Good Luck

this is why gym trainers aren't dieticians and should stick to helping their clients with the exercise side of things... MFP is designed for you "Too eat back your calories burned because your deficit has already been established. Weight loss will happen strictly with your diet and the exercise (for weightloss purposes) part isn't needed... You exercise for fitness and overall well being so the two aren't mutual. Now if someone is using the TDEE approach then mostly definitely you would not consume those exercise calories cause they are already figured into that method...

Plus, trainers pretty much always assume all clients are incompetent at calorie counting and cut corners to get fast results, so you'll keep coming back to them. Their end-game is not you successfully maintaining weight loss on your own, it's keeping business afloat.

Yes! I almost always eat all my exercise cals back! Unless I just can't because it is too much of a burn..But also don't worry about it if I splurge on a non-exercise day then. I know I have to hit those cals or I won't lose...been dealing with not getting enough lately and didn't lose weight in four months...I had to eat those exercise cals back...and I also raised my cals..it worked. So sometimes you gotta play around with the cals and see what works for you!

i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

deficit = loss.

a) sounds a bit more like an eating disorder than anything else.
b) I paged through about 75 pages of your diary . . . for someone who logs about 2% of the time, you're certainly very confident in your intake.

On the flip side, congratulations on your loss. 93 pounds is awesome. Keep up with your annual physicals - bloodwork, etc.

It is the way this tool is designed so long as you do NOT include your exercise activity in your activity level. Your activity level is just your day to day stuff...going to work, driving the car, etc. This is how the formula looks and I'll use my numbers to illustrate.

To maintain my weight with ZERO exercise...just my day to day stuff (which is light active) I require 2350 calories. To lose 1 Lb per week requires a deficit of 500 calories...so MFP gives me a goal of 1,850 calories (2350 - 500 = 1,850).

Now...I decide to go and start working on my fitness so I start exercising...exercise will increase my body's calorie requirements to maintain...thus it would also increase the amount of calories I could consume to maintain that same 500 calorie per day deficit. Let's say I burn 400 calories for exercise...if I add that number to my 1,850 I get 2,250 calories (1,850 + 500). I still have a 500 calorie deficit because now my theoretical maintenance will have increased to 2,350 + 400 = 2,750 calories. 2,750 - 2,250 = 500. As you can see, I do in fact have the same calorie deficit as I did before while consuming more food and properly fueling my exercise activity.

You just have to be very careful that you aren't overestimating your burn...I always used about 80% of what my HRM told me I burned for an aerobic event. If you're using a database, you'd probably want to cut whatever number you're getting in half. Also, always keep in mind that burning around 10 calories per minute is working pretty damned hard...it's hard to burn much more than that for and sustained period of time. You can burn slightly more than that for the same effort if you are heavier and slightly less than that if you are already pretty lean.

Also, you have to be as precise as possible with your intake...

I lost all my weight while eating back every single exercise calorie.

Agree with cwolfman13, I use a Polar FT60 hrm and I consume 85% of those calories burned during steady state cardio... My Weight lifting calories are based on a period of time establishing a calorie burn number not based on my hrm monitor but I also consume them as well.... Best of Luckkk

Eat them back, but beware of eating too many back. Runners weight gain is fairly common. We work so hard that we think we can eat whatever we want afterward. It's real easy to burn 6 miles' worth of calories and eat 7 back to "reward" yourself.

i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

deficit = loss.

You eat 1,400 calories a day?

Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

i'm down 90 pounds or so and i lift every day, do cardio every day and eat 1400 calories, with eating nothing back.

i don't understand why you'd want to eat back calories you burned off, what's the point in that?

and don't tell me "starvation mode" bs.

deficit = loss.

You eat 1,400 calories a day?

Deficit = loss, yes. But what are you losing?

Muscle, strength, vigor, energy, potential, etc.