Are you supposed to eat back your calories after exercise?

moonstoneme96
moonstoneme96 Posts: 46 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everybody,

So, say that I set my calorie goal to 1700 calories. I then exercise and burn 500 calories. Do I eat back those calories to have a total of 2200 calories eaten? That will leave me with 1700 calories net. Will I gain weight if I eat back the calories?

Who eats back their calories vs not eating them back?

Thanks, any help is appreciated!

Replies

  • BigTireFlipper
    BigTireFlipper Posts: 116 Member
    Here is an example. Say I enter my height/weight info into MFP and tell it that I'm sedentary (desk job) and that I want to lose 1 lb per week. MFP then tells me OK. In order to lose 1 lb a week you need to eat 500 less calories than you actually need per day for 7 days. Say that number is 1700.

    So on day one you do no exercise but end the day at 1700 calories. Good job. You met the goal.
    Day two you spend 60 minutes on a stationary bike and your Heart Rate Monitor (important here) says you burned 600 calories. MFP will say OK. You can now eat the 1700 calories + the 600 you burned and you will still be eating at a 500 calorie deficit. Good Job. You met your goal again.

    It's important to note that the MFP estimates for exercise calories burned are almost always higher than actual calories burned. A HRM works best for logging cardio cals burned. Eating back your cals should be done, but smartly. :) Hope this helps.

    (edit for clarity)
  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
    Always. Maybe not all of them, but at least 50% - try it and see what works for you. I burned over 1000cal in four hours of roller derby training the other day and ate about 600 of those back, and was starving the next day so I ate more of them back. If I didn't eat them back I'd never get out of bed.
  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
    This will clarify it:

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
    If you use MFP as intended, yes you are supposed to eat them back.. otherwise your deficit is too big :/

    Just keep in mind like BigTireFlippe said, MFP majorly overestimates calories burned, so probably wouldn't eat ALL of them back if you're using MFP to tell you how many you burned. If you use another more precise method to measure cals burned, then you should be safe to eat them all back.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Yes, that's how MFP is designed to work. Otherwise, it would give you a higher goal to begin with, with planned exercise already factored in.

    I have always eaten mine back - pretty much every single one. (With the odd day under here or there obviously, just like I have the odd day over).

    Your calorie deficit is built into your MFP goal, so there is no need to create a bigger deficit on top of that with your exercise. Creating a larger than recommended deficit can be problematic in the long-term because you can lose too much lean mass vs fat, and it can (long term) mess up your hormone function. People who are very obese and have a lot of fat stored can "get away with" larger deficits with fewer problems, but the closer you are to a healthy weight, the smaller your deficit should be.

    One caveat: if you're relying on the MFP exercise database for calorie burn, it can be inaccurate (although it always seemed ok for me) so many people prefer to eat back only a certain portion of those cals - maybe 2/3, to allow for error.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Just keep in mind like BigTireFlippe said, MFP majorly overestimates calories burned, so probably wouldn't eat ALL of them back if you're using MFP to tell you how many you burned.
    Sometimes, sometimes not. For me, it was always fairly accurate and actually seemed to underestimate for some forms of exercise. Your best bet is to eat them back for a few weeks (or eat back 2/3 for a few weeks) and see if you lose as intended. If not, you know where to adjust.
  • fredgiblet
    fredgiblet Posts: 241 Member
    This will clarify it:

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    I like.
  • yolohunter
    yolohunter Posts: 79 Member
    http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com = hilarious!! :)
  • moonstoneme96
    moonstoneme96 Posts: 46 Member
    Here is an example. Say I enter my height/weight info into MFP and tell it that I'm sedentary (desk job) and that I want to lose 1 lb per week. MFP then tells me OK. In order to lose 1 lb a week you need to eat 500 less calories than you actually need per day for 7 days. Say that number is 1700.

    So on day one you do no exercise but end the day at 1700 calories. Good job. You met the goal.
    Day two you spend 60 minutes on a stationary bike and your Heart Rate Monitor (important here) says you burned 600 calories. MFP will say OK. You can now eat the 1700 calories + the 600 you burned and you will still be eating at a 500 calorie deficit. Good Job. You met your goal again.

    It's important to note that the MFP estimates for exercise calories burned are almost always higher than actual calories burned. A HRM works best for logging cardio cals burned. Eating back your cals should be done, but smartly. :) Hope this helps.

    (edit for clarity)

    I have a fitbit zip, is that ok to keep track of my calories? I wear from the time I get up to when I go to bed. A HRM would only be worn during the workout, right? Or is there a HRM that is made for wearing all of the time?

    Thanks for the help!

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