Earned calories from exercise? Has anyone tested these?

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rosenkrantzz
rosenkrantzz Posts: 12
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I hit my goal a few months back and have been working on maintaining and learning to eat healthy on a daily basis. So far it's going great. I set a target of 1850 calories a day (from talking to my nutritionist and doing my own research). Usually I come in just under that in terms of calorie intake.

What I have never tested is allowing myself the extra earned calories from exercise that MFP tell me about. I guess I don't feel I "trust" that math. For example, yesterday I burned approx 350 calories from walking. So I could have eaten 300-400 calories more (in theory). I didn't feel the need to so I didn't, but sometimes I get peckish at night (mmm oatmeal).

Question 1 - Does anyone regularly eat their extra earned calories? Did it affect your ability to maintain? Did you gain and found you had to cut back on using those "earned" calories? Or was it just a wash (no noticeable effect either way).

Question 2 - Am I hampering my nutrition by NOT taking in those extra calories that I burn thru exercise? Meaning should I actually consume those extra calories to stay healthy (by eating say 400 calories of something nutritious...)

I guess the reason I don't know if I can trust the math is I know those are just very general estimates based on my age, gender, height and weight calculated against other estimates of the amount of calories burned thru different types of exercises. So to me, that's a whole lot of estimating to make me feel comfortable tucking in an extra 400 calories.

Yeah I know I'm obsessing, but that obsessing (I think) has helped me to lose the weight and to keep it off.

Thanks if you care to chime in, just looking for other's experience.
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Replies

  • BeeNcouraged13
    BeeNcouraged13 Posts: 3
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    My nutritionist told me not to eat them back.Most of the time I dont feel I need to eat them anyway.You should ask your nutritionist since you are at your goal and want to maintain you may have to eat those back.
  • johloz
    johloz Posts: 176 Member
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    I agree that some of them are way too high - walking and cooking are perfect example. However, some of them are too low, like strength training.

    If the walking you're logging is just part of your normal activity for the day, I would suggest not logging it.

    For the exercise I generally do (such as strength training, running, etc), I eat my calories back (and sometimes more), and I just don't log walking as this is part of my regular daily activity. The only time I will log walking is if I'm doing so for the express purpose of exercise and I'm getting my heart rate up and keeping it that way. Then I will generally eat back about half of my walking calories.
  • jmapes9
    jmapes9 Posts: 144 Member
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    I've been eating back ALL of my exercise calories since day one, and I've lost 184 pounds in less than two years.
  • fitandfortyish
    fitandfortyish Posts: 194 Member
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    I'm not an expert on what happens, nutritionally, when you don't eat back all your calories.

    What I can say is I've been in maintenance for a long while now and I no longer weigh my foods--I log but I "guesstimate". Quite often i will not log my exercise calories, or I under estimate my caloric burn through exercise, because this offsets any errors in calculating my calories.

    I don't weigh myself but do pay attention to my measurements and so far haven't seen any significant changes that cause concern.
  • rosenkrantzz
    rosenkrantzz Posts: 12
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    jmapes9, what sort of exercises are you doing, if I can ask? Just to get a sense...

    Thanks all for the responses... I only log cardio walking (using runtastic) but that being said... since I am maintaining I don't walk quite as vigorously as I did when I was actively losing weight. So I walk about a 15min mile which I consider a medium pace. I also use a recumbent bike 3-4 times a week for 45 mins a session - and there I do a decent job of getting my heart rate up into my zone. But again, I don't want to lose weight now, just stay in shape and keep active.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    If you are maintaining (i.e. weight staying relatively constant) at 1850 then unless you are adding in additional exercise over your current amount then why would you consider eating more? That would put you into surplus and lead to weight gain.

    Q1 - Yes I ate back all my exercise calories both when losing weight and maintatining weight (the MFP method). It works better for me as my exercise varies enormously from day to day and week to week. Certainly accurate enough to allow me to hit my weight loss/maintenance goals. I don't use the MFP estimated calories though exept once in a while for walking.

    If you are doing the TDEE method (which you are by eating a set amount daily) then your current exercise routine is already factored in, whether by design or accident.

    Q2 - In theory the more you eat the more nutrition you can get but with most things enough is enough, you don't get bonus benefits for extra vitamins, protein etc. over and above your needs.

    Is there a reason you want to switch from TDEE method to the MFP NEAT (eat back exercise calories) method?

    As an example and assuming you are doing 300 cals of exercise a day.....
    TDEE method = 1850
    MFP method (1550 + 300 exercise cals) = 1850
  • kittykarin
    kittykarin Posts: 104 Member
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    I am no expert but I know what works for me is to not eat those calories back. I just read a study that most people underestimate what they really are eating in the course of a day. Even for those of us that use MFP, we are more likely to underestimate rather than overestimate. I figure the exercise calories are my buffer in case I forget to log a bite or the amount or the nutritional facts of what i have eaten are off somehow.

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  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    My first question would be....are you maintaining your weight, or are you still losing? I only ask because when I was in maintenance, I could maintain on 1900 to 2200 calories as long as I was active 4-5 days a week. And I am a 49 year old female. So your calorie goal for a man seems a little low, but I could be wrong.

    Maintenance can take some tweaking. You can try adding a 100 or so calories of your exercise calories for a few weeks and see what happens.

    There are some maintenance groups on MFP that you might find useful.
  • jmapes9
    jmapes9 Posts: 144 Member
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    OP, I log in everything from strength training, running, walking, elliptical, etc. I only rely on the calorie amounts that my heart rate monitor calculates. I use a Polar FT7.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    If you are maintaining (i.e. weight staying relatively constant) at 1850 then unless you are adding in additional exercise over your current amount then why would you consider eating more? That would put you into surplus and lead to weight gain.

    Q1 - Yes I ate back all my exercise calories both when losing weight and maintatining weight (the MFP method). It works better for me as my exercise varies enormously from day to day and week to week. Certainly accurate enough to allow me to hit my weight loss/maintenance goals. I don't use the MFP estimated calories though exept once in a while for walking.

    If you are doing the TDEE method (which you are by eating a set amount daily) then your current exercise routine is already factored in, whether by design or accident.

    Q2 - In theory the more you eat the more nutrition you can get but with most things enough is enough, you don't get bonus benefits for extra vitamins, protein etc. over and above your needs.

    Is there a reason you want to switch from TDEE method to the MFP NEAT (eat back exercise calories) method?

    As an example and assuming you are doing 300 cals of exercise a day.....
    TDEE method = 1850
    MFP method (1550 + 300 exercise cals) = 1850

    This is good info. Part of your answer depends on how you determined 1850 was your number. Did you already factor in exercise? Or is it a number from MFP. If you used exercise in your determination, then you shouldn't eat those calories back, although I still say 1850 is too low for most men. But if you are no longer losing, that is part of your answer.

    Have you tried a TDEE calculator that takes exercise into account?

    Edited to add: Congratulations on reaching maintenance :)!
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    You're already successfully maintaining.

    Looking to change that by adding in a whole bunch of complications could lead you right into maintenance ruin.

    Do what's working for you and be grateful that you're pulling off maintenance so far.

    Don't clutter your mind with information that doesn't pertain to your current situation.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    Congrats on maintaining! :-) that's awesome!! When I first started I used to eat my calories back and started to gain. So since I've stopped and I will eat a little extra if I feel hungry, but not the entire sum back. But do what you've been doing, obviously your doing great already! :-)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    As far as the walking calories go, if you really matched the speed in the description, weight is the only factor, and very accurate, more than HRM.

    Some studies referenced in here as to just how accurate the formula's are.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

    As to any issue with constantly eating below where you could be eating. That may or may not be the case. The lack of gain or loss is no proof you are eating at potential maintenance.

    Well, this is referencing the side effects that women can get, some men can get too. May take longer, different aspects may show up, ect.
    But generally you aren't going to get as much out of your workout, at least not the positive changes you could get, if your body is already getting under what it would like.
    http://skepchick.org/2014/02/the-female-athlete-triad-not-as-fun-as-it-sounds/

    Now, if workouts aren't hard, like if walking is the extent of it, probably no big deal. If you ever plan to do something more strenuous and intense, and want to get the most out of it, fuel your workouts.
  • einzweidrei
    einzweidrei Posts: 381 Member
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    I have always eaten my exercise calories back---while I was losing weight and since I have been maintaining. And I do NOT do any type of heavy exercise---all I usually do is walk. I like to eat thank you very much and I will take any opportunity to do so.

    If you don't trust MFP on numbers, you can always eat back partial amounts. Let's say you think you didn't really burn 350 calories. Why not at least eat 200 of them back?

    Curious as to how tall you are---mostly because you're male and you're eating less calories than I am on maintenance. And you seem more active than I am.
  • vegipete
    vegipete Posts: 3
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    exercise calories on mfp seem much higher than those given on various crosstraining machines at the local gym. i use the gym numbers. still gives me a bonus of 350+ calories daily.
  • charlicee
    charlicee Posts: 53
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    Nope. Just calculate your TDEE, subtract 500 to see how much less to eat to lose a lb/week, 1000 to lose around 2 lbs/week.
  • BelleVegan77
    BelleVegan77 Posts: 70 Member
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    I kid you not I lose SO much faster when I eat them back and I feel a lot more energetic.
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    Question 1 - I almost always eat back my exercise calories. I do tend to underestimate them slightly in the first place (rounding down to the nearest 50 calorie mark). But, no, this approach hasn't affected my weight loss or maintenance.

    ETA: For calculation purposes I tend to average out MFP, HRM and what the machine at the gym tells me I'm burning. They all seem to be roughly the same though!

    Question 2 - I don't think you're hampering your nutrition necessarily, but I notice on days when I eat back my exercise calories I always have more energy the following day to do a really intense workout. When I don't eat them back, the following day I am probably a bit lazier at the gym. I guess I am willing to risk a teeny bit of weight gain so that I can be stronger and more dominant in my fitness. YMMV.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    Eat them back to fit something in like a treat, otherwise don't eat them if you are not hungry, and still feel up to doing your work outs. I find I have to eat them back about once a week really.
  • jasper186
    jasper186 Posts: 134 Member
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    I've been eating back ALL of my exercise calories since day one, and I've lost 184 pounds in less than two years.

    Do you use the daily calories set by MFP or have some other calculator? MFP set me at 1200 but the Scooby site sets me at 1430

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