Eating your calories "burned"

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countrylove12
countrylove12 Posts: 53 Member
in Getting Started
So...I have a FitBit and it is connected to MFP and as I rack up steps with my FitBit MFP tells me I can eat more because I burned a certain amount of calories for the day. But my question is...doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Don't you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose? I don't know - maybe I have that all wrong. Anyone have any input/advice they can give me?!
Thanks in advance!:flowerforyou:
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  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Your daily goal at MFP already has you at a deficit - meaning you could eat to goal every day without doing any exercise and you'll lose weight. When you burn off more cals through exercise (or with that the Fitbit gives ya), you're left with a much larger deficit - too large - and that can cause problems for ya over time.

    Food is fuel - the cals are added back into your goal, and if you eat them back, bringing your daily NET cals up to, or at least very close to your original goal, you're still in a deficit and will lose weight, being well fueled for your workouts and daily life. :smile:
  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
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    no it doesn't defeat the purpose because Net calories are what matter
  • zenhiker2014
    zenhiker2014 Posts: 84 Member
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    this is a lot like your previous question about what a calorie deficit means. I gave an explanation in that thread but it probably wasn't clear. Bottom line, like AmyRhubarb said, yes you would eat those "extra" earned calories. Many people question that because it seems like the bigger the deficit, the faster you lose, and that is assumed to be a good thing. What MFP and many of the successful MFP users are telling you is that very big deficits are NOT a good thing, because it's hard to get proper nutrition and learn good habits that way. Eating to hit the deficit MFP gives you means steady, healthy weight loss. And if you eat back your exercise calories, you are hitting the MFP deficit.

    The only reason you would not eat all the "extra" calories is if you suspect MFP is giving you too much credit for exercise. In that case you might only eat half or 3/4s of those calories. However since you are using a fitbit I wouldn't worry about that. I wear a fitbit and for me, the calorie burn based on it has been very accurate. I go with the adjusted number MFP calculates and have hit my weight loss goals almost every week since February.
  • PrissyPisces
    PrissyPisces Posts: 117 Member
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    I honestly was wondering this very same thing. I always thought that you weren't suppose to eat back the calories you burned, though I know exercise is about more than just losing weight.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Your MFP calorie goal has your deficit built in, so you must eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories.

    MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    I eat back all my Fitbit adjustments, and I lost weight. We should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum. Food is fuel.

    The Sexypants post should be required reading for all MFPers: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
  • SnazzIT
    SnazzIT Posts: 215 Member
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    What everyone else said. I was like you at first and thought the same until I walked more than 10KMs one day using my nike+ band and was so tired and weak during that walk having only eaten my 1200 cals food limit at the time. I learned the hard way that day that I needed to eat more if I wanted to exercise more...thats why you will find MFP members mentioning that they needed to adjust to a higher cal goal when they upped or changed their exercise regime. I am still losing weight.
  • ClinicalTrial
    ClinicalTrial Posts: 55 Member
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    I always thought that you weren't suppose to eat back the calories you burned

    You don't have to; you can. If you want to drop the weight faster, don't.

    You just need to make sure your nutrient density is spot-on if it's going to be habitual and govern your body in an honest fashion, so as not to run into hormonal problems. Not sure why everyone acts as though doing so is impossible. You certainly will lose weight even if you eat those calories back, though, no problem.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    So...I have a FitBit and it is connected to MFP and as I rack up steps with my FitBit MFP tells me I can eat more because I burned a certain amount of calories for the day. But my question is...doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Don't you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose? I don't know - maybe I have that all wrong. Anyone have any input/advice they can give me?!
    Thanks in advance!:flowerforyou:

    You do have to eat less than you burn. But you burn lots of calories just by existing and doing daily activities. MFP sets up you calorie goal taking into account only that burn and making sure that you are below it by the appropriate amount depending on how much you are trying to lose per week. When you exercise more, your burn is even higher, so to keep the same deficit (the amount your calories are below your burn), you eat more. In general people eat back only a portion of their burn because they could be overestimated (although Fitbit seems pretty accurate for me).
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I honestly was wondering this very same thing. I always thought that you weren't suppose to eat back the calories you burned, though I know exercise is about more than just losing weight.
    Some sites work differently, and if you asked someone who is not familiar with how MFP works, they might say definitely not to eat them back.

    But why would MFP add them back into your goal if you aren't supposed to eat them with their system? :smile:

    My goal - to eat as many calories as I can while still losing weight. Basically a small calorie deficit, which I have done for over two years now, and had my best success at losing the fat and inches and keeping them off! :drinker:
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I honestly was wondering this very same thing. I always thought that you weren't suppose to eat back the calories you burned, though I know exercise is about more than just losing weight.

    Depends on how your creating your deficit.

    MFP gives you a calorie goal that if you eat at it (providing your goals are set up accurately) you will lose weight without exercise. I'll use my own MFP information as an example:

    1990 calories (MFP estimate for normal daily activity for the day....no exercise included)
    -250 calories (0.5lb loss)
    1740 calories (Intake Goal without exercise)

    Now say I exercise

    1990 calories (normal daily activity)
    +200 (fitbit adjustment or exercise calories)
    2190 calories (total daily burn)
    -250 calories (0.5lb loss)
    1940 calories (total intake goal for the day with fitbit adjustment/exercise calories)


    ~~~~

    If however you use the TDEE Method, your exercise calories are already taken into account and as such you wouldn't want to eat any of them back.
  • kdsnipes871
    kdsnipes871 Posts: 3 Member
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    This was a great question! I've been curious about this myself. I found out the hard way that you have to eat enough to fuel your workout or you'll feel horrible. I just got back in the gym and I had been doing 30 mins of cardio but i was exceptionally energetic yesterday so i decided to do an hour. I burned about 300 more cals than usual and felt weak and disoriented until i ate dinner and a snack. Then, i was all better so i can totally understand having to adjust when increasing exercise regimes.
  • PrissyPisces
    PrissyPisces Posts: 117 Member
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    I honestly was wondering this very same thing. I always thought that you weren't suppose to eat back the calories you burned, though I know exercise is about more than just losing weight.
    Some sites work differently, and if you asked someone who is not familiar with how MFP works, they might say definitely not to eat them back.

    But why would MFP add them back into your goal if you aren't supposed to eat them with their system? :smile:

    My goal - to eat as many calories as I can while still losing weight. Basically a small calorie deficit, which I have done for over two years now, and had my best success at losing the fat and inches and keeping them off! :drinker:

    Yes, I'm very new to MFP. LOL! :laugh: Tomorrow will be a week that I've been here, and a week since I've started my new lifestyle. One thing I can say, is that I am TERRIBLY hungry when I do exercise, which makes me want to eat more anyway. This is really good to know. :smile:
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Some sites work differently, and if you asked someone who is not familiar with how MFP works, they might say definitely not to eat them back.

    But why would MFP add them back into your goal if you aren't supposed to eat them with their system? :smile:

    My goal - to eat as many calories as I can while still losing weight. Basically a small calorie deficit, which I have done for over two years now, and had my best success at losing the fat and inches and keeping them off!
    ^This.

    Food is fuel, and we should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum.
  • Icandoityayme
    Icandoityayme Posts: 312 Member
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    Not all people agree with not eating back your calories and I started off eating them back in the beginning but nothing was happening. I don't eat them back and it works better for me. I am not an overly active person to begin with so eating more doesn't really benefit me much. I exercise and do my normal daily activities but I am not training for a marathon, not body building and certainly not looking to be a super model (I am too short to be one anyway :D).
  • bltrexler
    bltrexler Posts: 180 Member
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    I set my activity to sedentary, and then use my fitbit to add back my activity. Do I eat back all my adjusted calories for the day? Most of the time no, but there are those times when I am really hungry so then I do. But if I am full then I don’t. I’d say listen to your body, if you are hitting your macro’s and still hungry and have some calories left over then fuel your body.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Not all people agree with not eating back your calories and I started off eating them back in the beginning but nothing was happening. I don't eat them back and it works better for me.
    All of the calorie counts and burns are estimates, so some people reduce the margin of error by eating back half their exercise calories. But MFP is set up in such a way that you must eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories.

    (Some people customize their calorie goal to be TDEE minus a percentage. Since TDEE already has exercise built in, those people can't eat back any of their exercise calories. That would be double dipping.)
  • Lifts4IceCream
    Lifts4IceCream Posts: 77 Member
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    Here is a great article. Worth a read

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/eating-back-calories-burned/

    "you have it all backwards. It’s really not a question of eating back the calories burned through exercise.

    It’s a question of how do you want to create your deficit on a given day?

    Do you want to eat a little more and create your deficit by burning a sufficient amount of calories through some form of exercise (larger output)?
    Or, would you rather skip the exercise/burn less calories and create your deficit by eating a little less (lower intake)?
    Or, would you rather do some combination of the two (eat a little less, burn a little more)?
    "
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    I set my activity to sedentary, and then use my fitbit to add back my activity. Do I eat back all my adjusted calories for the day?
    MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE—way more accurate than any online calculator. If you eat less than your Fitbit burn, you will lose weight.

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Log exercise in Fitbit, and follow your MFP calorie goal—eating back your calorie adjustments.
  • Fit4Yah
    Fit4Yah Posts: 39 Member
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    Each person is different and what works for their bodies. Try eating them back for a couple of weeks. If you aren't seeing a loss, then try a couple weeks of eating back half your calories burned, and again if you don't see results then don't eat them back. It's really trial and error and figuring out what works for you personally.
  • kbeckley11
    kbeckley11 Posts: 203 Member
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    It depends on what you are doing that makes your fitbit add those extra calories to MFP. I have a step counting app on my phone that synced to MFP. MFP kept giving me extra calories to eat because of the steps my app counted. BUT, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary that I was doing. Walking around my office, going to the grocery store, all things I took into consideration when I set up my account on MFP. Therefore, MFP already has accounted for all of those steps, and given me a number of calories to eat because of it. If it gives me even more calories for my steps according to my app, I would be eating those walking calories twice. So, I un-synced (is that a word?) my app from MFP.

    Long story short, if MFP is giving you extra calories for extra work you did, eat them. If MFP is giving you extra calories for steps you take in your day to day life, don't eat them.

    ETA: Nevermind what I said. The fitbit works differently than I thought it did.

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