Do you eat back the calories you burned?

jenekaking
jenekaking Posts: 25
in Food and Nutrition
Do you eat back the calories you burn through your workouts daily? Is it vital when trying to gain muscle and lose the fat?

Replies

  • strengthandhonour4eva
    strengthandhonour4eva Posts: 221 Member
    I'd like to know this too lol
  • LazerMole
    LazerMole Posts: 99 Member
    Just make sure you're setting a protein goal and hitting it, and you should be fine.

    For me, to maintain lean body mass, I need to eat between 80-110 grams of protein a day. If I'm working out, I'll shoot more toward 110. If I'm not, I just make sure to hit 80.
  • joepage612
    joepage612 Posts: 179 Member
    i think its pivotal. MFP uses numbers and math and forumals. it assumes you eat back your exercise calories. If you don't, then the numbers change and MFP won't be accurate.
  • LazerMole
    LazerMole Posts: 99 Member
    i think its pivotal. MFP uses numbers and math and forumals. it assumes you eat back your exercise calories. If you don't, then the numbers change and MFP won't be accurate.

    MFP isn't as accurate as you're assuming.

    If someone is *that* worried, they should be calculating their TDEE, and setting their macros as specific goals in grams, versus percentages.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It is the way this tool is designed provided you set your activity level properly. MFP gives you a calorie goal to lose weight WITHOUT any exercise whatsoever. Your activity level is just your day to day hum drum. You would lose the 1 Lb per week or whatever you selected if you just ate to MFP's calorie goal and nothing more.

    Exercise then becomes an extra activity that has yet to be accounted for until you log it...when you do that, you get those calories to "eat back"...other methods of calorie counting include an estimate of those calories up front...note that most nutritionist, dietitians, trainers, etc use that method which is why you often here that you should not eat exercise calories back...you have to understand the method you are using. Also, ask yourself this...if the tool wasn't designed to work this way, why would MFP give you those calories to eat back...would be a pretty cruel trick don't you think?

    Just make sure you're not overestimating your burn...most people vastly overestimate their burns. If you're using the database to get your burn, cut that puppy in 1/2.

    I'd also advise taking a run through the stickies here...they explain all of this stuff. I lost roughly 40 Lbs pretty easily following MFP's methodology. Where this is "pivotal" is in understanding how to properly fuel your body given certain activity levels. I got really into endurance riding and there's not way I could go ride for 50 miles on my bike without properly fueling my body and "eating back" my exercise calories.
  • Lifts4IceCream
    Lifts4IceCream Posts: 77 Member
    To answer your question, whenever possible. Yes I do.

    I had the same question. This article answered my question. Its a good read. (and not a long article)
    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/eating-back-calories-burned/

    "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)?
    That’s the only question here.

    And if you choose some form of exercise like the person asking this question clearly has yet doesn't seem to realize, thinking of it as “eating back the calories burned” is backwards.

    What you’re doing is eating an amount of calories, and then using exercise to burn enough of them to put yourself into the deficit you need to be in for fat loss to occur."
  • 17ChargerGirl17
    17ChargerGirl17 Posts: 441
    Very seldom
  • Swiftlet66
    Swiftlet66 Posts: 729 Member
    Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It depends on if I'm hungry or not... On average, I usually eat a little back but not all. You're already in deficit anyways on MFP so you can if you want. However, if you're using MFP's exercise calorie burned estimates, be very careful as it is not accurate at all imo and you risk eating more than you actually burned. To solve this, use a heart rate monitor.
  • CaitySins
    CaitySins Posts: 57 Member
    I was trying not to when I started but then I saw someone else mention in a different topic that you should, and to calculate your BMR and TDEE and all
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    It is the way this tool is designed provided you set your activity level properly. MFP gives you a calorie goal to lose weight WITHOUT any exercise whatsoever. Your activity level is just your day to day hum drum. You would lose the 1 Lb per week or whatever you selected if you just ate to MFP's calorie goal and nothing more.

    Exercise then becomes an extra activity that has yet to be accounted for until you log it...when you do that, you get those calories to "eat back"...other methods of calorie counting include an estimate of those calories up front...note that most nutritionist, dietitians, trainers, etc use that method which is why you often here that you should not eat exercise calories back...you have to understand the method you are using. Also, ask yourself this...if the tool wasn't designed to work this way, why would MFP give you those calories to eat back...would be a pretty cruel trick don't you think?

    Just make sure you're not overestimating your burn...most people vastly overestimate their burns. If you're using the database to get your burn, cut that puppy in 1/2.

    I'd also advise taking a run through the stickies here...they explain all of this stuff. I lost roughly 40 Lbs pretty easily following MFP's methodology. Where this is "pivotal" is in understanding how to properly fuel your body given certain activity levels. I got really into endurance riding and there's not way I could go ride for 50 miles on my bike without properly fueling my body and "eating back" my exercise calories.

    ^ what he said.

    The stickies go more in depth, but if I recall correctly there are two ways to create your calorie defecit TDEE and NEAT.

    TDEE includes your exercise so you don't eat back your calories because you've already figured them in when calculating your TDEE.

    MFP uses NEAT and sets you automatically at a defecit that you choose, then any exercise you do creates more of a defecit putting you below your daily allowance. That can either make you lose faster (but risk not getting enough fuel for your body) or it can allow you to eat more to regain those calories lost to exercise.

    Calories burned during exercise can sometimes be over estimated, so a lot of people only eat part of them back. You'll probably have to experiment a bit to see what works best for you.

    Make sure you're getting your Macros protein and fat especially no matter what you chose to do with your exercise calories as your body needs them to function properly.

    I usually only eat half of them back, but always try to hit my protien and fat macros.

    The stickies explain it in more detail, and way better than I did, lol. Worth a look.
  • NK1112
    NK1112 Posts: 781 Member
    No, I don't eat them back.
    For one thing, I find the calories given for my exercises is unrealistically high.
    For another, I'm not as active as I;d like to be.

    I pretty much try to hit the nutritional guidelines … which, for me, are set at a slow weight loss level.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    Also to maintain the muscle it's important to get all your protein. Most recommend doing heavy weight lifting to maintain as much muscle as possible while losing fat.
  • schmoovey
    schmoovey Posts: 32 Member
    I usually do, yes. A couple of years ago I did that and lost about 20 pounds. It works if you keep at it. The 'keeping at it' is the tough part.
    Another tough thing for most people is figuring out their Activity Level. I mostly sit at a desk in front of a computer all day, so I marked Sedentary. I've read from a bunch of other fitness forums that if you're getting less than 10,000 steps in per day, then you are 'Sedentary'. Yep! That's me! The only time I get 10,000 is if I purposely go out for a long walk and do some cardio.
    A 30 minute cardio session typically only gets me about 3000 steps.

    Anyway, I had surgery last year, and put that 20 lbs. back on. =/ I'm in the process again of trying to get it back off! 3 weeks into my workout program now and I lost a few pounds. So far so good, so I'll keep eating back my calories based on what MFP calculated.

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