Some say to eat back as many calories as you burn?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I know this has been covered but can someone explain how weight loss can happen when you're supposed to "eat back" as much as you burn in the gym? Everyone is telling me this but I can't see how I can lose weight if I eat what I worked hard to burn off back!! It seems counterproductive and the reason why I workout is to burn more calories to lose weight not eat them back. Input? Thanks.

    Because if you set your profile up properly, your calorie goal includes your weight loss deficit BEFORE exercise. Using me as an example...let's say WITHOUT exercise I'm "light active" and want to lose about 1 Lb per week. MFP give me a goal that is roughly 500 calories less than my maintenance calories. Lets say my goal is 1,850 calories...that means my estimated NON EXERCISE maintenance number is 2,350 calories.

    Now, let's say I go out for a 30 mile bike ride for which I'll burn 1000 calories or so...and just to be on the safe side I'll only log about 800 calories. I can now eat 1,850 + 800 = 2,650 calories and still achieve the same thing as I would eating 1,850 because my maintenance number will have gone up as well...because that number previously was BEFORE exercise. So my new maintenance number would be 2,350 + 800 = 3,150 calories and 3,150 less my new calorie goal of 2,650 (from above with exercise) is 3,150 - 2,650 = 500 calorie deficit still.

    It's just math.

    Where people go wrong is in overestimating their calorie burns...they go for a long walk and think they'v burned 1000 calories when in reality they've only burned a few hundred.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    It's much more important to form sensible and sustainable habits than it is to lose weight quickly for the vast majority of people.

    Unfortunately, losing weight slowly or quickly has no measurable impact on people's ability to "form sensible and sustainable" habits. Slow losers are just as likely as fast losers to gain the weight back.
  • horseplaypen
    horseplaypen Posts: 442 Member
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    I feel like someone with graphic skills needs to make an infographic to explain this concept. I did it with crayola felts and paper to explain it to my MIL - sort of about how you always need to maintain that e.g. 500-calorie "gap" between consumed and burned... so if you exercise more, you need to eat more to keep that gap stable.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
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    Couple things already mentioned

    MFP uses NEAT Method..where you are set at a deficit pre exercise
    Extra burns means you will lose faster but is that always a good thing? No...losing faster means you are probably losing muscle too.
    Eating them back just when your hungry is not a good idea either....hunger is not the best indicator of what your body "needs"

    Think of it as fuel for your next workout...

    For example...if you drive your car a distance that requires 3/4 tank of gas and need to drive that the next day are you only going to put in 1/4 tanks of gas to get ot half a tank? No you make sure you fill your tank to 3/4 full to ensure you get where you need to go. Then you are empty so you have to put more in...that's the same way with exercise calories using NEAT.

    ETA: most recommend eating back 50-75% of the exercise calories if you log them and use MFP estimates...I always ate them all back and still lost the weight I wanted...might have been lucky that the estimates were for someone my size...

    This is very helpful. I've been wondering this myself, thanks for the concise explanation.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • iheartinsanity
    iheartinsanity Posts: 205 Member
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    I've done this in the past and put on weight (and fast at that). I eat when I'm hungry. I think you're better off going by hunger cues. I've found more success if I eat some back, not all. I also have a bodymediafit armband which gives me a much more accurate reading (though nothing is 100%) than the obscenely high calorie readings MFP provides.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I've done this in the past and put on weight (and fast at that). I eat when I'm hungry. I think you're better off going by hunger cues. I've found more success if I eat some back, not all. I also have a bodymediafit armband which gives me a much more accurate reading (though nothing is 100%) than the obscenely high calorie readings MFP provides.

    Not everyone has "appropriate" hunger cues or even know the difference between "hunger"/"boredom"/"appetite" so that doesn't work for all.

    Hence why I say hunger is not the best indicator of what your body needs. This is from personal experience. If I am busy and drinking water I don't get hungry and have in the past eaten about 1200 calories...my body needs more than that...for the next couple days I will be tired, lethargic, cranky and weak and my work outs suffer. I have actually almost fainted because I ate 1195 on a Sunday..and that was on a Monday afternoon...
  • iheartinsanity
    iheartinsanity Posts: 205 Member
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    I've done this in the past and put on weight (and fast at that). I eat when I'm hungry. I think you're better off going by hunger cues. I've found more success if I eat some back, not all. I also have a bodymediafit armband which gives me a much more accurate reading (though nothing is 100%) than the obscenely high calorie readings MFP provides.

    Not everyone has "appropriate" hunger cues or even know the difference between "hunger"/"boredom"/"appetite" so that doesn't work for all.

    Hence why I say hunger is not the best indicator of what your body needs. This is from personal experience. If I am busy and drinking water I don't get hungry and have in the past eaten about 1200 calories...my body needs more than that...for the next couple days I will be tired, lethargic, cranky and weak and my work outs suffer. I have actually almost fainted because I ate 1195 on a Sunday..and that was on a Monday afternoon...

    OP asked for an opinion...and I gave mine. Will it work? Not sure. I've been at this weight loss game for 5+ years and it's been FULL of trial and error. The only way she's going to work at it is to see what works and see what doesn't by trying. Is it frustrating ? Yep, it is. I finally found a system that works but it doesn't nessesarily mean it'll work for every person. :)
  • Chickaboo2014
    Chickaboo2014 Posts: 136 Member
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    Couple things already mentioned

    MFP uses NEAT Method..where you are set at a deficit pre exercise
    Extra burns means you will lose faster but is that always a good thing? No...losing faster means you are probably losing muscle too.
    Eating them back just when your hungry is not a good idea either....hunger is not the best indicator of what your body "needs"

    Think of it as fuel for your next workout...

    For example...if you drive your car a distance that requires 3/4 tank of gas and need to drive that the next day are you only going to put in 1/4 tanks of gas to get ot half a tank? No you make sure you fill your tank to 3/4 full to ensure you get where you need to go. Then you are empty so you have to put more in...that's the same way with exercise calories using NEAT.

    ETA: most recommend eating back 50-75% of the exercise calories if you log them and use MFP estimates...I always ate them all back and still lost the weight I wanted...might have been lucky that the estimates were for someone my size...

    Well written explanation. Thanks fo this!!

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