Can i eat the calories I burn? will i still lose weight?

My_Only_Hope
My_Only_Hope Posts: 65 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
i'm curious. I want to lose atleast 2 pounds a week. If i eat the calories i burn will i still lose weight?

Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    Yes, as long as you're already eating in a caloric deficit.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Ahh ... the joys of cutting and pasting



    MFP is based upon NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenisis) calorie calculation and inherently does not include exercise in calculating caloric goals ... hell, it's in the name of how it approaches calorie calculations . MFP calculates a daily caloric target that includes a deficit based upon non-exercise activity (sedentary for most that I've seen) and your weekly loss goal. Remaining at that net deficit target requires eating back calories.

    Where many people run into issues is accurate logging of both intake and exercise. Underestimation of calories eaten and overestimation of calories burned through exercise is a common occurrence. The ability to eat back exercise calories to maintain the net deficit to lose X pounds per week requires accuracy with those intake and output numbers otherwise you end up canceling out your deficit through inadvertent logging errors. If you over eat by 300 calories per day before exercise, then log 500 exercise calories when it was only 250 (it happens) ... you're already over before "eating back" a single exercise calorie. It gets easy to blame eating back calories for slow or non-existent losses, but the true error is usually in the accuracy of logging.

    The other primary caloric calculating system used by members here is TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). TDEE includes exercise in its base calculations and provides what is simply described as an average daily intake requirement to meet your deficit for the week ... no eating back exercise calories each day with the corresponding variances. Again, proper setup requires honest and accurate assessments of how much you really burn working out then accurately tracking your intake.
  • robinkelly25
    robinkelly25 Posts: 88 Member
    This is a classic MFP debate. You will have some that are adamant that you must eat your exercise calories back and you will have some people who eat half of their exercise calories back because they are worried MFP overestimated the calories they burned during a workout or they may have under estimate their calories for the days. If I were you, I would test both theories and see what works for you. You may be able to eat your workout calories back and still lose 2 pounds a week.. and as a bonus, it's more food.... who doesn't love that. If that doesn't work try eating half your exercise calories back and see what happens. good Luck :)
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    There is a lot of debate on this, as Robin said, mostly because calorie burns are estimated in MFP based on your height, weight and reported intensity. I have found that my burns in MFP are a little overestimated so if I were to eat back from an exercise I'd eat back 50-75% rather than the whole thing.

    I personally use a TDEE-20% method so my calorie goal is a little higher but I don't eat back exercise UNLESS my exercise is significantly higher than the activity level I reported to the TDEE calculator (I reported as lightly active, but if I do something like go for a 2 hour hike one day on top of my normal exercise I eat back some of that extra burn).
  • maddyk91
    maddyk91 Posts: 193 Member
    i dont go out of my way to eat them back, but i dont feel guilty if it happens. i am still losing a couple pounds every week. :)
  • Fasttrack2freedom
    Fasttrack2freedom Posts: 122 Member
    This is a great discussion and I'm so glad for all the great info posted on this thread ! I ten to eat about 1/2 back but like what was said earlier I'm not pressured to eat back or feel guilty when I do :)

Categories