Do you eat back your exercise calories?

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  • Shalaurise
    Shalaurise Posts: 707 Member
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    I did not used to eat them back and I was seeing regular consistent weight loss. Now that I have started to (mostly cause I have lost track of eating right/appropriate amounts) I do, but I have seen nearly no weight loss since that started.
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
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    Yep I eat back roughly 85% of my calories burned through exercise leaving 15% for error in calculations and lost weight... I am a firm believer that you must fuel your body for the workout you are demanding of it to do....... Best of Luck

    See, this is me. On the days like yesterday where I ran a very hard 4 mile run, followed by heavy deadlifts, I would've been famished had I stuck to the 1,500 calories normally recommended!

    The folks that aren't eating your calories back at all - do you find those days you're hungrier???
  • terri_journey
    terri_journey Posts: 287 Member
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    The advice from a personal trainer and physical therapist were to NOT eat back what MFP recommended because it was much too high. At first I was eating them back, but now I will not. I am just starting to work out regularly and it makes me proud to not eat them back.
    this is what I was told and so I usually don't eat any of mine back.
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
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    Yes, it's working for me. I have my settings targeted for losing 2 pounds/week, and eat back my exercise calories. I have been losing an average of 2 pounds per week, so I'm quite happy with it.
  • curiousgemfit
    curiousgemfit Posts: 42 Member
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    Yep I eat back roughly 85% of my calories burned through exercise leaving 15% for error in calculations and lost weight... I am a firm believer that you must fuel your body for the workout you are demanding of it to do....... Best of Luck

    ^^^ Hmm.. ok, thinking aloud here.. If I eat back most of my calories, I won't have much of a calorie deficit. So, how will my body experience a weight loss? Wouldn't what you suggested be more relevant closer to the maintenance period? I am just wondering how it works..
  • El_Cunado
    El_Cunado Posts: 359 Member
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    Yes, When I was trying to lose weight I ate 70 to 75 percent back and lost an average of 8 pounds a month.
  • bethanyboomstick
    bethanyboomstick Posts: 52 Member
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    I eat back a little, but not much at all.
  • cookmtn
    cookmtn Posts: 156 Member
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    The deficit is built in already. That being said, I play competitive badminton which is NOT steady state so I eat back only half.
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
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    Yep I eat back roughly 85% of my calories burned through exercise leaving 15% for error in calculations and lost weight... I am a firm believer that you must fuel your body for the workout you are demanding of it to do....... Best of Luck

    ^^^ Hmm.. ok, thinking aloud here.. If I eat back most of my calories, I won't have much of a calorie deficit. So, how will my body experience a weight loss? Wouldn't what you suggested be more relevant closer to the maintenance period? I am just wondering how it works..
    The idea is that you already establish a calorie deficit. Say your BMR + your activity level works out to you needing 2400 calories a day just to maintain your current weight. A 500 calorie per day reduction should work out to roughly 1 lb per week of weight loss. So you target 1900 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week.

    So, if on a given day you eat exactly 1900 calories, but then go for a run and burn 500 calories, you have now netted only 1400 calories for the day because you just burned 500 calories you had not previously accounted for in your calculations (BMR + sedentary, nowhere in there is a 500 calorie burn figured in).

    Given that, if you eat back that 500 calories, you are still on target to lose 1 pound per week, because that puts you back to your 1900 "net calories/day" goal.

    For me, why this is important is that I am targeting 2 pounds per week of weight loss, which is about as high of a safe recommended level that any sane long term weight loss is good for. That means a net reduction of 1000 calories per day. If I do a long run burning 800 calories, plus that 1000 calorie deficit, I have a total deficit of 1800 calories that day, roughly a 3.5 pound per week calorie reduction. That is not sustainable long term, my body will run out of energy or start storing extra energy as fat to compensate for not taking in enough.

    That's the theory.

    All I know is that I am still losing 2 pounds per week after several weeks of eating back my calories. I'm happy with that. It works. Keep in mind that my target daily calories is a 1000 calorie reduction to begin with, so I am only eating back calories to that point, so that in total I have a 1000 calorie per day reduction even after eating back the exercise calories. If I don't exercise, I don't eat anything back.
  • loralye211
    loralye211 Posts: 29 Member
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    The only time I do that is if I'm having a day when ice cream cannot be denied. Or if I go somewhere that I have little choice of what to eat. Generally, I like to see that net calorie number go down looooowww ⏬
  • wanttobethin66
    wanttobethin66 Posts: 2
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    I haven't been. I lost 17.6 pounds in 30 days. Depends on how quickly you want to lose. If you are still hungry after your required calories, I would eat the additional they give back to you.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Yep I eat back roughly 85% of my calories burned through exercise leaving 15% for error in calculations and lost weight... I am a firm believer that you must fuel your body for the workout you are demanding of it to do....... Best of Luck

    ^^^ Hmm.. ok, thinking aloud here.. If I eat back most of my calories, I won't have much of a calorie deficit. So, how will my body experience a weight loss? Wouldn't what you suggested be more relevant closer to the maintenance period? I am just wondering how it works..

    My calorie deficit has already been established in to daily caloric intake so any calories burned through exercise have nothing to do with my weight loss but as more to do with refueling my body for the exercise that I am asking it to do.... If your using the MFP approach than this is they way you should be doing it unless you are doing TDEE if that is the case then your exercise calories are already calculated in.....
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    I haven't been. I lost 17.6 pounds in 30 days. Depends on how quickly you want to lose. If you are still hungry after your required calories, I would eat the additional they give back to you.

    Wait...You've been losing an average of 5 lbs a week? That's ridiculously unhealthy.

    Not being hungry =/= eating enough
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    I don't but I also eat 2350 a day, every day, whether I exercise or not. Through trial and error, I've determined my TDEE and eat a stagnant amount. If you pick an aggressive deficit, definitely eat back those calories. You need to fuel yourself. Losing weight doesn't mean starving
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
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    To most questions people pose like this, I say do what works for you. You have to have a plan that you can live with and sustain. I don't eat my exercise calories back, but if I was hungry and needed to, I would eat a small portion of them. As long as you're energy levels and health is good, do what works for you.
  • wgaue
    wgaue Posts: 222 Member
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    I eat back some. On an occasion, I'll eat all.
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
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    Wait...You've been losing an average of 5 lbs a week? That's ridiculously unhealthy.

    With all due respect, this made me laugh. Being morbidly obese is ridiculously unhealthy. If I can get all the food, nutrients, cardio, and weight training I need and lose 5 lbs. a week, there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
  • Remington871
    Remington871 Posts: 4
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    I usually don't but most people that I have seen on here do or a portion of them. I would suggest, do what your body is telling you. If you're hungry eat something small to help. If you're exercising and or being active you're going to need to eat to fuel your body.
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    Wait...You've been losing an average of 5 lbs a week? That's ridiculously unhealthy.

    With all due respect, this made me laugh. Being morbidly obese is ridiculously unhealthy. If I can get all the food, nutrients, cardio, and weight training I need and lose 5 lbs. a week, there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

    This person has 23 lbs left to lose. I am under the assumption they are neither morbidly obese or under a doctor's supervision. So yes, I stand by unhealthy.

    Getting a proper caloric amount to fuel your body is a necessity. While someone with more weight to lose can take it a bit more aggressively, it isn't the standard for everyone to do so.

    Less weight means less fat. Less fat means the body is more likely to use muscle as well as fat for energy. I don't think most people who get so fixated on the scale realize that if they forget that muscle is important, they are likely to end up skinny fat and unhappy with the end results. It's why I gave up a goal weight and focused on fueling myself l properly focusing on mirror and measurements over all else
  • curiousgemfit
    curiousgemfit Posts: 42 Member
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    Yep I eat back roughly 85% of my calories burned through exercise leaving 15% for error in calculations and lost weight... I am a firm believer that you must fuel your body for the workout you are demanding of it to do....... Best of Luck

    ^^^ Hmm.. ok, thinking aloud here.. If I eat back most of my calories, I won't have much of a calorie deficit. So, how will my body experience a weight loss? Wouldn't what you suggested be more relevant closer to the maintenance period? I am just wondering how it works..
    The idea is that you already establish a calorie deficit. Say your BMR + your activity level works out to you needing 2400 calories a day just to maintain your current weight. A 500 calorie per day reduction should work out to roughly 1 lb per week of weight loss. So you target 1900 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week.

    So, if on a given day you eat exactly 1900 calories, but then go for a run and burn 500 calories, you have now netted only 1400 calories for the day because you just burned 500 calories you had not previously accounted for in your calculations (BMR + sedentary, nowhere in there is a 500 calorie burn figured in).

    Given that, if you eat back that 500 calories, you are still on target to lose 1 pound per week, because that puts you back to your 1900 "net calories/day" goal.

    For me, why this is important is that I am targeting 2 pounds per week of weight loss, which is about as high of a safe recommended level that any sane long term weight loss is good for. That means a net reduction of 1000 calories per day. If I do a long run burning 800 calories, plus that 1000 calorie deficit, I have a total deficit of 1800 calories that day, roughly a 3.5 pound per week calorie reduction. That is not sustainable long term, my body will run out of energy or start storing extra energy as fat to compensate for not taking in enough.

    That's the theory.

    All I know is that I am still losing 2 pounds per week after several weeks of eating back my calories. I'm happy with that. It works. Keep in mind that my target daily calories is a 1000 calorie reduction to begin with, so I am only eating back calories to that point, so that in total I have a 1000 calorie per day reduction even after eating back the exercise calories. If I don't exercise, I don't eat anything back.

    Ok, that was beautifully explained! Thanks for taking the time to give me such an elaborate answer. Appreciate it :)

    But I still have a question for you.

    You said that MFP calculates my calorie deficit using my original input of "sedentary" lifestyle.
    But, now that I have incorporated exercise into my daily life, I am no longer sedentary. So, does this mean that the calorie calculation MFP did for me is no longer relevant?
    Do I need to change my settings to update my new lifestyle which includes exercise?

    Thanks again !

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