Eating back exercise calories?

xostarchickaxo · February 2011

I'm new to this site, and just started my weight loss a couple weeks ago.

This may sound like a really dumb question, but I figured there's no better place to ask it.

I've never really done much dieting or counting calories before, but I see that when I log exercise, it adds that many calories to my daily calorie goal. If my daily calorie goal is 1460 to lose two pounds per week, does it really make sense to eat back my exercise calories? I generally burn off 600-800 every other day, meaning that if I didn't eat them back on those days I exercise, my net intake is only 660-860 calories for that day. I know that seems really low, but wouldn't less calorie intake mean more weight loss?

I guess, what I'm trying to ask is, what's the point of eating them back and how does it help you any in weight loss? I just don't understand the logic of it.

sarahtroupe · February 2011

Hello!!! And yes u are supposed to eat ur execise cal.. Otherwise it puts your body into starvation mode.... Hope this helps ... Good Luck

hajjcomb · February 2011

It's a great question. The short answer is if you run too great of a calorie deficit your metabolism will slow down and burn less fat. Our bodies are very good at adapting, and the body thinks it is adapting to a starvation period- low food supply- so it tries to retain fat to make up for it. Must be evolutionary from the days when food supplies varied more.

lacaze01 · February 2011

If you like reading get the book by Dr. Oz called You On A Diet...it is a really easy read and had helped me tremendously in learning how our body actually works etc. I am not finished yet, but it is also pretty entertaining!

SallyGirl523 · February 2011

If you look in the Newbies Please Read (2nd Edition) post, there is a great, very thorough explanation for why its so important to eat back your exercise calories. I just read it today. The very basic in a nutshell gist is, if you run to great a deficit, your metabolism will slow way down, and over an extended period of time, you will cease to lose weight. Its very informative!

lizvanb · February 2011

i'm not a doctor or specialist so i don't have ALL the details but i can tell you that yes, sometimes lowering your calorie intake can help weight loss, but in order to lose weight you still have to stay ABOVE a certain amount of calories. otherwise your body thinks you are starving yourself. basically, MFP tells you how many calories you need to consume, including exercise. because if you eat 1400 calories and burn 800, you're really only CONSUMING 600. also, eating helps maintain your metabolism, so if you eat too little your metabolism slows down. i know it seems a little counterproductive, and just so you know you don't have to eat back ALL your exercise calories.

shusemann · February 2011

It is very important to eat at least 1200 calories a day. That means if you burn 400 a day, you need to eat 1600. There are several reasons for this. The most important is that with the excerise, you are building muscle and doing cardio work for your heart and metabolism. You have to have the calories to feed the muscle and metabolism. The second reason is that if you eat less than 1200 (plus the amount you burn) you will put your body into starvation mode. Trust me, I have experienced this. I was eating 1200 a day and not eating back what I burned. I was sick, sluggish, and started to not loose the pounds. I started eating back the calories I burned, and started dropping it fast. You could cut back to 1200 and not burn any calories and still loose pounds, but it is much healthier to be able to eat more and build the muscle and metabolism that will burn more calories while you are at rest. Hope this helps.