My take on exercise calories (please read if you are new!!)

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Celo24
Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
in Food and Nutrition
It seems like a lot of people are confused about whether or not to eat back your exercise calories. That is an endless debate around here but here's how I look at it (and it's worked GREAT for me):

When you signed up for MFP, they asked how much weight you wanted to lose weekly. Since I don't know what each individual person put, I'll use myself as an example. I told them I wanted to lose 1 pound every week. My body - based on height and weight - naturally burns about 2300 calories a day. So, MFP gave me a daily NET calorie goal of 1840 (NET = calories eaten - calories burned). So, even without working out for one minute, I had a daily deficit built in of about 500 calories. That equals 3500 calories a week, which is the deficit necessary to lose one pound. So, even without exercise, MFP had me set up to lose 1 pound a week.

When I hit the gym, I typically burn between 500-1300 calories, depending on my workout that day. On a day that I burn 500-800 calories, I try my best to eat them all back but I'm not going to worry about it if I am 100-200 short. On the days when I have calorie burns of 1000+, there is zero chance of eating them all back so I do the best I can. I do try and eat a lot of calorie dense foods and get as many calories as possible.

The key is the NET calories. Let's say I had a day when I burned 1000 calories and ate just the 1840 MFP set up for me. My body is running on only 840 calories that day, which is not enough fuel. One day of that wouldn't be any big deal, but an extended period of days like that will cause your metabolism to slow down (hence the "starvation mode" you hear about on here). You want your metabolism high and constantly running. A slow metabolism will make it much harder to lose weight. So when you don't eat back any of your exercise calories, you are depriving your body of fuel it needs to run efficiently.

The other part of this is once you reach your goal weight. I am pretty much there and now, I have to eat 2000 calories daily. It is sometimes hard to find ways to do that, but peanut butter, avocado, nuts and other protein and calorie dense foods help a lot. If you become used to eating a very small amount of calories, it's going to make life even more difficult once you get to your goal and "maintenance mode" and have to eat more than what you are eating now just to maintain everything you have worked so hard to achieve.

I'm not a trainer, I'm not an expert but I have been on here since December 2010 and am down 20 pounds. I have increased my fitness level dramatically and I've accomplished more than I ever thought possible. You may choose do things differently than I do and that's fine. But this worked for me and if it helps clear things up for one person, then I am happy.

Good luck to you all in accomplishing your goals!!
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Replies

  • Pril2000
    Pril2000 Posts: 254 Member
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    Thank you for posting.

    I find that I go through cycles. I will have a few weeks where I find it hard to stay under my calorie limit (even with exercise calories) and then there will be weeks where I find it hard to eat even 1200 net calories a day. I don't know if it's hormones or what, but I just do my best to stay over 1200. I don't know what I'll do when I enter maintenance and can have up to 1900 calories a day. That's like an insane amount it seems. Lol.

    Cheers to you and your success!
  • Ginalilly
    Ginalilly Posts: 7
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    Thanks that was a good read and something `i was wondering about...
    probably a good reason why I don't seem to shift weight is exactly due to me not eating those calories burned!
  • Sprocket11
    Sprocket11 Posts: 2
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    i was considering not adding my exercise on here so that i was only sticking to the first calculated calorie allowance, but am please to hear i probably shouldnt. heres looking forward to losing 20lbs!
  • starboardzor
    starboardzor Posts: 312
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    I agree completely. MFP only gives me 1420 calories to work with each day and that's to lose 1/2 pound a week while living a sedentary lifestyle (I work 50 hours a week at a desk). That is just not enough calories to sustain me if I'm also working out 6 days a week. I eat back my calories. In fact it motivates me to work out, since it means more leniency when it comes to meal planning. Now if I don't work out, I feel like bummed because I have to watch my calorie intake extra hard.
  • Pange33
    Pange33 Posts: 63
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    Thanks for that! Will keep in mind. I have a hard time eating all my calories too, especially on days I workout, I try to have semi-high calorie post workout snacks that are at least 300+ calories, and full of nutrients (like my plant-based protein powder mixed w/ soymilk, or a clif bar on my walk home from the gym). Those snacks definitely help, but sometimes I still find it hard to get them all in. I've trained myself over the past 2 years to only eat when I'm hungry, but I think sometimes even though I can feel hungry, it's easy to ignore it. And then I check in to MPF and see that I NEED to eat! If I'm not hungry though, like at breakfast, I try to always eat a "snack" that's at least 100 calories, like a banana or a handful of almonds. But your suggestions are really helpful, thanks! :)
  • Bmorrow
    Bmorrow Posts: 169
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    Thanks...easiest explanation of eating back exercise calories yet. Makes sense, but my head still has a hard time grabbing onto it...I'm trying! Congratulations on your success!
  • Aitenev
    Aitenev Posts: 62
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    Nicely said! I am also living proof that eating back as many exercise calories as possible is important. I was at a plateau for about a month and a half before I started eating more to make up for the exercise calories. I started losing weight again almost overnight! Thanks for the post.
  • WashingtonGrown
    WashingtonGrown Posts: 97
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    Thank you for your input! That is how I understood it as well. It's not meant to go over board but to at least make your "goal" calories. I just started using this site over the weekend, but started my weight loss journey on a different program (points system) and I lost 11 lbs in less than 2 months. While I am not seriously over weight, that is a lot of weight. But then I stalled out, and went 2 weeks without losing a lb. AS soon as I started this site, took what I was logging on the other site, and plugging it in here I noticed I wasn't eating enough. So I started eating a little more (200 ish more calories) and lost a lb. I'm currently on my way to another lb this week. I don't eat all my exercise calories back but I make sure I am not below 1200 net calories each day.
  • jreese5226
    jreese5226 Posts: 328 Member
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    My husband asked me that question yesterday and I admitted to him that I didn't have a clue if he had to make up for all the calories he burned doing exercise during the day. We already struggle getting to the calorie goal that MFP set for us without workouts. I guess more planning will be in order. We tend to do our workouts at night and afterward, the last thing we want to do is stuff our faces to make up for the calories we just burned. We'll have to find ways to eat our fuel before-hand.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    This is an ongoing discussion on MFP and probably on other fitness sites too. Most people think to lose weight is to restrict calories. That's it. BUT if you restrict too much it has the opposite effect. The body has this wonderful ability to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances.

    Then you get to hear "anorexics lose weight by restricting calories". That is not the same thing. Anorexics aren't burning fat. Their body is burning muscle, shutting down organs and systems to conserve fuel, basically destroying their insides. But they aren't burning any fat because their body has none to spare. They are on a Starvation Diet. Starvation Mode is a biological response. Not the same thing.

    What's so interesting is the ones who are saying you don't need to eat your exercise calories are the little ones - the ones already at a healthy weight yet they want to be underweight. The little ones are the ones who should be eating ALL OF THEM because their calorie deficit is already so low.

    I gained almost 20 in under a year from "not eating". Coffee during the day, munching in the evening and what I wanted to eat on the weekends (I won't get into my sugar issues). Now I eat 4 meals or more a day and I have lost weight. I love burning calories because then I can eat more.

    So thank you for putting this back out here. Hopefully more people will listen.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    My husband asked me that question yesterday and I admitted to him that I didn't have a clue if he had to make up for all the calories he burned doing exercise during the day. We already struggle getting to the calorie goal that MFP set for us without workouts. I guess more planning will be in order. We tend to do our workouts at night and afterward, the last thing we want to do is stuff our faces to make up for the calories we just burned. We'll have to find ways to eat our fuel before-hand.

    I do mine in the evening. It can be hard but once you figure out your average calorie burn you can kind of "guess - timate" what you will need to eat. I've gotten better at it. And you can eat at night (our bodies are burning calories at night, too). I have some protein powder and a cup of milk every night within a couple hours of bedtime. It hasn't hurt me at all.
  • Kath712
    Kath712 Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I agree completely. MFP only gives me 1420 calories to work with each day and that's to lose 1/2 pound a week while living a sedentary lifestyle (I work 50 hours a week at a desk). That is just not enough calories to sustain me if I'm also working out 6 days a week. I eat back my calories. In fact it motivates me to work out, since it means more leniency when it comes to meal planning. Now if I don't work out, I feel like bummed because I have to watch my calorie intake extra hard.

    Ditto! Thanks for the original post, too! Makes a lot of sense.
  • preeti1234
    preeti1234 Posts: 3 Member
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    This is the best explanation ever :)
  • johnblackmur
    johnblackmur Posts: 51
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    I've been trying to eat back my calories based on the ideas posted here, I'm down 9 pounds in 2 weeks and apart from a caffeine low, which i didn't prepare for :( I'm felling great try and keep my net calories between 1,000-1,500 it works for me so I'm sticking to it.
  • ckkh
    ckkh Posts: 35 Member
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    A great explanation by Celo24! I would add that using a HR monitor (either alone or linked to a workout machine such as a treadmill) gives a much more accurate reflection of cal burned.
  • LCardo24
    LCardo24 Posts: 56
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    Really informative post. I felt like I had a pretty good understanding, but this made it even more clear. It's hard to fight against that assumption that less calories is better, no matter what, but your explanation is perfect.

    Thanks!
  • achojnacki
    achojnacki Posts: 66 Member
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    I figure with exercise calories I should eat them if I am hungry. If I burn alot of calories I try to refuel.
  • mblanch
    mblanch Posts: 81 Member
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    Well said. I always try and eat my exercise calories and have lost 24 pounds since january 4th :)
  • maddiesmommy1111
    maddiesmommy1111 Posts: 9
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    Thanks for the post this was great to know seeing as I just started the program over the weekend!! Thanks a bunch!
  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
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    I do agree that MFP starts us out with a deficit and perhaps all exercise calories should be eaten. The real problem comes in trying to accurately come up with how many calories were actually burned. I know that I can go for a 45 minute FAST walk in a very hilly neighborhood and my HRM will say I burned something like 450 calories. If I put in a fast walk into MFP it will give me over 600 calories. Which of those do I trust. Personally, I really feel like both are probably overestimates. I don't want to eat 600 extra calories for a 45 minute walk. If I would have been sitting around the house for that 45 minutes I would have burned about 70-80 calories so I definitely need to subtract these from whatever I "eat back". I don't know if everyone does this, but regardless of how badly I want to credit myself with a tremendous amount of calories burned, it doesn't help my weight loss if the number isn't accurate. I usually give myself half of what my HRM says and try to eat that much. It keeps my net calories around 1200. I know that heart rate monitors are the best estimate we have, but even they just estimate. There is really no way to know.

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