To eat, or not to eat...

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Shygirl301
Shygirl301 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Guys,

I have a quick question:

Should I or should I not eat the calories that I have burned off with exercise? And, if I don't, will mfp say I am eating too little?

This is a little confusing so if anyone can give me some info and advice that would be amazing.

Thanks!

Replies

  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
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    EAT! (There are tons of posts that will tell you the hows and whys, but the simple answer is yes, EAT the calories you burn.)
  • Naomi91
    Naomi91 Posts: 892 Member
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    search "should I eat my exercise calories"

    an you will find many great answers
  • captaincraveman
    captaincraveman Posts: 6
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    Calories lost due to exercise just adds to weight loss. If you eat back the calories burned, you will remain stagnant.
  • tammyr76
    tammyr76 Posts: 174
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    Even if I earn extra calories from exercise I still try to stay under my starting calories of the day...Unless you are getting hungry then eat a healthy snack so you don't binge later....
    Sometimes as a reward for exercising and earning calories I will allow myself a 1/2 cup of sherbet after dinner......
    Good Luck to you....
  • EmHert
    EmHert Posts: 3
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    I try not to eat my calories back b/c I feel like that's going backwards. However, I do reward myself with a treat - just not ALL of the calories. Like if I burn 350 calories, I might eat back 100 of them. Good luck!
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    Calories lost due to exercise just adds to weight loss. If you eat back the calories burned, you will remain stagnant.

    Please visit The URL - http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Figure out the calorie deficit you want. Figure out your calories burned. Do the math. Eat your target.
  • maggie4097
    maggie4097 Posts: 156
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    I try not to eat my calories back b/c I feel like that's going backwards. However, I do reward myself with a treat - just not ALL of the calories. Like if I burn 350 calories, I might eat back 100 of them. Good luck!
  • ashmom86
    ashmom86 Posts: 117
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    Okay, so I understand this concept of eating back your calories BUT I have lost nearly 60 lbs with out eating back calories!! I just learned of the whole eating back calories when I joined MFP 10 days ago..I have lost 2 pounds since then, but then again I am coming nowhere close to eating back my calories let alone the calories I am allowed each day!! So Im lost as well...
  • maggie4097
    maggie4097 Posts: 156
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    I do the same thing, but I am at a plateau--so I am going to try not to eat the exercise calories, and see what happens! Hopefully, weight loss!


    Oops--I was trying to respond to someone else's comment about eating only a partial amount of your calories back. I guess I did it wrong. Anyway, she said if she burns 350, she may eat 100. I do the same thing, but I guess I need to change it up a little.
  • KidP
    KidP Posts: 247 Member
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    Someone who exercises & burns 1000 cals by working out & is allotted say 1800 cals per day by MFP would end up trying to survive on 800 cals that particular day if they didn't eat 'em back. Not an ideal situation for healthy weight loss. MFP already figures in a deficit (i.e. it takes calories off the top depending on your goals & then provides with a target amount like the 1800 mentioned earlier).

    Eat back your exercise calories because MFP has already taken your weight loss into account once you've set up your profile & goals. I'm not always able to eat them all back but i try to do so as much as i can.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Calories lost due to exercise just adds to weight loss. If you eat back the calories burned, you will remain stagnant.

    This is incorrect. You are intended to eat those calories and still lose weight. MFP creates a built in deficit, based on your chosen loss per week goal, regardless of exercise. That deficit remains whether you eat them or not. But if you don't eat them, you make the deficit larger than what you signed up for - which is usually unhealthy and unsustainable.

    Might help to read these threads on how MFP works and where it gets the numbers it gives you. :flowerforyou:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
  • Macacadopai
    Macacadopai Posts: 183 Member
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    I've just listened to my body, if Im hungry i eat a couple hundred more, but tried to stay with 1200. Ofc everyone is different, some people claim to go into "starvation mode" if they don't eat them back, others say they only started seeing results when they cut back from eating them. If I were you I'd try and see what works best for you :) If u feel like u need to eat them back then do, and if that isnt working cut back a bit and see what happens. There are lots of arguments and articles out there on this subject :smile: have a lovely easter!
  • srp2011
    srp2011 Posts: 1,829 Member
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    It depends. I know there are a lot of people on this site who swear up and down everyone has to eat back their exercise calories, which is really, really oversimplistic. It truly depends on a lot of factors. The main thing to consider is what daily deficit MFP has already built into your caloric intake - if it has you on track to lose 1-2 pounds per week or more, and you are average to tall in the height department, you should probably eat back those exercise calories as it suggests, because otherwise your body may go into starvation mode. If you are short, and if MFP has you set to lose .25 pounds per week because it has a preset minimum for everyone of 1200 calories, you probably will not lose any weight if you eat those exercise calories. If you are somewhere between those extremes, you could eat some of the calories back. Look at your weight loss and how you feel, also. If you are consistently low and not losing weight, you may need to eat more. If you are eating them back and not losing, you likely should eat less. Weight loss is really an individual thing - no 'one size fits all' approach.
  • Shygirl301
    Shygirl301 Posts: 11
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    Thanks for all the great input!
  • JAG1224
    JAG1224 Posts: 191 Member
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    i don't usually eat all my exercise calories back but i do eat some.. basically if i'm hungry and i have the calories, then i'll eat to avoid starving and binging later.. if i'm not hungry then i don't stress about the extra cals i haven't eaten.
  • LovelySnugs
    LovelySnugs Posts: 389
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    Okay, so I understand this concept of eating back your calories BUT I have lost nearly 60 lbs with out eating back calories!! I just learned of the whole eating back calories when I joined MFP 10 days ago..I have lost 2 pounds since then, but then again I am coming nowhere close to eating back my calories let alone the calories I am allowed each day!! So Im lost as well...

    you did okay not eating back your exercise calories before because you had a lot of spare weight to lose. as you get closer to your goal, my understanding is that it will get more and more difficult to keep losing if you don't change some stuff.

    here's a link for you (though you don't seem to have hit a plateau yet, it still has a lot of good advice for you to help prevent it): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677
  • ashmom86
    ashmom86 Posts: 117
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    Okay, so I understand this concept of eating back your calories BUT I have lost nearly 60 lbs with out eating back calories!! I just learned of the whole eating back calories when I joined MFP 10 days ago..I have lost 2 pounds since then, but then again I am coming nowhere close to eating back my calories let alone the calories I am allowed each day!! So Im lost as well...

    you did okay not eating back your exercise calories before because you had a lot of spare weight to lose. as you get closer to your goal, my understanding is that it will get more and more difficult to keep losing if you don't change some stuff.

    here's a link for you (though you don't seem to have hit a plateau yet, it still has a lot of good advice for you to help prevent it): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677

    I'll check it out! Thanks Lovely!
  • BrandNewMia
    BrandNewMia Posts: 461
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    Okay, so I understand this concept of eating back your calories BUT I have lost nearly 60 lbs with out eating back calories!! I just learned of the whole eating back calories when I joined MFP 10 days ago..I have lost 2 pounds since then, but then again I am coming nowhere close to eating back my calories let alone the calories I am allowed each day!! So Im lost as well...

    On the flip side, I've lost 43lbs since January, and I eat calories earned from exercise. If I DON'T exercise and have a rest day, I almost always end up going over my calories - and still lose weight :smile: So, my opinion - eat those calories!

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