Conflicting info EVERYWHERE: Eating back exercise calories, or not? ? ? ? ?
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I agree with what many others have said; you found what works for you so, as long as you have enough energy to deal with your workouts and go about your normal daily business and are eating enough nutritious food to stay healthy then it's all good. Stick with it - honestly, I got so confused by the avalanche of conflicting opinions and information whenever I talked about dieting that I decided to quietly go about my business without talking about exactly how I'm doing it. The essence of it is consistency of effort with a calorie deficit and regular exercise. I choose not to spend my energy debating the details anywhere but in my own head.
Your body is the end game. Learning to listen to its needs is a skill I've finally started to develop and I'm loving the freedom to do what I know to be right for me.0 -
LosinMama1966 wrote: »
Try the last. If that doesn't provide result. Try the middle. If that doesn't provide result, try the first.SetFreeEmily wrote: »-eating back NO exercise calories
-eating back some/a percentage of exercise calories
-eating back ALL your exercise calories (making your "Net" and "Goal" calories on MFP match)
Why would she try any of these if the way she was doing it BEFORE was working perfectly and she was losing...did you even read the thread?
Did you even parse what I wrote?
I'll make it as simple as possible.
Go with one plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained... etc. etc. etc.
Basic logic, paired with performance analysis in order to find the appropriate course of action. It's pretty basic.0 -
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LosinMama1966 wrote: »LosinMama1966 wrote: »
Try the last. If that doesn't provide result. Try the middle. If that doesn't provide result, try the first.SetFreeEmily wrote: »-eating back NO exercise calories
-eating back some/a percentage of exercise calories
-eating back ALL your exercise calories (making your "Net" and "Goal" calories on MFP match)
Why would she try any of these if the way she was doing it BEFORE was working perfectly and she was losing...did you even read the thread?
Did you even parse what I wrote?
I'll make it as simple as possible.
Go with one plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained... etc. etc. etc.
Basic logic, paired with performance analysis in order to find the appropriate course of action. It's pretty basic.
She had already said she had found what had worked for her and changed for other people and now she's BACK to the way that was working before so your post is NULL AND VOID...
Careful, LosinMama. You may displace me from the spot this user has assigned me as the "most negative user on MFP with no redeeming posts"
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LosinMama1966 wrote: »LosinMama1966 wrote: »
Try the last. If that doesn't provide result. Try the middle. If that doesn't provide result, try the first.SetFreeEmily wrote: »-eating back NO exercise calories
-eating back some/a percentage of exercise calories
-eating back ALL your exercise calories (making your "Net" and "Goal" calories on MFP match)
Why would she try any of these if the way she was doing it BEFORE was working perfectly and she was losing...did you even read the thread?
Did you even parse what I wrote?
I'll make it as simple as possible.
Go with one plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained... etc. etc. etc.
Basic logic, paired with performance analysis in order to find the appropriate course of action. It's pretty basic.
She had already said she had found what had worked for her and changed for other people and now she's BACK to the way that was working before so your post is NULL AND VOID...
Careful, LosinMama. You may displace me from the spot this user has assigned me as the "most negative user on MFP with no redeeming posts"
oh there is an award for that?? damnit- I didn't know- I'll have to try harder!!!0 -
Working-my-A**-off-Emily
great job
Yes Indeed, You are a prodigy..Sticking to what has been working..the confusion i see isnt all the advice..Its not understanding that for those whose metabolism mirrors or approximate the lab conditions for which the calories in and calories out system was created glitches in outcomes will result.
when CICO was first concocted it was a homogenous society..lab experiments back then were performed not on a mix race of people, not in the age of fast foods, not in atime where women were fully in the work force.. they were still at home waitng for hubby to get home to serve supper. In fact CICO was designed to protect the elites from having their homes ransacked because those without jobs were getting sick and tired of eating slop in the bread lines while they saw Henry Ford, Carnegie, Firestone, Post, kellogg flaunt their wealth and good eating. It was kool to flaunt wealth back then and it took its toll on those who were hungry...
It was kellogg Post and the a few Scientists at the Then yet formed FDA at the inner circle of the White House who came up with the recommended Daily allowance idea for non working moms
mean while fast forward 50 60 now 70 years the fitness craze came along, then dieting .CICO was now a died in the wool concept because while it calmed the very hungry natives about food quality and calorie sufficiency back then its reeking havoc on every dieting plan and persons following it today.
Your friends are simply a product of a hoodwinking thats been buried in the food diaries of history.
You are doing things right.. If i were to give you a tip..it would be to calculate your protein number [Pn#], measure your replenishment index [Rpndx%], so you can authenticate validate and verify the amount and frequency of whole food protein you need to keep your lipolytic enzyme counts up.. as once they hit their half life unwanted body fat results will stop all of a sudden..
This is another glitch yone of just 25 most prevalent you will and those like you will 100% fall victim too.
If you wnat to know more or need unbiased answers to debug the rest of the confusing info.. friend me..
Dances with Wow..I appreciate you using this forum to showcase what my book has identified with countless million of dieters..
helping you and those like you stop dieting do-overs
Indomitable life force through fitness is coming0 -
LosinMama1966 wrote: »LosinMama1966 wrote: »
Try the last. If that doesn't provide result. Try the middle. If that doesn't provide result, try the first.SetFreeEmily wrote: »-eating back NO exercise calories
-eating back some/a percentage of exercise calories
-eating back ALL your exercise calories (making your "Net" and "Goal" calories on MFP match)
Why would she try any of these if the way she was doing it BEFORE was working perfectly and she was losing...did you even read the thread?
Did you even parse what I wrote?
I'll make it as simple as possible.
Go with one plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained then:
Go with the next plan. Analyze it. If desired result is not gained... etc. etc. etc.
Basic logic, paired with performance analysis in order to find the appropriate course of action. It's pretty basic.
She had already said she had found what had worked for her and changed for other people and now she's BACK to the way that was working before so your post is NULL AND VOID...
Careful, LosinMama. You may displace me from the spot this user has assigned me as the "most negative user on MFP with no redeeming posts"
oh there is an award for that?? damnit- I didn't know- I'll have to try harder!!!
Ha! We need a yelp style board where we can leave reviews for each other. Now that would be an amusing train wreck to watch.
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well I eat back my calories. I tried doing it the way a well trained PT/competitive bodybuilder told me, not eating back the calories and always eating the same amount calorie wise, I did lose but I also lost lean mass! so I switched back to eating my calories back and I actually managed to get some lean mass back
while still losing fat! 0 -
tigersword wrote: »As I see it, I need to maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight - every calorie counts. I work hard to get a calorie deficit and I am not going to waste that hard work for a few seconds of eating pleasure. So no eating back any exercise calories for me.
If someone can come up with a science-verifiable reason why I MUST eat back my exercise calories, I will look at their evidence. Rumour, anecdotes, the guy at the gym, Aunt Flossie, TV shows, iffy web sites do not count as science-verifiable evidence.
Evidence? Easy. MFP is designed to have you eat back your exercise calories. The calorie deficit is already built into your calorie goal, before factoring in exercise.
OP the confusion you're experiencing is due to different methods of calculating calorie goals. MFP is set up with a deficit not including exercise, so you can lose weight without exercising. When you exercise, you add those calories back into keep a consistent deficit. People who don't use this site use a different method of calculating a calorie goal. That method includes exercise, so you wouldn't eat them back in that case. It's really six of one, half a dozen of the other, as both methods, when calculated correctly, should give about the same overall result.
^^^ this
the confusion lies in the fact that there is more than one way to create a calorie deficit
the MFP method you have a calorie deficit before you exercise and you're supposed to eat back your exercise calories - if you don't eat back the exercise calories there's a danger your deficit will be too big and you'll suffer from issues like feeling tired, run down, starving hungry, prone to binge eating etc......
the TDEE method you have a calorie goal that already has your exercise calories factored in, so if you don't exercise, you won't get a big enough calorie deficit, and if you eat back your exercise calories you're basically eating your exercise calories twice and you'll lose your deficit.
In effect, you're eating back exercise calories with either method, just with the TDEE method they're already in your daily calorie goal.
You're doing the MFP method, and it's working for you so stick with it. Personally, I use the TDEE method (when logging, which I'm not currently) and don't log or eat back exercise calories because I find it such a PITA to calculate them accurately. But either method you end up eating around the same amount of calories, it's just calculated a different way. Use whichever one works for you.0 -
That's the most frustrating thing about any of this - for any idea you may find you can always find an "expert" telling you that it's completely wrong...0
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This is what my doctor & dietician told me:
1 - Don't eat back exercise calories. Most people underestimate what they eat, most machines & computers overestimate calories burned.
2 - Eat 10x your healthy goal weight (based on BMI) in calories.
In reality, what I do is most of the time I'm doing both of those, but once in a while I go over, eat back some of my exercise calories, and I don't stress about it... because I'm usually well under. It's working for me.
(And don't worry too much about BMR. My total/actual calorie intake has been consistently under my BMR for months. Net is waaaaay under. My doctors are happy with my health, in every possible way.)
If that's what works for you, do it. Why listen to anyone else? You're feeling better, sleeping better, losing inches. Keep doing what you're doing!I've been really lacking energy lately, eating between 1375-1500 cals a day. I weigh 180lbs approx, and I work out 1 hr, 6 days a week.
I decided to 'trial' this eating less thing, and here's what's happened:
I have less energy, I am dragging my body to the gym and forcing my workouts, and my weight plateaued solidly. That was my whole month of Mid-Aug through Sept- eating 1250-1400 cals max, with the same workout schedule. It sucked.
Now it's October, and 'Im back to the way I was doing things before. After only 10 days my inches have dropped again; I'm not hungry, I'm sleeping better and have decent energy.
It was wrong of them to embarrass you & castigate you, especially in front of anyone else.In front of those friends, I was told I was doing things wrong, and that they would help me do it right and get better results. I was embarrassed and frustrated...
Someone give me some advice here - I don't want to talk to the people at my gym about it.
They're jerks.
I'd avoid them too. I might talk with the manager.
I'm guessing that they probably charge for their services, and that's why they're trying to tell you you need their help?
One of the people who said it to me, WAS the manager. I realized after the fact--- reading all the info people have shared, and in trying to understand the different ways people track calories, I realize the mistake he made. He didnt even inquire fully, as to HOW I was tracking. All I said was, I eat back my exercise calories, and BOOM: "Well then you're doing it wrong."
If he had asked me if I was already using a deficit, and so on, his response may have been different. But he is a gym manager and he didnt even bother to ask- not to mention that his comments caused me to question my health and decisions, and choose a method that cost me energy, and a month of my time in (NO) results.
And yes, he has something to sell that another staff tried to jam down my throat the next week. (I wont be training or buying anything from these guys. I'll train elsewhere)
Oh well. Im back doing what I was doing, and Ive dropped another half a size in 2 weeks. I'll be down to a size 13 by the end of the month by eating back my calories.
Inquiry, SOLVED! What I am doing is working and I FEEL healthy and balanced doing it this way. Thank you everyone for your comments.
XOXO
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Disclaimer: I only skimmed through your post. My reply is answering the question outlined in your title about whether you should eat back your exercise calories...
It depends on how you set your calorie goal. There are 2 ways you can do this:
1. The MFP method
The number that MFP spits out after you plug in all your numbers is the minimum number of calories you should be eating each day. If you exercise, then you're burning more calories so you should be eating those back. As to how much of your exercise calories you should be eating back, I'm not sure, but you need that extra fuel on top of whatever number MFP gave you in order to keep your energy up.
2. The TDEE method
If you are using the TDEE method, then no, you do not have to eat your exercise calories. Unlike the MFP method, TDEE takes into account that you will burn x amount of calories throughout the week. Your calorie goal will therefore already incorporate your calorie burn.
Here's a helpful link about calculating your calorie goal the TDEE way: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/974889
Hope this helps!0 -
Frankiigii wrote: »You know you're doing it right because it's working. You're losing weight AND feel healthy. That's gold right there. If they keep bugging you tell them what you're doing is working for you, but thanks for the advice. The best way to figure out what works for you is exactly what you've been doing, experiment, track your results and stick with what your body responds best to.
^ ^ ^ This so much ^ ^ ^
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The number you set your daily calorie goal at is already at a specific deficit as defined in your goals. If you don't eat back your exercise calorie burn, you are simply adding to that deficit.
If your calorie goal is 1700, and you go running for an hour and burn 700, if you ONLY eat 1700 calories (let's say it is at a 500 Calorie per day deficit), you are saying that your body will only use 1500 calories in the other 23 hours of the day, which for most people is way too low. I would burn that each day if I just lied in bed and watched tv all day. I am 5'9", 208, and have a sedentary lifestyle at this point. I burn about 2500-3000 Calories each day, give or take based on changes in daily activity, which is constantly variable. My goal is set to 2044, and I always allow myself to eat back the workout calories.
I don't know your stats, but this is a bigger problem for more petit people, as their calorie burns are still typically high, but are a greater percentage of their calorie goals.
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Thank you everyone. I finally had time to finish reading ALL the updates.
In December 2015 I found a website called em2wl.com
(Eat more to weigh less.com) and I shot my cals up to 2600 a day and WOW THE INCHES started peeling off!!!
Jan 9th I started Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping (google FXB Andover to see my local website) and their program insists women be at 1400-1800 cals for the deficit effect. I have continued eating 1900-2100 cals and Im now at week 10 of this program, dropping pounds and inches and ITS FINALLY HAPPENING "BIG" for me. Right program and right food. I ignore what they say and listen to my body.
Thank you all for telling me to listen to my body. It has made all the difference.
Add me!
remaking_me
Lets drop lbs together. Im in beast mode!!!!!!!
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