Exercise, and eating your additional calories.. is this a No NO?

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champyhan1
champyhan1 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hi.. I am stuck and have read a load of posts and realise that I need to be even stricter with my diarying of food and liquid!
My bigggest issue is that I am not losing weight, YET I do more exercise than I have ever done and eat healthily! That said, I have read that just because you gain excess cals for doing exercise, you should NOT eat these back? can anyone clarify this.. i.e do i stick to my 1200 kclas even though I amburning 500 per day through over an hour swimming? Also does anyone have any good simming programmes to follow? I feel mine has become a bt stale and my body is now used to it!

Replies

  • PoisonIvy088
    PoisonIvy088 Posts: 107
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    You absolutely SHOULD eat back exercise calories. If you do, you will still be eating 1200. Because if you eat 1200 and burn off 500, it means your body only has 700 calories to function. What you should be aware of though, is that exercise burn is overestimated. So eat back only 50-75%.

    Or, if your exercise routine is consistent day in and day out, use the TDEE method instead.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    If you're following MFP's calorie goals, you're supposed to eat them back (but only 50-75%, as they're often underestimated). That being said, how long have you been trying to lose weight? Are you logging everything accurately and honestly, including using a food scale?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    You should eat some exercise calories back but if you're not losing weight, you're already eating more than you think. How long have you been eating at a deficit? What are your stats? Food scale?
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    edited February 2015
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    With the MyFitnessPal program, you SHOULD eat back your exercise calories, otherwise you are eating too little to attain your goals. E.g., I ate an extra 800 out of 1000 exercise calories yesterday and my weight loss program has been on-track. Note, I *do* take care to log everything that goes into my mouth, to weight calorie-dense items with a food scale, and to use the most accurate calories-burned indicator available (e.g., HRM > machine > database).

    (If you "cut corners", eating back fewer calories makes sense.)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    You should eat some exercise calories back but if you're not losing weight, you're already eating more than you think. How long have you been eating at a deficit? What are your stats? Food scale?

    I agree with this.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    The MFP method would have you eat back exercise calories as that is how you account for that activity with MFP (that activity isn't included in your activity level). That said, a common problem with this method is a tendency to underestimate intake and overestimate burn...the net effect of which can erase your calorie deficit.
  • champyhan1
    champyhan1 Posts: 5 Member
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    thanks for all responses.. I was calculalting everything (I thought), but I guess I will need to try harder! What is the TDEE method? I have been doing this for weeks now and I am eating so much less than I used to, and i expected significant changes..
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
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    I have learned that if I want to workout vigorously rather than slouch around on a stroll and call it a workout, I have to eat back my calories. Not every day, but it has to balance out for the week.
  • bunnywestley81
    bunnywestley81 Posts: 178 Member
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    Do you weigh your food? I even weigh lettuce. If you're guessing then how do you KNOW how much there is? And every tiny think needs to be logged!

    What do you drink? Water and zero calorie drinks can be ignored unless you're tracking intake...but its very easy to drink a lot of calories! Especially if its wine!
  • sjp_511
    sjp_511 Posts: 476 Member
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    champyhan1 wrote: »
    thanks for all responses.. I was calculalting everything (I thought), but I guess I will need to try harder! What is the TDEE method? I have been doing this for weeks now and I am eating so much less than I used to, and i expected significant changes..

    There has been some good advice so far. Weightloss is a slow process so you aren't going to see significant changes in a few weeks. How much are you trying to lose? What is your deficit? Very few people should be eating 1200 calories/day, even to lose weight. Set your deficit to have a loss of 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per week unless you have a significant amount of weight to lose.

    It is great that you are exercising and swimming can be a great workout. Just make sure you are keeping the intensity at a level where you are getting a good workout.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    champyhan1 wrote: »
    thanks for all responses.. I was calculalting everything (I thought), but I guess I will need to try harder! What is the TDEE method? I have been doing this for weeks now and I am eating so much less than I used to, and i expected significant changes..

    TDEE is a different way to count that already includes your exercise calories. You take 10-20% off that number to create your deficit.

    If you aren't losing, then you're eating more than you think. Invest in a food scale and make sure you log everything accurately and honestly.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    champyhan1 wrote: »
    hi.. I am stuck and have read a load of posts and realise that I need to be even stricter with my diarying of food and liquid!
    My bigggest issue is that I am not losing weight, YET I do more exercise than I have ever done and eat healthily! That said, I have read that just because you gain excess cals for doing exercise, you should NOT eat these back? can anyone clarify this.. i.e do i stick to my 1200 kclas even though I amburning 500 per day through over an hour swimming? Also does anyone have any good simming programmes to follow? I feel mine has become a bt stale and my body is now used to it!
    No amount of exercise can compensate for eating more calories than you're burning whether you are eating "healthy" or not. If you aren't losing weight then you aren't in a calorie deficit; it's almost always that simple. You are eating more calories than you think you are.

    Being more strict with your weighing/measuring food and logging it will bring about more results than more time spent swimming or a new routine.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    champyhan1 wrote: »
    hi.. I am stuck and have read a load of posts and realise that I need to be even stricter with my diarying of food and liquid!
    My bigggest issue is that I am not losing weight, YET I do more exercise than I have ever done and eat healthily! That said, I have read that just because you gain excess cals for doing exercise, you should NOT eat these back? can anyone clarify this.. i.e do i stick to my 1200 kclas even though I amburning 500 per day through over an hour swimming? Also does anyone have any good simming programmes to follow? I feel mine has become a bt stale and my body is now used to it!
    No amount of exercise can compensate for eating more calories than you're burning whether you are eating "healthy" or not. If you aren't losing weight then you aren't in a calorie deficit; it's almost always that simple. You are eating more calories than you think you are.

    Being more strict with your weighing/measuring food and logging it will bring about more results than more time spent swimming or a new routine.

    Unless you spend enough time swimming that it puts you back into a deficit, but most of us don't have that kind of time :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Yeah, eat back about half. There are no no-no's in this game. If you were starting to see success, I'd say keep doing what you are doing. Since you aren't, you need to change it up a little. Perhaps cutting back 100 calories a day while still getting a minimum 1,200.
  • beertrollruss
    beertrollruss Posts: 276 Member
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    I eat my exercise calories because my level of calories burned varies. I have hard workout days and I have rest days. I agree with the second poster. If you're netting less than 1200, you may be in starvation mode. Also, I've had plateaus that lasted about a month.
  • sp940
    sp940 Posts: 12 Member
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    Here's what I do:
    Calculate the number of calories needed for basic survival (aka bmr).
    I make sure that I eat that amount of calories that day. I only "eat back" the calories I burn on weekends, my "cheat" days.
    If you are looking to lose weight then focus on burning a certain number of calories a week. 1 lb = 3500 calories, 2 lbs = 7000 calories.

    So say you work out 5x a week then you need to burn 500 calories a day and not eat those calories back.

    Or say you got a really tough workout one day and feel like you should eat more. Just make sure that you burn enough calories to compensate the workout and give you that deficit you need for the week.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    beertrollruss wrote: »
    I eat my exercise calories because my level of calories burned varies. I have hard workout days and I have rest days. I agree with the second poster. If you're netting less than 1200, you may be in starvation mode. Also, I've had plateaus that lasted about a month.

    I also eat my exercise calories because every day is different. However, "starvation mode" is a myth. The laws of thermodynamics cannot be discounted. If they could, no one would ever starve to death.
  • daw0518
    daw0518 Posts: 459 Member
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    You should definitely eat back most of your exercise calories, but it will only work if, as others have said, you're logging your food as accurately as possible. Most people swear by using a food scale, but I've had success with measuring cups also - as long as you're being honest and not overfilling the cup, it works fine. I use my food scale to weigh meats and whole fruits/veggies.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    That's the only reason I exercise is to eat the calories!

    I kid I kid.

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