Do you eat your exercise calories?
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DCLee1980
Posts: 1 Member
Just wondering if I should be eating my exercise calories. to loose 2lbs per week, it gave me a daily goal of 1,200 calories. I do a 55 min bootcamp style class 4x per week. I don't count these calories in my daily intake. should I? could not eating these calories slow my weightloss down?
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Replies
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I think if you have your calorie goal set at the minimum as you do, the yes definitely eat back at least some of those calories. I have my goal set to a higher amount based off my TDEE so I do not. No need to be miserable and hungry all the time to lose weight.0
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Not eating back your exercise calories will not slow your weight loss.
Most responders will tell you it is ok to eat them back, but will also suggest not eating all of them, due to estimation inaccuracy.
" Harvard Health Publications suggests women eat at least 1,200 calories daily and men get a minimum of 1,500 calories a day unless supervised by their doctors." - Livestrong
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Not eating back your exercise calories will not slow your weight loss.
Most responders will tell you it is ok to eat them back, but will also suggest not eating all of them, due to estimation inaccuracy.
" Harvard Health Publications suggests women eat at least 1,200 calories daily and men get a minimum of 1,500 calories a day unless supervised by their doctors." - Livestrong
Do those publications mention anything about acitvity? Because those numbers are for sedentary individuals. If one is working out, one is not sedentary. Hell, I do a 30-40 mile ride every Sunday...I would *kitten* die if I only ate 1500 calories.
Also, the stickies do explain how this tool works, to include why you would eat back exercise calories with this method. Despite all of the derp on this site, it's really not a matter of opinion...it's actually the way the tool is designed.
It would be awesome if people actually read instructions on how to use a tool before they started using it...that would take care of the about 1 million of the "eating back exercise calories" threads that pop up every single day.
Learning to properly fuel your activity, including your fitness is kind of important to actually being a healthy and FIT individual. News flash...fit people eat.0 -
Exercise performance improves when you eat.0
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Try to eat back your calories. Imagine if you burned 400 cals during your workout.. your 1200 a day calorie intake would go down to 800 calories. Do you think this is enough energy to fuel your body? Definitely not! : )0
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Personally, I do not eat back my calories. I log my cardio as 1 calorie - but let me add that I normally eat between 1400-1800 calories (and sometimes more). When I work out, it's usually for only a half hour.
This is what has worked for ME. Now, this doesn't work for everyone. If I were doing longer cardio sessions, or training for a special event, I think I would definitely eat back the calories. Since I'm a stay at home mom who is trapped indoors due to ice and snow right now, I'm not eating back what little I burn.0 -
I eat some, but never all because I know that what I've logged are grossly overestimated.
I found this MFP blog post on the subject helpful: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Not eating back your exercise calories will not slow your weight loss.
Most responders will tell you it is ok to eat them back, but will also suggest not eating all of them, due to estimation inaccuracy.
" Harvard Health Publications suggests women eat at least 1,200 calories daily and men get a minimum of 1,500 calories a day unless supervised by their doctors." - Livestrong
Do those publications mention anything about acitvity? Because those numbers are for sedentary individuals. If one is working out, one is not sedentary. Hell, I do a 30-40 mile ride every Sunday...I would *kitten* die if I only ate 1500 calories.
Also, the stickies do explain how this tool works, to include why you would eat back exercise calories with this method. Despite all of the derp on this site, it's really not a matter of opinion...it's actually the way the tool is designed.
It would be awesome if people actually read instructions on how to use a tool before they started using it...that would take care of the about 1 million of the "eating back exercise calories" threads that pop up every single day.
Learning to properly fuel your activity, including your fitness is kind of important to actually being a healthy and FIT individual. News flash...fit people eat.
This this this!
Don't sell yourself short thinking you'll lose so much weight and look awesome by eating the bare minimum and going hard at the gym. This pretty much leads to burnout due to being so under-fueled, and if/when someone reaches "goal weight" this way, they don't have the firm beach body they had hoped for, but a soft, squishy, although slimmer version of their former selves (been there! so disappointing!).
My goal is to eat as MANY calories as I can while still losing FAT, so I have a small calorie deficit, and have reached a goal weight I never thought I'd see, but more importantly, a fitness level and am wearing sizes I never thought I'd see!
Food is fuel!
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I usually don't, but I will eat more if I am hungry or feel sluggish, or if I am in the mood to indulge and want an extra nice meal.
When I had more to lose, I ate more exercise calories than I do now (maybe as much as half of them) though, because I had such a long way to go and I didn't want to feel deprived. Now that I am down to the last 10-15 pounds, I am being stricter with myself. Reaching my goal is more appealing to me than indulging in high calorie food.0 -
I can't. If I do, I gain. And my settings are on Sedentary. However, many people can. So eat them back, check your weight for the next week or two, and if you're not losing, scale them back. Experiment until you find your sweet spot.0
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At the advice of my doctor, no I don't. I'm a 5ft6 274 (4 pounds down!) female bodied person. So I'm considered morbidly obese. I saw my doctor before starting myfitnesspal to get some general diet advice, and she told me I don't, and shouldn't need to eat back my exercise calories. Every once in a while I'll "snack" from my exercise calories. Like if I know I'll be over, I do my best to exercise just a little more so I know that it IS there if I need it.0
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I can't. If I do, I gain. And my settings are on Sedentary. However, many people can. So eat them back, check your weight for the next week or two, and if you're not losing, scale them back. Experiment until you find your sweet spot.
I agree with this, it took me awhile to find my sweet spot. I eat way more calories than you and eat most of them back and I am still losing. It also keeps me from having really bad cheat days.
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I follow between 1200 to 1350 calories a day (for now), set 1200 to 1500. I do not per say eat my calories back. If I work out and feel hungry, I do eat more. The way I look at it. I want to lose no more than 2lbs a week. If I see I am losing more than the 2lbs, then I will up my calories.0
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I would eat at least half of them back.0
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I try not to, but it is depressing to see my exercise calories added to my daily, and you would have to stuff yourself to get even close.0
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I eat some back
..if I am hungry. If I am not hungry I dont. If I feel sluggish or tired the next day I eat a little more.0 -
I try not to eat back more than half--I consider this my buffer space between inadvertent overestimation of exercise calories and underestimation of intake calories from food.0
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at 1200 i did, because i was starving. did that for a month decided i was tired of being hungry, bumped my cals up to 1600 and do NOT eat back exercise calories (or when i do its a very small number) and am still losing at the same rate.
eat. lol0 -
Just depends how hungry I am that day. I will not starve. NEVER!!!!!0
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This is an on-going debate.
But the latest nutritionist recommendation from MFP no less is that you do not have to eat back all your exercise calories unless you are a hard-core body builder (lifting for 3-4+ hrs a day) or a professional athlete. The rest of us 'regular folks' are just fine without it.
Personally I have never fully eaten my exercise calories back. I was always about 150 - 200 under from my exercise calories allowance when I was losing. In maintenance I'm more within 100 - 150 ... I'm REALLY petite though & frankly just can't store that much food. LOL
Best of luck to you!0
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