Do you eat your exercise calories?
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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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 -
My daily calories is set at 1600, but I find it hard to live with that number, and it generally goes up to about 2000 with exercise. I find eating about 1800 fits well with my lifestyle and I don't feel too hungry, so eating back half seems to work for me.0
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RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »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!
It's not a real debate, exactly. One just has to understand the numbers, where your deficit comes from, why it's important to maintain a healthy deficit and how MFP is designed vs other sites and common recommendations of doctors/trainers/nutritionists, etc., etc. Understand this, then make an informed decision.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
OP - So many people start off way too aggressively, then crash and burn - either with too high a weekly loss goal, or trying to eat as little as possible (especially with that whole 1200 common number floating out there). PLEASE read the stickies, understand the difference between MFP and other sites that use TDEE, and then make a decision.0 -
Do I eat back my calories? You freaking bet. My -1lb per week is at 1590 and I burn anywhere from 600-1200 calories in exercise 5x a week. I was only eating 50% of those back and it was miserable. I would end up binging here and there because I was tired, hungry and miserable. Now I eat 80-100% back and my training is improving AND I feel fantastic. I'd bet money the next two months the scale will drop faster too."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
This. You should not be netting below 1200. Your body NEEDS fuel to you know...live.cwolfman13 wrote: »eating back your exercise calories will not slow your weight loss.
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.
...
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.
Exactly. The tool IS designed to eat them back. If you increase your deficit too much you could experience negative side effects (as I did). You will continue to lose, but you will be miserable and depending on what kind of activity you are doing, you could risk injury. The degree of importance of eating back calories depends on your deficit, how close you are to 1200 calories, and the amount you burn. Best bet is to just eat them back.
PS - learning to eat FUEL for your activities is different than using those extra calories to eat a piece of cake
But I realize not everyone on here cares about being fit and training/performance....some just want a number on the scale.
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I am a distance runner. My "normal" goal based on my sedentary job is about 1400 calories but it easily goes up to 2000 on days that I run to even 3000 on my longer run (10 mile +) days. My weight loss goal is modest (0.5 lb per week) and I am focusing on losing only fat and no muscle. I definitely eat back most if not all of my calories. The weight loss has been slow (about 7 lbs in 2 months) but that is intentional as I try to keep my performance up at the same time. I feel like it has been working well for me.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »" 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.
The ones that I've seen are describing absolute minimums for basic metabolic function, which implies or states no activity. Obviously, if you need more due to activity, you should eat more. These numbers are quoted as an absolute minimum for anyone, without proper supervision.
This is not Basal Metabolic Rate they're talking about, thats an entirely different animal.0 -
I used to eat them back, but I didn't lose any weight so I stopped completely. I feel fine though - not hungry at all. I might start eating them back once I have a HRM etc. to ACCURATELY measure calories burned. I think the fact that I did not lose had more to do with MFP overestimating calories burned during exercise. I might have been eating at maintenance.0
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