Not eating back exercise calories?

oilphins · April 2015

Hey everyone, just wondering if I could get some feedback on exercise calories. I'm at my goal weight for a half marathon I will be running in June. I'm now at 165 which is where I want to stay. For my training, I'm running a 10 k everyday except Fridays which is my rest day. I'm burning 1000 calories a day doing a 10k. I'm allowing myself about 1700 calories a day to eat everyday. Now if I burn 100 calories running, do I still eat 1700 or should I be dipping into my exercise calories? I was told with what I'm doing that means I'm actually only eating 700 calories of food because I'm burning 1000 a day. If I ate 2700 calories a day, it seems like that's too many calories and I'm worried I'll gain back some weight from now until the marathon. It seems to be working keeping the weight off with what I'm doing, but will I gain back weight if I up my calories a bit? Also worried maybe depriving myself of something. Definately getting my daily protein and carbs according to mfp. Any opinion would help. Thanks.

Talan79 · April 2015

Just wondering how you calculate 1000 calories for 6 miles. I run also and I'm burning 80 calories per mile at 117lbs.
You could find out your BMR and then calories burned during runs. If you don't want to lose weight, your maintenance calories is what you should consume. That's the total calories burned daily.

DopeItUp · April 2015

1000 calories for 6 miles seems very optimistic so I'm guessing there's some calculation error there. Having said that, it's largely irrelevant. Total calories is what matters and if you're maintaining 165lbs at 170lbs you're probably pretty close to maintenance (but you didn't specifically mention if this was the case or not). No one can tell you if you'll gain weight at a certain calorie intake, you have to try it and find out.

Having said that, 1700 a day for someone who weighs 165lbs and runs 6 miles a day is probably pretty low. If I were you I'd do a little trial and error to see where you actually maintain at.

AllanMisner · April 2015

Please don’t lose yourself in math. Calories in and out are all estimates based on a ton of assumptions, many of which won’t apply to you.

I cannot tell from the pic if you’re a guy or girl, how much weight you carry, how lean you are, or your age. So, can you see how many variables there already are about your particular situation?

A 10K or 6.2 miles will burn between 450 - 1000 calories (nice big range, huh?). You should eat back your calories, so just estimate your burn based on how much you’re moving (man, carrying some weight will burn more than a lighter woman). I’m 98 kg/215lbs, so I’d likely burn around 700 - 800 calories going 10K. I plug that and move on (it is an estimate). I’ll eat that back. If after three weeks, I am gaining weight, I know I need to ratchet it down. If I’m losing too much, I’ll bump my food up.

kpw818 · April 2015

1000 is a bit much for 6 miles. Calculate .72 x body weight for an estimated burn per mile.

I would be eating back some of those calories regardless. I eat 1700-1800 and I weight 113. You are likely under eating a bit.

oilphins · April 2015

Thanks for all your feedback everyone. I can't believe I forgot to mention anything about me. I'm a male and 45 years old. And I'm going with what my treadmill and nike app says for calories burned. When I run outside, the app says I burn about 850 for 6.2 miles and on the treadmill I actually run a little further about 6.4 miles and the treadmill says I burn about 985. One could be off a bit but I do run at about an 8.2 mile pace on the treadmill which is a bit faster then when I run outside. Maybe I'll try eating back a few hundred calories and see how it goes. Thanks so much for your input.

Chieflrg · April 2015

I'm also 45 and at 215lb I don't burn 1000 calories when I run 10k I would ignore any treadmill unless you have it synced with a HRM. Even then I don't consider a HRM as accurate as the simple formula that kpw818 answered previously.

I wouldn't put too much into how much protein/carbs MFP recommends as many have found out it is grossly unbalanced for presets if that is what you are referring to.

Eat you calories back, your body needs them. If you start gaining after a couple weeks tweek them by a 100 or so as long as your training is the same week in and week out. Your average weight will tell you if your eating too much/little.

Just curious why aren't you doing a long run once a week?

Shadowsan · April 2015

I generally work on the assumption that I eat back approx. half of my exercise calories - then if i'm still hungry later on i'll kinda graze and listen to my body whilst making sure i'm not going over my goal.

Never had a problem with this.

cwolfman13 · April 2015

I personally wouldn't be training for a marathon on a mere 1700 calories as a male...you need to be eating a good chunk of your burn to account for that activity. As a male, you could lose weight doing absolutely nothing and eating 1700 calories. Exercise is good for you, but it is also a stress and hard on the body....you need energy (calories) and nutrients for proper recovery as well as performance.

That said, be careful not to overestimate burn...1,000 calories for 6 miles seems pretty steep to me...a decent and fairly conservative rule of thumb is about 100 calories per mile ran.

veganbettie · April 2015

my 7 mile run burned 1100 calories according to my garmin heart rate monitor with strap....if we can't trust a HRM what can we trust?

I'm 5'7 and 150lbs...

I can't not eat back my calories....i'm starving after a long run. Maybe not right after but a few hours after or the next few days i am...

oilphins · April 2015

Thanks again everyone for your input and chieflrgI forgot to mention on Saturdays I do a 15 k run. As I get closer to the marathon, I wil be doing longer runs and will more than likely have to up my calories for sure. So nice to have comments and people's help with this. I am going to up my calories a bit and see how it goes.

scottb81 · April 2015

My garmin 610 says I burn about 640 to 680 cal for about a 5.75 mi easy run LOL. If I run at a lower intensity the burn is about 100 cal less. I'm male, 55, 179 lbs.

Not eating back exercise calories?

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