Calories from exercise

kellyannecandy
kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
Does anybody eat back some of the calories burned through exercise or do you just stick to the original 1200?
I'm doing okay on 1200 (so far) but get a bit peckish in the evenings, wouldn't eat rubbish but would be nice to have an extra hundred or so if i wanted them.
Thanks.x
«1

Replies

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited April 2015
    yes i eat 25% back from my "earned" exercise calories
    Not even because i want to eat more, but because my body worked harder and i maybe dont want the calories but it sure need the extra nutrition's.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    MFP intends for you to eat them, that's why it gives them back to you!

    Basically, it has no way of knowing ahead of time how much you plan to exercise, and if you will follow through. If MFP were say, your own personal trainer, it would probably help you set a target to burn a set number of calories in a week, and then figure that in when picking a calorie target to eat. But it can't know, so it gives you an appropriate target that would get you to your goal without exercise. When you exercise, it then gives you that back -- that way, you aren't underfuelled.

    Ex. If it knew you were going to burn an extra 300 a day, it would just tell you to eat 1500. But it learns of the 300 after the fact, so you "eat it back". But it's really the same thing as saying "eat 1500 and burn off 300 a day".

    Beware of potential overestimates on the burns though. Many people start by eating 50-75% or just eating as many as they feel they need, when they need them.

    Oh and if you don't like the 1200 target, and would be fine to lose a bit more slowly, you can always just up your target. If 100-200 calories would up your quality of life, it may be worth it for you.
  • kellyannecandy
    kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
    Thank you both.
    I wouldn't eat them all back anyway, probably a hundred would do me.
    I've noticed the differences in estimates can be quite big.....on the foods aswell so am trying my best to work them out myself. Have only been back on it 3 days but so far so good.
    Thanks again for the help :)
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    The majority of time I eat my exercise calories back, thats the way MFP is set up. That said, be very careful logging food in MFP, most of the entries are way off.
  • douglasbeale
    douglasbeale Posts: 66 Member
    I eat a lot of them, but try to save a few hundred if I can, so that days when I want to I can go over and not feel bad about it. I use the 7 day and 30 day "Net Calories" report to make sure I'm averaging out. I've gone substantially over (as much as 800 calories) six times in the last 30 days and still lost 5 lbs. Eat some now and save some for later, it's no fun going out and eating with friends and acting like you can't eat anything.
  • Dave55412
    Dave55412 Posts: 88 Member
    I don't eat them back because I'm not hungry.
  • kellyannecandy
    kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
    I'm trying to work out most calories for myself because some of the figures on the database just don't add up. Thanks for the advice on eating out aswell, you're right its no fun at all
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    use the usda site
    I do this a lot :)
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    MFB is very generous with my regular daily allowance so I rarely eat back calories from exercise. When I do it is a small part of what MFP says I have burned. But have some reservations about the numbers it gives me. For one of my nights of martial arts training it gives me back something like 1500 calories on an average day. I might eat back 1-200 if I have had an especially heavy workout, but normally I eat at a 400 calorie deficit and just eat up to my max daily allowance on workout days. When I get closer to goal and my daily needs are lower will probably start eating back some of them.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited April 2015
    This content has been removed.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    I've heard people on here swear by doing both..eating them back..and not. I say do what works for you.. If you feel weak from working out.. your body needs fuel.
  • Indigoblu1
    Indigoblu1 Posts: 127 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down?

    This is what I think, too.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    If you are using the MFP method and have it set up correctly, you are supposed to eat them back. Self control has nothing to do with it. MFP already calculates a deficit for you, so if you exercise, you eat those calories back. You just need to make sure you are not overestimating the number of calories burned.

  • kellyannecandy
    kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
    I knew your comment was going to be negative @1592984904984984089984980 and as I said I won't be eating them all back. Thanks everybody for all of your help, its only my first week so am yet to find what works best for me :smile:
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    good reason is that your body needs the more nutrition's when you put it to work and that you dont want to net under the 1000 calories. Because in the end you will burn out, or even worse damage your health.

    This has nothing to do with self control.

    1200 calories a day is enough for sedentary living but not enough to also train a body.
    Eating back a part is not bad and wont damage your self control lol.
  • kellyannecandy
    kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
    I've just eaten a clementine......sorry self control I just couldn't resist! :p Thank you @TheOwlhouseDesigns
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    kellyannecandy wrote: »
    I've just eaten a clementine......sorry self control I just couldn't resist! :p Thank you @TheOwlhouseDesigns

    lolzzz

    your very welcome ;)

  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    I would rather have slower progress than get to my goal as fast as possible and have to deal with the side effects from it. For me it has nothing to do with lack of self control and everything to do with minimizing muscle loss and not risking things like hair loss, brittle nails, irregular periods, and fatigue.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    Why not eat as much as you can while still losing weight, and feel satisfied and well-nourished, instead of starving yourself?
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    To the OP: I usually eat them back, save for 100-200 calories each day. At the end of the week I may be under my net calorie goal by up to 1000 calories, and I may choose to eat those leftover on a splurge day, or I may not.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    You are making the assumption that faster is better and thats not always the case.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Unless you have overwritten the MFP calories with a cut from TDEE you are SUPPOSED to eat them back

    But be careful if using the MFP database ...it overestimates so best to cut back to 50 or 75% of burns
    Judge this against your rate of weight loss over 6-8 weeks if you're losing quicker than your target eat more, if slower eat fewer

    You eat them back because
    1) you need to protect as much LBM as possible as you lose weight
    2) it will expand your diet and help you stick to it ...the lower the deprivation the less willpower is needed
    3) you need to fuel your body for exercise and to gain strength
    4) when you hit maintenance you will be able to eat higher calories
    5) you set a goal weight loss per week, unless you are morbidly obese then anything over 2lbs a week is ill-advised, if you have less to lose you should cut the rate so that your last 20lbs you're at about 0.5lbs a week
    6) at the end of the day the one who loses weight whilst eating the most wins
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Why eat the calories you burn and slow your progress down? Have self control!

    For the same reason no one responsible (for example, as the person above explained, if you did it with a hired professional, and I'd add, a nutritionist) would ever set a calorie goal based on "how little do I think I could manage to eat," but instead would look at overall estimated calorie burn, which includes exercise.

    As the person above explained quite well, if you do it in the other way you include estimated movement upfront, so there's no risk that you will be burning far more calories than the calorie goal is estimated to account for. Choosing a calorie goal that is typically the minimum calories MFP will give (based on what it would take to lose 2 lbs if sedentary and not exercising) and then to exercise on top is to ignore all advice that is typically given about healthy weight loss goals.

    But some people seem to think that it's somehow better to eat as little as possible and that you should shame people (the "have self control" comment) who are trying to do it as MFP is designed.
  • decotterell
    decotterell Posts: 47 Member
    I generally don't eat back the calories, but I have had to increase mine to maintain my current weight. I'm still exercising a lot, but it's too early to tell if I'm going to need to up my calories more. As long as I wanted to lose though, I kept with the recommended daily intake.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    sometimes i eat them back, sometimes i dont. depends on how i FEEL.

    when i was at 1200 calories though, i ate back every single one. i was a hungry, mean, *kitten* LOL.

    im losing at the same rate eating between 1500-1800 and am much much happier. and much less hungry. LOL
  • kellyannecandy
    kellyannecandy Posts: 27 Member
    Thanks again everybody. Thinking about it, its obvious really isn't it.......because as fitness levels improve and the exercising increases we'll be burning more and more calories. So the 1200 calories won't go that far if you're burning say 600 (not that I will be anytime soon! haha)
    I'm going to go with eating some of them back and see how it goes
  • snowflakesav
    snowflakesav Posts: 649 Member
    I eat some of them back. If need the energy .
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    kellyannecandy wrote: »
    I'm going to go with eating some of them back and see how it goes

    That's a good way to do it. I didn't eat many back at first, since I didn't realize I should and was not all that active anyway. As I got more active and got more confident that I'd lose as predicted even eating them back I started doing so (depending on the exercise--I ate most running calories, about half of my biking calories, cut other things various amounts), and the pleasant aspect of that is that I ended up eating more as I went on, despite the lost weight. It made the whole thing more sustainable over time, and now I can basically ease into eating at maintenance.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    Newbie here... but I've been on my get-fit-again program since last September so I'm not new to making a change in my life. I credit the simple activity tracking in Google Fit, and the free running / cycling tracking in Strava, for keeping me motivated and reaching higher, especially in the early days when physical progress was near impossible for me to detect.

    Honestly I only this week have started to look at input calories as for the past nine months I've been totally focussed on making exercise the regular part of my life it once was. I figure now I've got that solidly hammered back into my being... yay.

    Lately I've been fitting in 3 or 4 runs a week averaging 35km - 40km a week. My dog is much happier now too. :)

    My experience is that if I'm working out on a regular basis I need to fuel the machine appropriately. If I don't, I'll either perform poorly (re my own expectations) or, worse, might see my resolve wane some and end up skipping a workout(s). Either case can lead to setback, yet when fuelled right even a downpour won't keep me in.
  • llUndecidedll
    llUndecidedll Posts: 724 Member
    edited April 2015
    Sometimes, I think its best to not even know how many calories I burn from exercise because I truly never feel hungry, but I'm more likely to think/feel like I am because I know I just burned X amount of calories doing something I half-way dislike. Drinking a liter of water usually kills that feeling I have that makes me think I'm hungry.

    But, yeah, I do eat back my exercise calories most days. I'm trying to get away from that altogether.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories