Got a stupid question

camillearauch
camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
edited 12:39PM in Health and Weight Loss
so I'm over thinking this I'm sure, but will I not loose weight if I eat all my exercise calories if my fitness pal is set at 1200 calories. For example like I said my fitness pal is set at 1200 calories, my fitbit surge is synced to my fitness pal and says I have 500 exercise calories. Can I eat all those calories guilt free? I'm 5'2" 125 lbs

Replies

  • geotrice
    geotrice Posts: 274 Member
    Yes.
  • keelyjrs
    keelyjrs Posts: 62 Member
    Take some time to read the sticky threads, there's so much info in there that answer all the questions you have at first. But yeah the general consensus is eat back at least half your exercise calories
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    Phew that's good to hear
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    Ok good to know, curious do you use fitbit, I've just started and wanted to know how accurate those calories are
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Yup. If your Fitbit says 500 calories, then you can probably eat most, if not all of those calories. Yes, it's an estimate, but it's a pretty good estimate.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    Ok good to know, curious do you use fitbit, I've just started and wanted to know how accurate those calories are

    Lol. "Fitbit"



  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    Ok good to know, curious do you use fitbit, I've just started and wanted to know how accurate those calories are

    Lol. "Fitbit"



    Haha alrighty so no . . .
  • CockneyLady2014
    CockneyLady2014 Posts: 199 Member
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.

    MFP doesn't consider exercise in it's calorie goal. It only counts activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc). In this case, she should add the exercise calories.
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.

    MFP doesn't consider exercise in it's calorie goal. It only counts activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc). In this case, she should add the exercise calories.
    Yes I have my activity level set at sedentary
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.

    MFP doesn't consider exercise in it's calorie goal. It only counts activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc). In this case, she should add the exercise calories.
    Yes I have my activity level set at sedentary
    So then yes, you add your exercise calories. :)
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.

    MFP doesn't consider exercise in it's calorie goal. It only counts activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc). In this case, she should add the exercise calories.
    Yes I have my activity level set at sedentary
    So then yes, you add your exercise calories. :)

    Alright party on
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    This is good advice, even though I personally don't always follow it lol. OP, you're probably better off not eating all your exercise calories back...unless you're measuring and weighing all of your food accurately. Also, if you have a LOT of weight to lose and you're just starting out, it probably won't make too much of a difference if you eat it all back and you'll probably be fine. But if you're guestimating and/or not weighing your food, especially if you don't have that much weight to lose, it's risky to eat it all back.
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    This is good advice, even though I personally don't always follow it lol. OP, you're probably better off not eating all your exercise calories back...unless you're measuring and weighing all of your food accurately. Also, if you have a LOT of weight to lose and you're just starting out, it probably won't make too much of a difference if you eat it all back and you'll probably be fine. But if you're guestimating and/or not weighing your food, especially if you don't have that much weight to lose, it's risky to eat it all back.

    Ohh I'm crazy OCD everything gets weighed out but yeah I think I'll only eat back 60% that's seems safe. Some days I'm so hungry and some days I can't make myself eat. I believe I'm at 22% body fat I would just like to get alittle more leaner
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    I have a Fitbit and eat back all the exercise calories. I have MFP set at Sedentary.

    My advice? Be as accurate as possible when logging your food and eat back some portion of the calories - 25%, 50%, 100% - and evaluate your weight loss in 4-6 weeks.

    At that point, determine if you're losing as you expected, faster, or slower. Then adjust if needed.

    So far eating back 100% of my calories has worked for me, as long as I follow the goal given to me by MFP. Fitbit will sometimes show a higher calorie goal, but I only follow what MFP allows.

    ~Lyssa
  • North44
    North44 Posts: 359 Member
    I have 1220 as my calorie goal and usually eat most if not all of my exercise calories. If I play 2 hours of tennis, which I do every week, I eat back about half because it gives me like 900 extra or something like that. I find it difficult to stay at 1220 honestly. I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks so far!
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    I have a Fitbit and eat back all the exercise calories. I have MFP set at Sedentary.

    My advice? Be as accurate as possible when logging your food and eat back some portion of the calories - 25%, 50%, 100% - and evaluate your weight loss in 4-6 weeks.

    At that point, determine if you're losing as you expected, faster, or slower. Then adjust if needed.

    So far eating back 100% of my calories has worked for me, as long as I follow the goal given to me by MFP. Fitbit will sometimes show a higher calorie goal, but I only follow what MFP allows.

    ~Lyssa

    Perfect! Thanks for that info!
  • camillearauch
    camillearauch Posts: 10 Member
    North44 wrote: »
    I have 1220 as my calorie goal and usually eat most if not all of my exercise calories. If I play 2 hours of tennis, which I do every week, I eat back about half because it gives me like 900 extra or something like that. I find it difficult to stay at 1220 honestly. I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks so far!

    4lbs in two weeks good job! Yes 1220 is difficult!!! Argh!
  • FreedomMK2131
    FreedomMK2131 Posts: 17 Member
    I have similar stats. I don't lose weight if I eat my exercise cals back, but you might be different. If you're younger than I am, haven't had children, or generally eat healthy, you could probably still lose at a 1200 net. Play around with it and you'll find what works in a few weeks. Good luck!
  • pmg2000m
    pmg2000m Posts: 44 Member
    I don't lose weight if I eat my exercise calories, but I know that some people are different. I've been losing about a pound a week for the past 3 months, and I'm happy with that... so I'm going to stick with what works for me.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    In a perfect world - *absolutely*. Eat 'em all. Zero guilt.

    Unfortunately we live in a world of inaccurate *estimates*. I tend to stick to 30 - 60 % of my exercise calories when I'm losing/cutting at that works out great for me.

    This
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    MFP is designed to eat back exercise calories. You will find most eat only a portion to accommodate miscalculations in both loggings and burns.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Sorry to put a dampener on it but have you included your exercise in your profile? If so then the 1200 calories have taken them into account.

    MFP is designed where you calorie deficit is already entered. Any exercise calories (cardio) is added on so that you are able to eat those calories back. The caveat is that many people overestimate calories out and underestimate calories in, so you do have to be careful when eating back those calories, which is good enough reason to not eat them all back.
This discussion has been closed.