Confused re exercise calories

If you're on 1200 calories, I would absolutely say eat some calories back.

Do you weigh all solid foods on a food scale in grams & measure out all liquids except water?

If you're doing that, eat back a portion of those exercise calories - 50%-75%. Try to stick to the same portion for 4-6 weeks. Evaluate your weight loss at that point and see if it averages out correctly. That is, if you have MFP set at losing 2lb/week and that's the average loss you see, stick with eating the same amount back. Don't evaluate your weight loss weekly - you need to look at the downward trend over that period of time.

The reason many people recommend eating back a portion is to help offset logging inaccuracies and calorie burn inaccuracies. Over time, you'll see how true the numbers are (or aren't) for you.

~Lyssa

I'm in this dilemma too and I'd like to know. I'm guessing you can eat back those. Wondering if it depends on what you done because in the morning I burn more than 500 calories on running and in the afternoon I burn at least 400-500 weightlifting. It's a bit weird, I'm new to this calorie counting, and having a number and then it shoot up and I have to consume a 800 calorie dinner, which is a bit difficult when you try to eat healthy.

I don't eat mine back. I don't see the point in doing all that work to get it off only to eat it back. I am losing on an average, 1 lb a week, and I think that is good. I am also on 1200 cal because I am only 5' tall and 77 years old, not very active.

Jayceca wrote: »

I don't eat mine back. I don't see the point in doing all that work to get it off only to eat it back. I am losing on an average, 1 lb a week, and I think that is good. I am also on 1200 cal because I am only 5' tall and 77 years old, not very active.

The point is that mfp has already set you up at a deficit at 1200 calories so you are already set to lose if you don't work out. If you work out and then don't eat your exercises calories back at 1200 calories, you are risking malnutrition and may run into side effects like hair loss and a higher rate of muscle loss. You need to eat at least half back, it is the way mfp is designed.

1200 calories seems a bit on the low side. As you lose weight, your body burns less calories....in my opinion it is better to start at 1500 and as you lose weight and become more fit you can drop down to about 1400 or so. The body is an amazing machine and always adapts. I only eat 1400 calories a day to lose weight ONLY because i have had my metabolism tested and I truly do have a very slow metabolism (genetics I was told). If not, I would be eating close to 1800 calories per day. I think on your workout days you should keep the calories up around 1500 and on your days you don't workout, drop them down to around 1300. I think many things depends on how much you weigh, how much you need to lose, what type of exercise you do, etc. You can also get away with eating more calories if you protein intake is higher. As people have said, see how you do after a week. I just worry about those that are eating too low because the body adapts to that, and then when you start to try to eat more, you gain weight very easily.

If you're active I would recommend eating at least some of them back. For me personally I can't imagine not eating my exercise calories, I wouldn't have the energy to workout otherwise. I have my calorie intake set to 1500 a day, I weigh and measure carefully and track everything. I wear a garmin HR monitor. I subtract out 5-10% to account for the calories I would have burned anyways (I calculate a netcalorie burn, there are calculators online that do this for you). I eat all of my net exercise calories back over the course of the week (I "bank" some for dinners out weekends etc), and I typically lose a pound a week; sometimes closer to two. As other posters have said, trying eating some of them back for a month and see how it goes. 1200 calories a day is very hard to maintain over the long term, or it would be for me.

Sgtcupcake35 wrote: »

1200 calories seems a bit on the low side. As you lose weight, your body burns less calories....in my opinion it is better to start at 1500 and as you lose weight and become more fit you can drop down to about 1400 or so. The body is an amazing machine and always adapts. I only eat 1400 calories a day to lose weight ONLY because i have had my metabolism tested and I truly do have a very slow metabolism (genetics I was told). If not, I would be eating close to 1800 calories per day. I think on your workout days you should keep the calories up around 1500 and on your days you don't workout, drop them down to around 1300. I think many things depends on how much you weigh, how much you need to lose, what type of exercise you do, etc. You can also get away with eating more calories if you protein intake is higher. As people have said, see how you do after a week. I just worry about those that are eating too low because the body adapts to that, and then when you start to try to eat more, you gain weight very easily.

This is all good advice....If you know the OP's stats. Current height and weight, weight loss goal & general activity level.

I'm 5' tall, 120 lbs, and I have MFP set to Sedentary and lose 0.5lb/week. If I don't get a lot of movement in (less than 2k steps), my calorie goal is 1240. 1500 would put me at maintenance. 1400 would barely be a deficit.

I make it a point to get 7k-8k daily just so I can eat more because 1200 just isn't that much. Plus I like to eat lol.

It takes a very long time for the body to adapt. I don't recall the exact time but it's much longer than a few weeks.

~Lyssa

My goal to lose 1 pound per week is 1580 calories. I burn on average 600 to 800 calories at the gym 5 days per week. I don't eat any of them back, however, I bank them until the weekend or other days I might need them. I end up even out give or take a few hundred calories.

REiiGN15 wrote: »

I'm in this dilemma too and I'd like to know. I'm guessing you can eat back those. Wondering if it depends on what you done because in the morning I burn more than 500 calories on running and in the afternoon I burn at least 400-500 weightlifting. It's a bit weird, I'm new to this calorie counting, and having a number and then it shoot up and I have to consume a 800 calorie dinner, which is a bit difficult when you try to eat healthy.

Ice cream and a beer after dinner - problem solved

Eat less than half back.

Here's the deal: calorie estimation for exercise will give you the calories burned for that exercise. But to know the TRUE amount of calories that the exercise BENEFITS you, you need to subtract the calories you would have burned had you done nothing but sit in a chair.

Example: Let's say you do some exercise on a machine for an hour and it tells you that you burned 600 calories. Now, use a calculator on the web to figure out what you would have burned, for your height, weight and age, if you would have spent an hour sitting, and suppose it tells you 200 calories.

That means the REAL benefit of the exercise you did was 400 calories, not 600.

And you'd be safe eating half of that back. So eat 200 back.

I know it's extra math, but it's invaluable if you want real numbers that tell you what you the REAL calorie benefit is of the exercise you performed.

I think this is why people don't eat calories back (I know I don't); because I don't want to go through the extra math to figure out what my exercise really gave me. So I just eat at my goal and count the exercise as "extra" calories for my deficit. Extra deficit is always good.

If I were you, I'd eat at 1500, exercise, not eat anything back, and not do extra math.

Yes mam!!

sallymason88 wrote: »

I will follow your advice starting today, thank you, I really appreciate it. I will eat my 1200 plus half the exercise calories.

You should eat all of your exercise calories back. If not, your net is going to be less than 1200. The 1200 calories target already creates a calorie deficit to lose weight.