To Eat Or Not To Eat Back Your Exercise Calories.

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BeautyFromPain
BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Some people are so judgemental. Different things works for everyone, if it works for you to eat them back good but don't try & push others to & vice versa. It is good to support people but everyone's bodies are made differently so therefore respond differently.

People go on & on about me not eating enough. Generally, I just eat when I am hungry. What's the point otherwise?
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Replies

  • MommyofBoys
    MommyofBoys Posts: 75
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    I completely agree with you!
  • CassieLEO
    CassieLEO Posts: 757 Member
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    Because its not healthy?
  • whateverdamnit
    whateverdamnit Posts: 130
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    I don't eat back what I've lost. It doesn't make any sense to me. When I started doing that, I just maintained my weight, rather than actually lose the weight.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    I eat at least 1200-1300 calories but I just exercise a lot. Do you think people on the biggest loser got to where they are whilst eating back their exercise calories? I'd say probs not.

    Listen to your body. If you are hungry, eat. If you aren't hungry, don't eat. It's as simple as that.
  • jennifir
    jennifir Posts: 197 Member
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    I agree....eating really is only supposed to refuel us right? So if we ate to eat back calories when we aren't hungry isnt that over eating? And if we are eating back exercise calories aren't' we just going backwards and maintaining? It doesn't make sense to me either. So, I am with you. I will let my body be the one to tell me.
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    I couldn't help but notice this on your post...


    SW : 96.7
    CW : 90.7
    Mini-Goal#1 : 80's by 30/05
    GW : 60 by christmas!


    Is that in something different from pounds? I know everyone doesn't use the same units of measure. I saw "60 by Christmas and was like"...What?? Just wondering. Ok....sorry, just saw your profile and saw your weight is in KG!! LOL! I was thinking, is she only 3 feet tall or something!
  • whateverdamnit
    whateverdamnit Posts: 130
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    Me too, I only eat when I'm hungry. I notice some people log in every breath they take and then eat it back.. something like 800 calories and then wonder why they're not losing any weight. :S
  • jennifir
    jennifir Posts: 197 Member
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    like house cleaning and every day life activities. I don't count those...
  • whateverdamnit
    whateverdamnit Posts: 130
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    Yeah, for me, if I'm not REALLY sweating, it wasn't a workout. To be honest, I don't count my beginners Pilates DVD, either. I'll count things like treadmill and elliptical and even then, I wont eat back my calories because it just doesn't work for me. I'm only 5'2 and if I eat over 1300 calories or so, I just end up maintaining, or gaining.
  • ohthatmomma
    ohthatmomma Posts: 115
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    I would have to say that I agree somewhat. If I can do that :-) I agree that everyone is different. However, I also believe that if we are losing weight, if that is our ultimate goal, it just wouldn't be wise to eat the calories back unless you were maintaining your weight.

    You could very well lose weight by eating some of your calories back, but I wouldn't say to eat them all back. In the beginning I would eat what I wanted, when I wanted, and really I didn't lose a large amount of weight. I did exercise and often I would consume the calories that I had burned. Needless to say I didn't see any dramatic weight loss, but I lost 1/2 lb a week. (Though many scales say many different things *smile*)

    I say, we need to eat in a healthful manner. Eat nutrient dense foods and remain active. Enjoy a special treat and just be happy.

    :-)
  • Angeloftheshore
    Angeloftheshore Posts: 227 Member
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    For me, I only eat them back to stay near 1200 calories which is what I am eating to lose weight. If I up my caloric intake after that , I won't eat them back.
  • twinkle1074
    twinkle1074 Posts: 35
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    I am new to this forum (almost a week in) and I asked a question concerning this and I got different feedback. After reading the posts I decided to at least eat half my excercise calories back. I am going to be doing my weigh in tomorrow and honestly if I saw the weightloss was not significant then I would just go back to eating within my calories and not use my excercise calories. Also I workout pretty regularly and I don't log every single workout I do so I still try to over compensate for the extra calories consumed on days that I log my excercise.
  • Angeloftheshore
    Angeloftheshore Posts: 227 Member
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    I mean 1200 is as low as it supposedly healthy to go, I don't want starvation mode and that's what it causes, right?
  • joamarelo
    joamarelo Posts: 161
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    nice post ;)
  • rbeckym
    rbeckym Posts: 1
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    is it good to only eat when ur hungry ?
  • heather0416
    heather0416 Posts: 118 Member
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    I couldn't help but notice this on your post...


    SW : 96.7
    CW : 90.7
    Mini-Goal#1 : 80's by 30/05
    GW : 60 by christmas!


    Is that in something different from pounds? I know everyone doesn't use the same units of measure. I saw "60 by Christmas and was like"...What?? Just wondering. Ok....sorry, just saw your profile and saw your weight is in KG!! LOL! I was thinking, is she only 3 feet tall or something!

    LOL!
  • NancyCatherineWalker
    NancyCatherineWalker Posts: 35
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    I was eating 800 to 1,000 a day. I was stuck. Upping the calories to 1200 and eating back my exercise calories I've lost almost 6 lbs. (the ticker says six but it's more like 5 and 1/2) in two weeks. There was one day were I burned off 800 + in exercise so I didn't try to eat all of those back, but in general I eat them back otherwise I get stuck.
  • wildon883r
    wildon883r Posts: 429 Member
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    If you eat raw/real/healthy foods you can eat ALOT of food. I recently upped my calorie intake to slow my weight loss from 2 lbs a week to 1lb a week. Raising my daily caloric intake 500 calories is like another whole other meal above my 3 meals and snacks i have throughout the day. There is no way i'm going to eat 800 exercise calories on top of 2100 weight loss calories. I have a very hard time hitting 2100 calories as it is. On the other hand a (junk) like a fastfood hamburger, fries and a coke should put you at 1500 calories in one meal. I rarely eat junk maybe once a week. I think we should rely on our body to let us know when it needs fuel and not just fill our mouths with food just for the sake of it. Eat to LIve not Live to Eat.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    1. Eating back your exercise calories DOES NOT make you maintain your weight, and you're not "just eating back what you burned off". MFP already sets you up with a calorie deficit, meaning you're already eating less than you were before, you're already eating the right amount to make you lose weight, so if you don't eat them back, your depriving your body of even more fuel, thus you may not end up netting enough.

    2. Not being hungry is not always a sign to go by. Sometimes we don't feel hungry when our body is actually lacking enough fuel. If you feel hungry and you ignore it long enough it goes away for a while right? Does that mean you don't still need food?

    3. Telling people to eat their exercise calories isn't being judgmental, it's providing education. We're all here because we weren't doing something right and needed to learn the right way. Educating people on what they should be doing is not being judgmental, it's helping them. I agree that not eating back say, 50 calories is not going to kill you. I don't ALWAYS eat back every last EC, but eating 1200 calories and then burning off 500 and not eating them back is NOT healthy.
  • aclark6818
    aclark6818 Posts: 209 Member
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    I think it's ok to eat the calories back to ensure that you've had a net calorie amount of at least 1200--to avoid going into starvation mode. I've also heard that zigzagging your calories can keep you metabolism working more efficiently. If I was really worried about it I would ask a health professional. Keep up your good work & do what works for your body.

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