should i eat back workout calories??

Yes, if you are using MFP's calorie calculator to set your goals, you should be eating back at least 50-75% of your exercise calories.

If you don't eat your calories, it takes a toll on your body. MFP gives you an allotted amount of calories, then adds the calories you lose during your workout. Eating ALL of these is necessary. You're already eating to lose a certain amount, so you need to make-up the amount you're losing, otherwise you'll lose too much at once. I've had multiple doctors say your deficit should be no more than 700 per day.

I am also confused about this. I've been asking around and the consensus seems to be that you should try not to eat more than half of your calories that you've burned after you work out... Which is why I just work out in the afternoon so my dinner is light but filling and doesn't go over the calories I've burned. Remember, your body is burning calories all the time even when you're not "working out" on purpose, even when you sleep. So you're burning like 1000 more (at the minimum) than just what you burn at the gym. Just eat very portioned, have strong workouts, and stay active all day and you will definitely begin to see. Don't minimize you're food intake to be less than what you burn on the elliptical that day or whatever because then you'll just be depriving yourself.

Lktownsend92 wrote: »

I am also confused about this. I've been asking around and the consensus seems to be that you should try not to eat more than half of your calories that you've burned after you work out... Which is why I just work out in the afternoon so my dinner is light but filling and doesn't go over the calories I've burned. Remember, your body is burning calories all the time even when you're not "working out" on purpose, even when you sleep. So you're burning like 1000 more (at the minimum) than just what you burn at the gym. Just eat very portioned, have strong workouts, and stay active all day and you will definitely begin to see. Don't minimize you're food intake to be less than what you burn on the elliptical that day or whatever because then you'll just be depriving yourself.

I don't think I've seen many people recommend eating only half until recently, when suddenly there are many posts that say the consensus seems to be to eat half. Of course, it's not like I read every post on MFP. But it's still trial and error, so one could start with 50% and see how it goes. Or start with 75% and see how it goes. Or even start with 100% and see how it goes.

I eat about 50-75% of mine.

My metabolism is slower than MFP caculates

I have my activity level as low but I get 10000 steps in daily, and exercise 5 days a week. I don't log any of the exercise, it just goes on as steps. I eat 2/3 or so of my calories back.

It keeps me on track losing weight. For me, MFP is generous on calorie burn off.

Mr_Knight wrote: »

clafairy1984 wrote: »

Mfp tells us we should eat back calories burned during exercise. is this true, or should I just stick to my allowance regardless of my workout schedule,.therefore creating a buggy defecit?

It depends. A very large proportion of MFPers - at least of the ones posting on the forums - aren't in very good shape and the usual ways of getting burn estimates (HRMs, calculator, etc) typically over-estimate burn numbers by a LOT. By "A LOT" I mean there are all kinds of people logging burn numbers literally 3x and 4x higher than reality, and then eating those back.

My FWIW advice is to not bother eating anything back until you're reasonably fit (eg you can run 2 miles), because (a) the number of calories being burned is small anyway and (b) it creates high likelihood of error.

Ultimately, all numbers are estimates. Whatever your starting point, you'll need to track actual results and adjust accordingly.

And as regular viewers are aware, I agree with part of Mr. Knight's reasoning, and disagree with his overall advice.

FWIW I still can not run 2 miles so Knight's advice would have me ignore my walk calories, which pretty much add up to, or exceed, my total deficit this past year...

If you've set yourself up on MFP as sedentary AND you exclude (approximately) the first 3,500 steps, or 35 minutes of random activity in your day, the remaining activity and exercise that you engage in has not yet been accounted for.

Of course you may be eating more than you think because of logging errors. Of course you may be overestimating your caloric burn because the stats were estimated using data from individuals who were fitter than you are today.

This doesn't mean all or nothing, not unless you are actively trying to exceed the goal you've set yourself up in MFP!

TL;DR: eat 50% of exercise calories and adjust based on your real results after a few weeks.

Or:
Eat based on 100% of the TDEE estimated by fitness bands that are connected to MFP with negative adjustments enabled. And adjust based on your real results.

No fitness band? Eat back 100% of calories associated to walking or running that is in excess of your pre set activity level in MFP (exclude the first 3000 to 5000 steps basically, or 35 to 45 minutes of activity if you're setup as sedentary)

Eat 75% of HIIT or Circuit training calories and 50% of strength training training---because neither is steady state and so the potential exists for overestimation.

And then compare your purported deficit to your actual progress and re-evaluate!

I don't eat them back. Sometimes I will go over my calorie allotment, and it shows that I'm under because of the exercise calories burned, but that's a rare occasion. Last few weeks, I've been maintaining after reaching my first goal, but now I'm ready for Round 2 to get to my second goal. However, even not eating back my exercise calories, I was only losing about half to one pound a week. I'm only 5'2", though.