Using up exercise calories

claud121
claud121 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey just wondering how many of you eat your exercise calories or include as a deficit? And has it worked for you in terms of weight loss etc? Thanks :)

Replies

  • debubbie
    debubbie Posts: 767 Member
    I typically don't eat back my exercise calories, especially if they have been estimated by MFP ( they are grossly exaggerated). If you are eating back exercise calories that MFP estimated you may want to eat 1/3 to 1/2 of those back and see how your weight loss is progressing over 4-6 weeks and make adjustments if needed.
  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
    I eat SOME of my exercise calories because I do not use TDEE as my daily calories budget, but NEAT instead. I estimate my cardio exercise calories using a heart rate monitor and for weight lifting I use combination of HRM and MFP. Then, I only record about half and eat portion of that.

    If you are accurate with your food logging (measuring with a measuring cup and weighing with a kitchen scale EVERYTHING you eat) and not over estimating your exercise calories then eating back is ok, in my opinion. If you cant be that particular, then I think, you're better just going with TDEE, which implies not eating the exercise calories as they already been taking into account.

    I log EVERYTHING. I mean, everything: salt, tea, coffee, condiments and using NEAT, I think, I track more accurately. So far, I've steadily lost all the weight I wanted - 30 lb since beginning of March - no plateaus or pauses, just steady continuous loss. I'm happy with my result.

    I wish you success.
  • foursirius
    foursirius Posts: 321 Member
    Most comments i see here eat back about half.
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    It depends what exercise I have done. I wear a heart rate monitor. If I do a steady state exercise I add 100% of the calorie burn to my exercise diary. For circuit training I add 75% and for weights I add 50%. depending on how I feel I'll eat all of my allowance for the day or leave some. Occasionally I go over but I try to even it out over the week if I do.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I eat as them if I'm hungry. If I burn 1000 calories on a run, I WILL be hungry! Typically I will end up eating 50 to 75 percent of my exercise calories, but sometimes I eat them all.

    One of the best things about running is getting to eat (and drink) more.
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    I don't obsess about it. I usually eat back 75-90% of my exercise calories and like 7lenny7, when I'm hungry. My weight loss has been progressing very nicely and I'm very pleased.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I usually eat back most of them. On non-workout days (days I don't d aikido or horse work) I eat back almost al of them because they are based on my walking activity which I figure is pretty accurate. For workout related calories eat back around half most of the time. I have been loosing weight pretty steadily doing this so ,for me, it works.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    All of them.
    You are going to have to work it out for maintenance so why not while you are losing weight?
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I eat em all. No way I could make it without doing so. I lose or maintain (or gain!) as expected.
  • rebbylicious
    rebbylicious Posts: 621 Member
    I eat usually half of them. Unless i am working out specifically in preperation for going out to dinner. then game on ;)
  • Ironmaiden4life
    Ironmaiden4life Posts: 422 Member
    No I've never eaten back exercise calories
  • sarahdayski
    sarahdayski Posts: 125 Member
    Depends how hungry i am, i try not to eat them all back as i dont know how accurate the MFP app is but i will use some and im steadily losing weight
  • esseface
    esseface Posts: 1 Member
    It depends, but for me I find that cardio suppresses my appetite, so it's easier for me to reach my goal deficit through exercise than just eating under my goal. So i'll end up exactly at my calorie goal from diet alone, and i'll end up 100-200 under from exercising (having burned maybe 400).
  • rpaul111
    rpaul111 Posts: 2 Member
    I try not to eat my exercise calories.
    I made an exception for Sunday & stayed the same.
    I use my exercise to help lose the weight, not so i can eat more
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    foursirius wrote: »
    Most comments i see here eat back about half.

    This^

    But it's going to depend upon a number of factors. This is why it's "debated."

    1. Activity level selected. This is a range. Some people are less active than they think they are.
    2. Logging everyday "activities" as exercise. Sometimes people log the dumbest stuff and then wonder why they don't lose weight.
    3. Weekly goal. Some people put in an overly aggressive goal. Increasing the deficit thru exercise can lead to a higher percentage of lean muscle loss than most people are comfortable with.

    Re: Hunger, this is not a good indicator of proper nutrition. Besides as sijomial points out....this will also be a maintenance issue eventually.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    claud121 wrote: »
    Hey just wondering how many of you eat your exercise calories or include as a deficit? And has it worked for you in terms of weight loss etc? Thanks :)

    I eat them all back
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    I eat back a portion of my exercise calories. I can get a fairly accurate estimate of what was expended from a HRM, when doing cardio, so I eat those ( typically ). I do not eat back ( or even track ) calories burned from strength training ... too hard to estimate accurately.

    I also always calculate based on a Sed activity level, whenever I'm figuring BMR, TDEE, etc.

    Any "surplus" expenditures balance out tracking inaccuracies for diet and exercise.

  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    But it's going to depend upon a number of factors. This is why it's "debated."

    1. Activity level selected. This is a range. Some people are less active than they think they are.
    2. Logging everyday "activities" as exercise. Sometimes people log the dumbest stuff and then wonder why they don't lose weight.
    3. Weekly goal. Some people put in an overly aggressive goal. Increasing the deficit thru exercise can lead to a higher percentage of lean muscle loss than most people are comfortable with.

    Re: Hunger, this is not a good indicator of proper nutrition. Besides as sijomial points out....this will also be a maintenance issue eventually.

    ^^^^ This sums it up very very nicely!
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    If I'm using MFP exercise entry as a guide, i log half the time I actually spent exercising. If I'm using a heart rate monitor (or an app that has my stats) for steady state cardio, I log 75% of estimates calories burned.

    I'm using the TDEE method though because morst of my workouts are fairly regular (Monday through Friday). If I train for a race on Saturdays, I log those calories as I previously stated and eat accordingly (I don't like to see more than 100 calories uneaten). If I don't eat at least some of those calories back, I will likely eventually binge. Fueling my body is important.
  • discretekim
    discretekim Posts: 314 Member
    I eat most of mine. I don't care how accurate it is I get hungry. I eat from 75-100% back I think. I often exceed my calorie goal too on non exercise days. This is a marathon. And it works in time. If it's really a lifestyle the numbers shouldn't be too important.
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