Eating back calories

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mamato4kids
mamato4kids Posts: 217 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Could someone please explain why I should be eating back my calories from my fitness? I thought I wanted to create a deficit to lose weight?
I am on a 1200 per day program. I usually burn 300-500+ calories a day. And eat my 1200, should I be eating more?

Thanks,
Robin
«1

Replies

  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
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    Yes you should be eating more. If you go into your goals area, you will see that there is already a calorie deficit given based on the information you gave MFP so you not eating your exercise cals means your body is running on less than 1000 cals a day............not good.
  • run_momma_run
    run_momma_run Posts: 319
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    Yes, I'm wondering the same thing...
  • JFoster26
    JFoster26 Posts: 13
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    I've had the same question and I've read some responses... and they make sense as I'm reading them... but two hours later, I am back to wondering WHY I am eating my calories back if I want to ultimately create a deficit in order to lose weight (which I haven't been doing, and I am following a very similar routine to yours).

    I don't have your answer, but I'll be watching in hope that someone can finally explain it once and for all? =)
  • JFoster26
    JFoster26 Posts: 13
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    I've had the same question and I've read some responses... and they make sense as I'm reading them... but two hours later, I am back to wondering WHY I am eating my calories back if I want to ultimately create a deficit in order to lose weight (which I haven't been doing, and I am following a very similar routine to yours).

    I don't have your answer, but I'll be watching in hope that someone can finally explain it once and for all? :smile:
  • PNWriter
    PNWriter Posts: 223 Member
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    This is an endless debate. I used to never eat back my exercise cals but then the past two weeks decided to try it and see what happened. Well...NOTHING. I mean no weight loss whatsoever. So I say NO to eating the exercise cals back. People will say you can go into starvation mode because you're technically going under 1,200 cals but unless you're about 15 lb from your goal and are starving yourself I think you'll be fine.
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
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    The reason you want to eat your exercise calories with MFP is because MFP already calculates a deficit. If you have a deficit and then you burn off more calories you will have too many calories deficit for a safe weight loss.
  • lorilynette
    lorilynette Posts: 39
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    I think the whole eating calories back has to do with the theory of "starvation mode". Depending on your basal metabolic rate and activity level, when you reduce calories you create a deficit that allows the body to go into fat stores. If you are eating too few calories over a period of time, the suggestion is that you will go into starvation mode, the body keeps everything it has and gets because it's protecting itself hence weight loss will stop or slow down. So, the recommendation is to eat back your calories in order to prevent that from happening. I think a better judge is to go buy how you are feeling. No one can last being hungry all day, but eating when you aren't really hungry doesn't seem smart to me. For a lot of us, that's how we got this place in the first place. Just my two cents. Good luck to you!
  • hedleyrocks247
    hedleyrocks247 Posts: 185 Member
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    MFP all ready gives you a deficit in your calories - for example - you enter all your info - starting weight, height, age - it figures out what your BMR is, then you put in your activity level. From there it figures out what calories you need to eat in a day to "maintain" the weight you are at. THEN you pick your weight loss goal - .5 pounds, 1 pound, 1.5 pound or 2 pound weight loss. Now MFP deducts the calories from the original total to give you the calories you need to eat to accomplish this goal. 3500 calories is equal to 1 pound therefore if you have your goal set to lose a pound a week it will subtract 500 calories off of your original total. So technically if you stay at your calories and do not excersise you will still lose weight.

    If you are set at 1200 calories a day and you burn 300 calories from working out it means that you have only "netted" or consumed 900 calories for that day - it is recommended that woman do not go under 1200 calories b/c it is harder to get all the nutrients we need eating that little. Everyone is different.

    Here are some forum posts that you may find helpful with navigating this site -

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics (posted by ladyhawk00 - she's awesome!)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits (posted by SHBoss1673 - lot's of great info)

    And finally http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/ (created by taso42 - another wise one on MFP)

    Hope these help!!!
  • kmeekhof
    kmeekhof Posts: 456 Member
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    This is an endless debate. I used to never eat back my exercise cals but then the past two weeks decided to try it and see what happened. Well...NOTHING. I mean no weight loss whatsoever. So I say NO to eating the exercise cals back. People will say you can go into starvation mode because you're technically going under 1,200 cals but unless you're about 15 lb from your goal and are starving yourself I think you'll be fine.

    Nothing happened because you went so long without eating your exercise calories back. 2 weeks is not enough time to give your body to make the adjustment. Essentially during those two weeks your body was saying "FOOD FOOD FOOD... I'm going to store this for the next time there is a lack of it"

    To the original poster- There is a lot of debate over this subject, but Yes you should eat back your exercise calories, your body needs a certain amount of calories to run efficiently on a day to day basis. When you exercise it needs even more fuel to recover and repair from that exercise. LIke someone else stated, MFP already creates the deficit for you based on the info you put in.
  • mussmom
    mussmom Posts: 362 Member
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    Thank you! That explains it:) I have been wondering the same thing, when you read about the "dangers" of eating back your calories. When you aren't on a set number of calories, I now see how you can eat back the calories you burned. I have been with MFP for about a month and a half, have eaten back my calories when I exercise, and true to MFP, have averaged the one pound a week loss. So it is working for me. I am five pounds away from my original goal weight I set when I joined. So really, I have lost ten-that is more than a pound average a week. EAT! :) -Just eat clean! Good luck!
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
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    here is why you "SHOULD NOT" eat back your calories. Yes you're trying to create a caloric deficit. Actually I'll start at "why" people say you should eat back your calories. They say if you don't eat back your calories, your metabolism will slow down. This is completely false. They also say eating multiple times a day speeds up your metabolism. This isn't true, there is a very small increase in digestion, for example if you eat 100 calories, you'd burn about 10 calories in the digestion. That is a total intake of 90 calories for you. You're better not eating the 100 calories in the first place.

    The MFP caloric calculator is highly inaccurate. You will most likely be over eating. The only reason why someone should eat back their calories is for "sports performance" and most of us aren't engaged in sports. The "eat back your calories" is based on the entire metabolic thing, that if you don't eat your calories you will lose muscle mass and slow down your metabolic rate, which is un true. There was a study done where people ate 800 calories a day, they also engaged in resistance training. There was no loss in muscle mass or slowed metabolic rate.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10204826

    Also NOT eating burns 5x more fat. I am not saying don't eat, don't misinterpret what I am saying. You need to eat a certain amount of calories to be healthy, I do intermittent fasting, where i donlt eat during the day, and eat a big meal at night. Here are the studies that support not eating burns more fat.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12051710

    Here is the study that states, it doesn't matter if you eat 1 time a day or 10 times a day, it doesn't effect your metabolic rate.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8399092
  • _eislek_
    _eislek_ Posts: 198 Member
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    People on here feel very strongly about this so you will get tons of people who tell you what is best for YOUR body. But they don't know YOUR body. If you are really concerned about it, I would ask your doctor.

    My two cents though, I don't eat mine back because I'm not hungry enough to. I'm not going to eat if I'm not hungry no matter how many calories I've had or not had.
  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
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    In the almost 3 months I've been on MFP I've never eaten back my exercise calories. I feel I eat enough with the reg calories given. I'm losing weight just fine, and in a healthy manner. To each their own :)
  • PNWriter
    PNWriter Posts: 223 Member
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    This is an endless debate. I used to never eat back my exercise cals but then the past two weeks decided to try it and see what happened. Well...NOTHING. I mean no weight loss whatsoever. So I say NO to eating the exercise cals back. People will say you can go into starvation mode because you're technically going under 1,200 cals but unless you're about 15 lb from your goal and are starving yourself I think you'll be fine.

    Nothing happened because you went so long without eating your exercise calories back. 2 weeks is not enough time to give your body to make the adjustment. Essentially during those two weeks your body was saying "FOOD FOOD FOOD... I'm going to store this for the next time there is a lack of it"

    To the original poster- There is a lot of debate over this subject, but Yes you should eat back your exercise calories, your body needs a certain amount of calories to run efficiently on a day to day basis. When you exercise it needs even more fuel to recover and repair from that exercise. LIke someone else stated, MFP already creates the deficit for you based on the info you put in.

    So why then did I lose 39 pounds since March 9th and then zippo over the past two weeks even though everything else was the same? I don't buy it. Weight watchers gives you the option to eat 'em back and they've been around way longer than MFP. Like I said, if you're closer to your goal weight then maybe that starvation mode will kick in. But having 80 more for me? Nope.
  • road2peachtree
    road2peachtree Posts: 309 Member
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    At the end of the day, what YOU do for YOUR body is YOUR business. You will get people who are die hard on the subject and say "eat eat eat" then you'll have others who'll say "don't eat don't eat". Whether you do or don't is really based on how your body feels. Personally, I have noticed that if I eat back about 70% of them I feel satisfied and I can still lose. There are some days I just can't possibly eat that much in a day no matter how much calorie dense food I eat. Then there are days when I'm just not that hungry, but then there are days when I can't wait to eat them back because I'm starving. So, in order to stay in the middle I eat some of them back and leave some on the table. But really it's up to you. Try different things and see what works for you. IMHO, I'm not sure I would eat 1200 and burn 500...that only leaves you with about 700 for the day--not so sure that's healthy.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    I typically eat back about half of my exercise calories (sometimes more/sometimes less). Even with doing that, I still have a large enough deficit to lose weight consistently.

    For example, I set MFP to keep me on track to lose 1/2 lb. a week. So, when I don't exercise, I need to eat about 1770 calories a day if I want to maintain that rate of weight loss. Once I add in exercise, I usually burn an extra 400-900 calories. So, to keep my deficit at a level where I still lose that half pound each week, I need to eat some/all of those calories back.

    Many people would say "Don't eat those calories, and you'll lose more weight, faster - YAY!"

    Personally, I'm much happier losing slowly and enjoying the extra food. I like food, I like exercise, I like to be satisfied and happy after I eat. I refuse to ever 'DIET" or starve myself again.

    Is it working?... yep! I've lost 15 pounds in seven weeks. It's more than I was expecting to lose and I'm pretty happy about the pace and the amount/variety of food I eat.
  • PNWriter
    PNWriter Posts: 223 Member
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    In the almost 3 months I've been on MFP I've never eaten back my exercise calories. I feel I eat enough with the reg calories given. I'm losing weight just fine, and in a healthy manner. To each their own :)

    Here Here! :)
  • hedleyrocks247
    hedleyrocks247 Posts: 185 Member
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    I personally have been eating back at least half, if not all of my excersise calories since I started MFP 13 weeks ago - I have my goal set at a 1 pound loss per week but have been losing 1.7 pounds a week on average - 22 pounds to date (next weigh in this Friday) I rarely go under my alloted calories for the day - if I do it's only by a 50 or so calories - I've gone over at least once a week since I started - sometimes a little, a few days a lot - the week after the days that I went over quite a bit are the weeks when I've lost the most weight. This is what is working for me personally!
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    There's even more great information at www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com <3 Good luck to you and welcome to MFP!
  • morningjog
    morningjog Posts: 8
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    So why then did I lose 39 pounds since March 9th and then zippo over the past two weeks even though everything else was the same? I don't buy it. Weight watchers gives you the option to eat 'em back and they've been around way longer than MFP. Like I said, if you're closer to your goal weight then maybe that starvation mode will kick in. But having 80 more for me? Nope.

    She already answered your question in her previous post. Her evaluation was that since you hadn't been eating your surplus exercise calories, your body was attempting to preserve what you put in, much harder than normal. That argument makes sense, since your body needs time to adjust to a new method.

    Another possibility is that you have been miscalculating intake versus exercise.

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