Eating back calories

mamato4kids
mamato4kids Posts: 217 Member
edited September 27 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

Replies

  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    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
    Yes, I'm wondering the same thing...
  • JFoster26
    JFoster26 Posts: 13
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 294 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    There's even more great information at www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com <3 Good luck to you and welcome to MFP!
  • morningjog
    morningjog Posts: 8
    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.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    There is nothing on the www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com site but links back to this site,everyone just likes to think they are so witty playing the hell out of it when they could just as easy give the links it will send you to anyways
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

    They all say pretty much the same thing
  • KierstyPants
    KierstyPants Posts: 468 Member
    There is nothing on the www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com site but links back to this site,everyone just likes to think they are so witty playing the hell out of it when they could just as easy give the links it will send you to anyways
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

    They all say pretty much the same thing

    YESSS.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    That and when someone who is new and really wants to know clicks on that site and all they see at first is a big yes might consider it a joke an not continue on to see the links
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    There is nothing on the www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com site but links back to this site,everyone just likes to think they are so witty playing the hell out of it when they could just as easy give the links it will send you to anyways
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

    They all say pretty much the same thing

    SORRRRRRYYY. People don't want to waste time posting every single exercise calorie link on MFP. It's not because we think we're witty -- it's just easier to post a single link... which is why taso42 created it in the first place. We're all a bit sick of the "should i eat my exercise calories back?" posts. Let's not be rude though. There was absolutely no point in "dissing" the site. (Especially five minutes after it's already been posted and the OP has probably already checked it out... You just wasted even more of your time.)
  • Strive2BLean
    Strive2BLean Posts: 300 Member
    Your repy sounds very sensible.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    There is nothing on the www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com site but links back to this site,everyone just likes to think they are so witty playing the hell out of it when they could just as easy give the links it will send you to anyways
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

    They all say pretty much the same thing

    SORRRRRRYYY. People don't want to waste time posting every single exercise calorie link on MFP. It's not because we think we're witty -- it's just easier to post a single link... which is why taso42 created it in the first place. We're all a bit sick of the "should i eat my exercise calories back?" posts. Let's not be rude though. There was absolutely no point in "dissing" the site. (Especially five minutes after it's already been posted and the OP has probably already checked it out... You just wasted even more time.)


    I did not diss the site I thought it was pretty funny the first 2 times I saw it,by the 50 millionth time not so much.I also could not care less if you think im being rude,not what I was going for (but I still do not care if thats how I came across) The site comes off as a joke,the first time I saw it I did not go beyond the yes.Im sure im not the only one.Why not just reply with a yes and leave it at that then.Those that are soooo sick of the should I eat my exercise calorie topics should just ignore them then.IMO
  • wildon883r
    wildon883r Posts: 429 Member
    Professional athletes have to eat more because they have no energy/fat stores so all there energy comes from food unlike the majority of us that have calorie reserves ie (fat). Michael Phelps ate 10,000 calories a day during the Olympics and thats almost 5 days worth of food for many of us. As long as you have fat around your belly, thighs, rear end you have stored excess energy. It's not until you reach a very low level of body fat that you should even consider eating exercise calories. How many here are professional athletes? I know i'm not. Your body will tell you when it needs fed. When i'm hungry i feed myself. When i'm not i don't. I simply wont just eat because my numbers say i should to achieve a net calorie goal and i'm far from starving.

    My BMR is like 1900 calories a day if all i do was lay around which i don't. I eat 1500-2000 a day on average and consume ALOT of food. I eat way more now the before i started eating healthy. I ate Subway 6" Club sandwich today for supper but skipped the chips. Less then an hour later i had 2 cups of watermelon followed by 1/4 cup of pistachios followed by a cup of Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal with milk before my hunger was extinquished. I'm done eating for the evening i answered my body's call for nourishment. My point in all this?

    It's armchair nutrition to tell somebody to eat back exercise calores to achieve a net caloric intake goal. The simple undeniable truth is in order to lose you have to burn more calories then you consume in a given day. Many things affect a persons ability to burn calories. 7 simple words EAT TO LIVE not LIVE TO EAT. Good luck.
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
    in bank's post, about "the keys to a calorie deficit" or something like that. That is inaccurate information. The second to last post on his topic was mine dis proven what he has said.

    ladyhawk's post is also inaccurate. She says The body slows down it's metabolic rate first if adequate energy(calories) aren't met.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
    I already posted a link on this topic that dismisses caloric needs. People where eating 800 calories a day without muscle loss. That is "inadequate" calories... with no loss in metabolic rate.

    Bank's other post, "eating when you're not hungry" I do agree that hunger can be misinterpreted. People think "hunger is bad" here are the facts about hunger, it's a form of stress, when stress is precieved by the body, GH is released, it BURNS FAT and preserves muscle mass. On the other hand, it keeps your metabolism in a fat burning mode. Because glucagon is high, which is a fat releasing hormone. I am talking about this post.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

    Eating is deter mental to weight loss. I am not saying don't eat, that is unhealthy. I am saying, if you're not hungry don't eat. Eating causes your body to store fat, due to an increase of insulin, which stores glucose in the muscle or fat. Every time you eat you raise insulin. You really want to shut down your fat burning abilities by eating??? the obvious answer is "no".
  • mamato4kids
    mamato4kids Posts: 217 Member
    Thanks...I am of the mindset, you eat good healthy food. If you do this and exercise you will lose.
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