eating too much???

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Mandyrose1983
Mandyrose1983 Posts: 86 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've always been a little confused.... Will you still lose weight if you eat back the calories burned while exercising??? Or should you try to eat as if you never worked out?? Or somewhere in between???

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  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    MFP is designed to eat them back. Most will only eat a portion to accommodate miscalculations both in burns. Remember, the winner gets to eat the most and still lose.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    The more I exercise, the more I get to eat and still remain in a deficit.
  • Mandyrose1983
    Mandyrose1983 Posts: 86 Member
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    Thanks everyone!!
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    My dietician, and my doctor (endocrinologist specializing in weight issues) told me not to eat exercise calories.
    In fact, they'd never heard of such a thing. Said to treat them as a bonus toward weight loss.

    Most people underestimate what they eat.
    Most machines (including MFP) overestimate calories burned.
    For most people, in most situations, usually those errors cancel out.

    If you're really hungry once in a while, have 1/3 - 1/2 of your exercise calories that day as a snack.
    Or if you're losing too quickly, have that % every day. Adjust to maintain reasonable weight loss.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    What if someone has a calorie allowance of 1200 calories, and they then go and burn 1000 calories at the gym??
    They have no choice but to eat the majority of those calories back if they want to remain healthy.
  • Mandyrose1983
    Mandyrose1983 Posts: 86 Member
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    Mkegal, that's what I was thinking... The calories burned are all a bonus...thanks for the clarification. I have a hard time sticking to 1280 calories so on average, I eat between 1 to 1700 a day. I work out a lot but I have the hardest time eating only 1280 calories a day. When I am eating that few calories, my workouts suck, I feel like I'm starving and I eventually binge. Binging causes extreme weight gain so I would rather eat a bit more regularly and stay consistent, but I want my hard work to pay off. I want to lose weight and I don't want to sabotage my hard work by eating too many calories... But mfp says that 1280 calories is what it takes to lose two pounds per week. Is that without exercise?? Uggggggg. I'm so confused!!!
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
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    Is that you in your profile pic? You don't look like you need to lose any weight, let alone have enough to lose that 2lb a week is viable.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    MFP uses the NEAT method. So yes, 1280 calories is without exercise.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    MFP uses the NEAT method. So yes, 1280 calories is without exercise.

    ^This. MFP gives you your calorie goal assuming you will eat back at least some of your exercise calories on top of that. No need to struggle to eat less than you have to!
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    MFP is designed to eat them back. Most will only eat a portion to accommodate miscalculations both in burns. Remember, the winner gets to eat the most and still lose.

    +1

    OP, since you have data already that lets you know you do not do well when you restrict too much, try the MFP way. Keep data over a month - there is no need to feel like your weight loss journey is a race. You want to establish habits during weight loss that you can continue to maintain your weight loss. The number MFP gave you is for weight loss at the activity level you set. If your workouts suffer at that level then you are not eating enough to support your activity level.

  • Firefly0606
    Firefly0606 Posts: 366 Member
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    You have to eat a deficit to what you burn. Think of "burn" not just as what happens when you exercise deliberately, but also all the other movement, and heart pumping, and breathing, and digesting that your body does for you in a day.

    No one knows their exact number. But you can get a pretty good idea from keeping a log and figuring out what works for you. MFP is a machine and will give a number based on a calculation - which is guesstimate.

    Generally, weight loss will stall and you will have other health issues if you don't give your body the fuel it needs. The example above is excellent....what if you eat 1200 but burn 1000 at the gym? (plus the other incidental for the day?) If that was me, I'd be hangry.

    As for eating back - again, don't starve!! You have to fuel your workout somehow. If I get in a 20 minute walk, I generally don't eat any extra. But the days I take a karate class, I will eat about 300 cal more if I feel hungry. These are rules I made up to suit me. If, on karate day, I ate back what MFP gave me, I'd eat an extra 1000 cal. I think that is insane. I'm never hungry for 1000 cal more, so I don't eat it.

    My advice is don't expect to know the right numbers on day one. Pick a number, give it a week and see what happens. Make an adjustment, give it another week. Over time you will figure out your numbers, and will learn how to adjust accordingly. Be patient and learnt to listen to your body.
  • Mandyrose1983
    Mandyrose1983 Posts: 86 Member
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    misskarne wrote: »
    Is that you in your profile pic? You don't look like you need to lose any weight, let alone have enough to lose that 2lb a week is viable.

    Thank you so much. But it's a flattering dress.
  • Mandyrose1983
    Mandyrose1983 Posts: 86 Member
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    Thank you everyone for explaining it in a way that is easy to understand. I do forget that this isn't a race. I am very impatient and just don't want my time or efforts wasted, but it's about life changes and finding what works for each individual. Thank you all so much for your input. I feel like I have more knowledge and motivation than I did when I started this day.
  • crouchyyy
    crouchyyy Posts: 5 Member
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    I definitely eat back some of my exercise calories - at one point I built up to running 20 miles (2000 calories) and just the gels & sports drinks I consumed during the run added up to about 600 calories!!
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
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    I have to eat back a portion of my exercise calories or else I don't have the energy to do intense workouts.
  • Remaking_Me
    Remaking_Me Posts: 62 Member
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    MKEgal wrote: »
    My dietician, and my doctor (endocrinologist specializing in weight issues) told me not to eat exercise calories.
    In fact, they'd never heard of such a thing. Said to treat them as a bonus toward weight loss.

    Most people underestimate what they eat.
    Most machines (including MFP) overestimate calories burned.
    For most people, in most situations, usually those errors cancel out.

    If you're really hungry once in a while, have 1/3 - 1/2 of your exercise calories that day as a snack.
    Or if you're losing too quickly, have that % every day. Adjust to maintain reasonable weight loss.

    What this guy said.
    I've been down many bad roads of miscalculation.
    WHAT THIS GUY SAID.
    !!
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I try to leave a cushion of about 500-750 calories. I eat back probably between 50-75 percent of the calories I exercise away. Why? Because I like eating.

    Also, because I can. It hasn't hurt my progress. Have lost about over a pound and a half per week since I started using MFP.

    I don't eat all of my exercise calories back, because I do recognize that people are prone to make systematic errors when they estimate their burns or their intake (typically in the direction of an accidental caloric surplus), so I correct for that.

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