I eat all of mine. My limit is 1200 and I can't hit it (without feeling hangry) without the few extra calories exercise gives me. Even being able to eat just 100-200 more calories makes a difference!

Absolutely. Maybe not all but a good portion. I lift and I need the calories for energy.

I don't eat mine back yet. I don't even log the exercise calories to be honest. I do make my calorie goal 1500 though and I average a 3lb weight loss a week. I'm 11 lb from my goal

Okay, without going into a rant about those eating around 1200 calories...
Check out a calorie calculator then experiment and see what works for you. I once tried to eat 1200 calories and in my opinion unless you are fasting, very small framed and not particularly tall, spend all day sleeping or relaxing on your yacht you are likely to need the cals.
When I burn 6000 cals in one day's activities I'll notice day 1 I'll under eat but throughout the week I'll require slightly more cal intake. As I'd like to move closer to a lower weight for racing and a slimmer/toned shape I'm looking at eating the recommended maintenace cals for that weight. See what happens.
In a nut shell, having a deficit is best but I'd say experiment as you have fat to burn. So anything under 1hours workout don't eat those cals back. Eat filling clean food!!
Good luck from a MFP who learnt dauphinoise potatoes should be limited he he!

Depends. 80% of the time I don't eat back my calories because I'm not in a huge deficit. I eat around 1800 normally (about 500 deficit). So workout calories are usually 300-400 and I'm typically not hungry around 1400 net calories. Now if I'm eating a lower day, say 1400, or have an very high calorie burn day >400, then I'll usually eat at least some of them back. I don't eat them back because I "have" to. I do it to satiate hunger. I can tell when I've had a different than typical calorie eat/expenditure day simply because I'm hungry, not starving. The best way to success is not to starve yourself. If you're truly hungry, not thirsty or bored, then eat 200 or so cals. Wait an hour, see how you feel before tacking on more cals.

Be careful using the calorie estimates here. My Garmin shows very different cardio calories burned that the calculations here. Garmin shows I burn less than the defaults here and based on weight loss I would agree.

Hmmmm? Lol my doc told me to eat around 900-1000 cal daily!! I've been able to stay around the 1000-1200 range on most days, including those I earn back from exercising, but after a 30 minute workout I do feel hungry and that's usually when I go for those extra 100-200 cal to feel not so drained not sure if this is ok but I started out @ 201 lbs and 5'5 a month ago and am down to 187 lbs so far.... I do carry a good amount of muscle and I don't want to lose all that by having my body go into starvation mode from such low cals..... Any ideas?

I try not to eat all of them back, but I do eat some back, within reason. I firmly believe that if you're hungry, you need to eat. Munchies and cravings are one thing, a rumbling stomach is a different thing entirely.

If I run 10 miles, I don't need an extra 1000 calories. I'm not sure I could do that if I tried. I'm not that big. But the next day I might eat a few extra cals even if it's a rest day. I personally try to look at it over a period of a few days instead of one at a time, because my activity levels vary so much. But an overall deficit is the goal.

Definitely! I couldnt manage on just 1200 calories a day. Well not every day.

I eat them back. I need them to fuel my workouts. I have been losing slow.

I've decided since I'm so close to my goal weight...11 pounds to go on a 5'9'' frame,I'm NOT going to eat back all the calories I burn off through exercise,but I am going to try and keep my total food calories at around 1500 per day. I think that should be enough for me to still have the energy for my high intensity circuits and still continue to lose weight. I hope. Slow and steady is alright with me as long as I see a steady decline in weight.

stephaniepeake1 wrote: »

Ntje wrote: »

Do you mean that your goal is 1200, and then you eat let's say 1500 if you did 300 exercise? I do that for sure when I feel hungry. But also the other way around, when I eat too much I'll make sure that I exercise enough to meet my calorie goal.

Yes! That's what I'm doing, well I was doing that but I am going to try and eat half back and see how I go. I tried not eating any back before and it was impossible on a 1200 limit.

Could you please post with your results of eating back only 1/2 in a couple weeks. I would greatly appreciate it!