Do you guys eat back the calories you have burned exercising?

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I have tried this before and have completely failed! This time I am eating back the calories I have exercised off and feeling much better. My calorie limit is 1200. I have heard that sone people eat half the calories they have burned exercising? What do you guys think?
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Replies

  • kelseyjean5
    kelseyjean5 Posts: 18 Member
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    I have tried both. My motivation used to be that the more I exercised the more I could eat. I lost weight quicker when I didn't eat back my exercised calories. However, I still lost 20 pounds when eating the calories I burned. Many will say to never eat the calories you burned. I say it's up to you. Just know that if you do eat the calories burned, you may not be losing weight as fast if you weren't. I have never tried eating gave if the calories I've burned! But I could see that being a nice median!
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    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!
  • stephaniepeake1
    stephaniepeake1 Posts: 40 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    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!

    I get hangry too haha! I think I might try eating half of them back and see how that goes, if it's too difficult I will just have to lose the weight a bit slower.
  • stephaniepeake1
    stephaniepeake1 Posts: 40 Member
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    I have tried both. My motivation used to be that the more I exercised the more I could eat. I lost weight quicker when I didn't eat back my exercised calories. However, I still lost 20 pounds when eating the calories I burned. Many will say to never eat the calories you burned. I say it's up to you. Just know that if you do eat the calories burned, you may not be losing weight as fast if you weren't. I have never tried eating gave if the calories I've burned! But I could see that being a nice median!

    Wow 20 pounds! That's around how much I want to lose. I'm going to give eating half back a go and see how much I lose. Thanks for replying.
  • Ntje
    Ntje Posts: 1 Member
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    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.
  • stephaniepeake1
    stephaniepeake1 Posts: 40 Member
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    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.
  • samra338
    samra338 Posts: 2,622 Member
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    I started off eating half of the exercise calories back...but, there are days when I am not very hungry and eat back 10 to 25 % of the exercise calories.
  • stephaniepeake1
    stephaniepeake1 Posts: 40 Member
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    samra338 wrote: »
    I started off eating half of the exercise calories back...but, there are days when I am not very hungry and eat back 10 to 25 % of the exercise calories.
    . Ahhh I wish I didn't get hungry so easily :/ I think I am going to have to wait for my stomach to shrink (if that actually happens) as went on a massive three month binge. Oops!
  • stunningalmond
    stunningalmond Posts: 275 Member
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    If I'm hungry I will eat some calories back... I have a 1200 cal limit too. A lot of the time I don't feel that hungry because I drink obscene amount of water. :smile:
  • charitys_aloette
    charitys_aloette Posts: 42 Member
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    Absolutely. Maybe not all but a good portion. I lift and I need the calories for energy. :)
  • charitys_aloette
    charitys_aloette Posts: 42 Member
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    Wow. I don't envy you girls. I'm at 1570 and eat my workout calories (some) on top of that.
  • erimethia_fekre
    erimethia_fekre Posts: 317 Member
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    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
  • AstaJe
    AstaJe Posts: 1 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I don’t eat back all I exercise. I have 1550 calorie limit, but I cycle and walk a lot and almost every day burn from 1000 to some days even 3000-4000 calories exercising. So even if I eat 2000 per day I am still in a huge minus :)
  • getgemma
    getgemma Posts: 40 Member
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    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!
  • getgemma
    getgemma Posts: 40 Member
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    lmaharidge wrote: »
    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

    Good going!!!

  • rumijs
    rumijs Posts: 218 Member
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    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.
  • samra338
    samra338 Posts: 2,622 Member
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    rumijs wrote: »
    I don't eat them back because I "have" to. I do it to satiate hunger.

    This! Yes, since I rely on MFP predictions of calorie burn for exercises, I'm never sure of the exact burn, so I listen to my body and eat when I am hungry.
  • Sherryfood95
    Sherryfood95 Posts: 58 Member
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    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.
  • CrystalConsults
    CrystalConsults Posts: 67 Member
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    Oh gosh, 1200 cals sounds sooo low! Are you sure that's enough? Just checking because it's proven that we can mess up our metabolisms by not eating enough! I'm at 1500 cals a day (54 y/o) and I rarely eat back my exercise cals. Although, once I reach goal of 20% fat, I'll consider it! :-) (No disrespect intended on my comment of 1200 cals a day.)
  • rosenda9375
    rosenda9375 Posts: 6 Member
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    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?