Eating Calories Back, Thoughts?

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junkoki
junkoki Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey friends! So here's something that has been bugging me for awhile. I feel like whenever I ask someone this, I get a different answer every time. So my BMR is about 1410 (give or take). When I exercise, I eat the exercise calories back. When I don't exercise, I just eat my 1410. I know that y'all are into calculating TDEEs. At a sedentary level, my TDEE is about 1697 (give or take). So here are my questions:

1.) What am I doing wrong and/or right (betting on the former)
2.) Will I lose weight eating 1410 calories and eat the exercise calories back? Is this healthy?
3.) Should I be eating 1697 calories instead?
4.) Follow up to #3: If I eat 1697 calories a day and eat my exercise calories back too, would I lose weight?
5.) Apparently at my goal weight, I should be eating 1619 calories. Should I eat that many instead?

6.) Unrelated-ish to my original question, but I see people eating 1200 calories. Now for me, when I tried to eat only 1200 calories, I felt like I was going to die. Is 1200 cal/day even healthy?

Alright MFPers, come at me because I need help.

P.S. Planning on seeing a nutritionist when I return back to university. Will probably attack said nutritionist with the same questions, but I'm impatient and would love to hear what you guys are doing.

Replies

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    I know what the initials stand for, and have read about it, but it boils down to dunno nuthin' 'bout BMR or TYDEE or anything except calories. I never eat back more than half of my calories, and only then when I work out a LOT. I do tend to alternate between deviating from and concentrating too hard on losing weight, but overall, I'm losing. Which is what I did NOT do for eleven years prior! I'm only 5'2" and small-boned, so my maintenance calories without exercise are around 1600. I'm doing 1200 or less now, with or without exercise. Yes, MFP yells at me from time to time, but I can deal with that. But if I do over 1600, I just exercise more to work it off. It's all doable with time, patience, and self-discipline.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    Just a quick one.
    You eat either at NEAT ( as per MFP ) and eat back a percentage of your exercise calories. This would vary day to day.
    OR
    You eat TDEE which has accounted for your weekly exercise calories already. This is constant.

    Cheers, h.
  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
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    As to 6) how old are you, how tall are you, how active are you, and how much do you weigh? I'm 48, sedentary, short, and I want to lose another 20 pounds. My calorie goal is 1200 (with an upward offset if I exercise).

    Yes, 1200 is -for me - healthy and sustainable. Especially with the offset for even s moderate amount of exercise.

    The industry standard is a 1200 calorie minimum. There are reasons and rationalizations for that. Research then if you care to, or accept it as "it is what it is".

    My projected calorie burn for my sedentary lifestyle at my goal weight is on the order of 1400 calories. If, every day, I limit my intake to 1200 calories per day (plus any offset calories), I would have a 4200 calorie deficit (1.2 pounds, if my math is right) every 3 weeks. For a 500 calorie deficit (needed for a projected loss rate of 1 pound per week), I would need to drop my intake to 900 calories per day, which I would find less than sustainable and would be counter to the industry standard minimum.

    As to whether you are doing anything wrong or right, are you seeing the results you want to? Are you being completely accurate in your calorie counting?

    As for exercise calories, the conventional wisdom is to eat back 1/2 to 2/3 of the calories to account for optimistic burn numbers.

    You do want to eat those calories back; your body needs fuel just to exist. Failing to eat back those calories results in your body cannibalizing extant muscle tissue to compensate. (again, there is research and there are reasons and rationalizations. Whether you accept those studies is up to you.).

    If your calorie count is accurate, you should achieve a deficit, even eating back your exercise calories. My experience is that it works; I've lost 75 pounds in 14 months.

    If your body's "calories burned to survive" number is 1619, and you eat 1619, you aren't managing deficit.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,939 Member
    edited August 2015
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    junkoki wrote: »
    Hey friends! So here's something that has been bugging me for awhile. I feel like whenever I ask someone this, I get a different answer every time. So my BMR is about 1410 (give or take). When I exercise, I eat the exercise calories back. When I don't exercise, I just eat my 1410. I know that y'all are into calculating TDEEs. At a sedentary level, my TDEE is about 1697 (give or take). So here are my questions:

    I was going to answer each question individually; but I think your whole series of questions boils down to you internalizing what the terms mean.

    NEAT = BMR x Physical Activity Level Multiplier
    TDEE = NEAT + EXERCISE CALORIES + TEF
    TDEE = Calories Out
    Calories Out - Calories In = Caloric Deficit
    If deficit > 0 you lose weight
    If deficit < 0 you gain weight

    And in more words:

    NEAT = Non exercise activity thermogenesis = Base Metabolic Rate (what you burn if unmoving in bed 24/7) times a physical activity multiplier typically ranging from 1.2x to 1.9x depending on where you fall on the spectrum of sedentary to active.

    (hint: you are probably sedentary if you move less than 5000 steps a day)

    TDEE is your total burn for a day. It includes your NEAT from above, plus your exercise calories, plus the thermic effect of food (the calories it takes to digest your food).

    IF you eat below TDEE you lose weight.
    If you eat above TDEE you gain weight.

    Version 0.1 of my "standard advice" can be found here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/standard-advice-759000
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,195 Member
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    This is what has worked for me:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Machka9/view/what-has-worked-for-me-at-mfp-757858
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
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    So I thought about trying to remember what all those acronyms and initials stand for.

    But then, I thought, naa, don't even want to know.
  • junkoki
    junkoki Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks y'all, really appreciate the help ;)

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