How many exercise cals should I eat back?
Calimama123
Posts: 128 Member
My goal is set at 1200, so I want to eat back my exercise calories, but not more, I'd like to net as close to 1200 as I can, but I know the machines usually overestimate burn. I entered my weight/height, the elliptical says I burned 600cals, how many shiuld I eat back? 300?400?
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Try 400 calories for a week or so and if you see no drop go to 300 calories. All the numbers of intake and outtake are just estimates, you just have to tweak them. Make sure you weigh everyday and weigh your all your food with a scale so you know your numbers are correct.1
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All of them for a month. If that doesn't work - adjust as appropriate.
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1200 is already low, so I would think all of your exercise calories can be eaten back
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Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
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helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
Bad advice. OP don't listen to this!! This is so unhealthy it is not even funny
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My calorie limit is also 1200 and I tend to allow myself to eat up to half of my exercise calories back. I only eat them if I'm hungry though, rather than eating them because they're there! It's nice to have a bit of flex above 1200 since that is quite restrictive but if you find that you're not losing then easy less calories back. I would work this over a few weeks though rather than just one - some weeks you just won't lose regardless of what you do and some weeks you'll lose water weight even if you've eaten more than you've spent. I definitely agree you need to weigh all food to try and keep your intake accurate but I wouldn't agree with weighing yourself every day - once or twice a week is plenty to see a trend.0
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Machines are usually double or so in estimates.
Eat half back at most
The exercise bikes are terribly high. The MFP cycling estimates are over double what cycling.com estimates.
If you exercise 300 or so and take half of those calories from body fat, you do not need to replace them, no matter what the Internet keyboard warriors say.
If you burn 1200 in two hours of intense work, yes you need to eat some calories back.
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I do eat them back. Now, when I lost my 40#, I did leave some on the table regularly, but if I was hungry I certainly ate them all.... However, I'm now at 1200 net, and this is partly because I have MFP set to "lose 1.5 a week" and I have NOT adjusted my weight setting to reflect the fact that I've gained back a fair bit (my best guess is 12-15). So I figure I have some leeway.
At the end of the day, they are all just estimates and projections. Weight loss is not linear even if you could control every possible variable. So -- don't sweat the small stuff. It's not about it "not working" -- it's about the theoretical projected RATE of loss. If you are eating less than you were, than you otherwise would, consistently, and exercising more than you did -- particularly if you are doing resistance training -- you will lose.
I swear that the most important things are consistency and patience.
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Calimama123 wrote: »My goal is set at 1200, so I want to eat back my exercise calories, but not more, I'd like to net as close to 1200 as I can, but I know the machines usually overestimate burn. I entered my weight/height, the elliptical says I burned 600cals, how many shiuld I eat back? 300?400?
Based on your weight, I would eat back every single exercise calorie. You are already working on a weight loss goal that is considered aggressive for your starting weight. If you feel good and strong at the 1200, personally I think it would be wise to consult a professional before pushing beyond that. You're already dealing with a weekly calorie deficit equal to skipping a couple days of eating.
Just my honest opinion. You have the rest of your life to reach your weight goal. Better safe than sorry.0 -
helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
What?
OP, please don't listen to this.
The standard is usually start at 50% and adjust from there.1 -
helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
I don't even understand what she's saying... I need more coffee!!!!
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christinev297 wrote: »helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
I don't even understand what she's saying... I need more coffee!!!!
Better make that a double!!0 -
queenliz99 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
I don't even understand what she's saying... I need more coffee!!!!
Better make that a double!!
No kidding!
What i'm reading is she doesn't eat more than 1100 calories, and she doesn't eat exercise cals back unless she's burned over 800.. Correct?
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christinev297 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
I don't even understand what she's saying... I need more coffee!!!!
Better make that a double!!
No kidding!
What i'm reading is she doesn't eat more than 1100 calories, and she doesn't eat exercise cals back unless she's burned over 800.. Correct?
It's certainly not good advice!! It must be a typo:)0 -
I'd suggest learning to listen to your body. If you've completed a very intense workout more than 1 hour in length then I'd suggest consuming some healthy high quality protein/carb no more than 1/2 the calories you burned if you're trying to shed weight. If the workout was about 1 hour or less and you're going to consume a regular meal within the next couple of hours, you're probably okay without eating anything extra.
Personally, I eat based around what exercise phase I am currently in and my daily activity level. If it's a rest day/light activity day I may consume around 1200 - 1600 calories but on days when I'm having two longer intense workouts trying to increase strength/muscle my calorie intake will be between 2500 - 3000 calories to compensate.
I usually also do a cleanse/one day fast at the onset of each season to detox on a scheduled rest day.
Hope this helps.0 -
I'd suggest learning to listen to your body. If you've completed a very intense workout more than 1 hour in length then I'd suggest consuming some healthy high quality protein/carb no more than 1/2 the calories you burned if you're trying to shed weight. If the workout was about 1 hour or less and you're going to consume a regular meal within the next couple of hours, you're probably okay without eating anything extra.
Personally, I eat based around what exercise phase I am currently in and my daily activity level. If it's a rest day/light activity day I may consume around 1200 - 1600 calories but on days when I'm having two longer intense workouts trying to increase strength/muscle my calorie intake will be between 2500 - 3000 calories to compensate.
I usually also do a cleanse/one day fast at the onset of each season to detox on a scheduled rest day.
Hope this helps.
This highlighted part is unnecessary.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf0 -
I eat about 75% of them back typically, but I also have a bigger deficit just based on height and starting weight. I also tend to eat a bit more of them back if I'm lifting vs cardio because I get hangry.0
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queenliz99 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »helanyhuff wrote: »Set a cap for calories. Mine is 1100. I DO NOT EAT ANY calories back unless I burn more than 800 calories in a day....
I don't even understand what she's saying... I need more coffee!!!!
Better make that a double!!
No kidding!
What i'm reading is she doesn't eat more than 1100 calories, and she doesn't eat exercise cals back unless she's burned over 800.. Correct?
It's certainly not good advice!! It must be a typo:)
When I see people having such a low calorie net, or even negative nets, it just really scares me. Sometimes it's a hard subject, but I can't see anything good about not speaking up.
Though I've had very low net calorie days, I try to keep my totals based on my maintenance weight intake, and never go below about 20% lower than that, regardless of how much exercise was in my day.0 -
I would eat back the full amount. 1200 sounds low to me (why is it so many women on this forum seem to come up with 1200 as their target?), so don't risk going lower.0
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hamlet1222 wrote: »I would eat back the full amount. 1200 sounds low to me (why is it so many women on this forum seem to come up with 1200 as their target?), so don't risk going lower.
1200 is a product of "I want to lose XX pounds per week." Pick an aggressive goal, you get 1200 because it's the lowest minimum default for women.0 -
hamlet1222 wrote: »I would eat back the full amount. 1200 sounds low to me (why is it so many women on this forum seem to come up with 1200 as their target?), so don't risk going lower.
It's because most women's base calories (without exercise calories) less 1000 (2 lbs/wk) or even 750 (1.5 lbs/wk) hit or go below 1200, which is the lowest daily goal that MFP will give a woman. People want to lose weight as fast as possible so they pick a big weekly goal and end up with that.
Also, so many articles (online and in print) say that women should eat 1200-1500 calories to lose weight so people think that if they eat at the low end, they'll lose weight faster.0 -
hamlet1222 wrote: »I would eat back the full amount. 1200 sounds low to me (why is it so many women on this forum seem to come up with 1200 as their target?), so don't risk going lower.
I'm 5"8 and 150lbs and mfp gives me 1200 calories to lose .5kgs a week. As said above, it all has to do with how much you tell it you want to lose per week
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well, that's what I call totally getting my question answered thanks! It had been puzzling me.
sorry OP for this distraction, my suggestion of eating back all your exercise calories still stands (even if the machines overestimate a bit), but then I'm definitely more into the slow weight loss approach than the rapid one, because I think it feels less like a 'diet' when you're doing it, and sets you up well to maintain the desired weight once you get there.0 -
Thanks for all your input! I definitely don't want to net under 1200, but I don't want to undo my hard work by eating back more than I burned either! I think I'm going to stick with eating back half for now and if I can ever find my hrm I can hopefully get a clearer picture of my actual burn. Also just curious...where does it list my current weight? To others besides me0
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Calimama123 wrote: »Thanks for all your input! I definitely don't want to net under 1200, but I don't want to undo my hard work by eating back more than I burned either! I think I'm going to stick with eating back half for now and if I can ever find my hrm I can hopefully get a clearer picture of my actual burn. Also just curious...where does it list my current weight? To others besides me
The important thing is to eat enough to get your nutrition, especially if you are exercising.
As for your weight, it's on your progress ticker.0
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