Eating back exercise calories

Which fitbit do you have? How long have you been going to the gym and hitting it hard?

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

clairec230787 wrote: »

So, I am getting back into the gym. Hitting it hard and loving it. Feel much better. I am aiming to go at least 3-4 times a week, for an hour each session. I do a mix of cardio and lifting.
I burn on average 400 calories per workout (based on Fitbit). However, as i am eating a carby lunch, pre workout (pasta and tuna etc) and a protein plate post workout I am just not hungry. I am weighing and logging accurately but I am just not hungry. Should I force myself to eat more? I am eating around 1200 calories a day. Like I said I don't feel hungry and I feel better than I have (energy wise) for a while.

If you are truly only eating 1200 per day and doing an hour of exercise, then yes, I'd recommend eating at least a portion (maybe 50%) of those exercise calories back. You don't need to eat them back at any specific time (for example, right before or after your workout), but you should fit them into your day somewhere in order to properly fuel your workouts.

Yep^^^This.

Especially if at your age and if you're in the last 15. 1200 is most likely already an aggressive calorie goal for you, unless you're 3ft tall.

OP as others have said, 1200 may be too low, especially if you only have 15 lbs to lose. Setting your weight loss goal to 0.5 lb/week would probably be a more moderate deficit.

Now with that said, you already indicated you are not hungry eating only 1200 cals. How confident are you that you are eating only 1200 cals? Are you weighing your food with a scale? You also mentioned this has only been a couple of weeks - a lot of times with a change in exercise program comes a change in your normal hunger cues, it's possible you aren't hungry now but in a couple more weeks that could catch up with you.

I am a firm believer that most people can lose weight eating more than 1200 calories. I also have a FitBit and trust it for eating back the exercise adjustments. I lost most of my 30 lbs using FitBit and eating 1600-1900 calories, and am maintaining eating >2100 cals most days. I'm a petite (5'2) female with a desk job, for what it's worth...

PeachyCarol wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

OP as others have said, 1200 may be too low, especially if you only have 15 lbs to lose. Setting your weight loss goal to 0.5 lb/week would probably be a more moderate deficit.

Now with that said, you already indicated you are not hungry eating only 1200 cals. How confident are you that you are eating only 1200 cals? Are you weighing your food with a scale? You also mentioned this has only been a couple of weeks - a lot of times with a change in exercise program comes a change in your normal hunger cues, it's possible you aren't hungry now but in a couple more weeks that could catch up with you.

I am a firm believer that most people can lose weight eating more than 1200 calories. I also have a FitBit and trust it for eating back the exercise adjustments. I lost most of my 30 lbs using FitBit and eating 1600-1900 calories, and am maintaining eating >2100 cals most days. I'm a petite (5'2) female with a desk job, for what it's worth...

Cosigning this, but adding that I only trust the Fitbit with step-based burns. I'm iffy on the HR for burns for other activities. I wouldn't eat back much of what was earned during lifting. It can raise your heart rate, but the calorie burn might not correspond. Or something like that.

Fair point. Most of my activity is step based - but when I do stationary bike or circuit training (with light weights) I log the activity into MFP and then it adjusts the calorie burn with FitBit. I forgot to mention that - thanks! PS - I also take about a 10% deduction in those calories to be on the safe side - with those limited adjustments I have found the FitBit to be quite accurate in predicting total calories burned.

WinoGelato wrote: »

PeachyCarol wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

OP as others have said, 1200 may be too low, especially if you only have 15 lbs to lose. Setting your weight loss goal to 0.5 lb/week would probably be a more moderate deficit.

Now with that said, you already indicated you are not hungry eating only 1200 cals. How confident are you that you are eating only 1200 cals? Are you weighing your food with a scale? You also mentioned this has only been a couple of weeks - a lot of times with a change in exercise program comes a change in your normal hunger cues, it's possible you aren't hungry now but in a couple more weeks that could catch up with you.

I am a firm believer that most people can lose weight eating more than 1200 calories. I also have a FitBit and trust it for eating back the exercise adjustments. I lost most of my 30 lbs using FitBit and eating 1600-1900 calories, and am maintaining eating >2100 cals most days. I'm a petite (5'2) female with a desk job, for what it's worth...

Cosigning this, but adding that I only trust the Fitbit with step-based burns. I'm iffy on the HR for burns for other activities. I wouldn't eat back much of what was earned during lifting. It can raise your heart rate, but the calorie burn might not correspond. Or something like that.

Fair point. Most of my activity is step based - but when I do stationary bike or circuit training (with light weights) I log the activity into MFP and then it adjusts the calorie burn with FitBit. I forgot to mention that - thanks! PS - I also take about a 10% deduction in those calories to be on the safe side - with those limited adjustments I have found the FitBit to be quite accurate in predicting total calories burned.

I used to do this, without the 10% cut, and then realized that I could log the workout at FitBit with what seems like a more reasonable calorie estimate (60 minutes swimming 450 calories vs. 250 calories). I now log exercise exclusively with FitBit and just let it do it's thing. Seems to be working nicely so far, but I don't get the post on my wall saying that I did "90 minutes of exercise including swimming" when I log it. It's nice to have the recognition, but not necessary. I just make a note in my food diary.