Eating "earned" calories?

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Jacquie_Youngs
Jacquie_Youngs Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys! If I've got MFP set to lose 2lb/week but I run a hilly 3.5 miles in the morning which burns 400 calories through Endomondo and it links it to MFP, do I need to eat those 400 calories or keep that 400 cal deficit? My target calories before running is 1360. I'm 5'7" and trying to go from 160 back to an original 130. Do I eat 1360 or 1760?
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Replies

  • StacyChrz
    StacyChrz Posts: 865 Member
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    Personally, I tend to eat back only a portion of my 'earned' calories. I have a Fitbit and when the calories are adjusted it usually gives me back only about 1/3 of the calories I've burned. You should play with it a bit and see how you feel and how your losses are going to find what is best for you.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    Personally I would eat the 1760. With only 30 lbs to lose, 2 lbs per week loss goal may be rather aggressive.
  • pichu318
    pichu318 Posts: 172 Member
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    Give yourself at least some of those calories back. Even if you just try to eat until you are at a net of over 1000-1200 calories that should be fine. People say to eat back half to three quarters of your expended calories here. I just liked to make my net above 1000 to be happy with my weight loss and amount I was able to eat back :P
  • L_Master
    L_Master Posts: 354 Member
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    Naturally those are calories you need to eat. You'd then eat 1760.

    Think of it on the extreme. If you went for say a 30 mile run that burned 4000kcal, you certainly wouldn't just eat 1360 kcal that day. MFP sets you up based on your activity level setting for how many calories you will need to eat that day to have goal deficit, in your case 1360 kcal. If you burn an extra 400 kcal that means if you ate 1360 kcal for the day you would now have a 1400 kcal deficit.

    The one exception might be if you have MFP set for some very high activity level to compensate for your running, but if you're logging your exercise from other sites MFP should be set to sedentary or lightly active provided you don't have some manual labor job that is physically demanding day in and day out.
  • katanasnk
    katanasnk Posts: 52 Member
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    I try to stick to my original calorie goal and not use the exercise calories. Some days, I'm too hungry for that. I've found that using half my exercise calories is usually safe and doesn't stall my progress.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Personally I would eat the 1760. With only 30 lbs to lose, 2 lbs per week loss goal may be rather aggressive.

    +1

  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    Are you craving food late in the day? If so go for it. Listen to your body.
  • arv51862
    arv51862 Posts: 115 Member
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    I would recommend starting closer to the 1360 # & track your weight loss progress & compare your actual progress to your weekly weight loss goal. Only eat more calories if you are meeting or exceeding your anticipated or expected rate of weight loss. Macro's will also come into play as you will need carbs to fuel your daily run.
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
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    Personally, I'd eat about half those calories back. I'm currently on maintenance, and I still only eat half my exercise calories. I've learned in the past year that all those calorie counter devices (FitBit, Endomondo, Heart, etc.) aren't perfectly accurate. And, honestly, the TDEE on MFP isn't perfectly accurate, either. Since we all have different body chemistries, it's impossible to create a computer program to perfectly measure how many calories we burn.

    I'm a good example. MFP was telling me to eat 1650 calories a day for maintenance plus my exercise. And I gained five pounds before I rethought that. I'm currently eating about 1400 calories a day and half my exercise, which seems to be working much better for maintenance. But, we're all special snowflakes and we've all got to figure out what works best for us. I'm one of those people who wants everything to work like a math equation. If you do x + y, your result should always be z. Unfortunately, both x and y turned out to be variables!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    i eat almost all my logged exercise calories BUT i also dont log all my exercise ;) so in reality, im probably eating half them ;)
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    You need to see what works best for you. I'd say start with eating half back and go from there when you see how the weight loss goes. Adjust from there.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Personally I would eat the 1760. With only 30 lbs to lose, 2 lbs per week loss goal may be rather aggressive.

    This^

    Too fast weight loss makes it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle. If you had a more moderate goal (1 pound a week)....then you would eat part of your exercise calories. But that too is going closer to 1760 calories.
  • Dreysander
    Dreysander Posts: 294 Member
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    I don't eat earned calories at the moment. When I go into maintenance I'll likely eat half of them.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,224 Member
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    Notice something. The vast majority of those saying eat the calories have lots of experience based on their post counts. Eat the calories.
  • maidengirl_
    maidengirl_ Posts: 283 Member
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    I have earned calories from working out as well. I only eat back some of them because after a workout my energy levels are low and I need to refuel. I don't deny eating a meal. I still lose weight.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    To lose 2 lbs/week you're already at a daily 1000 calorie deficit. If you don't eat the exercise calories, your deficit will be 1400. I agree with the above posts to consider losing at a slower rate and definitely eating the exercise calories back.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    Your calorie goal is set up to lose assuming you're sedentary. As you are clearly not sedentary, you need to either adjust your goal by entering a much higher activity level, or start eating calories back. Or deal with hunger and weight loss that is unhealthily rapid.. I mean, it's your body, but I don't recommend that route.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Eat it back, really. Losing weight to fast is damaging over a period of time and I presume you want to be lean and healthy not just skinny :-)
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
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    I eat mine, if I am hungry. If I am not I don't. This has worked just fine for me. Im pretty sure I gained the weight by eating when I wasn't hungry so it isn't something I want to continue now.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
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    I am with all those that say eat your calories back.
    I did while losing, and do while maintaining( 6yr) and I am tiny so only had a 1200 base to work from. If I hadn't eaten the extra 200 a day I had expended through exercise to fuel the exercise I would have burnt out, got ill, & lost muscle very quickly.

    MFP is set up for you to eat them. Sometimes you have to play with them a little to be getting the loss you entered into MFP, but tightening up calorie counting methods, weighing and measuring everything that goes in your mouth, should be done before dropping cals.

    Not eating them back can cause physical and mental problems, fatigue is generally the first. Great work out, ate your MFP cals but not exercise cals, haven't got the energy to cook dinner and vacuum the house = you are under nourishing your body.

    Also, a 2 lb loss with 30lb to lose is a bit drastic. Try 1.5 then 1.
    As you lose the weight your calorie requirements drop. If you are not eating back your exercise calories, as you get closer to your goal you will have little or no room to adjust your calories down so you can reach your desired weight.

    Long story short- eat your exercise calories, monitor your loss ( over 3-4 weeks) and adjust accordingly.

    Cheers, h.

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