Eating back those calories...

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charlottelovesabiscuit_
charlottelovesabiscuit_ Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Here we go again that age old question... Do we or don't we...??
I've still never understood. I always thought you should but my Polar always gives me massive burns..

I use the MFP neat method and not tdee as my motivation for the gym wavers and isn't consistent.. Plus seeing the cal burn on my polar Spurs me on to do more..

My rate of loss is set to 1lb per week which gives me 1400cals a day sedentary. I then go to the gym and my polar says I burnt 500cals.

What or do I eat them back HELP PLEASE!!

Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Maybe start by eating back half to three quarters (just pick a number) and see how much you lose (give it a month, a week means nothing). If more than expected, up the number, if less, reduce it.
  • Marianna93637
    Marianna93637 Posts: 230 Member
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    You can eat back some, in fact you should, because if you eat 1400 and burn 500 you're at 900 calories for the day and that's not enough to fuel your body, definitely not every day. On some days you can even eat back all of them, you would be at 1400 calories and that is fine.
    Just listen to your body.
    Yesterday I ate back all my calories and even went over. Sunday I went to San Francisco and walked around 6 hours, literally, on the steep streets of SF. Didn't eat too much. Then Monday I took a Zumba class and half of a bootcamp class. By Tuesday morning (yesterday) I was pretty sore, and my legs NEVER get sore). Took a Zumba class last night and went for a walk.
    When I came home I was exhausted and hungry. I ate. I deserved it. even though I went over my calories, it was just one day out of the week, I felt that my body needed it. And my psyche needed it as well, why do all the hard work if I can't even get a little reward? I will take a Zumba class today and the next 2 days, and I will eat back some of the calories.
    I eat 1300 calories and after this week I expect some results on the scale.
  • mjglantz
    mjglantz Posts: 501 Member
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    I don't eat back all the calories burned. I figure that even though I am rigorous about tracking everything, I probably forget some things and underestimate others. Same with calories burned - I do wear a Nike Fuel band that tells me calories burned at the end of the day. For me, the key is whether or not I'm maintaining my weight (which I am). If that is the case the calorie balance is working.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Eat back 50-75% of them.
  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
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    My dietician said not to go overboard on eating back calories because most exercise calorie burn calculations are higher than they should be. He challenged me to actually cut my daily intake by 100 calories a day, stay in that limit, and not to eat back any calories following a long plateau. Worked like a charm. I'm not starving, either.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    When I was doing NEAT I ate back 75% of my exercise calories.
  • Joanna7115
    Joanna7115 Posts: 2 Member
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    Is there a way to set it up so that it records the calories burned during exercise but doesn't add the calories to the allowed calories for food? Weight Watchers had this setting and I found it helpful. Does anyone know if this is possible for MFP??
  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
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    That used to be an option. Now that MFP has a premium option, you have to pay for it.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    It really depends on how accurate you think your #s are. If you're not certain your burn values are right, then eat back some of the extra calories as you feel you need to. (You may feel hungrier some days than others.)
  • HutchA12
    HutchA12 Posts: 279 Member
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    If you don't go to the gym everyday I wouldn't bother eating back the calories. I don't know how a curate your burn #s are but even at 500 and assuming you hit(not exceed) 1400 eveyday. That will average to just shy of 1200 cal a day (assuming 3 gym days/wk) which is fine for a woman. If you were cardio training and trying to maintain your weight is when you eat back.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited January 2016
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    charlottelovesabiscuit_ wrote: »
    What or do I eat them back HELP PLEASE!!
    @charlottelovesabiscuit_
    You stick to a method for an extended period of time and see if your results meet your 1 pound a week weight loss expectations. If your actual results don't match then you adjust either your calorie burn estimates or your daily goal.

    I used a very basic HRM (Polar FT7) during my weight loss and I now know it wasn't that accurate but it really didn't matter in the slightest.

    You don't mention how you are burning those 500 calories or the duration so impossible to guess. Without knowing that it's hard to judge why you think 500 is "massive".
    There may be a way to verify your estimates depending on the exercise.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Joanna7115 wrote: »
    Is there a way to set it up so that it records the calories burned during exercise but doesn't add the calories to the allowed calories for food? Weight Watchers had this setting and I found it helpful. Does anyone know if this is possible for MFP??

    You can change the calories to anything you want (other than 0). When I included my calories in my goal upfront (I don't advise using the MFP max goal and not eating back calories), I would change the count to 1. You can still do that.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Joanna7115 wrote: »
    Is there a way to set it up so that it records the calories burned during exercise but doesn't add the calories to the allowed calories for food? Weight Watchers had this setting and I found it helpful. Does anyone know if this is possible for MFP??

    You can change the calories to anything you want (other than 0). When I included my calories in my goal upfront (I don't advise using the MFP max goal and not eating back calories), I would change the count to 1. You can still do that.

    I do that, too. 45 minutes of weight lifting, 1 calorie. 30 minutes elliptical, 1 calorie.
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited January 2016
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    There are a couple of methods you can follow to diet

    TDEE and in this your activity level and exercise is included So TDEE is the total number in the day you burn...eat less 1000 to lose a pound etc etc. This is the method most dietitian use, that is why they say to NOT eat back your calories of exercising which is right.

    But MFP is NOT using TDEE it is using NEAT..which means it is only calculating your daily activity and not including exercise. So what you use to normally living...like breathing, moving walking etc And your organs, muscle and brain..so your body is using calories. So for living...nothing more or extra. This calculation is to feed your body, not anything extra for exercising! This method only feed your body in its normal condition.

    Now because MFP is calculating this way you should eat your exercise back....but MFP database for exercise overestimate the calorie burns so most people eat not all back but 25% to 75% of their exercise. And it works.

    There are other reasons why you should eat back when you follow MFP method and that is the bigger picture of...you need more nutrition when you exercise, you want to fuel your body. Your body will give up in the long or short run. You will get quicker tired etc.
    Fuel your fitness!!!
    And it will have affect on your will power to keep up.
    And in the worse case you are under eating and can cause real damage to your body ( in the long or short term) because you dont get enough nutrition. Which can be anything from losing your hair, bad nails to not getting your period anymore for woman, and even worse organs who shut down.

    Most people who dont eat back say i dont need it and i dont have these medical issues as hair loss etc...but it takes a long time ( most of the time) before it happens. But when it happens it takes also a long long time ( think about 9 months to a year at least) to recover the body.

    It happens, but a lot of the time people already gave up their diet just because they cant keep doing it.


    And than there is the group who dont eat back and nothing happens...these are mostly the people who ate or eat already more than they think. So without knowing they still fueling their body.

    So this is in as short as possible in my bad English an explanation why you should eat back exercise when you use MFP NEAT method.

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  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited January 2016
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    BTW i did NEAT ( so MFP) till i reached maintenance and ate back 50% of my exercise and lost 114lbs in a year, while upping my calories in the meantime. ( so started at 1200 calories and ended at 1600 over a year plus 50% of my exercise calories)

    Now that i am in maintenance ( or rather trying to find it) i do TDEE
    So i dont eat my calories back...but i eat 1950 calories a day ( and still losing)
    I exercise about 300 calories a day for 6 days a week.

    I went over to TDEE because i am pretty consistent now with exercising. and i wasn't when i started. So TDEE is keeping me honest lol. Everyday i have to do my exercise or i cant eat the 1950 calories. Or more because i am still losing ( very slowly)


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  • charlottelovesabiscuit_
    charlottelovesabiscuit_ Posts: 10 Member
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    Thank you so much for your comments everyone :D I'm going to eat 50% of my calories back and see how I get on. What I see on my hrm I will half it and enter that for the day xxx

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