Eating back work out calories?

Its_Haleeyy
Its_Haleeyy Posts: 53 Member
edited November 29 in Health and Weight Loss
So I always hear that you should only eat back part of your work out calories? Is this true? If so, how much of them should you eat back? I don't want to overestimate how much I'm burning and not be able to lose weight. I usually look at the numbers on the machines at the gym (Mostly the treadmill) and I'm not entirely sure how accurate those numbers are.
Also, I take this stuff called burn 60 before I work out that's supposed to burn up to 60% more calories when you work out. I'm not sure how well they work exactly but they have good reviews online so I don't know if that would make a difference or not.

Replies

  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
    Try eating back 25-50%. Be consistent with how much you eat back so you can get 2 or three weeks of results. So, pick an amount between 25-50% and always eat back that amount every day. After 3 weeks, you'll see if you're losing too slow or too fast or just enough and adjust from there.

    Don't factor in the burn 60. Never heard of it. Whether it works or not doesn't really matter. Just be consistent with how much you eat for a few weeks and adjust that amount up or down based on results you are seeing.
  • maidengirl_
    maidengirl_ Posts: 283 Member
    I eat back my exercise calories all the time. Not all of them but I may eat about half back because after doing cardio, I am starving. I don't rely on the exercise machines itself to tell me the amount of calories I burned as I find them to be a little inaccurate. I use a heart rate monitor for that. So far, with the change in my eating habits and exercise, I have lost 10 pounds :)
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Start with 50 % and adjust up or down as needed.

    Losing faster than planned (average weight loss for 4 weeks), then eat a bit more (especially if your aiming for 2 lbs per week but are losing more than that per week...too large of a deficit isn't good).

    Losing slower than planned (average weight loss for 4 weeks), then eat a bit less. Maybe drop down to 40% and double check your logging for accuracy.
  • Mavrick_RN
    Mavrick_RN Posts: 439 Member
    My exercise calories are "icing on the cake". I keep the MFP calorie goal as my target and don't automatically add in any exercise calories. I note the calories on the elliptical (550), plus MFP for circuit training (210), Fitbit (890) then guesstimate at 600 and enter that just to take credit for going to the gym.

    At my level of exercise I don't think it is wise to eat back anything. I just count it as fitness exertion and take my reward in feeling better rather than rewarding myself with more food.

    When the weather here in Seattle gets better and I start hiking and biking for several hours and the calories from exercise are more like 1 or 2 THOUSAND then I will probably eat back 50% of them to replace the real energy it took to haul my *kitten* up a mountain!
  • omobad312
    omobad312 Posts: 7 Member
    Mavrick_RN wrote: »
    My exercise calories are "icing on the cake". I keep the MFP calorie goal as my target and don't automatically add in any exercise calories. I note the calories on the elliptical (550), plus MFP for circuit training (210), Fitbit (890) then guesstimate at 600 and enter that just to take credit for going to the gym.

    At my level of exercise I don't think it is wise to eat back anything. I just count it as fitness exertion and take my reward in feeling better rather than rewarding myself with more food.

    When the weather here in Seattle gets better and I start hiking and biking for several hours and the calories from exercise are more like 1 or 2 THOUSAND then I will probably eat back 50% of them to replace the real energy it took to haul my *kitten* up a mountain!

    I exactly agree. I log my exercise at the end of the day too no matter when i did it and sometimes i just have my workouts in a note in my phone and don't put it here at all as I tend to use MFP just for food intake (I have a detailed written exercise log that I'm comfortable with). But yeah, I never want to go over my calorie limit despite "earning back" any calories especially because I'm not just an ordinarily highly active person. I work out at designated times and I am not much active besides that, so I feel it wouldn't be wise to eat back anything. As Maverick_RN said though, I will probably eat more if I am doing exercise that requires more/burns more energy.
  • hamstertango
    hamstertango Posts: 129 Member
    I prefer to think of my calories and exercise calories banked in terms of a weekly allowance rather than a daily one (but am careful never to eat less than 1200 on any day)

    I think of my exercise calories as a bonus and only eat some back if I have a special occasion that involves eating out.
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    I log and eat around 10% of the burn MFP gives me. This is enough for a lite snack after. I am overall sedentary and manually set my daily goal to 1500/day. I am losing steadily at 1.5-2 lbs/week so it's working for me. If I was losing more I'd bump it up to 25% eating back.
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
    Depends what you're using to calculate your calories. If you're using TDEE, then no. If you're using MFP/NEAT then probably.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    eat back 50-75% of exercise calories if using MFP's method. That'll keep any inaccuracies in burn estimation or in food logging right.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    My main motivation at first with exercise was the extra calories!! Hell yeah I'm eating those back! I don't have a heart rate monitor to know for sure how much I burn so I eat back half of my estimated calories burned. I've lost 80 lbs in the past year so it must be working.
  • davoiscool
    davoiscool Posts: 125 Member
    I tend to eat them back, but having read all of the above I think I will stick to only 25-50%!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    First off....the only think "burn 60" is doing is burning a hole in your pocket.

    Yes, you're supposed to eat back your exercise calories, that is how MFP is designed. You put in your goal, stats and activity level, then MFP spits out a number that puts you in a deficit to meet your goal assuming you do no exercise.

    Let's take a hypothetical person how maintains their weight at 2000 calories, but wants to lose 1 lb per week. MFP would do this equation.

    2000 main cals - 500 = 1500 cals daily to lose 1lb.

    Now, let's say this person mixes in a daily workout that burns 300 add'l calories. Now that person maintains weight at 2300 cals.

    2000 original maint + 300 cals from exercise = 2300 cals for new maint.

    2300 new maint cals - 500 = 1800 cals per day to lose 1lb per week.

    Many people indicate to start out with eating back 50% of your exercise calories because it's all an estimate, and normally MFP and machines tend to overestimate exercise calories. So start out at 50% and adjust from there. I used to cut eating back about 75%, now I have a fitbit and can normally get away with 90-100% of those.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    edited February 2016
    As I said in your other post

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/35502509/


    Losing weight is a matter of burning more calories than you consume (CICO, Calories In- Calories Out). MFP is set up to measure your calories in by tracking your food and estimating your calories out by 1) you activity level 2) the exercises you log. Yes, the accuracy of calories burned may be inaccurate—BUT ITS NOT ZERO. Those who say they don’t eat back their calories fall into a few categories 1) they don’t exercise enough were it matters and is effectively included in their level of activity 2) they are tracking their intake of calories so bad that their error in not tracking exercise calories corrects for it 3) they are losing faster than they should. Also, the TDEE method inherently has you eating back your calories so it doesn’t apply.
  • elaineamj
    elaineamj Posts: 347 Member
    edited February 2016
    I started eating back 50% of my exercise calories based on what everyone said here. After a few weeks, I was losing faster than I wanted so I started eating back all my exercise calories. I am still losing a little faster than I want (my goal is 1 lb a week) even with the inflated MFP numbers so I may adjust my calories even more upwards.

    Eating more has made my plans less frustrating over the long term. Yes, I am satiated on 1200 calories a day and manage just fine. But I would get frustrated with the strict limits every once in a while. Adding back all my exercise calories has made things much more relaxed, which is nice. My issue now is not to get too carried away as I've started allowing junk food back in my life since I have had so many more calories to play with. Yesterday I started running numbers to see if my old favorite fried chicken wings would be worth the calories LOL! (I decided a half dozen wings loaded with sauce were just not worth 1000 calories).

    I do find it a little frustrating that it takes 2-3 weeks to determine the effects of changes to my calorie intake. This whole weight loss thing is a slow process!
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
    I prefer to bank the calories I've earned through exercise to use on the weekends when I tend to eat out once or twice. Even though I'm eating out, I do try to stay within my calorie goal (I don't take do cheat days or cheat meals). But I recognize I have less control over the calories eating out and tend to err on the side of caution and assume that the meal I'm eating out has more calories than I think it does, so having the extra calories from the week is helpful. This method has worked pretty well for me.
  • Cirque95
    Cirque95 Posts: 22 Member
    I eat mine back if I am hungry. I tend to go to the gym at 5/6pm so I have my dinner after my workout, then if I am hungry later then I'll have snack such as fruit or a yoghurt which usually comes from the calories I burnt from my workout. Or sometimes if I have had a long day and have done a lot of walking and running around then I'll have a small snack such as fruit before the workout to keep my energy levels up. I know that machines can overestimate so I prefer going off of how my body feels after a workout - sometimes I need the extra calories if I have done an intense gym session, sometimes I feel fine.

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    jacklifts wrote: »
    Depends what you're using to calculate your calories. If you're using TDEE, then no. If you're using MFP/NEAT then probably.

    This^

    MFP is designed for you to eat calories back because exercise isn't in the original equation.

    I choose to eat exercise calories back because I want to minimize lean muscle loss. That said, it isn't a one size fits all situation. Those close to goal are more at risk for lean muscle loss than those who still have a long ways to go.

    It's also going to depend upon how aggressive your weekly weight loss goal is. For example 1200 is a default minimum for women. If your daily goal is close to this (before exercise) then you a.) are very petite b.) are a senior citizen or c.) you already have an aggressive weekly goal. Adding lots of exercise & not fueling your workouts, could be like working out to increase lean muscle loss.
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