Exercise Calories

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ChrisRendon1128
ChrisRendon1128 Posts: 103 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all, I am asking a question that has been asked a million times, but I just haven't gotten clarity on this: Should we eat back any of our exercise calories while trying to lose weight?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    There are multiple threads on this each day.

    If you got your calorie goal from MFP, it's intended for you to eat exercise calories back. If you are getting your calorie burn estimate from the database, be aware that many users find these to be over-estimates. As a solution, some choose only to eat back a portion of the calories.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Think about this. Why would MFP add them if it didn't expect you to eat them back? Most people eat back at least a portion of them.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Too many factors to answer yes or no to this question.
    What is your activity setting at?
    How are you calculating your calorie burn?
  • blancoms
    blancoms Posts: 165 Member
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    OP. I've had the same question. But every answer I see doesn't answer it for me either.
    I understand how MFPs setup achieves weight loss. And exercise increases that calorie deficit. But is it unhealthy to not eat back calories if you aren't hungry?
    I burn up to 1000 calories a day. Sometimes 500. Am I gonna end up screwing myself over if I burn a lot?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    meridianfaith wrote: »
    OP. I've had the same question. But every answer I see doesn't answer it for me either.
    I understand how MFPs setup achieves weight loss. And exercise increases that calorie deficit. But is it unhealthy to not eat back calories if you aren't hungry?
    I burn up to 1000 calories a day. Sometimes 500. Am I gonna end up screwing myself over if I burn a lot?

    Well it would really depend on how accurately you're figuring out the calorie burn. It would take me 4 or 5 hours in the gym to burn 1000 calories, so If I were claiming that burn and then eating them all back I would be screwing myself. But if my logging is accurate then no, I could eat all those calories back and still lose.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
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    meridianfaith wrote: »
    But is it unhealthy to not eat back calories if you aren't hungry?

    Yes. If you burn a reasonable amount, you are putting yourself in a higher than expected deficit. Encouraging people not to eat back exercise calories could be encouraging a VLCD, depending on their normal calorie goal. As there are a lot of women hear shooting for 1200 calories and men, 1500, that would include a lot of people.
  • ChrisRendon1128
    ChrisRendon1128 Posts: 103 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    Too many factors to answer yes or no to this question.
    What is your activity setting at?
    How are you calculating your calorie burn?

    I weigh 219.6 lbs. I have my limit set at 1370 calories a day, and I do exercise 5-6 times a week, both cardio and strength training. Some people say that it's fine to stay like this while others say it's unhealthy and I feel so unsure at this point on what I should do- Stay the same or increase my intake.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    meridianfaith wrote: »
    OP. I've had the same question. But every answer I see doesn't answer it for me either.
    I understand how MFPs setup achieves weight loss. And exercise increases that calorie deficit. But is it unhealthy to not eat back calories if you aren't hungry?
    I burn up to 1000 calories a day. Sometimes 500. Am I gonna end up screwing myself over if I burn a lot?

    If you are truly burning 500-1,000 calories a day above and beyond what MFP has anticipated you will burn, you are increasing your deficit by a lot. Yes, you could end up compromising your ability to meet your goals or maintain your health.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Depends on what method you are using for your intake goal and how large of a deficit you have.

    TDEE method - This involves using a TDEE calculator from another site. With this method you select your activity level to include how often you workout. You then take 10 - 20 % off of your current TDEE to come up with an appropriate calorie goal for you to eat at everyday. This method takes into account calories burned during exercise and distributes them out evenly across the week. For that reason, you will NOT eat extra on days you workout.

    MFP's method/Neat method - You select an activity level based on your day without exercising. You then get a calorie goal that does NOT include any calories for exercising. So with this method, you then log exercise when you workout and get more calories to consume so that your deficit remains the same.
    If your MFP goal is set for 1.5 - 2 lbs per week loss, you definitely want to eat some back. Why? Because if you don't you will end up creating a calorie deficit that is larger than what is considered safe/healthy. Example:
    2300 calorie burn without exercise
    1300 calorie intake goal without exercise for 2 lbs per week loss
    300 calorie exercise burn
    2600 calorie burn WITH exercise
    1600 calorie intake goal would result in 2 lb per week loss when exercise is included
    Sticking to 1300 calories would not be recommended for health.

    If your MFP goal is set to 0.5 lb - 1 lb per week, you could get away with not eating them to a certian extant. You still don't want your deficit to exceed 1000 calories (2lbs per week) a day. Example:
    2300 calorie burn without exercise
    1800 calorie intake goal for 1 lb per week loss
    300 calorie exercise burn
    2600 calorie burn WITH exercise
    2100 calorie intake goal would result in 1 lb per week
    Or
    1800 calorie intake goal would result in 1.6 lb per week loss

    Does that help any?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Oh and for the record, I lost all my weight eating my exercise calories (MFP method + Fitbit calorie adjustments). I didn't always eat them the day I burned them. Sometimes I would use them on a rest day or to go out on the weekends.
  • jamacianredhair
    jamacianredhair Posts: 230 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Oh and for the record, I lost all my weight eating my exercise calories (MFP method + Fitbit calorie adjustments). I didn't always eat them the day I burned them. Sometimes I would use them on a rest day or to go out on the weekends.

  • ChrisRendon1128
    ChrisRendon1128 Posts: 103 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Depends on what method you are using for your intake goal and how large of a deficit you have.

    TDEE method - This involves using a TDEE calculator from another site. With this method you select your activity level to include how often you workout. You then take 10 - 20 % off of your current TDEE to come up with an appropriate calorie goal for you to eat at everyday. This method takes into account calories burned during exercise and distributes them out evenly across the week. For that reason, you will NOT eat extra on days you workout.

    MFP's method/Neat method - You select an activity level based on your day without exercising. You then get a calorie goal that does NOT include any calories for exercising. So with this method, you then log exercise when you workout and get more calories to consume so that your deficit remains the same.
    If your MFP goal is set for 1.5 - 2 lbs per week loss, you definitely want to eat some back. Why? Because if you don't you will end up creating a calorie deficit that is larger than what is considered safe/healthy. Example:
    2300 calorie burn without exercise
    1300 calorie intake goal without exercise for 2 lbs per week loss
    300 calorie exercise burn
    2600 calorie burn WITH exercise
    1600 calorie intake goal would result in 2 lb per week loss when exercise is included
    Sticking to 1300 calories would not be recommended for health.

    If your MFP goal is set to 0.5 lb - 1 lb per week, you could get away with not eating them to a certian extant. You still don't want your deficit to exceed 1000 calories (2lbs per week) a day. Example:
    2300 calorie burn without exercise
    1800 calorie intake goal for 1 lb per week loss
    300 calorie exercise burn
    2600 calorie burn WITH exercise
    2100 calorie intake goal would result in 1 lb per week
    Or
    1800 calorie intake goal would result in 1.6 lb per week loss

    Does that help any?

    Yes it does.. I'm using the MFP method.. So I guess maybe I'll start eating half of my workout cals back.. I don't want to over calculate my burn and end up just gaining weight. Thank you!
  • ChrisRendon1128
    ChrisRendon1128 Posts: 103 Member
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    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    Assuming everything is accurate, you eat them all back.

    You can play it safe, and just eat some portion of them if you want. But, what I would do if I were you is I['d eat them all and see what the results are. If you get results, then eat them all.

    Stop worrying about silly details. Focus on the result.

    I get my calorie burn info from my Fitbit so that's fairly accurate right?

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Many people (including myself) find it to be very accurate. Others report that it isn't accurate for them. The best way to find out if it's accurate for you is to be consistent with your plan and see if you lose weight as expected. Then you can adjust if you need to.
  • ChrisRendon1128
    ChrisRendon1128 Posts: 103 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Many people (including myself) find it to be very accurate. Others report that it isn't accurate for them. The best way to find out if it's accurate for you is to be consistent with your plan and see if you lose weight as expected. Then you can adjust if you need to.

    Okay will do. I'll see how this works for me.. Thanks for your advice!

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