Calories from exercise

tonya668
tonya668 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do i need to eat the "extra" calories you get from exercises? I've hit a standstill, not losing for a while now.

Replies

  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    Most will chime in and say you should probably eat half of them back. The extra calories for recovery, for fuel. But not all because most calculators over estimate the calorie burn.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    Unless you have some sort of a heartrate monitor, chances are your calorie burn is going to be overestimated (and possibly even with the heartrate monitor). I don't work out anything crazy- just do around an hour elliptical and treadmill combined, then some weights. My calculator usually shows that I burn around 600 calories, but I imagine it's closer to 400.

    My general rule is to eat back 100-150 of my exercise calories. I literally only do this so I can eat some more!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    tonya668 wrote: »
    Do i need to eat the "extra" calories you get from exercises? I've hit a standstill, not losing for a while now.

    Yes, the system is designed for you to eat back those extra earned calories, with the caveat that it sometimes overestimates calories burned for some activities. People tend to stick with eating 50-75% of them just in case.

    But if you're not losing, it's unlikely to be because you aren't eating your exercise calories. I know you didn't ask for tips on how to break out of a stall, but these are my really generic ideas for it if you haven't tried them already:


    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    If I actively exercise- not just my daily fitbit extra earned from exercise- I will eat 50% of them.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Theoretically yes, but that number all depends on how accurately you're measuring your intake and your burn. In most cases both numbers will be off. Very simply, if you've been stuck for a while try eating back fewer of your exercise calories for a while and see how it goes.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Not necessarily. There are a lot of variables at play, but generally speaking the advice to eat half-ish of the back is a good starting point. Ultimately though, if you aren't losing, you need to eat less. Whatever you've been eating, eat 10% less for a month or so and see what happens.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    edited March 2016
    When you have significant body fat it really does not matter. When you have less body fat there is less energy for your body to use, then you need to maybe eat a little more when you exercise. The thing is, if you are not losing fat over time you might be eating back your deficit when you "over estimate" burn and eat all that extra. If you lose fat and feel good while doing it matters more than others opinions or a calculator.
  • mankars
    mankars Posts: 115 Member
    tonya668 wrote: »
    Do i need to eat the "extra" calories you get from exercises? I've hit a standstill, not losing for a while now.

    Losing weight is different than being on a "plateau" which you say are on.
    Also, 'plateaus" for each person is different, it may last for a few days for some & few weeks for some.

    Remember... you drop weight only if you have calorie "deficiency", than what your body needs for daily (breathing, digestion, brain activities,) functions to keep you alive. :)

    There are many factors why you aren't losing weight... main ones being :-
    1. Your muscles are growing & replacing equivalent weight in fat, hence weight seems to remain the "same".
    2. Now that you have lesser body mass than before, your body needs lesser calories than you ate before.
    3. You are mis-calculating calories burned during exercise.
    Try to see what's true for you from above list.

    Also, as long as you aren't gaining a lot of weight as you did before, then you should be fine.

    All the best!!
  • HG93022
    HG93022 Posts: 80 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    tonya668 wrote: »
    Do i need to eat the "extra" calories you get from exercises? I've hit a standstill, not losing for a while now.

    Yes, the system is designed for you to eat back those extra earned calories, with the caveat that it sometimes overestimates calories burned for some activities. People tend to stick with eating 50-75% of them just in case.

    But if you're not losing, it's unlikely to be because you aren't eating your exercise calories. I know you didn't ask for tips on how to break out of a stall, but these are my really generic ideas for it if you haven't tried them already

    Thank you so much for all of these tips!

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