Do you eat back your calories burned from working out?

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yeah, I have a pretty consistent (and extensive) workout schedule, and don't like trying to estimate workout calories or eating more on long run days. So I average my workout calories over the week and include them in my calorie goal. I can't imagine not taking them into account when deciding on my calorie level -- no one would recommend that.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,760 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Yeah, I have a pretty consistent (and extensive) workout schedule, and don't like trying to estimate workout calories or eating more on long run days. So I average my workout calories over the week and include them in my calorie goal. I can't imagine not taking them into account when deciding on my calorie level -- no one would recommend that.

    Lots of people would recommend that. They'd just be wro...misguided. :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Yeah, I have a pretty consistent (and extensive) workout schedule, and don't like trying to estimate workout calories or eating more on long run days. So I average my workout calories over the week and include them in my calorie goal. I can't imagine not taking them into account when deciding on my calorie level -- no one would recommend that.

    Lots of people would recommend that. They'd just be wro...misguided. :)

    Heh!
  • _beachready
    _beachready Posts: 67 Member
    This post explains it perfectly!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082
  • heatherwartanyan
    heatherwartanyan Posts: 66 Member
    I do because I put in calories needed with a deficit already. I do Turbofire and if I don't eat I don't shed. I'm also breastfeeding. So my calories needed with 500 deficit is 1500 I add my calories burned to that and try my hardest to eat back. 2000+ can be hard to consume. But that still leaves me at a 500 deficit. When I was doing Max 30 I gained weight. Realized I was not even consuming 1000 a day. So I slowly upped it and now I see results. If you take your BMR subtract your deficit then eat your calories back you will stillbirth in that deficit. Good luck.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Yes, of course.
    Because MFP calculates my calorie goal with no exercise.
    Then I exercise and I can eat more but still maintain the deficit I've chosen.

    Why would you not want to do that?
  • wanderinjack
    wanderinjack Posts: 248 Member
    edited March 2016
    Because I calculate my calorie goal for the "active" actively level so eating back my calories would be double counting? That's kind of the point of the discussion at hand.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    wanderinjack wrote: »
    Because I calculate my calorie goal for the moderate actively level????

    But you are still eating back your exercise calories you have just estimated them ahead of time rather than adding them each day.

    You are right though, I should have added:
    If you already include your exercise in your activity level or my using another calorie calculator you don't need to add extra exercise cals. Because you have already included exercise calories so you are, in fact, eating back your exercise cals with this method.

  • shelleysykeskeene
    shelleysykeskeene Posts: 110 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    So many people are clueless as to how this website works.................


    MFP as designed gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. Even people who can't/won't exercise still lose weight......or they should if they are logging accurately.

    When MFP gives you additional "earned" calories, that ideally gets you back to the deficit you signed up for. It's a general recommendation to eat back 50-75% of those calories because calorie burn estimates tend to be generous.

    WHY would you want to eat back exercise calories? Large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle. If you just want a number on the scale, then lose fast. If you want fat loss, then lose at a moderate pace.

    Lovely response! I tend to eat back around 50% and still lose consistently.
  • Cindy01Louisiana
    Cindy01Louisiana Posts: 302 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    So many people are clueless as to how this website works.................


    MFP as designed gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. Even people who can't/won't exercise still lose weight......or they should if they are logging accurately.

    When MFP gives you additional "earned" calories, that ideally gets you back to the deficit you signed up for. It's a general recommendation to eat back 50-75% of those calories because calorie burn estimates tend to be generous.

    WHY would you want to eat back exercise calories? Large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle. If you just want a number on the scale, then lose fast. If you want fat loss, then lose at a moderate pace.

    I don't think so many of us are "clueless" as much as we are beginners on this journey and certainly don't have the time and experience logged that you obviously do. And that is why we are here -- to learn. For me, I learn by asking questions and reading.

    Did you mean in your third paragraph "Why would you NOT want to...." ?

    So, here is what I typically do and I'm wondering if it is an appropriate plan of action:

    Let's say the cardio machine tells me that for one hour of working, I burned 500 calories. When I log the one hour in MFP, it gives me 720 calories. I choose to change the log to 400 because I've read over and over here that the machines AND MFP both exaggerate calories burned.

    Let's say I have extra 400 extra calories at the end of the day. Depending on my hunger level, I'll eat back between 100 and 300 of those.

    Am I on track or still clueless?

  • janekocanpayne
    janekocanpayne Posts: 17 Member
    I try not to unless my overall deficit ends up being more than 1000 calories for the day (fairly regular occurrence as I'm training for a marathon), in which case I top up until it's less than 1000 calories.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    I run, I lift. If I don't eat to fuel those activities I'll be an exhausted mess in short order.

    I eat all of my running cals back. Lifting I know doesn't burn much and is impossible to calculate, so I just give myself a small amount extra per session and eat that.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,760 Member
    janekocanpayne wrote: »
    I try not to unless my overall deficit ends up being more than 1000 calories for the day (fairly regular occurrence as I'm training for a marathon), in which case I top up until it's less than 1000 calories.

    Wait....so your calorie goal has a deficit built in PLUS you let it get to 1000 over without eating anything back?
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