Am I supposed to eat my exercise calories?

AliciaGoesBeast
AliciaGoesBeast Posts: 6 Member
edited December 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Since the deficit is already calculated in (I set my activity to sedentary), are those calories okay to eat or not?

I'm new and I just want to make sure I'm doing the best that I can. Thanks!

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Yes, eat them
  • AliciaGoesBeast
    AliciaGoesBeast Posts: 6 Member
    Okay, thank you!
  • rontafoya
    rontafoya Posts: 365 Member
    I think it's a bad idea. I say eat them if you have to, but you will be better off not eating them. One reason for this is accurate calorie counting is important, and I would question the accuracy of estimating your calories burned during exercise.
  • ridge4mfp
    ridge4mfp Posts: 301 Member
    It depends on where you get your estimates from. MFP tends to over estimate, so the general recommendation is to eat back 50-75%. If you have a more accurate source such as a heart rate monitor, you can eat all of them back, Either way, re-evaluate your loss rate after 4-6 weeks, and adjust as necessary.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    rontafoya wrote: »
    I think it's a bad idea. I say eat them if you have to, but you will be better off not eating them. One reason for this is accurate calorie counting is important, and I would question the accuracy of estimating your calories burned during exercise.

    All of the figures that we use to determine how many calories we burn -- either through exercise, regular activity, or our basic metabolic processes -- are estimates. All three have the potential to be inaccurate. This means we should be as realistic as possible and make sure we pay attention to our actual results. It doesn't follow that we should act as though we aren't burning anything.

    There are some circumstances where it won't be a big deal to eat back exercise calories. But if one has a low calorie goal and/or engages in a lot of exercise, it can become more important. And it's a skill we need to successfully maintain, so why not begin practicing while losing weight?
  • Danimri84
    Danimri84 Posts: 262 Member
    You don't have to. You probably should. Some days I don't, some days I do. Never all of them, but anywhere between 20% and 50% depending on a lot of things.
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  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,188 Member
    If you are using mfp to set your calorie goal it is designed for you to eat the exercise calories back. But there is a lot of room for miscalculation on the calories burned, so a lot of people will start by eating back half of the exercise calories. After several weeks you will know if you are losing faster than expected you can eat back more and if you aren't losing as fast as you expect you should eat back less. You didn't say what your calorie goal is, but if it is 1200 or 1300 then you need to eat at least some of them back.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    rontafoya wrote: »
    I think it's a bad idea. I say eat them if you have to, but you will be better off not eating them. One reason for this is accurate calorie counting is important, and I would question the accuracy of estimating your calories burned during exercise.

    I don't agree. It's all estimation. Your activity level is a range not just 1 number. The food you log is also an estimation. Some people who weigh food & use only correct MFP entries are very, very close (others just think they are).

    I'd rather eat back a portion of calories (a moderate deficit helps me retain more lean muscle anyway). Then compare that portion against actual results. Then someday, I have an actual idea what calorie burns are. Using zero every single time, ensures that I never know.
  • emmadonaldson95
    emmadonaldson95 Posts: 179 Member
    StarvingCollegette wrote: »
    Since the deficit is already calculated in (I set my activity to sedentary), are those calories okay to eat or not?

    I'm new and I just want to make sure I'm doing the best that I can. Thanks!

    I would say don't eat them. It's a bad binge habit to get into. Maybe for a 1 off special occassion do a serious gym session if you know you have say a family meal to go to which is bound to have high calories but on a regular basis use exercise to help weight loss dont eat them back.
  • TxTiffani
    TxTiffani Posts: 799 Member
    I am also sedentary as I work at a desk almost all day. I log my exercise but use my stationary bikes calorie burn which is about 60% of the burn MFP estimates (I manually chg it to the bikes burn #). I sometimes eat into those cals if I'm hungry but not always. I've lost 11 of 35 lbs in less than 2 mo so I feel like it's working well:)
  • catsdogsh
    catsdogsh Posts: 130 Member
    I don't eat back exercise calories. That just doesn't work with everyone and makes some people gain
  • KnitSewSpin
    KnitSewSpin Posts: 147 Member
    I eat some of the calories Fitbit gives me only when I have hungry days. Usually PMS week. I never eat all of them.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Sometimes I eat all of them back (fitbit), sometimes none and other times around half. I'm not going to force myself to eat more if I'm not hungry. My higher days even out with my lower days.
  • ashleyminnich1
    ashleyminnich1 Posts: 60 Member
    I eat mine back. I usually leave 100 or so unless I'm really hungry, to figure in for the fact that everything is an estimate. I don't weigh my food, so I figure leaving a little is helpful to me. I've lost pretty continuously, so it works for me.
  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
    I eat mine back almost always. I shoot for the net calories which already includes the deficit I'm targeting, so if I exercise it's some bonus calories I get to enjoy. I've lost almost 50 lbs. in 11 months on that method, so it's working for me.
  • Marycycles
    Marycycles Posts: 48 Member
    If you do not eat all your calories your body goes into starvation mode! I have suffered from anorexia in my past and when I started mfp it kept telling me that! Once I started to trust it the pounds just fell off! Even if I ran 8 miles at 7pm I would hit the Chinese restaurant on the way home to get them in before bed. I lost 105lbs in 8 months and not once did I have a weight gain. I would often stay the same and then suddenly drop 5lbs overnight, but never gained!
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    maryhecker wrote: »
    If you do not eat all your calories your body goes into starvation mode! I have suffered from anorexia in m7y past and when I started mfp it kept telling me that! Once I started to trust it the pounds just fell off! Even if I ran 8 miles at 7pm I would hit the Chinese restaurant on the way home to get them in before bed. I lost 105lbs in 8 months and not once did I have a weight gain. I would often stay the same and then suddenly drop 5lbs overnight, but never gained!

    Seriously? Starvation mode isn't a thing.
  • sylkates
    sylkates Posts: 173 Member
    I eat mine back, on average about 75% of them, and I've been losing weight as predicted by the mfp app. Your mileage may vary as everybody's goals and body are different.
  • haviegirl
    haviegirl Posts: 230 Member
    Exercise calories are delicious.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    emmadonaldson95 wrote: »
    StarvingCollegette wrote: »
    Since the deficit is already calculated in (I set my activity to sedentary), are those calories okay to eat or not?

    I'm new and I just want to make sure I'm doing the best that I can. Thanks!

    I would say don't eat them. It's a bad binge habit to get into. Maybe for a 1 off special occassion do a serious gym session if you know you have say a family meal to go to which is bound to have high calories but on a regular basis use exercise to help weight loss dont eat them back.

    No. Eating the calories one burns through activity is absolutely not a binge.
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