Do you "eat" your workout calories burned?

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  • louiseei
    louiseei Posts: 254 Member
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    No I do not eat them back. Ultimately weight loss = burn more calories than you eat.... .if you are eating back your calories than you're not really losing weight... maybe 1lb. Eating back your exercise calories is more for maintaining your current weight.

    Actually eating them back ensures you lose your goal amount of weight, whatever you set it at. Not eating may lead to too large of a caloric deficit which can cause a lot of problems. If you have a lot to lose 75+ lbs, you may be able to get away with not eating them but the closer you are to your goal the more important it is to eat them.

    This - you need to fuel your body to have the energy to work out and build muscle.
    Good luck
  • iwillsoonbeslim
    iwillsoonbeslim Posts: 283
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    Yup, so far I'm eating back every single exercise cal (which can be 3000+ in my case) and I am losing weight consistently.
  • CaptainAmerica1970
    CaptainAmerica1970 Posts: 435
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    at this time, yes, but not all of them. nor all at one time. I spread them out.
  • pratkovic
    pratkovic Posts: 55
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    I agree. I weight train and 1520 calories is not enough to maintain muscle mass. Further there is no way I can get anough protein in daily on 1520.

    It depends on what you are trying to do. If you are 100% slimming down then dont eat the extra all of the time. But if you are building muscle...your body needs the muscle repair.
  • Alcyone
    Alcyone Posts: 4
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    No, I do not eat them back. My BMR (basic matabolic rate) is 1233, which means I need 1233 calories/day to stay at my current weight. I need to lose 25 lbs. In order to lose 1lb/week I need to drop 500 calories/per day since I need to burn 3500 calories/week in order to lose 1 lb/wk. (500/day x 7 days =3500 calories). I have set my calories to 1000//day and try to burn an additional 3-400/dayin exercise and I am finally starting to drop about a lb/week.. when I was eating my excercise calories i was maintaining only.
  • superjae5
    superjae5 Posts: 64 Member
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    Just make sure you're not going below 1200. If you put your body into starvation mode, yes, you may lose weight quickly for awhile, but eventually the body hits a limit where it won't let go of any more fat. Plus you'll slow your metabolism way down, which makes it harder to lose. If you're honestly not hungry (which I can't understand, I'm 200x more hungry after I work out) then try to make sure many of those 1200 calories are protein heavy so your muscles can build.

    I have a friend doing Weight Watchers (this is related) and she says she can use her extra points (calories she doesn't use) on a different day as long as it's within a week. What that means is, if you're going to, say, a birthday party and know you'll eat high calorie stuff, you can use some of those calories from earlier in the week to balance it out.

    But I'd still advise you to eat at least some of your calories back. I'm always amazed with people who can be full on 1200 calories though--ESPECIALLY with exercise. I just can't do it. ;)
  • pjrisher
    pjrisher Posts: 152
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    Everybody is going to argue about this forever but it's really up to each persons body. For me, I am successful not eating (all of) them back. I use them as a buffer usually, but I don't usually try to eat them back. With that said, I am pretty small (5'2), and nobodies bodies are the same. Listen to your body; when you're hungry, eat. Good luck!
  • Larius
    Larius Posts: 507 Member
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    Emphatic yes!
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    This isn't a race, people. You want quick loss, you may get it, but you'll likely fail in the end. Either by quitting or gaining it all back from burn out (for lack of a better term).
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Do you eat your post or pre workout calories? For example, if you budget 1200 calories a day, do you count the 1200 calories even with exercise, or do you estimate how many cals you burned working out and add them to your 1200 to make up the defecit?

    I eat my workout calories and have since I started this whole thing a year and a half ago... The important number is that Net Calorie number that shows up on your Home page - you should never go below 1200 net, or you risk "starvation mode".
    FYI though, if you use the calories that MFP gives you for exercise, maybe just eat half or 2/3rds as the number tends to be a bit high. If you invest in a heart rate monitor with a chest strap (like those by Garmin & Polar), you will get a much more accurate calorie count.
  • emmyvera
    emmyvera Posts: 599 Member
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    when I was losing the most, a lb a week, i was eating back all of my calories. but i made sure to exercise almost every day on some level and also to mix up my routine. this really helped!

    everyone is different, might take some experimentation. so just try a couple of ways and you will figure it out.

    good luck! :bigsmile:
  • Aetarac
    Aetarac Posts: 135 Member
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    I try and eat all of mine back. I understand the idea of more calories burned means more weight lost however, it does not take into account where the wight comes from. From what I read is that not eating kcals back and ending up with to low a overall net intake could lead to your body seeking energy from muscles. Your body will start to break down muscle mass, and that in turns lowers your total bmr also amount of burn when you exercise.
  • shannonkk
    shannonkk Posts: 192 Member
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    I didn't eat mine back and only ate 1200 calores a day, I stalled and then started eating my exercise calories, lost ten more lbs stalled for a long time at 161, so then I tried atkins and gained back like 5 lbs, so then I deciced to eat 1400 plus exercise and now I am finally back at 161 and I feel so much better. I actually am always starving so I don't know how it feels to not want to eat back the calories. lol
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
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    No I do not eat them back. Ultimately weight loss = burn more calories than you eat.... .if you are eating back your calories than you're not really losing weight... maybe 1lb. Eating back your exercise calories is more for maintaining your current weight.

    I wonder how I lost 60 lbs then?? I eat mine back..:laugh: :laugh:
  • nisharae
    nisharae Posts: 204
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    Yup, so far I'm eating back every single exercise cal (which can be 3000+ in my case) and I am losing weight consistently.

    Everyone is different, I was eating 1200 cals a day and burning roughly 1000 more, everyone was telling me to eat my excersize cals, so I did... and it led to a gain of .5 pound after two weeks (so pretty much maitenance) I switched back to just eating 1500 cals period... more than the 1200, but not the 2000+ I was eating. The scale has finally started moving again, everyone is different. Find what works for you, although it is kind of a long and frustrating process.... Best of luck ...
  • NikkisNewStart
    NikkisNewStart Posts: 1,100 Member
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    No I do not eat them back. Ultimately weight loss = burn more calories than you eat.... .if you are eating back your calories than you're not really losing weight... maybe 1lb. Eating back your exercise calories is more for maintaining your current weight.

    I wonder how I lost 60 lbs then?? I eat mine back..:laugh: :laugh:

    Me too! Always have, always will... I guess 89 pounds was just a fluke? :drinker:
  • evilbanks
    evilbanks Posts: 166
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    Do you eat your post or pre workout calories? For example, if you budget 1200 calories a day, do you count the 1200 calories even with exercise, or do you estimate how many cals you burned working out and add them to your 1200 to make up the defecit?

    This seems counterproductive to me. If trying to shed weight, isn't the idea to burn more calories than you consume?
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
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    No I do not eat them back. Ultimately weight loss = burn more calories than you eat.... .if you are eating back your calories than you're not really losing weight... maybe 1lb. Eating back your exercise calories is more for maintaining your current weight.

    I wonder how I lost 60 lbs then?? I eat mine back..:laugh: :laugh:

    Me too! Always have, always will... I guess 89 pounds was just a fluke? :drinker:

    :laugh: :laugh: And I'm building muscle by lifting weights, which most say can't be done while losing weight too....I NEVER listen to naysayers! :flowerforyou:
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    I very rarely eat mine,im healthy,energetic,and have been losing weight just fine
  • NikkisNewStart
    NikkisNewStart Posts: 1,100 Member
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    Do you eat your post or pre workout calories? For example, if you budget 1200 calories a day, do you count the 1200 calories even with exercise, or do you estimate how many cals you burned working out and add them to your 1200 to make up the defecit?

    This seems counterproductive to me. If trying to shed weight, isn't the idea to burn more calories than you consume?

    MFP is already set at a deficit to ensure healthy weight loss... that is what you want your net calories to be... if you burn more, you need to eat them to bring your net back up... or your body can just have fun cannibalizing on it's muscle to get the nutrients it needs if that's how you wanna roll... :laugh:

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