for those of you who burn calories like crazy...

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24

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  • Samerah12
    Samerah12 Posts: 610 Member
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    I am new to understanding the eating back the calories you have burned from exercise concept. I am on a 1200 calorie menu plan and I have been curious as to whether my weight loss would be affected if I did or did not eat back the calories burned by exercise. Also, should I include everything I do non-exercise related such as chores, etc because I didn't think those small numbers would matter.

    Appreciate any "seasoned" feedback.


    You will get a lot of different opinions about this, all vehemently argued. Non-exercise related stuff should be accounted for in your activity setting (sedentary, lightly active, active, highly active) and shouldn't be logged.

    I don't know if I'm "seasoned" but I've been here for 3 months and have been very happy with my progress and I definitely eat back my calories burned.
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
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    I usually burn between 600 & 800. I make sure my net is over 1200 but sometimes I struggle to eat all my exercise calories
  • mark03264
    mark03264 Posts: 334 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    Exercise has other health benefits and will boost you metabolism which in turn helps burn more fat. If you lose weight and exercise you will be in far better health than if you lose weight and don't exercise. Also, if you regularly burn 800 calories and don't eat most of it back you are likely to go into "starvation mode". Like it or not, that's the way it is.
  • VSgirl2010
    VSgirl2010 Posts: 145 Member
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    WHO ARE you people netting 500-800 cals a day! :noway: Thats just crazy! :tongue: are you using MFP calorie burn counts or HRM's? Just curious- :happy:
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
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    And it's funny, for me, when I exercise less or not at all, I net 1300-1720....
  • Louiselesley
    Louiselesley Posts: 166 Member
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    I always try to eat back my calories and i only am ever out by 200 at the most - and that is when i have a high burn. i think people are ignorant to scientific fact if they believe that is not the right thing to do.

    although in some cases there is definitely not an option to eat it all back unless you plan in advance what and when you eat - which many people do not (i know some days i am guilty of this - ill have a workout and not really plan on doing so much and struggle to eat them back)


    to answer your question - i net around 1200-1300 everyday which is exactly what i should be eating.
  • mishelnkiki
    mishelnkiki Posts: 775 Member
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    i burn ALOT of calories a day. i usually dont stop until im at at LEAST 1000. i do eat back the MAJORITY of them. not all of them. i think today im netting 1100. sometimes its less. but i always make sure to eat back at least HALF the cals i burn in a day!
  • LovingMe19
    LovingMe19 Posts: 380 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    I will not try to tell you eat your exercise calories, but I will tell you this. Exercise has other benefits other than calorie burn.

    Of course it does. I never said it didn't. But im not going to go work out and burn 800 calories just so I can eat more food. That makes absolutely no sense.
  • nosey_rosey
    nosey_rosey Posts: 380 Member
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    I burn anywhere from 600- 1100 calories a day per my HRM. I try to eat back atleast a couple hundred of my workout calories sometimes more on hard days. I don't base what I eat off of my net. I try to base it off of how I am feeling. If I feel real tired and just beat up I will add in a little more to give me a little more energy =)))
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
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    Ok stupid question...but fairly new to MFP. What does "bump" mean when posted in reply to a message?

    When you "bump" a post it allows you to go back to it easier because then it shows up in your "My Topics" tab.
  • LovingMe19
    LovingMe19 Posts: 380 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    Exercise has other health benefits and will boost you metabolism which in turn helps burn more fat. If you lose weight and exercise you will be in far better health than if you lose weight and don't exercise. Also, if you regularly burn 800 calories and don't eat most of it back you are likely to go into "starvation mode". Like it or not, that's the way it is.

    I've actually lost 43 pounds doing this. And im doing just fine :)
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    Exercise has other health benefits and will boost you metabolism which in turn helps burn more fat. If you lose weight and exercise you will be in far better health than if you lose weight and don't exercise. Also, if you regularly burn 800 calories and don't eat most of it back you are likely to go into "starvation mode". Like it or not, that's the way it is.

    what is this starvation mode? i'm confused. I have been losing weight by doing this so i just dont know. I get hungry a lot, but i'm not sure if I should really be eating 2000 calories a day to lose weight.. it just makes no sense to me =[
  • Missevanston
    Missevanston Posts: 361 Member
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    Bump!
  • yvettewright
    yvettewright Posts: 3
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    Mark,
    Thanks so much....it makes sense. I will definitely make sure I do that consistently. I didn't eat back yesterday after my workout and I was ravishingly hungry all day. Thanks again for the information.
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    WHO ARE you people netting 500-800 cals a day! :noway: Thats just crazy! :tongue: are you using MFP calorie burn counts or HRM's? Just curious- :happy:

    lol I use it as a diet. I usually net 500 a day. That means i'm eating 1500+ calories a day!
  • LovingMe19
    LovingMe19 Posts: 380 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    Exercise has other health benefits and will boost you metabolism which in turn helps burn more fat. If you lose weight and exercise you will be in far better health than if you lose weight and don't exercise. Also, if you regularly burn 800 calories and don't eat most of it back you are likely to go into "starvation mode". Like it or not, that's the way it is.

    what is this starvation mode? i'm confused. I have been losing weight by doing this so i just dont know. I get hungry a lot, but i'm not sure if I should really be eating 2000 calories a day to lose weight.. it just makes no sense to me =[

    Thats exactly what im saying :) I have lost 43 pounds doing this every day. I may eat 1300 or 1400 calories a day if I feel like treating myself, but I don't normally eat back my exercise calories. Thats like saying im going to burn 800 calories so I can go eat a doughnut. Eating back exercise calories may work for some people, but eating 2000 calories a day for me just doesn't work. If what your doing is working, keep at it girl :)
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I don't use an HRM. Heck, I don't even count exercise calories at all using any calculator which will most likely be wrong, just a guesstimate, anyway.

    I eat between 1500-1800 total per day, no matter what. I don't worry about this whole "eat back the exercise calories" thing since I eat enough as is it.

    Last week I had 6 days of 1500 calorie eating, and 1 day of 1800 calorie eating. I did NOT exercise since I have way too much in my life going on right now. BUT...I lost 1.8 pounds, 1.45 of which was calculated to be pure fat.

    So I must be doing *something* right, huh? :tongue: :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
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    I don't eat any of mine back normally. Calories in and calories out. Whats the point of burning 800 calories if your just going to eat them all back. That completely defeats the purpose.

    I will not try to tell you eat your exercise calories, but I will tell you this. Exercise has other benefits other than calorie burn.

    Of course it does. I never said it didn't. But im not going to go work out and burn 800 calories just so I can eat more food. That makes absolutely no sense.

    IMO, if you understand the other health benefits, it does make sense. Eating doesn't undo all of the other benefits such as strength, cardiovascular health, and self-esteem, especially when you have a loss already built in there. Dependent on what you eat(eg protein for muscle or carbos for endurance activities), eating them back makes complete sense. Protein to help you build muscle to increase your lean body mass would actually boost your metabolism so you burn even more(without increasing your activity level!!---means less work for you if you don't like exercise). Exercise without fueling sufficiently it leads to a fat-skinny look.

    That being said, I try to eat mine, but sometimes it just doesn't feel possible.

    I don't think you're going to die if you don't eat them.

    I also don't personally believe that anyone on this site has hit "starvation mode" based on the studies I've read. I do believe people reach plateaus all of the time and changing up your diet, changing your exercise routine are all things that could break a plateau. People hear starvation mode, up their calories and automatically think it must be starvation mode because they started losing. Not really.
  • yvettewright
    yvettewright Posts: 3
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    Thank you for the information...you are more seasoned than I am on here so I value the feedback as it is very helpful.
  • mishelnkiki
    mishelnkiki Posts: 775 Member
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    heres my thing... i did it the WRONG way when i first started out. i lost 105 lbs SUPER fast. i burned everything i ate in a day plus. in a matter of 6 months the weight was gone. HOWEVER... the min i started eating more, it came RIGHT back on. i was still working out, i was just eating more then i was. gained 40 lbs in 4 months back. on this method, when i eat at least half of my exercise cals back, i still lose, anywhere from 2-3 lbs a week. but when i go on my binges, i dont gain the weight back like i did before. last week was TERRIBLE! i ate every fast food place u can think of. for an entire 7 days. hardly worked out at all. a few days tops, and i only gained back 3 lbs. i think its different for everybody. but i eat my cals back, bc it gives me more flexibility with what i eat and the portions that i eat.

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