Eat Back Exercise Calories?

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spelham15
spelham15 Posts: 43 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I believe this has been discussed before, but putting it out there again...

I have heard varying opinions about eating back your exercise calories....that the calories burned values are too high, that you should only eat 100 extra/hour of exercise, that you should eat them all back, etc.

What is right?

My daily recommended intake is 1,200 and I'm aiming to lose weight.

Thanks for your help!
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Replies

  • kaitlinmre
    kaitlinmre Posts: 86 Member
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    bump!
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
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    I don't lose weight when I eat back all of my exercise calories. I use a heart rate monitor, so the calories burned should be pretty accurate. But logging food is always just an estimate as well and it's easy to be off a little here and there. I eat back some of my exercise calories, but rarely more then half. Since I have been doing it that way I have been losing pretty consistently.
  • IndigoFlowers
    IndigoFlowers Posts: 221 Member
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    I have been eating them lately, but I never do the same thing. Some days I eat them, some days I don't, some days I eat some of them, etc. Depends on how hungry I am.
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
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    I have lost more weight eating back my exercise calories and netting close to 1200 calories a day.
  • harlanJEN
    harlanJEN Posts: 1,089 Member
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    Hi ! I'm no expert, but will give my opinion. That's all we can do based upon our experiences - right ?? As with anything else, varies with the person. I'm also in losing mode; 1200 cals per day food goal. I'm also 3 months post-op for a total knee replacement. With that said, I have to moderate my exercise to a certain extent. I work out 4 days per week. Light weights and cardio. My cardio is bike and elliptical. Mostly bike at this point. I do 30 minutes cardio and an average of 20 minutes strength training (depends on what part of hte body I"m working on that day). THe cardio is 4 days a week; weights 3 days per week. I do think MFP overestimates calories burned - this is based upon the readouts I get on the equipment at the gym. I eat some of my exercise calories - one half or less on average. Depends on how hungry I am. Some days I"m hungry - not emotionally hungry, but physically hungry. So, I listen to my body and I eat more of those exercise calories. Days that I'm not hungry, I don't eat many of them at all. I'm losing an average of a pound a week. It's a balance for me. If I don't eat enough, it does slow my weight loss down, so I don't eat less than 1200. At most, I"m eating 1400 on the "hungry" exercise days. If I'm exercising, I'm losing the same whether I eat 1200 or 1400. If I don't exercise ... I don't lose eating 1200.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I always eat mine back - my body gets grumpy when I don't. I read a lot of messages on here from people who are on a 1200 calorie intake, working out and not losing weight. You HAVE to eat enough to lose weight.
  • Collinsky
    Collinsky Posts: 593 Member
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    I eat mind back, and occasionally go over my 1200 net, and I am losing an average of 1.3 lbs every week since I started here - which is exactly my goal, so it's working really well for me.
  • amsparky
    amsparky Posts: 825 Member
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    I have been doing TONS of research on this. During this journey, I have been plateaued twice. The first was bad, like 6 weeks. This one I am going on two weeks. I was doing a 1200 cal diet, eating back NO exercise cals.

    I have NOT been feeling well at all. I have been grumpy (well, grumpier than normal!) and just feeling off. After a post I read last weekend, I realized that if you don't eat back at least some of the cals, then your body still won't have enough fuel. So, I was eating 1200 cals, working out and burning 500-700, which put my net cals pretty low.

    Feel free to pm me in a few days to see how this works out for me! LOL
  • spelham15
    spelham15 Posts: 43 Member
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    What the heck does bump mean? I see it on here often, but haven't been able to figure it out. Just the other day I finally figured out what NSV stood for...I had to google it. :)

    Thanks!
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
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    What the heck does bump mean? I see it on here often, but haven't been able to figure it out. Just the other day I finally figured out what NSV stood for...I had to google it. :)

    Thanks!

    Bring up my post, a way to get an interesting thread into your topics or get it back up to the top to get an answer.
  • nero14
    nero14 Posts: 14
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    well-- the most important thing to consider is the NET calorie loss. This is found by subtracting the calories your body WOULD have burned had you been carrying out normal activity from the actual calories you burned while exercising. This # would be the safe amount to re-eat if you wanted. Eventually- after a month or two you'll get to the point where you won't feel like you have to- your appetite will bottom out around week 6 of a low-calorie-diet-- studies have proved this.

    I'll give you my example for today.

    I have eaten 1,400 calories on a 1,600 calorie diet (I weigh 210 so that's still a 2lb/week loss rate!).
    Tonight I went to the gym, turned the eliptical machine up to 14 and went hard for 55 minutes. Burned 800 calories. So if I went by that- I'd be at only 600 calories for today and I'd feel like I could eat 1000 more to come out even at my 1600. HOWEVER-- this would be too much because during that 55 minutes I spent exercising my body would have naturally burned some calories (sitting in the car, grocery shopping, or even sleeping!)-- my basal metabolic rate (go here to calculate yours http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) tells me that my body would, without exercise, burn about 2,400 calories/day based on my age, weight, height... so during that 55 minutes I WOULD have burned about 100 calories if I never stepped in the gym-- this is factored into your daily goal. so in reality-- if i want to reach my 1,600 exactly I could only eat about 900 more calories.

    but I'm not hungry... so I'm gonna go to bed--

    I've lost 48 lbs in the past 4 months. Sooo...... trust me?

    - Scott
    - Doctor of Pharmacy
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
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    I eat back most of them... really, I aim to net between 1200 and 1300 calories and I'm happy if I'm anywhere in that range.

    Seems to be working for me so far... almost 43 lbs lost since January, averaging 1.8 lbs/week.
  • amsparky
    amsparky Posts: 825 Member
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    well-- the most important thing to consider is the NET calorie loss. This is found by subtracting the calories your body WOULD have burned had you been carrying out normal activity from the actual calories you burned while exercising. This # would be the safe amount to re-eat if you wanted. Eventually- after a month or two you'll get to the point where you won't feel like you have to- your appetite will bottom out around week 6 of a low-calorie-diet-- studies have proved this.

    I'll give you my example for today.

    I have eaten 1,400 calories on a 1,600 calorie diet (I weigh 210 so that's still a 2lb/week loss rate!).
    Tonight I went to the gym, turned the eliptical machine up to 14 and went hard for 55 minutes. Burned 800 calories. So if I went by that- I'd be at only 600 calories for today and I'd feel like I could eat 1000 more to come out even at my 1600. HOWEVER-- this would be too much because during that 55 minutes I spent exercising my body would have naturally burned some calories (sitting in the car, grocery shopping, or even sleeping!)-- my basal metabolic rate (go here to calculate yours http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) tells me that my body would, without exercise, burn about 2,400 calories/day based on my age, weight, height... so during that 55 minutes I WOULD have burned about 100 calories if I never stepped in the gym-- this is factored into your daily goal. so in reality-- if i want to reach my 1,600 exactly I could only eat about 900 more calories.

    but I'm not hungry... so I'm gonna go to bed--

    I've lost 48 lbs in the past 4 months. Sooo...... trust me?

    - Scott
    - Doctor of Pharmacy
    ^^^^^ Yeah, what he said. LOL
    I hope this really works, as I have only been doing this for um....2 days now. LOL J/K GREAT insight here!!
  • Crystalchaos72
    Crystalchaos72 Posts: 531
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    I always eat mine back - my body gets grumpy when I don't. I read a lot of messages on here from people who are on a 1200 calorie intake, working out and not losing weight. You HAVE to eat enough to lose weight.

    I eat" like a horse "and I have to..... active job and I workout 7.5 hrs a week.....have had more success eating them all!
  • Crystalchaos72
    Crystalchaos72 Posts: 531
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    I have lost a total of 57# since feb 17, 2011
  • jojogoslow
    jojogoslow Posts: 26 Member
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    Whoah, I think you just blew my mind, Scott :D
    But it made sense, thanks!
  • Ilovedrinkingtea
    Ilovedrinkingtea Posts: 597 Member
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    I have lost more weight eating back my exercise calories and netting close to 1200 calories a day.

    I agree

    xx
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
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    Your answer:
    www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com
  • spelham15
    spelham15 Posts: 43 Member
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    Thanks, All, for the input! I appreciate it. I must break this plateau... :)
  • DonnaLFitz
    DonnaLFitz Posts: 270 Member
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    Doesn't work for me to eat back my exercise calories. I only do when I am very hungry or my net is very low. I average 1200 calories of food, regardless.

    And I am over 50. I've had consistent results.

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