Should you actually eat back your calories from exercise?

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Making_changes7
Making_changes7 Posts: 194 Member
in Getting Started
Hey!

I've been logging my food and exercise for about a week now. I am wondering if I will actually lose weight if I eat back my calories from exercise, or if it's better not to.

I am allowed 1200 calories a day and, for example, yesterday I gained about 400 more for exercise. Doesn't it defeat the point of working out?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • Chikipiwi
    Chikipiwi Posts: 117 Member
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    The 1200 calorie allotment has a built in deficit, if you workout you are allowed to eat your calories back to insure your body functions properly....
  • FitnessGeek86
    FitnessGeek86 Posts: 1 Member
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    I disagree. If you are trying to lose weight, DO NOT eat back the calories you have burned off. (This comment is supported by my medical doctor as well.)
  • Camish911
    Camish911 Posts: 150 Member
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    I agree that eating your exercise calories back defeats the purpose, but I will sometimes eat a small portion of them back. That's just a personal choice though. I've seen people vehemently argue both ways.
  • Chikipiwi
    Chikipiwi Posts: 117 Member
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    If you don't want to eat your exercise calories back then eat at maintenance and create your deficit with exercise. Going to low on calories will affect your results in the long run... slow and steady is better in my opinion.

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    Camish911 wrote: »
    I agree that eating your exercise calories back defeats the purpose, but I will sometimes eat a small portion of them back. That's just a personal choice though. I've seen people vehemently argue both ways.
    What purpose? That burning off more than you need to for healthy weight loss will result in being more healthy? You don't get extra credit for weight loss if the nutrient need for the body gets compromised.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    I thought that too about exercise calories. Why you burn calories to only eat some of them back? Or it seemed counter productive at first..

    But eventually over the next month after I started I realized how all this worked and what NETTING calories meant. I was in the measly 1200 calorie club (to loose about 6 ounces a week) and had to eat back my exercise or I would not have survived.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    The chances are, for most people, you overstate your exercise deficit and underestimate your calories eaten. So don't eat back exercise.

    Also heart monitors are for measuring heart rate, they are an unreliable measure of calorie burn.

    1000 calories burned doing an hour of walking - not at all likely

  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Mfp is designed for you to eat the exercise calories back. Your 1200 daily calorie allowance includes your deficit already. If you don't eat back your exercise calories then you will have an even larger deficit. That may sound like a good idea, but faster weight loss is not healthier weight loss. At 1200 you are already at the minimum to meet your nutritional needs. You should at least eat back half possibly more of the exercise calories. Your goal is to net 1200 calories. Having too large of a deficit could mean you will not be getting the nutrients you need, you will lose more muscle mass and it could lead to bingeing and make it harder to stick to your eating plan. I lost my weight eating back about 75% of my exercise calories.
  • k_nelson_24
    k_nelson_24 Posts: 251 Member
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    I feel like it's a personal preference, honestly! For me, eating back my exercise calories is a no-go. However, I do know people that have great success with eating back those earned calories or at least half of them! I would suggest trying both and seeing what works for you!
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,978 Member
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    k_nelson_24 wrote: »
    I feel like it's a personal preference, honestly! For me, eating back my exercise calories is a no-go. However, I do know people that have great success with eating back those earned calories or at least half of them! I would suggest trying both and seeing what works for you!

    It's a personal preference whether you use a TDEE calculator or use the MFP goal which is based on NEAT. But if you are using mfp correctly it isn't really a preference, you are supposed to eat back a portion of your exercise calories.
  • Making_changes7
    Making_changes7 Posts: 194 Member
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    Another question - I think based on what everyone has said I will eat back my calories but how do I know that they're accurate?

    What if it says I burned 400 but actually only burned 100 and then I am going in excess of 300? How do I monitor that? How accurate is MFP's exercise calorie tracking?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Making_changes7 wrote: »
    Another question - I think based on what everyone has said I will eat back my calories but how do I know that they're accurate?

    What if it says I burned 400 but actually only burned 100 and then I am going in excess of 300? How do I monitor that? How accurate is MFP's exercise calorie tracking?

    You don't know if they are accurate. You can take the data output from a cardio machine, heart monitor or even MFP calculation and take a portion of that. Perhaps start with 40% and up it or lower as needed. After several weeks judge how you feel, if you are lacking in some energy you may need to up, if you are feeling great and weight loss is steady, no need to make a change. Make sense?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Making_changes7 wrote: »
    Another question - I think based on what everyone has said I will eat back my calories but how do I know that they're accurate?

    What if it says I burned 400 but actually only burned 100 and then I am going in excess of 300? How do I monitor that? How accurate is MFP's exercise calorie tracking?

    You don't know if they are accurate. You can take the data output from a cardio machine, heart monitor or even MFP calculation and take a portion of that. Perhaps start with 40% and up it or lower as needed. After several weeks judge how you feel, if you are lacking in some energy you may need to up, if you are feeling great and weight loss is steady, no need to make a change. Make sense?

    This^

    Start by eating back a reasonable percentage. Then adjust to fit YOUR results.

    Some types of exercise are easier to estimate than others. Some people are at the bottom range (or the top range) of their stated activity level. Some people measure food using a scale while others eye-ball. It's all estimates, but you can try to get a better handle on things.

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