Do you eat back what you lose from exercise
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Rewarding yourself for exercise has been shown generally to be a losing strategy. You tend to overestimate calories burned and underestimate calories rewarded. You are better off setting a weekly level of expected activity, and using that to calculate calories (though even there I find MFP a bit high, I use this: https://legionathletics.com/flexible-dieting/)
Okay, but what if you're not "rewarding" yourself, you're using an estimate of how many calories you just burned to refuel your body and then using emperical evidence (that is, how much you gain/lose/maintain) to determine how accurate the estimate is over time?
If I burn 1,000 calories in a long run, eating those back isn't a "reward." It's how I survive.
And I don't know why using an estimate of what I expect to burn in a week is going to be a better strategy than estimating what I just burned and adding that to my daily limit. Some people may prefer one method over another, but they're just two ways to get to the same place.4 -
side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?0
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side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?
If you want a low sodium peanut butter, the best bet is to either get it freshly ground (some natural food stores will have a machine on-hand to do this) or buy one that says "no salt added." They're all going to be pretty much the same in terms of calories, I believe.0 -
If I drive my car 400 miles, I have to put a whole tank of gas in it. That's not a reward, that's reality.
With the car, it'll just leave me stranded on the side of the road. If I don't eat enough, I'll start out by feeling tired and lethargic, I won't recover after exercising (instead I'll just continue feeling exhausted and sore for days) and if I keep it up long enough my hair will fall out. It'll take a while, though; it isn't immediate and show-stopping like the car, because humans are more flexible and adaptive than cars. You can continue even while you're harming your body.
If I drive 100 miles, I don't know exactly how much gas I've used, just like if I run 10 miles I don't know exactly how many calories I've burned. Nobody in here thinks you don't have to put more gas in your car after you drive just because you don't know exactly how much you used.4 -
side question what is the best peanut butter out there lowest sodium and calorie? someone told me when they are craving for sweets the best is to get a tspn of peanut butter...any suggestions?
All nut butters will be calorie dense....they are mostly fat. I can't answer the lower sodium question (no medical issues for me).
If a reduced calorie peanut butter is of interest - look for powdered peanut butter (PB2, PB Fit, etc). These have the fat pressed out & are not the same texture. But they add good flavor to oatmeal, smoothies, and yogurt.
Skip the name brand reduced fat peanut butter spreads. I tried Skippy (or Jiff?)......anyway, the fat was 25% less and the calories were almost the same! Nut butters contain healthy fats.....not artificial garbage.
When I'm craving sweets, I just have sweets (in moderation of course). This has got to be a lifestyle change for me, gained the weight back because elimination diets for work for me.0 -
I usually do eat what Pacer tells me I have burned. If I don't I get too tired and rundown and am more likely to binge.0
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When you start MFP its important to know how the tool works and how to accurately track things. That said don't try to know everything at once or juggle too many metaphorical balls. Just focus on meeting your calorie goals, recording when you go over, and learning how to eat. You'll learn what portions make sense, what foods fill you up for lower calories, what foods keep you satisfied etc.
Onto day 42 on MFP and I am starting to get into the habit of not eating back calories (entirely or significantly) or keeping my calories lower on inactive days. On active days where I will be working out, I will use the surplus for a workout snack or small treat/reward (small ice cream cone, session IPA beer) after working out to keep me satisfied/happy.
My calorie goal is 1660 cals/day. I usually always eat that, if not a couple hundred calories above. I have a goal of ~500 calorie deficit by the end of the day - barring days when I'm tired or on rest days. Some days, I will admit, I don't meet my goal. I try to get in some extra steps or movement if I am not going to meet my ~500 goal.
Doing this I've managed to lose about 2 lbs per week which is just what I am aiming for. Healthy, steady weight loss but more rapid than just 1lb per week. Girl needs to see results.
If I'm hungry and or craving something, I will use my extra calories to satisfy that goal. I would rather treat myself than be too restrictive and fall off the wagon.
The beautiful thing about MFP and the community is that we believe in moderation. We know its a lifestyle. We know we will have off days, but we stay consistent most days.0 -
I eat them back but I'm at 1200 so I almost have to; I do tend to manually input a smaller number (at least a 10% reduction) then what MFP says I earned. I would eat some but not all of yours back to be on the safe side. Don't feel like you have to eat. If you are not hungry, don't eat.0
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What about when you are doing a workout with a heart rate monitor?0
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75poundstogo wrote: »When you start MFP its important to know how the tool works and how to accurately track things. That said don't try to know everything at once or juggle too many metaphorical balls. Just focus on meeting your calorie goals, recording when you go over, and learning how to eat. You'll learn what portions make sense, what foods fill you up for lower calories, what foods keep you satisfied etc.
Onto day 42 on MFP and I am starting to get into the habit of not eating back calories (entirely or significantly) or keeping my calories lower on inactive days. On active days where I will be working out, I will use the surplus for a workout snack or small treat/reward (small ice cream cone, session IPA beer) after working out to keep me satisfied/happy.
My calorie goal is 1660 cals/day. I usually always eat that, if not a couple hundred calories above. I have a goal of ~500 calorie deficit by the end of the day - barring days when I'm tired or on rest days. Some days, I will admit, I don't meet my goal. I try to get in some extra steps or movement if I am not going to meet my ~500 goal.
Doing this I've managed to lose about 2 lbs per week which is just what I am aiming for. Healthy, steady weight loss but more rapid than just 1lb per week. Girl needs to see results.
If I'm hungry and or craving something, I will use my extra calories to satisfy that goal. I would rather treat myself than be too restrictive and fall off the wagon.
The beautiful thing about MFP and the community is that we believe in moderation. We know its a lifestyle. We know we will have off days, but we stay consistent most days.
Great story!!0 -
Only if I'm really hungry and even then I usually don't eat back all the calories.1
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I'm currently training for a marathon so I have to eat back what I burn from exercise or I might figuratively die.1
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I eat all or most of mine and am consistently losing about half a pound a week as planned1
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