Does anyone eat their exercise calories while losing?
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cmriverside wrote: »I don't understand this at all. If you're going to use this site's numbers as your calorie goal, you are supposed to eat the calories earned by exercise.
This site uses the Mifflin St. Jeor calculation, you can Google how that works, or you can read the instructions when you set up your goals.
I always ate/eat every delicious exercise calorie, but then I'm a rule-follower like that.
No, that's not it. I did it that way and it worked and I like to eat food, so why wouldn't I?
I don't. I use it for logging, but I enter my own goal number.
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Gazelle1953 wrote: »The WW system has a similar structure, and I always ate my earned calories on that, and always lost. First day on this was yesterday, and I ate them. If I'm remembering correctly, WW stressed that it's possible to eat too little to lose, as your body goes into starvation mode, which would cause it to hold onto what weight you have. I don't use a device to track. I think there are studies that it doesn't really help you lose.
No no no. So much no here.0 -
I'm on an MFP program of 1500 calories per day. I also take a spinning class on Mondays, do 45 minutes on an elliptical every Friday morning and either power walk 2-3 miles or cycle > 15 miles on 3 other days of the week.
I try to avoid eating my exercise calories and still keep my intake between 1200 and 1500 per day but, when I finish off each day, I seem to get yelled at a lot by MFP. It keeps claiming I should be consuming at least 1200/day even though I'm normally exceeding that. Why am I getting that feedback?0 -
I'm on an MFP program of 1500 calories per day. I also take a spinning class on Mondays, do 45 minutes on an elliptical every Friday morning and either power walk 2-3 miles or cycle > 15 miles on 3 other days of the week.
I try to avoid eating my exercise calories and still keep my intake between 1200 and 1500 per day but, when I finish off each day, I seem to get yelled at a lot by MFP. It keeps claiming I should be consuming at least 1200/day even though I'm normally exceeding that. Why am I getting that feedback?
Because 1,500 is the minimum recommended for a man (which it seems like you may be, based on your name and your profile pic). You're eating below that and, additionally, driving your net even lower by not eating back the calories you burn through activity. MFP is claiming you should be eating more because -- according to the facts you gave here -- you really should be eating more.6 -
I never eat them back. To me that is the reward for doing the hard work. I always try to stay just under what my initial calorie count for the day is. But that is just me. Some might think this is too aggressive but I have lost 20 pounds over a coarse of about 2 months. Which to me doesn't seem extreme.1
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I get super hungry after my intense aggressive workouts..... I try my best to only eat back a portion but my appetite is very strong after I workout. Wish it wasn't, but I am always extremely hunger so I have to eat.0
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I never eat them back. To me that is the reward for doing the hard work. I always try to stay just under what my initial calorie count for the day is. But that is just me. Some might think this is too aggressive but I have lost 20 pounds over a coarse of about 2 months. Which to me doesn't seem extreme.
Depends on how much you have to lose. 10 lbs/month is greater than 2 lbs/week which is only recommended if you have >75 lbs to lose. Do you have 75 lbs or more to lose?
And MFP is designed to provide you a calorie target excluding exercise, so that if you do NO exercise, you would lose at the rate you selected, providing your logging is accurate. By doing exercise, and then not eating back your calories, you are creating a larger deficit, which can have negative effects including fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, sallow skin, etc. Not to mention just not eating enough calories to fuel your activity level.6 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »HGarcia1527 wrote: »I rarely eat them back but if I do I was told never to eat more than half.
This really depends on how you arrived at your estimated expenditure. Cutting by 1/2 is rather arbitrary recommendation.
Yeah, I think if you are unsure, it's a great place to start to see how you feel and how your weight responds, but it's not a rule by any means.
Especially if you are doing strenuous exercise or are set to eat 1200 cals (or 1500 cals if male) you should probably start by eating all your exercise cals and cut back if necessary.
OP, I eat back pretty much all my Fitbit exercise calories and my weight has responded as I expected.2 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I never eat them back. To me that is the reward for doing the hard work. I always try to stay just under what my initial calorie count for the day is. But that is just me. Some might think this is too aggressive but I have lost 20 pounds over a coarse of about 2 months. Which to me doesn't seem extreme.
Depends on how much you have to lose. 10 lbs/month is greater than 2 lbs/week which is only recommended if you have >75 lbs to lose. Do you have 75 lbs or more to lose?
And MFP is designed to provide you a calorie target excluding exercise, so that if you do NO exercise, you would lose at the rate you selected, providing your logging is accurate. By doing exercise, and then not eating back your calories, you are creating a larger deficit, which can have negative effects including fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, sallow skin, etc. Not to mention just not eating enough calories to fuel your activity level.
I agree that this could happen. But I also think that if one experiences NONE of those things, and in fact feels great, and their DR., at their physical is saying all is well, that it's most likely that they are not in enough of a deficit to be concerned.0 -
I didn't. I think nearly every day i was at a deficit. I lifted, did cardio and ate well. I lost 65lbs in a little under 7 months.
If i was hungry, I'd eat and I'd eat plenty. But i sure as hell wasn't going to eat for any other reason.2 -
The more calculations that are done, the higher chance of something being wrong. I typically don't trust the exercise calories and so don't eat them back. Just a conservative way of doing it since I know my logging is probably not as accurate as it could be.0
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I have always aimed to eat back half of my exercise calories because
▪I don't always weigh but eyeball only the more low calorie food like vegetables
▪I think exercise calories burned are often over estimated
▪As I am under 5 foot my TDEE is around 1400 calories. Eating 1200 as recommended will have me losing at a ridiculously low amount so that little bit extra takes it up to around 1/2 kilo a week.
However, if I am hungry then I will eat back more than half. If I am full to the brim I don't force more food into me just to reach the target. I want to still rely on intuitive eating to an extent.
If you have not included exercise in your daily activities I believe it is unhealthy to not eat back at least some of them. There is no such thing as starvation mode but long term undereating does have unhealthy consequences. You are also more likely to put additional weight on when you start eating normally again because to low calorie intake will affect your metabolism.
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My biggest motivation to work out is often extra calories so yes I eat them lol. When trying to lose weight, I'd eat half the calories just because I was only estimating the burn and didn't want to overeat. When I'm in maintenance I eat most of all of the calories.1
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janejellyroll wrote: »I'm on an MFP program of 1500 calories per day. I also take a spinning class on Mondays, do 45 minutes on an elliptical every Friday morning and either power walk 2-3 miles or cycle > 15 miles on 3 other days of the week.
I try to avoid eating my exercise calories and still keep my intake between 1200 and 1500 per day but, when I finish off each day, I seem to get yelled at a lot by MFP. It keeps claiming I should be consuming at least 1200/day even though I'm normally exceeding that. Why am I getting that feedback?
Because 1,500 is the minimum recommended for a man (which it seems like you may be, based on your name and your profile pic). You're eating below that and, additionally, driving your net even lower by not eating back the calories you burn through activity. MFP is claiming you should be eating more because -- according to the facts you gave here -- you really should be eating more.
NET calories? I'd have to eat around 2000 calories. Too much!0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I'm on an MFP program of 1500 calories per day. I also take a spinning class on Mondays, do 45 minutes on an elliptical every Friday morning and either power walk 2-3 miles or cycle > 15 miles on 3 other days of the week.
I try to avoid eating my exercise calories and still keep my intake between 1200 and 1500 per day but, when I finish off each day, I seem to get yelled at a lot by MFP. It keeps claiming I should be consuming at least 1200/day even though I'm normally exceeding that. Why am I getting that feedback?
Because 1,500 is the minimum recommended for a man (which it seems like you may be, based on your name and your profile pic). You're eating below that and, additionally, driving your net even lower by not eating back the calories you burn through activity. MFP is claiming you should be eating more because -- according to the facts you gave here -- you really should be eating more.
NET calories? I'd have to eat around 2000 calories. Too much!
2000 cals too much for what?
Making sure you are getting enough nutrients?
Making sure your lbm, organs, muscles, and bones are well supported?
Making sure your everyday activity doesn't drop?
Making sure you are performing at your best in your chosen exercise?
Making sure you don't have brain fog and your performance at work isn't suffering and causing stress.
Most of these things are not immediately apparent. They sneak up slowly and take a lot to recover from.
If you can't eat 2000 at least eat 1800 min when you exercise, 1500 when you don't.
Cheers, h.6 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »I never eat them back. To me that is the reward for doing the hard work. I always try to stay just under what my initial calorie count for the day is. But that is just me. Some might think this is too aggressive but I have lost 20 pounds over a coarse of about 2 months. Which to me doesn't seem extreme.
Depends on how much you have to lose. 10 lbs/month is greater than 2 lbs/week which is only recommended if you have >75 lbs to lose. Do you have 75 lbs or more to lose?
And MFP is designed to provide you a calorie target excluding exercise, so that if you do NO exercise, you would lose at the rate you selected, providing your logging is accurate. By doing exercise, and then not eating back your calories, you are creating a larger deficit, which can have negative effects including fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, sallow skin, etc. Not to mention just not eating enough calories to fuel your activity level.
I agree that this could happen. But I also think that if one experiences NONE of those things, and in fact feels great, and their DR., at their physical is saying all is well, that it's most likely that they are not in enough of a deficit to be concerned.
See post above from @middlehaitch. The adverse effects of long term eating below the recommended minimum often do not have appreciable outward signs, and may take quite a while to become a factor.
Look, I get it. You pride yourself on your fortitude and resolve that you eat below the recommended amount because you believe yourself to be an outlier and that's just what you have to do in order to be successful. That doesn't make it ok to continually defend eating at an extreme deficit and below minimum thresholds. You want to continue eating sub 1200 because you've done long term damage to your metabolism, it's fine, you seem content with this. That doesn't mean that I and others are going to stop trying to help other people from making those same mistakes and getting themselves into the same position...
I don't know what @mhwhitt74 stats or goals are, so I have no way of knowing if losing 2.5 lbs/week is healthy for him or her, but I would be willing to bet money that it's not necessary or goal appropriate. And the attitude of "why eat back exercise calories and destroy all that hard work" just isn't the right mindset for long term success. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Exercise isn't punishment, and eating to an appropriate calorie level to fuel activity and keep a modest calorie deficit doesn't "undo" your hard work. It supports the hard work. It propagates it.
Back to the OP... I eat back all the exercise calories from my FitBit. It worked while I was losing, eating between 1600-1800 cals, and it works now that I'm maintaining, eating around 2200 cals. I'm a 5'2 female, over 40, for what it's worth.14 -
I eat all mine back. I'm a hungry, hungry person. Lol. I don't track the exercise on here usually but I know about how many I burn by either the treadmill or my running watch.1
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I did the math i have to lose 70k calories more, i dont see the point in eating back calories when i have so much to burn0
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I have climbed a mountain and burned 8k calories, when i got home i lost 8 lbs of water and fat and probably muscle lmao but i didn't eat back 6500 calories0
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middlehaitch wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »I'm on an MFP program of 1500 calories per day. I also take a spinning class on Mondays, do 45 minutes on an elliptical every Friday morning and either power walk 2-3 miles or cycle > 15 miles on 3 other days of the week.
I try to avoid eating my exercise calories and still keep my intake between 1200 and 1500 per day but, when I finish off each day, I seem to get yelled at a lot by MFP. It keeps claiming I should be consuming at least 1200/day even though I'm normally exceeding that. Why am I getting that feedback?
Because 1,500 is the minimum recommended for a man (which it seems like you may be, based on your name and your profile pic). You're eating below that and, additionally, driving your net even lower by not eating back the calories you burn through activity. MFP is claiming you should be eating more because -- according to the facts you gave here -- you really should be eating more.
NET calories? I'd have to eat around 2000 calories. Too much!
2000 cals too much for what?
Making sure you are getting enough nutrients?
Making sure your lbm, organs, muscles, and bones are well supported?
Making sure your everyday activity doesn't drop?
Making sure you are performing at your best in your chosen exercise?
Making sure you don't have brain fog and your performance at work isn't suffering and causing stress.
Most of these things are not immediately apparent. They sneak up slowly and take a lot to recover from.
If you can't eat 2000 at least eat 1800 min when you exercise, 1500 when you don't.
Cheers, h.
I just don't see how a fat guy like me is going to run out of fuel any time soon.0
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