Should you eat back your calories?

BethlovesRene · July 2011

When exercising should you eat back all the calories you burn off? That's pretty much I've been doing...
Also, does it matter if I eat low-carbs or not to lose weight faster?
Thanks for any help!

sc1572 · July 2011

I've been told that at minimum my net cals should be at 1200. Idk if this is right, but that's what I read from here. I try to eat back some of my calories, but not all.

Bethany28 · July 2011

beckystephens · July 2011

i eat half - if u work out u need more calories to sustain, but u also want to keep ur calorie deficit high to lose weight. it truly is a balancing act.

marksanctuary · July 2011

You want to maintain the weight loss setting (ie. 1 lbs a week) and not go any faster because your trying to loose weight and not put your body into starvation mode which will slow or stop your weight loss. So the short answer is yes you should eat the calories and try to stay close to your goal. Now personally I have had some days where I worked in the yard all day for 8 hours or so and it says something crazy like I burned 2000 calories, for these cases there is just no way I can eat that much and not feel like I am going to explode. But for the reasonable exercise stuff it is best to eat them. Hope that helps. :-)

jamielise2 · July 2011

I eat back MOST of my workout calories, trying to keep my NET calories around 1100-1300. Some days are better than others. As far as low carb or not, that only matters if you're diabetic or pre-diabetic. Otherwise a calorie is a calorie (however eating right still matters because I'm not willing to eat such massively small portions of unhealthy foods - I need more food than that).

jpeper1966 · July 2011

That is a "can of worms" you don't want to open. It works for some and doesn't for others. Opinions are strong on both sides. Concentrate more on eating healthy.

TooFitToQuit · July 2011

I eat back half, too. I eat 1400 calories per day which seems to keep me satisfied but not stuffed. As far as carbs go, the more you cut out the faster you will lose. I don't think it's realistic to drastically cut carbs though, since it's not a sustainable lifetime change. Rather, think about the quality of carbs your eating (great options are brown rice, quinoa, polenta, sweet potatoes, fruits & veggies..the list goes on). I do try to keep them to 200g or lower though. Carbs give you energy and they just taste good, damn it! ; )

BethlovesRene · July 2011

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/mfp-basics-78491
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainerRobin/view/myth-or-fact-calories-in-versus-calories-out-3500-calories-one-pound-and-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories-62012
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

Wow! Thank you so much for these links! I finally read all of them today and it makes much more sense

Should you eat back your calories?

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