Do you? Should I eat back my exercise calories?

Famof72015
Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
edited November 19 in Food and Nutrition
I don't know if I should eat back my exercise calories? I have my target at 1400 calories but my Fitbit gave me like 700+ calories today, I've worked out and have last time I checked 13,000 steps so wouldnit harm me to eat it back? I mean crap what if my Fitbit isn't accurate and it sabotages my weight loss?

Replies

  • Nursie863
    Nursie863 Posts: 55 Member
    edited June 2017
    It's always safe to assume that fitness trackers and exercise equipment (even MyFitnessPal) overestimates calories burned. What I've read is that it is safe to eat back about half of the calories it says you burn. I do that and still lose weight. It's not an exact science, and if you try to make it an exact science you'll drive yourself nuts.
  • Famof72015
    Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
    I should add I have it set at lightly active even though I do a 5 day a week of intense cardio/kickboxing/ strength training program. And run 3-10 miles on Saturdays
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  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,589 Member
    I generally use my exercise calories as a buffer for when I don't/can't log accurately. (Visiting friends for dinner, going to a local place and trying new foods that I have no idea how to search for, etc.) Keep an eye on your scale, track your weight, and pay attention to your body. If you feel hungry all the time (and you're sure it's not actually thirst or cravings) or you notice a lack of energy, your deficit may be too high.
  • Famof72015
    Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
    Or drink?
  • Famof72015
    Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
    I have 5 kiddos all under 8 years age. I enjoy a few beers a few nights a week. Does calories in versus calories out really matter when it comes to beer? Won't my belly still get flabby and gross even if I stay within in a deficit because it's beer? Idk
  • tenmyoujis
    tenmyoujis Posts: 9 Member
    Famof72015 wrote: »
    I have 5 kiddos all under 8 years age. I enjoy a few beers a few nights a week. Does calories in versus calories out really matter when it comes to beer? Won't my belly still get flabby and gross even if I stay within in a deficit because it's beer? Idk

    don't worry about it too much if you're still losing weight, but i would try to cut back. alcohol makes you retain water like crazy which leads to bloating and water weight gain, and stalls weight loss/fat burning (your body will burn off alcohol before it burns off energy from fat and carbs). i would try to maybe just have a few beers one night a week, or one beer a few nights a week :) also make sure you're logging all of them because the calories sure do add up! unfortunately :P
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,589 Member
    CICO absolutely matters when it comes to beer. If you're actually at a deficit, it doesn't matter what order your body burns off the calories you consume - it burns them all, and anything after that (your deficit) comes from what you've got in storage.

    However, nutritionally speaking, those beers are not necessary calories. Sooo, you just have to decide whether the psychological/entertainment benefit is worth the extra calories ;) Definitely log them, and I'd even suggest logging them BEFORE drinking, and looking at how it affects your calories and macros for the day. Then you can make your choice and feel good about it either way!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Famof72015 wrote: »
    I don't know if I should eat back my exercise calories? I have my target at 1400 calories but my Fitbit gave me like 700+ calories today, I've worked out and have last time I checked 13,000 steps so wouldnit harm me to eat it back? I mean crap what if my Fitbit isn't accurate and it sabotages my weight loss?

    MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

    My FitBit One is far less generous with calories than the MFP database and I comfortably eat 100% of the calories I earn from it back.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Just so you know - while that does appear on the Exercise diary because of the way MFP needs to do math - that figure is NOT just exercise, or may be none.

    It is merely the difference between what Fitbit says you burned and what MFP guessed you'd burn with no exercise and your guess of activity level.

    With kids - for sure lightly active, but likely still burn more than that even before exercise.

    You could have big adjustment and no exercise done.
    You could have no adjustment and a big workout and otherwise lazy day.

    Depending on device, accuracy of the exercise calorie burn could likely be improved, some needs manually logging on Fitbit anyway.

    Daily life estimate can be improved too with stride length tweaking to avg daily pace length.

    In other words - if you had any trust in MFP's numbers and didn't really understand what they are based on - then for sure trust Fitbit's numbers.

    That's what the adjustment is - MFP trusting Fitbit's number more and trying to correct itself. (when the syncing doesn't fail - totally other issue)

    You should too.
  • david_1988
    david_1988 Posts: 9 Member
    Personally, I don't sync or enter exercise calories into MyFitnessPal at all. I think the better solution is to use a TDEE calculator and just make that your calorie goal.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    If you're a SAHM chasing 5 kiddos, it may be that "lightly active" is too low. If you have any kind of a job that makes you sit for an hour each day, you're really "sedentary" no matter what exercise you do.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    If you're a SAHM chasing 5 kiddos, it may be that "lightly active" is too low. If you have any kind of a job that makes you sit for an hour each day, you're really "sedentary" no matter what exercise you do.

    You should probably go read the Fitbit forum and discover that at about 4K steps you start coming out of MFP's Sedentary level and going into Lightly-Active level based on the calorie adjustments generally starting then.

    A mere hour sit down job hardly makes you sedentary, especially with exercise.

    You'll find so many are surprised - even before being inspired to move more - they are more then sedentary.

    9 hr desk job and commute - and a family with weeknight and weekend duties - tends to make you Lightly-Active without exercise.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Very useful and informative discussion about this, courtesy of SideSteel: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Famof72015 wrote: »
    I don't know if I should eat back my exercise calories? I have my target at 1400 calories but my Fitbit gave me like 700+ calories today, I've worked out and have last time I checked 13,000 steps so wouldnit harm me to eat it back? I mean crap what if my Fitbit isn't accurate and it sabotages my weight loss?

    What's the point of using gadgets if you don't trust them enough to actually trial the results they give you?
    Until YOU trial it for a period of weeks you won't know.

    It can't sabotage your results for any longer than the period you trial it for. Look far longer term than that.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    I register all my workouts as 69 calories. I like that number. And I don't trust any numbers, most are way overestimated
  • Woodsmoke
    Woodsmoke Posts: 360 Member
    I always take off a certain amount of calories the calculator says I've burned- if I've walked for an exact 90 minutes I will hack off ten minutes and enter 75/80 minutes. I always round up my food to the nearest ten or fifty as well, just to be sure I don't underestimate what I've done. It's helped so far. I always end up eating back my calories but if I had any willpower I would prefer not to :disappointed:
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    I read the Which? reviews on fitness trackers before I bought mine (I have a Garmin Vivofit 3) and it said Fitbit general over-estimate calories burned, especially while just moving around doing chores. That said, I use my Garmin to make sure I'm not over-estimating eg walking speed - so if I've been walking for an hour and think I'm walking at 4mph, but the tracker says I've covered 3 miles, then I log it as an hour @3mph. (I'm also using it to log my steps for cancer research this month). I only got my Garmin this year, but when I was losing I used MPF calorie estimates for activity, generally ate them all back and lost successfully. But you've got to be honest with yourself - don't put "1 hour aerobics, high impact" just because you're tired at the end! If you've been jumping about all over the place for the full hour, fine, but if one or two tracks were quite fast then IMO that is not a high impact workout :)
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