Who still loses weight by eating back the calories they burned off from exercise?
Summerweightlosscollege
Posts: 2 Member
I want to start eating back the calories i burn off, but i feel like then my workout goes to waste (especially when it is just cardio). However I feel extra hungry after I come back for a jog. Does anyone continue to eat their exercise calories and still lose weight? Let me know!
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Yes absolutely, or I might literally die.
But I don't eat what MFP lists. I estimate most my exercise at 50 to 75 calories per 30 minutes depending on activity. Some of the exercises in the MFP database are way out of portion. Some people eat back half of what MFP says.4 -
Yup, all of them as provided by my Fitbit.8
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It's the way the tool is designed. Exercise is unaccounted for activity in your activity level...common sense would dictate that it should be accounted for somewhere. Lean, healthy, and fit people eat and train...they don't crash their diets and then do a bunch of exercise on top of it.
ETA: yesterday I did a 30 mile date ride with my wife....I burned over 1,000 calories...If I ate what MFP gives me for 1 Lb per week before exercise I would have been left with around 800 calories for my body to work with...I burn around 1700-1800 calories merely existing, so obviously providing my body around 800 calories would not be a very healthy proposition...
I'd also suggest taking a step back and realizing that regular exercise has numerous health benefits...increased energy expenditure is just one of them. The purpose of regular exercise goes well beyond just burning some calories...ergo, it wouldn't be pointless.10 -
I always ate back most of my exercise calories and lost weight. Mfp is designed for you to eat them back. If you got your goal from mfp then your deficit is built in and not eating the exercise calories will increase the deficit which is not really a good thing. If you used a tdee calculator to get your goal then it is already including exercise calories so you should not add them again because you are already eating the exercise calories. That is why Tdee calculator will give you a higher goal than map gives you. Your tdee goal should be about equal to tour map goal + exercise calories.1
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I usually eat back half my exercise calories. Dropped just shy of 61 lbs to date (after about 7 months).8
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I eat back between 40% - 60% depending on if its the weekend or not, my daily calorie is set to 1,320, I eat around 1,500 -1,600 and burn between 500 - 800 calories per day, I like to make sure my net is around 1,200 I'm 5"4 and 254lbs as of 3d June, I started at 308lbs in January of this year, I have been losing 2lbs per week.5
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Yup, lost 80 lbs eating the calories MFP gives me, plus my exercise calories. I lost at the expected rate, sometimes even a tiny bit more.
I like the point mentioned above about how fit people eat and train, and I completely agree. Under fueling your body is not a good fitness plan.3 -
I eat them back but I always lowball whai did. I count a 60 minute class as 45 or my hike as a slow walk2
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I eat back exercise calories as given by my fitbit. I've done the math and they're pretty accurate. If I didn't eat them back, I would be too tired to function. For example, I ran 8 miles this morning, burning about 1,000 calories according to my fitbit. With a net goal of 1,200 calories, if I didn't eat them back, I would be netting about 200 calories in a day, which isn't healthy at all.
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I eat back if hungry, if not I don't bother.
I have a fitbit, but I think it over estimates my calories burned, although a bit early to say as I'm only about 2 weeks in.
I just can't believe the calories it gives me some days, and for what seems so little effort - way above my BMR.
So am being cautious at present, but open minded to changing my views on it if the weight loss increases. I only want to lose at 1lb a week and no greater.
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I have always eaten back my exercise calories, with one important caveat: I use a couple of methods of estimating calories, choose the lower amount, and completely ignore MFP's exercise database, which inflates exercise calories ridiculously. While I was losing weight, I averaged about 450 exercise calories a day (cycling, running, and hiking—I try to do something active every day, and on weekends I'll go for 2-4 hour bike rides, sometimes longer), so if I didn't eat them back, I would have been hungry and crabby (hangry) all the time, and I would have lost weight far too quickly.0
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Yes.0
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Just be sure your activity level is set on "sedentary" regardless of what your non-exercise activity level is. And then like many others here....I eat back around 50% or so of my exercise calories if I think the calories awarded are accurate. I also use Fitbit (which always allows me significantly less than mfp)...but again, considering that FB slips out of place, can't know that I'm lifting weights, but not moving around a lot...etc.
An hour of Strength training or lifting weights might *for example* show FB that your HR is 130 or so. It might show the same HR for a leisurely walk and award significantly more calories for the walk because of "steps". But steps don't equal effort or resistance. Nor can FB guess "afterburn" or muscle mass in calculations.
So there's a lot of factors to consider yourself on how much to eat back and definitely consider your muscle mass and factor in strength training vs cardio when eating back calories. I am set up for 2lbs per week weight loss, but have lost 20 lbs since March 15th. So not quite 2 lbs per week.
But I'm doing 65% or more strength training, so those missing lbs are likely muscle gained. Your scale won't reflect that, either. I was a Size 12 and 172lbs in March and now a Small Size 8 and 151lbs. But when I tell someone I'm 151lbs they look shocked because I look more slender than that (muscle/fat loss).
All of these trackers and apps are a big help, but you still have to account for your body and learn and adapt what is most effective for your body as far as the end result you want.
TL;DR Version: When in doubt....drink a protein shake instead of a meal to be sure you're not eating back too much and manage hunger/keep carbs in check. Add BCAAs (to water before and during workouts) to retain muscle in case you're not eating enough calories back.2 -
Summerweightlosscollege wrote: »I want to start eating back the calories i burn off, but i feel like then my workout goes to waste (especially when it is just cardio). However I feel extra hungry after I come back for a jog. Does anyone continue to eat their exercise calories and still lose weight? Let me know!
Do you think that no one has ever lost weight with exercise and that MFP is set up to fool you, like they secretly want people not to lose weight?5 -
I eat it all back.
I used to not eat any exercise calories back until I did that for six months, got really really sick and it took eight months to recover. I was netting less than 500 calories a day and some days a negative net amount after exercise. Lost a ton of weight but I will never ever do that again.
Now I eat it all back and still lose between 0.5 and 1.5 pounds weekly. It works. It feel healthier and the pounds are vanishing. Love eating my exercise calories!2 -
I log 75% of the time i spend working out and eat those calories. I've been doing this over 2 years and its what works best for me.1
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I estimated my exercise calories carefully, ate pretty much all of therm back, and lost 60+ pounds in less than a year.
How fast are you losing weight without eating the exercise calories? Obviously, you'll lose a little more slowly if you eat back some or all of your exercise.
If you're losing more than 1% of your body weight weekly (even less than that if you're closer than 25 pounds or so to goal), definitely eat more - you're losing at a rate that may be unhealthy.
If you're losing more slowly than that, just do the arithmetic to estimate your new loss rate. Let's pretend you're losing on average a pound a week, and doing 250 calories of exercise daily but not eating those calories. Your average daily deficit is about 500 calories (roughly 3500 calories in a pound, divided by 7 days in a week, equals 500 calories per day).
In that scenario, eating back the 250 daily exercise calories will reduce your daily deficit to 250 (500 calorie deficit minus the 250 calories of increased eating that makes the deficit smaller). At a 250 calorie daily deficit, you'd expect to lose about half a pound a week.
If eating more when you're hungry after exercise makes it easier to stick to eating in a deficit - i e., if it helps you stuck to weight loss longer without falling off the wagon - then in practice you may actually lose just as much while eating some exercise, because slipping off track has as calorie "cost" and hinders weight loss, too. Losing slowly but more steadily gets you to the same place.
One further thought: You say "I want to start eating back the calories i burn off, but i feel like then my workout goes to waste". Workouts never go to waste. They make you more fit. They improve your mood. They can help other aspects of your health, such as blood pressure or blood sugar. Even some cardio can help with preserving existing muscle as you lose fat, even if it's not quite as good for that as weight training is. They help build the habit of being active, which will help you keep weight off more easily once you reach goal weight.7 -
One further thought: You say "I want to start eating back the calories i burn off, but i feel like then my workout goes to waste". Workouts never go to waste. They make you more fit. They improve your mood. They can help other aspects of your health, such as blood pressure or blood sugar. Even some cardio can help with preserving existing muscle as you lose fat, even if it's not quite as good for that as weight training is. They help build the habit of being active, which will help you keep weight off more easily once you reach goal weight.
^^Exactly this. In fact, workouts that you don't fuel -- well, they may not be a waste, but you won't get the full benefit, because you won't have the energy to put full effort in, and your body won't have the energy and building materials to repair and build muscle.
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Im still not eating my fitbit adjustments. Becuase today for eg i have done no specific exercise, but had a busy day and done 13000 steps im set to sedentry so fitbit and mfp has given me an positive adjustment of 400 calories.
I just dont eat them becuase i feel like i will sts or gain if i do! Now if i got for a run or a specific hike then i will eat half of those.0 -
loulouowens wrote: »Im still not eating my fitbit adjustments. Becuase today for eg i have done no specific exercise, but had a busy day and done 13000 steps im set to sedentry so fitbit and mfp has given me an positive adjustment of 400 calories.
I just dont eat them becuase i feel like i will sts or gain if i do! Now if i got for a run or a specific hike then i will eat half of those.
A calorie burned is a calorie burned, whether it comes from walking, running, or hiking.7 -
For purposes of hypoglycemia prevention post workout, yes. I eat what I need and leave the rest on the table. Doctor doesn't have a problem with what I'm doing and I'm still losing.2
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I have actually gained weight eating back my exercise calories. I tried it for a week just to see and I gained weight. I have learned to eat back only a small portion of them because exercise calories are not always accurate. Even my Fitbit gives me too many calories so I just modify. Everyone is different. I wish I was one of those that could eat back all of their calories, that would be awesome!!
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One thing I want to clarify (underline): What matters is your actual loss rate. Any of the calculators, including the ones built into MFP, just give you an estimate to start out with.
The calculators are based on the average results from large research studies. Most people are close to the average (i.e. there's a small standard deviation, statistically speaking), but a few people - like 1 in 20 - can be quite quite far from the average.
After the first month of consistency (maybe 6 weeks for premenopausal women), ignore the 1st couple of weeks (because water weight is weird at first), look at the average loss per week from the later weeks, and adjust eating to a healthy loss rate.
The question isn't whether you can eat back exercise & still lose weight. Everyone can . . . if their tracking is accurate and their base calories are estimated reasonably accurately in the first place.
P. S. If you're not tiny, are tracking eating accurately and consistently (no unlogged "cheat days"), and can't lose at the MFP minimums (1200 for women, 1500 for men), talk to your doctor.4 -
I didn't at first, but now I try to eat back around half the calories I burn. The weight seems to be dropping quicker now that I fuel up properly.2
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victorias36 wrote: »I have actually gained weight eating back my exercise calories. I tried it for a week just to see and I gained weight. I have learned to eat back only a small portion of them because exercise calories are not always accurate. Even my Fitbit gives me too many calories so I just modify. Everyone is different. I wish I was one of those that could eat back all of their calories, that would be awesome!!
I think we all have the issue with apps and fitbit having a lot of variety in calories burned during specific exercises, especially branded classes and things fitbit can't log.
I reiterate that everyone needs to set their activity level on both mfp and fitbit to "sedentary" just to be safe, since it will assume the lowest BMR.
And I added a shortcut to my phone to this chart that has literally every possible activity and calories burned based on weight and intensity. I use it to compare to MFP, Fitbit, and Samsung Health awarded calories to help adjust the averages. It's really comprehensive as a quick reference guide.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/calories-burned-during-exercise/2 -
WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »I reiterate that everyone needs to set their activity level on both mfp and fitbit to "sedentary" just to be safe, since it will assume the lowest BMR.
No. If a person is genuinely active, they do NOT need to set their activity level to "sedentary".
As long as you have negative adjustments enabled, it makes ZERO difference what activity level you choose on mfp if you have an activity tracker synced. At midnight, it will credit you with exactly the same number of calories burned regardless of activity level chosen.
That's coming from someone who is set to "active", has a synced FitBit and loses weight exactly as predicted from calorie intake and FitBit burns.
Your BMR is calculated to be the exact same value regardless of activity level chosen. Your predicted calorie burn varies based on activity level - but you only start getting credited with "extra" calories after you've burned more than you "should have" for that activity level. And with negative adjustments enabled, mfp actually "takes away" calories if you've been less active than you "should have" for your chosen activity level.4 -
A person who is nervous or worrying about eating back calories can be assured that if they're anything above "sedentary, but have it set on "sedentary"....they can safely eat back whatever extra calories they've earned from exercise and still lose weight. Some people diet, but don't exercise and their non-exercise level (such as their jobs or chores or whatever) vary greatly day to day. People who have exactly the same activity level at work, school, and home everyday wouldn't be confused about how many calories to eat back anyway.
And I'm well aware of Fitbit's negative calorie adjustments. Those are frequently wrong, too. I can't wear my fitbit when I swim laps or even during heavy punching/kicking sessions. Fitbit often cannot properly log certain workouts or need manual entry (which is all guessing). Even Fitbit lists the many sport's and activities that aren't accurate. Heart rate isn't very accurate and that's all they use to calculate. It doesn't know your workload vs muscle mass to figure out how hard you're working.
Even worse....people who have naturally very low or very high heartrates get bizarre resting readings and changing the Exercise Zones only helps during "moderate to heavy" access. My fitbit tells me that on days I don't exercise, I can only eat a total of 650 calories daily. So no. Trusting the negative adjustments is much more complicated than what I initially suggested.
Which is what virtually every website and forum suggest people do, btw. Set both fitbit and mfp to "sedentary" AND allow negative adjustments and then you're sure you're always safe to eat back 100% of calories and still lose your set lbs goal.0 -
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I eat back 50%0
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Who still loses weight by eating back the calories they burned off from exercise?
- People who understand how this app works.
- People who are reasonably accurate (or lucky!) with both their food and exercise logging.
- People who understand a goal is to be hit, not undercut.
- People who understand that the fastest rate of weight loss doesn't equal better results.
- People who think ahead to maintenance at goal weight, because exercise certainly needs to be accounted for then.
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