Do you eat your workout calories ?

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24

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  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    I use the TDEE method because I prefer to have more stable and humane daily numbers vs the crazy burns MFP sometimes gives.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited June 2017
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    sosteach wrote: »
    You can. I choose not to because I don't totally trust the database numbers and I have a lot of weight to lose so I eat my 1200 and I am golden.

    Obese people can keep larger deficits without penalty, but sooner or later you likely want to test the database. Your food logging and activity level are also estimates.

    OP- eating exercise calories back is how MFP is designed. That's because larger deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. Most people want a lower body fat %......eating back calories helps you do that. But you need to tweak the numbers a bit because everything is estimates.
  • Lizarking
    Lizarking Posts: 507 Member
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    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I'm losing weight and I eat them back
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I ate all mine back while losing 65 or so pounds.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I ate all mine back while losing 65 or so pounds.

    Me too. Eating exercise calories incentivized exercise for me.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    That's why mfp gives you a deficit before exercise...
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Some days I do, others I don't. I prefer to bank my calories for the weekends :)
  • Suzcqt
    Suzcqt Posts: 2 Member
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    Absolutely, Im on the same calorie count as you, i generally stay close to the 1200 each day regardless how much i exercise, but if i feel hungry or have an event its there for me that day and i can still stay on track. :D
  • FasterBehr
    FasterBehr Posts: 16 Member
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    I started at 371 and now I'm at 196 (5'11"). At a higher weight I ate back probably 0-25% of my exercise calories daily. Now I'm at 196 and running 20 miles a week I HAVE to eat back the exercise calories due to the training load and the fact that being lighter I have many less calories to play with.

    I use an Apple Watch to measure my runs and activity and I roll with the numbers it plugs into MFP for my exercise. My weight loss has been consistent so I'm happy that it's all worked out for me. I'm maintaining now I guess, but erring to a slight deficit just to see how I level out - not taking any chances!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Jruzer wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I ate all mine back while losing 65 or so pounds.

    Me too. Eating exercise calories incentivized exercise for me.

    This is one of those times I wish I could mark a post awesome and insightful at the same time.

    For me, it's a little like the tortoise and the hair; slow and steady wins the race. Having the best body you can doesn't mean depriving yourself for a horrible week and then celebrating without regaining your weight back, it's a process, and anything we can do to make it easier and smoother and more enjoyable, is something we're doing to stick with it in the long term.
  • kieranar
    kieranar Posts: 57 Member
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    Never , use the exercise just to see how much it would have equated too in food consumption
  • henryjamessimm388
    henryjamessimm388 Posts: 5 Member
    edited June 2017
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    It's a no from me...if your goal is maintaining weight then fair enough eat away, but if you "save the calories up for weekends" just think of how much damage you're gonna do to your diet! :( the whole idea of weight loss is to be in a calorie deficit...which is what makes you lose the fat! It's of course possible to still lose weight if you eat them back but it just won't be at the same rate as if you didn't as the deficit will be less :)

    Reward yourself for sure! But just try and remember the end goal :)

    Also, last thing, I'm doing a cut at the moment so this probably doesn't apply as much to less aggressive weight-loss diets!
  • cpereyra831
    cpereyra831 Posts: 16 Member
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    I eat them because I'm on maintenance (240 to 171) for the last three years. Sometimes I do an extra work out when I know that I'm going to overeat. My diet is very healthy but I like to indulge on a pizza once a week or so. My normal workout is 100 on average miles of riding per week. I'm 73 years old and feel fantastic.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    henryjamessimm388 wrote: »
    It's a no from me...if your goal is maintaining weight then fair enough eat away, but if you "save the calories up for weekends" just think of how much damage you're gonna do to your diet! :( the whole idea of weight loss is to be in a calorie deficit...which is what makes you lose the fat! It's of course possible to still lose weight if you eat them back but it just won't be at the same rate as if you didn't as the deficit will be less :)

    Reward yourself for sure! But just try and remember the end goal :)

    Also, last thing, I'm doing a cut at the moment so this probably doesn't apply as much to less aggressive weight-loss diets!

    The way MFP is set up is for you to lose at the chosen rate without exercise. You then eat the calories back to fuel your body and keep that deficit consistent. And many people save calories through the week so they can have more calories on the weekends or special occasions. If they're still in a deficit for the week, they will lose.
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
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    I eat back all of my cardio calories, but not the ones I burn lifting weights. It's working just fine for me.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,944 Member
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    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I lost all my weight while eating some or all of my exercise calories back. :) In fact, it made the weight loss process so much happier!

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,944 Member
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    henryjamessimm388 wrote: »
    It's a no from me...if your goal is maintaining weight then fair enough eat away, but if you "save the calories up for weekends" just think of how much damage you're gonna do to your diet! :(

    I am thinking about it ... and ... happily ... it does absolutely no damage whatsoever! :grin:

    MFP is set up so that you're in deficit when you enter your information, select sedentary as your activity level, select the amount you want to lose, and consume the number of calories MFP gives you. Exercise gives you bonus calories ... eat them!! Or at least eat some of them. :)

  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Lizarking wrote: »
    No, but I'm trying to lose weight.

    I ate all mine back while losing 65 or so pounds.

    Me too. Eating exercise calories incentivized exercise for me.

    This is one of those times I wish I could mark a post awesome and insightful at the same time.

    For me, it's a little like the tortoise and the hair; slow and steady wins the race. Having the best body you can doesn't mean depriving yourself for a horrible week and then celebrating without regaining your weight back, it's a process, and anything we can do to make it easier and smoother and more enjoyable, is something we're doing to stick with it in the long term.

    Aw, shucks.

    I'm not sure why this doesn't resonate with more people, actually. To me it was like a magic bullet - I get more exercise and I get to eat more food that I like. Win-win.

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