Eating back macros

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wendix
wendix Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I do iifym and find it works well for me. However even when I've hit my calories and therefore my macro percentages bang on, when I input my exercise on MFP it obviously gives me "extra" calories and shows I should eat more carbs, fat and protein even though my percentages stay perfect.
So what should I be doing? Ignoring extra calories given as long as my percentages are good or eating back my calories to meet the macro numbers?

Replies

  • amy93w
    amy93w Posts: 13 Member
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    Would also love to know :)
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,107 Member
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    Eating back calories otherwise you're putting yourself in a larger deficit than needs be and could risk under nourishing yourself and under-fueling your workouts.

    You should still be able to keep your macros relatively on track if you added a balanced snack or two on the days that you exercise. As long as you're hitting the minimum requirements for Protein and Fat you should be ok anyway (check the nutrients tab to see the gram amounts)

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I would suggest "forgetting" percentages, and instead have a minimum fat and protein goal to hit daily, and fill the rest of your calorie need, including earnt calories, with whatever.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    IIFYM (the website) is a TDEE calculator - you should have included your estimated average exercise when you calculated your calorie goal on there. (Unlike MyFitnessPal.)

    So you are eating back your exercise calories, just a daily average already included in your goal.

    You can log your exercise on here but overwrite the calories given with "1" to stop your goal varying.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,107 Member
    edited September 2017
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    sijomial wrote: »
    IIFYM (the website) is a TDEE calculator - you should have included your estimated average exercise when you calculated your calorie goal on there. (Unlike MyFitnessPal.)

    So you are eating back your exercise calories, just a daily average already included in your goal.

    You can log your exercise on here but overwrite the calories given with "1" to stop your goal varying.

    IIFYM can just refer to a style of eating, not necessarily using the IIFYM website to generate your approximate TDEE just to clarify for OP.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    0.6 - 0.8g of protein per lb of bodyweight

    0.3 - 0.4g of fat per lb of bodyweight
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited September 2017
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    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    IIFYM (the website) is a TDEE calculator - you should have included your estimated average exercise when you calculated your calorie goal on there. (Unlike MyFitnessPal.)

    So you are eating back your exercise calories, just a daily average already included in your goal.

    You can log your exercise on here but overwrite the calories given with "1" to stop your goal varying.

    IIFYM can just refer to a style of eating, not necessarily using the IIFYM website to generate your approximate TDEE just to clarify for OP.

    Correct - thanks for the clarification.
    My version of IIFYM (the philosophy not the website) was minimums for protein and fat with the rest of my calorie allowance coming from whichever macro suited me on the day.
    A far more flexible version of flexible dieting than fixed percentages.

    I also prefer the MFP "eat back exercise calories" rather than TDEE average method mostly to fit my exercise routine but it also feels less restrictive to me.
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
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    Is your caloric/macro intake based on BMR estimates or TDEE estimates? If BMR estimate, eat back exercise calories. If TDEE estimate, your exercise is already included in your intake, so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    if you are using a TDEE calculator (which most of the IIFYM ones are based on) - then don't eat back calories from workout, they already take into account workout level
  • aganey
    aganey Posts: 501 Member
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    I say if you're still feeling hungry then eat back the calories, it doesn't have to be all of them. If you're not hungry then don't eat them back. Just listen to your body.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,107 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    IIFYM (the website) is a TDEE calculator - you should have included your estimated average exercise when you calculated your calorie goal on there. (Unlike MyFitnessPal.)

    So you are eating back your exercise calories, just a daily average already included in your goal.

    You can log your exercise on here but overwrite the calories given with "1" to stop your goal varying.

    IIFYM can just refer to a style of eating, not necessarily using the IIFYM website to generate your approximate TDEE just to clarify for OP.

    Correct - thanks for the clarification.
    My version of IIFYM (the philosophy not the website) was minimums for protein and fat with the rest of my calorie allowance coming from whichever macro suited me on the day.
    A far more flexible version of flexible dieting than fixed percentages.

    I also prefer the MFP "eat back exercise calories" rather than TDEE average method mostly to fit my exercise routine but it also feels less restrictive to me.

    This is also my take on it, and I use MFP's NEAT method of calorie allowance, which is why I thought it best to clarify because I have weeks when I am super super active and weeks when I am a lazy *kitten* lol
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    I get SO confused by the percentage pie chart in the MFP app. I don't really split my macros precisely through the day, so the only time it balances is the end of the day and the rest of the time I just find it unhelpful :s .
    I just go by the grammes on the main diary screen (turn your phone sideways, or use the desktop version).

    But anyway, if I've met my protein target for the day anyway, any calories I eat back are "free" in macro terms as far as I'm concerned, and can be carby or fatty!

    I have exercise adjustments switched off, for the precise reason that I don't want MFP to mess with my (custom set) macro goals. It still tells me at the bottom of the diary screen in the app or in the exercise screen on the desktop version what it thinks I've earned, and I choose what to eat back. This does show as me going over my target for the day, but I'd rather have that, than let MFP mess with my macros the whole time! :D

    (Caveat: I'm in maintenance/recomp and my base daily macros are set to take account of the fact I lift 3 times a week and average 12,000 steps a day. I only consider eating back if I've gone way over that in terms of exercise.)
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    You can eat more carbs, fats and protein and your percentages can still stay perfect. They are percentages. Not amounts.
    you can eat 100 cals and have the right percentages or 10000 cals and have the same percentages.
  • sky_northern
    sky_northern Posts: 119 Member
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    wendix wrote: »
    I do iifym and find it works well for me. However even when I've hit my calories and therefore my macro percentages bang on, when I input my exercise on MFP it obviously gives me "extra" calories and shows I should eat more carbs, fat and protein even though my percentages stay perfect.
    So what should I be doing? Ignoring extra calories given as long as my percentages are good or eating back my calories to meet the macro numbers?

    How did you set your calorie goal that is in MFP?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    It depends on how you derived your calorie target. If you used a TDEE calculator and rolled up your exercise into your activity level you wouldn't eat back anything because it's already accounted for in your activity level...you'd be double dipping.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    My version of IIFYM (the philosophy not the website) was minimums for protein and fat with the rest of my calorie allowance coming from whichever macro suited me on the day.
    A far more flexible version of flexible dieting than fixed percentages.

    I also prefer the MFP "eat back exercise calories" rather than TDEE average method mostly to fit my exercise routine but it also feels less restrictive to me.

    This is the version I prefer. Extra, earned macros can be whatever you'd like. I usually pick beer.

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