Eating back calories?

Momofboys77
Momofboys77 Posts: 8 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so to lose weight my calorie goal is 1,280 but I go to the gym everyday and burn about 900 to 1,000 calories. Can I eat SOME of those calories back or are you not suppose to do that for weight loss?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If your calorie goal comes from MFP, it's designed for you to eat back the calories you burn via exercise. That said, 900 to 1,000 is pretty high for a daily gym burn. What are you doing to burn that many calories? I'd be worried about potentially over-estimating at that point.
  • Momofboys77
    Momofboys77 Posts: 8 Member
    I hour running on treadmill on highest incline and 30 minutes on arc trainer
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited December 2017
    Yes, you can. And if you're eating 1280 cals, then not only can you, but you probably should.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,252 Member
    edited December 2017
    Sounds like you're trying for more than 2lbs a week since your cardio increases your deficit.

    Moderate your deficit to 25% of TDEE while obese and to no more than 20% when not.

    Much more sustainable. Less side effects. Happier weight loss. Might be able to hatch a sustainable lifestyle for future too!

    ETA: while your total calories burned do sound like a lot, depending on your current weight they may well be accurate. Especially since, assuming you're set at 2lbs, MFP is estimating your base non exercise activity calories at 2280. Thus i would be tempted to eat a substantial percentage of them back (in the 75% range) and re-evaluate down the road based on my actual loss over a 6 to 8 week period
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Momofboys77 wrote: »
    I hour running on treadmill on highest incline and 30 minutes on arc trainer

    If those calorie counts are coming from the machines themselves, I would start by eating back just a portion of them because the machines are often known to over-estimate the calories burnt. If you continue to lose more than you expect to per week, you can eat back more of the calories.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Yes, you can. And if you're eating 1280 cals, then not only can you, but you probably should.

    This is good advice.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I would definitely recommend eating back a reasonable amount of those exercise calories since your calorie goal is so low.
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