Eat back 300cal burned on 1200 diet?

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miajang
miajang Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I‘m currently trying to lose 15-20kg and my daily intake is 1200kcal. The question is do I need to eat back the calories I‘ve burned in the gym for cardio? Idk this would be stupid because the gym would be a waste of time or am I wrong?

Replies

  • brookekaczor
    brookekaczor Posts: 59 Member
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    Yes eat them back.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,064 Member
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    No it's not a waste of time, your calorie allowance doesn't include intentional exercise and also exercise is good for more than weight loss. You may wish to start by eating around 50% of your calories over a period of 4 weeks and reviewing your weight loss results after that period to ensure you're not overestimating calorie burns.

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  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Yes eat them back.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
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    Yes you should. However, the calorie burns for various exercises listed on mfp are very variable and often subjective (eg swimming breastroke general could be very leisurely stroke for some and quite fast for others) so the suggestion above of eating 50% of calories earned is a good starting point in my opinion. Works for me anyway.
  • speedingticket
    speedingticket Posts: 73 Member
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    Eat them back. If you have 20kg to lose and are eating 1200 normally, then you will still lose eating 1500 even if you have overestimated the amount of calories you've burned, to be honest, as that's a very low number. You're effectively only eating 900kcal if you don't eat them back, which isn't sustainble or enough to nourish your body adequately, and will lead to increased muscle loss.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Yes to put it simply the 1200 calories is to lose weight with no exercise, when you exercise and burn 300 calories it means you've only consumed 900 so you get to eat those 300 back to bring it up to 1200 again, you need to fuel your burns. x The best thing about exercising (for me) is that you get to eat more whilst you diet ;)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    miajang wrote: »
    I‘m currently trying to lose 15-20kg and my daily intake is 1200kcal. The question is do I need to eat back the calories I‘ve burned in the gym for cardio? Idk this would be stupid because the gym would be a waste of time or am I wrong?

    If you think the whole point of exercising is purely calorie burns and nothing else you are seriously missing the point!

    Yes your goal is 1200 + exercise calories. It's simple maths to keep to the calorie deficit you selected.
  • Marykaylady2010
    Marykaylady2010 Posts: 69 Member
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    I get that your supposed to eat them back but since I synced my fit bit it’s giving me calories back for the steps I usually take. Aren’t they already factored into the 1200 cals I get for the day.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    If you selected "sedentary" as your activity multiplier, than any meaningful exercise counts as an increased deficit. Eat them back. If you have a goal of 1200kcal after selecting "Active" .... You're either a very small person or something has influenced you to believe that absolute reduction in calories was a good idea, either way that would negate your need to lose 15-20kg.
  • Marilyn0924
    Marilyn0924 Posts: 797 Member
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    Marykaylady2010 wrote: »
    I get that your supposed to eat them back but since I synced my fit bit it’s giving me calories back for the steps I usually take. Aren’t they already factored into the 1200 cals I get for the day.

    No, they are not. MFP calculates your intake based on the information you initially set. Exercise logged via fitbits etc are additional.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Marykaylady2010 wrote: »
    I get that your supposed to eat them back but since I synced my fit bit it’s giving me calories back for the steps I usually take. Aren’t they already factored into the 1200 cals I get for the day.

    Nope.

    The math is done so that there is no double counting.

    It looks like this:

    Fitbit Calorie Burn - MyFitnessPal Burn * = +/- adjustment

    * MFP's Burn will be based on your stats and activity level you selected

    My Fitbit burn for a full day is usually about 2500.
    I have MFP set to Sedentary so it estimates only 1710.
    The result is that I usually get an adjustment of 800 calories. What this does is bring my calories from 1200 to a more reasonable 2000. I still have a 500 calorie deficit for weightloss.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Eat them back. That is the way MFP is designed to work - they give you your calorie goal assuming you will log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.

    Especially since you are trying to eat 1200 cals - the lowest goal mfp will give you. If you didn't eat those 300 cals it would be the same as only eating 900 calories.

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