How am I supposed to eat back my calories?

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Suly09
Suly09 Posts: 88 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How am I supposed to eat back my calories If I do not know how many calories I lost in my workout? I do not have a fitbit (and I can not afford one) and everyone says not to trust the calories lost in the exercise machines...also I do a lot of no equipment exercises...so how can I eat back my calories?
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Replies

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    It depends on the machine and the brand.

    If it's a treadmill, the calculation is simple. use the runners world formula, if it's a bike or an elliptical. Take 40-75% of the estimate and give it time and adjust accordingly..

    https://www.runnersworld.com/peak-performance/running-v-walking-how-many-calories-will-you-burn
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Log it using MFP... start with 50-75% of the cals to avoid over counting.

    Agreed.

    All the numbers we use, both for calories in (food) and cals out (exercise, bmr, etc) are just estimates. We make the best, most reasonable estimate we can, and then we monitor things over time and adjust as necessary. Accuracy is an illusion with all of this, and some trial and error is an expected part of the process.

    On a side note - some machines can give very accurate numbers, so don't dismiss them so quickly.

    ^^This. Just be aware of how you are feeling. If you are getting run down and not able to do the exercises, that is a sure sign you are not fueling enough. If you feel this before the 4-6 week mark (where your average weight loss is a good indicator) up your calories a bit.

    I know the treadmill at the Y is very close to my tracker and the runners world formula for me so I eat all my running calories back. Less on the weight and swimming ones right now (based on my tracker)
  • crisma1974
    crisma1974 Posts: 52 Member
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    Yes, I agree with eating back about 50% of what mfp gives you. I have a heart rate monitor and it gives me about 400 calories for 60 minutes of Zumba. MFP gives me 850 (way off!!!). So do 50% to be on the safe side. Good luck.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    It depends on the machine and the brand.

    If it's a treadmill, the calculation is simple. use the runners world formula, if it's a bike or an elliptical. Take 40-75% of the estimate and give it time and adjust accordingly..

    https://www.runnersworld.com/peak-performance/running-v-walking-how-many-calories-will-you-burn

    @stanmann571

    I wouldn't lump all bike and ellipticals into one group.

    Many modern indoor bikes have power meters and can be extremely accurate for calorie burns, look for power displayed in watts.
    Even ellipticals vary enormously from ones where manufacturers test a sample of people in a lab and produce a reasonable calorie table to ones where Hans Christian Andersen would appear to be the reference point..... :wink:

    The feedback loop of results over time I certainly endorse.

    OP - "not trusting" and assuming all machines are both inaccurate and exaggerated is two different things. They aren't all inaccurate and they aren't all high.
    What your personal exercise routine is really determines the best way to estimate, there isn't one true source for everything.
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
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    Before my fitbit, I'd find something comparable from the MFP database, and then I would take the number that MFP gave and cut that in half, and log that. I'd eat it if I was hungry as an extra snack or a glass of wine before bed.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.

    TDEE is a measure of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and includes an estimate of exercise calories in the calculation, so a deficit taken from TDEE would also include exercise, and so therefore, you are correct you shouldn't eat back those calories, they are already accounted for.

    However, MFP uses a NEAT method, which includes BMR and non-exercise activity, and the system is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Telling someone who is using the MFP method to set calorie targets to ignore exercise would likely lead to them underfueling themselves and creating too large of a deficit.

    OP, I agree with others who have said that all of this is based on estimates. Look at what the machine estimates for your workout, plug the same entry in MFP and let it calculate a calorie burn, and pick something you are comfortable with. The most important thing is consistency - if you go with the MFP estimate, and eating back 50% of the calories, do that for about a month or 6 weeks, and track your progress. If you lose at the rate you selected with MFP (ie 1 lb/week) then the approach is working. If you are losing more, then maybe increase the percent of calories you eat back. If you aren't losing at the rate you want, consider eating back less but also consider tightening up your logging as that is the primary culprit of not losing at the desired rate of loss...
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.

    That's not how TDEE works...
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Suly09 wrote: »
    Thank you all so much, I am learning so much. I stalk the forums like crazy and in the 30 days that I have been using MFP I have lost almost 5 pounds. Before that I used to do these crazy diets that never worked and left me hangry. I can't believe the answer has been this easy this whole time.

    I am going to search the exercises do on MFP and eat back half the calories they list. I will test that out first.

    It sounds like you're off to a great start! Good luck!
  • Suly09
    Suly09 Posts: 88 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.

    TDEE is a measure of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and includes an estimate of exercise calories in the calculation, so a deficit taken from TDEE would also include exercise, and so therefore, you are correct you shouldn't eat back those calories, they are already accounted for.

    However, MFP uses a NEAT method, which includes BMR and non-exercise activity, and the system is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Telling someone who is using the MFP method to set calorie targets to ignore exercise would likely lead to them underfueling themselves and creating too large of a deficit.

    OP, I agree with others who have said that all of this is based on estimates. Look at what the machine estimates for your workout, plug the same entry in MFP and let it calculate a calorie burn, and pick something you are comfortable with. The most important thing is consistency - if you go with the MFP estimate, and eating back 50% of the calories, do that for about a month or 6 weeks, and track your progress. If you lose at the rate you selected with MFP (ie 1 lb/week) then the approach is working. If you are losing more, then maybe increase the percent of calories you eat back. If you aren't losing at the rate you want, consider eating back less but also consider tightening up your logging as that is the primary culprit of not losing at the desired rate of loss...

    Thank you. Very helpful. Before I found out I was supposed to be eating back my calories I lost 2 pounds this last week (in 1 week)...I worked out 3-4 times that week. Should I be worried that I will gain that back since I guess I was not fueling myself right?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Suly09 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.

    TDEE is a measure of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and includes an estimate of exercise calories in the calculation, so a deficit taken from TDEE would also include exercise, and so therefore, you are correct you shouldn't eat back those calories, they are already accounted for.

    However, MFP uses a NEAT method, which includes BMR and non-exercise activity, and the system is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Telling someone who is using the MFP method to set calorie targets to ignore exercise would likely lead to them underfueling themselves and creating too large of a deficit.

    OP, I agree with others who have said that all of this is based on estimates. Look at what the machine estimates for your workout, plug the same entry in MFP and let it calculate a calorie burn, and pick something you are comfortable with. The most important thing is consistency - if you go with the MFP estimate, and eating back 50% of the calories, do that for about a month or 6 weeks, and track your progress. If you lose at the rate you selected with MFP (ie 1 lb/week) then the approach is working. If you are losing more, then maybe increase the percent of calories you eat back. If you aren't losing at the rate you want, consider eating back less but also consider tightening up your logging as that is the primary culprit of not losing at the desired rate of loss...

    Thank you. Very helpful. Before I found out I was supposed to be eating back my calories I lost 2 pounds this last week (in 1 week)...I worked out 3-4 times that week. Should I be worried that I will gain that back since I guess I was not fueling myself right?

    No, I would just get yourself on track and be consistent going forward. It's common to lose a little faster in the beginning, as you shed water weight and glycogen stores are depleted. It's important to sustain an appropriate deficit for the amount of weight you have to lose - what are you trying to lose and what rate of loss have you selected? What calorie target did MFP provide?
  • Suly09
    Suly09 Posts: 88 Member
    edited March 2018
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Suly09 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.


    No, I would just get yourself on track and be consistent going forward. It's common to lose a little faster in the beginning, as you shed water weight and glycogen stores are depleted. It's important to sustain an appropriate deficit for the amount of weight you have to lose - what are you trying to lose and what rate of loss have you selected? What calorie target did MFP provide?
  • Suly09
    Suly09 Posts: 88 Member
    edited March 2018
    Options
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Suly09 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sayitundefined wrote: »
    So, my advice would be to not eat back your calories. Stick to your calorie number from your TDEE. be consistent with that first, and then everything you work off is a bonus.

    TDEE is a measure of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and includes an estimate of exercise calories in the calculation, so a deficit taken from TDEE would also include exercise, and so therefore, you are correct you shouldn't eat back those calories, they are already accounted for.

    However, MFP uses a NEAT method, which includes BMR and non-exercise activity, and the system is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Telling someone who is using the MFP method to set calorie targets to ignore exercise would likely lead to them underfueling themselves and creating too large of a deficit.

    OP, I agree with others who have said that all of this is based on estimates. Look at what the machine estimates for your workout, plug the same entry in MFP and let it calculate a calorie burn, and pick something you are comfortable with. The most important thing is consistency - if you go with the MFP estimate, and eating back 50% of the calories, do that for about a month or 6 weeks, and track your progress. If you lose at the rate you selected with MFP (ie 1 lb/week) then the approach is working. If you are losing more, then maybe increase the percent of calories you eat back. If you aren't losing at the rate you want, consider eating back less but also consider tightening up your logging as that is the primary culprit of not losing at the desired rate of loss...

    Thank you. Very helpful. Before I found out I was supposed to be eating back my calories I lost 2 pounds this last week (in 1 week)...I worked out 3-4 times that week. Should I be worried that I will gain that back since I guess I was not fueling myself right?

    No, I would just get yourself on track and be consistent going forward. It's common to lose a little faster in the beginning, as you shed water weight and glycogen stores are depleted. It's important to sustain an appropriate deficit for the amount of weight you have to lose - what are you trying to lose and what rate of loss have you selected? What calorie target did MFP provide?


    I started at 151 and I want to get to 125. (I am 146.4 now). Im 5'0 and sedentary (desk job). 1200 calories daily but I work out 3-4 times a week. I selected 2 pounds loss per week but MFP gave me .05 at a 1200 daily calorie goal.

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